#this hit me over the head today and hasn't given me a break since

[mrcspectr]

Sometimes I think we forget the gravity of the choices Marc made for Steven. We say it and we write about it but we see it through the lens of an adult, from the perspective of a man who had a very specific understanding of his world and his place in it, however flawed that may have been. In his mind, his worth and what that means to him were set in stone, the only part of his identity that felt.. concrete. A man that carried his childhood like an anchor, letting it drag him down to a depth that no one could truly follow.

But what about the boys?

We see them as children for a very short amount of time, and we connect to that innocence because we were all children once. We were all naïve to the world before we were taught how to live in it. But there was no one to teach them how to share a life, a body, a place in that world. It was something they were forced to navigate together, but in tandem, somehow, alone.

How afraid Marc must have been, how his hurt grew into anger and a disobedience that explodes out from him, that drew more violence to him. That enraged Wendy and made her worse, made her a cruel specter still. How Steven must’ve stirred in the night, looking around to wonder where he was, what day it had been, why he didn’t recognize the posters on his wall or the toys on his floor. The way Marc would shrink back at his father’s expression, his concern and fear so clear-cut and raw each time he came to with a start, the sound of Steven’s voice still rattling against his skull until it ached.

All either one of them ever wanted was for someone to hold them close and tell them they were alright, that they were real and loved. Two boys, two brothers who shared the same life but knew nothing of each other. Backs pressed against a mirror, calling out to nothing but silence in return.

How many times did Steven believe he was only sleeping, watching this boy who looked just like him behave practically his opposite? How long was his list of questions, if only the next night they’d finally meet, in a different dream, and he got the chance to ask? How many times did Marc find himself beating his tiny fists against a mirror, reaching out without really knowing how, seeing a boy so familiar and wanting desperately, more than anything, just to be his friend?

[quietlyimplode]

I dont really have the words for this one, except to say this is a story that's really close to my heart. It's one that was written of experiences and fueled by the movie being released. I wasn't sure if i wanted to share it, but I think it's a story I would like to tell.

Please heed the tagged warnings, on posts - there is nothing particularly kind or gentle about this series. It will move between Clint and Natasha's point of views and doesn't pull any punches. To those who have supported me with this one, I owe you a one shot, collect at any time. Thanks so much for the encouragement.

As always, take care of yourself. <3

summon your courage

1/6 (2137 words)

.

The television is split into four screens, each with a different room in the sparse apartment. He stirs his yogurt and clicks the remote to zoom in on the room the Black Widow currently sits in. He’s been watching her for just under a week now, having put the cameras in, invading her privacy in order to gather information for his employers.

At times, he feels dirty; like a creep; which in all honesty he is; watching a woman when she thinks she’s in private, all the private and intimate moments. He didn’t expect her to stay here for so long but he’s been glad for it, it’s almost respite for him.

Watching.

Waiting.

There’s a lull in her work, obviously; and she seems almost human, doing regular human-like things. Not at all like the dossier that’s laid out like a map on his left. All the information he has on her is stuck in his head. Death and destruction follow in her wake and there’s been certain kills that even he’s had to fold the page on and forget.

This is different.

She’s reading a book in French, he can’t make out the authors name from his view point, but he can see the title; Arsène Lupin is written in block letters.  Her knees are tucked to her chest and he can also make out how her foot taps, like she’s listening to music. He doesn’t think it’s a nervous tic and he can’t hear music; so, he assumes it’s in her head.

Sighing, Clint turns the sound up, and heads to the kitchen to make some coffee and dinner. Looking quickly at the clock, he marks the time as 9.15pm. She’s been reading since 7. If she follows her usual routine, she’ll be up in 15 minutes and get changed and go for a run, be back by ten and then get ready for bed. He’s assuming the run serves as a perimeter check, he often runs it backwards after she’s gone to bed, doubly making sure what she already must know.

The Russians are watching.

.

9 days in, she’s seemingly despondent. She hasn’t followed any of her usual routines, and has stayed in bed. He pulls his laptop closer and chews on fresh apple, watching as her eyes open and close and sleep. She has not moved once today. He wonders if what he’s been watching over the past eight days has been functional depression, she can do things, clearly. He has a bit of experience with that, according to his employer's psych team. She can take care of herself, but this, today, all together feels like giving up.

Maybe it’s a bad day, he rationalizes. She’s terrifying enough that the Russians have not made a move, suspects that they don't even know. He wonders if they’re hunting her, watching her or protecting her; it’s not something he’s made clear just yet; and to make matters worse on his run last night, he noted DRSD agents. Their walk as distinctive as their Russian counterparts. So, it seems that his presence here is not the only one. American, French, Russian, all vying for her attention and here she is, lying in bed. He focuses in, making sure she’s still breathing and marks the time. 1pm.

He loads the camera up on his phone and heads to the roof, craving the fresh air. He flips through the cameras he’s set up around his apartment to watch his own back, his own surveillance footage of his surrounding area. He’s satisfied enough that nothing is amiss and that his French is passable to not have alerted anyone, and then flicks back to watch her. She’s still not moved from the bed.

.

Day 12 hits and they’ve not had another day like Day 9. He doesn’t report that one to his seniors, reports it as a day in which nothing was amiss. French intelligence has moved on, but today, the Russians have made contact. It wasn’t anything big, a chalk mark on the pavement, a change in path on her run and dead drop of a post card from what he can make out when she came back. He writes it up, emails quickly and await orders on what happens next, wonders if he’ll be given clearance to wherever she goes next.

Some sick part of him hopes so, he wonders what that makes him.

.

He’s been pulled and sent to Barcelona with a fool of an agent that’s so far beneath his skill level, he sees it as agent training. Coulson must know. He makes it a point to be an asshole, he doesn’t want a partner and after this job, this man won’t want him to be partnered with him.

The whole time he thinks of her.

Wants to know what she’s doing, reading, if her routines changed or she’s completed her mission. He sighs hard on the plane home. He’s definitely a creep.

He can’t stop thinking about her.

.

Coulson is kind enough to put him back on surveillance. A reprimand of punishment for being a dick to the young agent. He’s gleeful as he heads to his apartment and bids Bonjour to the woman at the bottom of the stairs. He airs the room, and sets up the computers again, reactivates the cameras and waits for her return.

If she returns.

The apartment is lived in, still, her meager belongings scattered around the house.

He has hope.

.

He doesn’t have to wait long and within the day she’s back. He sucks in a breath at her appearance when he zooms in close. Black eye, split lip and he’s sure of unseen ailments by the hitch in her gait which she only allows inside her apartment. He watches her undress and walk around in her underwear; ribs are wrapped and he can see a stitched wound that goes from her neck to shoulder. At least she’s taken care of herself, enough to tend to her wounds.

He pays attention as she starts to punch her punching bag, her fighting style is clearly Russian, and there’s no clear compensation for her injuries. Her shoulder wound weeps blood down her arm, and still, she hits just as hard.  It’s impressive if not masochistic. It’s almost 40 minutes before she stops, drops and then starts with her usual routine of push-ups, sits ups and squats. At least some things don’t change. He marks the time and settles in.

It’s nice to be back.

.

He runs the perimeter nightly now, focusing on his own routines, now he understands hers. Marks all the Russians easily. Babysitting he decides. They’re babysitting her. By the run she takes, she knows exactly where her handlers are, makes it a point to run near each of them as a check in. It’s smart, but feels contrived, like she wants them to know she knows. He believes she can run circles around them, and likes watching her do so.

.

It’s a bad day again. She’s not got out of bed. He wants to shake her, tell her to get up. Do something. Punch the bag, read a book, eat something. But she does none of it. He watches her closely and makes sure she’s breathing. Hopes that tomorrow is better.

.

The next day seems worse. He didn’t go to sleep, just in case.. He doesn’t think she’d do anything to herself, but didn’t want to take the chance. He wonders what he would have done if she'd taken the knife to her skin. He calculates the quickest way there and waits. She doesn’t get up. Her eyes are open and no one's home. He wonders if she’s wet the bed, because he hasn’t seen her move once in two days.

It’s panic inducing. One day was enough. He almost wants to break cover and knock on her door to see if she’d open up. Instead, he hacks her phone and calls it. She makes no move towards her phone; the only response is a slow blink and recognition of sound.

He keeps calling. She doesn’t move.

In desperation, he contacts Coulson and asks what he should do. Since the apparent end of the mission will end in her death or the makings of a double agent, Coulson is non-plussed.

Watch and wait is the official lines. The feeling of dread curls in his stomach and settles like a stone.

.

They must know something is amiss. Obviously, she's not run her checks and hasn't touched base in almost 2 days.

They come for her in the middle of the night. It’s not something Clint had anticipated.

They put a bag over her head and drag her out. She doesn’t fight, and allows the men to inject her with something. He loads the cameras quickly to his phone, and sprints to her apartment. He feels like he breaks all speed records getting there, but he’s not quick enough. They’re gone by the time he arrives.

Breathing heavily, Clint pushes his body to run to the locations of Russians, the ones he passes nightly. They’re gone, except, god, he’s a fucking idiot. He has all their number plates and can track them. He calls through to Shield and is patched to tech. He fucking loves those nerds. It’s nearly 4 hours later but he’s been given three locations where she might be, where 3 of the cars have stopped. He only hopes she’s in one of them. Coulson hasn’t said anything, and he’s not explicitly said no, so he takes it as a yes; go get her and bring her in.  

.

The first address leads him to a dead end. Literally. The van is wiped down and abandoned. He holsters his gun and sits in the front seat. He feels ridiculous, his surveillance has led him to.. This. Chasing cars for a woman who when he catches up to her, if he catches up to her, he’ll have to recruit or kill. He 100% second guesses himself as he hot wires the van and heads for the next address. He just hopes she’s not dead when he finally gets to her.

And then wonders why he cares.

.

At the failure of the third address, he’s frustrated. He’s driven for over 10 hours and is tired. His back is hurting and he longs to lie down. Calling tech support again, he gets the location of the vans that were still on the move, they’ve all stopped now and he has another three leads to go on with. He’s got some choices to make. If he sleeps, he risks her being dead on his watch. If he stays awake, he risks becoming dead because of a stupid mistake.

He grunts and kicks the tires of the van, pulls open the back and unfolds the blanket from his backpack to create a makeshift bed. He sleeps on a 45 degree angle, gun in hand, legs out straight, relaxing his body and focusing on all parts of the blanket touching him. He goes through muscle relaxation and forces sleep to come. The three hours is definitely not long enough, but it makes him feel at least functional, as he lets caffeine and chewing gum do the rest. At least he gets to watch the sun rise.

.

The second to last address leads him to warehouse almost in Belgium and he rolls his eyes at the cliché of it. He’s strung on coffee and energy drinks, sugar keeping him going and he knows at some point he’s going to have to eat real food. He’s compartmentalising everything he does. It’s been 3 days and he hasn’t had a proper meal, barely any sleep. He just concentrated on the next thing. Fill up the car, drink coffee, next location, fill up the car.. it’s monotonous but serves a purpose, and got him here.

He knows this is where they’ve taken her. Knows it like the curves on his bow. It’s what he would do for wet work. Scouting the location, he tags five Russian’s pacing and one Black Widow tied to chair with a bag on her head. He can make out barbed wires not handcuffs holding her down, he closes his eyes to the barbaricness of it all but in the same moment the stones of despair in his stomach ease.

She’s not dead.

The little voice asks again, why is he so invested. It’s kill or recruit. Maybe he should shoot her from here and just divest them all of the responsibility of choice.

But he can’t.

He knows he can’t.

Knows that if she chooses death, it can’t be him.

He doesn’t want to wonder why.

Clint calls in, gives his location and an update, even if Coulson doesn’t want to know.

The reproach is significant, followed by a sigh and a be careful.

The rest of the series will be posted up on Ao3 with all my fic, maybe here, idk? As always any encouragement is lovely either here or Ao3. <3

[cumholland]

Neighbors Part 2

Chapter Two - Designed for You

(Tom Holland x Reader)

a/n: Thank you so much to everyone who loved the first chapter and asked for a second one! Also thank you again to @2018shawn​ for helping me come up with the idea and @moonshineholland​ for proofreading! Chapter 1 here

Summary: After a wrench is thrown into your relationship, will you and Tom be able to handle it or will it force you apart? WC: 9.6k

Warnings: Language, LOTS of smut, angst.

"I knew it!" Hannah screams into the phone. You had finally told her about the Tom situation after mulling over it for a couple of days. Now you were sitting in Tom's sun lounger by the pool. He was out shooting today but you decided to let yourself in to go for a swim and keep Tessa company. The last time you were over Tom had given you a spare key. Invited you to come at any time you pleased. He especially encouraged you to keep Tessa company as he worried about leaving her alone for too long. After taking for her for a walk, Tessa decided it was time for a much needed nap. With her asleep, you decided to catch up on tanning as well as catch up Hannah on your predicament.

"Don't get too excited, nothing has really happened since then." Ever since that steamy make out session with Tom, the two of you hadn't really talked about it. Tom's hands were all over you for the rest of the night traveling up and down your body, his lips all over your neck. You even fell asleep in his arms, not moving from the couch until almost three in the morning. Eventually, Tessa jumped on the couch, waking you both. Tom headed to bed as he needed to prepare for shooting the next day and you spent the rest of the night back home. Since then you had hung out with Tom once, only having dinner and watching a movie. Now, two days after making out with Tom, you weren't quite sure where he stood on the situation. "We haven't really acknowledged it, I guess," you explain to Hannah.

"Wait, so you're saying you had a lust filled night of passion and now you haven't porked his brains out yet?" Hannah never was one to put a filter on what she was thinking, but when it came to your love life she was especially honest.

You get up and pace around the pool, concrete hot against your bare feet. "It wasn't a lust filled night of passion, Hannah," you start. "All we did was make out. Maybe I'm a bad kisser and that's why he hasn't tried to make another move."

"No way!" Hannah exclaims. "Boys are horndogs, they could be kissing a corpse and still be into it."

"Gross," you interrupt. "Tom isn't like any other guys I've met, Han. He's really sweet and caring and he gets totally flustered any time we get flirty." That was a fact. Tom's face could turn red faster than the blink of an eye, as could yours. Neither of you had been particularly proficient when it came to the art of flirting, but you had mastered the art of making eyes at each other from across the room. It felt like both of you were holding back, and you weren't sure when that dam was going to break. You were almost certain it had when you finally kissed, but maybe not after all.

A bark pulls you from your thoughts. Your head whips back to the house and you see Tessa standing at the back door wanting to join you outside. You jog over to the door and let her out. "What is that?" Hannah asks. "Do I hear a dog?"

"It's Tessa." You had told Hannah about the situation with Tom but you had also left out the part about the spare key, meaning you hadn't told her you were at his house at this very moment either.

"Who's Tessa? Am I being replaced as your best friend?" Hannah says sarcastically. Tessa dances around your feet, whining for attention.

"Han, it's Tom's dog, you literally met her when you came over." You pat Tessa on the head before she takes off.

"Oh yeah... I would have remembered her name if she wasn't asleep the whole time I was there!" she pesters.

"She's a dog," you roll your eyes as if Hannah can see you. "Maybe if-"

"Hold the phone, you're at his house?" She interrupts. "Is he there? Are you about to bone? I'm so confused, please explain." Hannah's thoughts often ran a million miles a minute and today was no exception. You didn't mind though, she was just excited that your love life finally had a spark. You'd been hurt in the past and she knew you weren't the most open and willing when it came to dating. It made you happy that she was ecstatic for you, even when she was a little cavalier about it.

"No, he's on set today. I'm just hanging out with Tessa and sunbathing. He gave me a spare key, it isn't a big deal." It wasn't a big deal, really, but you knew Hannah could go on about that one for hours. "I'm just hanging out here until he's back and then maybe I'll try to talk to him about the - uh - incident."

"You mean your tongue down his throat? That incident?" She pesters.

"Yes, that one," you say, rolling your eyes. You settle onto the sun lounger again, just now noticing Tessa digging around in the garden. "Tess! Get out of there, I'm not giving you another bath today."

"I wanna hear whatever details you have after tonight," Hannah insists. "And we need to hang out soon, I miss you."

"I promise, Han, we'll hang out soon." You tuck your phone under the cushion and pull out your sunscreen to apply another layer, but the only thing on your mind is what you want to say to Tom when he's back.

When Tom finally arrives back home it's almost 10 pm. You spent the rest of the afternoon working on homework while Tessa kept herself occupied with a toy. You fed her at dinnertime and made yourself a sandwich. Waiting for Tom made the minutes feel like hours, each one dragging longer than the last. You were antsy for him to come back, but at least the longer it took him to come back, the longer you could put off talking to him about your feelings.

That kiss had left you reeling, even more so than you thought it would. After confessing to Hannah, the scene kept replaying in your head. Every time you forced it out of your mind, that feeling of Tom's hands on your bare skin would pull you back in and you'd be caught up daydreaming about the way his tongue had slid into your mouth. Your hand is gripping your thigh, heat building between your legs just thinking about it. You bury your head in your hands and rub your eyes as if you can rub away the thoughts of Tom in your head. Before you get too caught up again you hear the sound of the garage door opening. Tom's home.

Tessa makes a break for the door and whines until Tom finally opens it. He's got a big bag of takeout in his hands and heads straight for the kitchen, Tessa still sniffing and dancing around his shoes. "I didn't think you'd still be here," he calls over from the island. You make your way from the living room to the kitchen, joining him in the brightly lit room.

"I would've made you dinner if I had known what time you were gonna be back but I wasn't sure." You had texted Tom earlier in the day but he hadn't responded until he was already done on set for the day. By then you had already eaten dinner and you didn't even have time to prep anything for him anyway.

"That's alright love, I was in the mood for shitty takeout anyway." You try to smile but you just scrunch up your mouth instead. All that confidence you had about confronting Tom melts away at the sight of him. He looks a little disheveled, probably just from a long day of work. It seems almost silly now, like bringing up the situation would just annoy him. You decide to bite your tongue and keep it to yourself for now. What's waiting until he has a day off? It wouldn't hurt anything.

Tom looks tired and a little annoyed so you want to be out of his space. "Um, I think I'm just gonna go, I'll let you have some peace and quiet," you say. It was probably nothing, but you wanted to give him his privacy, this was his house after all. "I was just keeping Tessa company anyway."

"You should stay," Tom says abruptly. He doesn't look up from his food, twirling the lo mein around with his fork.

"Are you sure?" You ask, testing the waters. "I don't mind going, I have some homework to do anyway." That was a lie, but if it makes Tom feel better, it made you feel better.

"It was just a long day. The director was really pushing me and I was getting frustrated. It isn't a big deal," Tom explains. He finally looks up at you, the bags under his eyes dark. "You don't have to stay if you don't want to." Tom's eyes are dark and heavy, lids almost swollen. It just now registers that he might've been crying. Frustrated at the very least.

"I know," you say softly, almost whispering. You stop for a minute, looking him up and down. His eyes are trained on his food, his usual cheery demeanor almost entirely absent. He tosses a noodle down and Tessa gobbles it up.

"I'll share my lo mein if you stay," Tom murmurs, finally looking up from his food. You let out a soft chuckle and take a seat next to Tom. He passes over his fork to you and for the first time since he got home, a smile appears on his face. It's a gentle half-smile, but a smile nonetheless. You twirl some noodles onto the fork and bring it to your mouth.

"Do you wanna talk about it?" You ask through a mouthful of noodles.

Tom just shakes his head. "I'd rather hear about what my two girls did today." Tessa's ears perk up at that. She pretends to look to the side away from Tom, pretending like she isn't begging for food.

"Well, it was a pretty relaxed day," you start. "I swam in the pool for a bit and did my homework. Tess tore up another toy." You nod over to the living room, stuffing from the toy littering the ground.

"I'm starting to think you're just using me for my pool," Tom jokes.

"Of course! I don't know what else you thought this was," you joke, hitting his shoulder. "My friend Hannah thinks it's weird, me being at your house all day."

"It is weird," Tom affirms. "It isn't really the most typical of friendships, but I like you, so why not hang out with you instead of being alone? Same goes for Tess, I'm sure she's a lot happier not being alone all day." The statement dances around in your head for a moment. Specifically the word 'friendship' along with 'I like you' storms around in your head. Thomas was good at a lot of things but sending mixed signals was maybe his best talent. "Do you think if I lay on the ground Tess will walk on my back and give me a massage? I'm sore as fuck from stunts today."

"Um," you chuckle, eyebrows scrunched together. "Yeah, I'm not quite sure she's capable of doing that." You let that linger in the air for a moment before blurting out "I could give you a massage, maybe. If you want or whatever?" "Yeah?" He asks, eyes finally meeting yours. "I'll take what I can get."

"Really?" You accidentally blurt. It wasn't like you didn't want to do it but you didn't expect him to actually take you up on it.

"What? Are you too shy?" He cracks. "We've already made out, I hardly think a massage is that scandalous." Your cheeks immediately flush with red, your palms becoming sweaty. This is the first time he's mentioned the make out incident since it happened. He doesn't even look phased as he continues to scarf down the noodles.

"I guess you're right," you hum, fingertips buzzing from the thought of touching Tom. You leave Tom at the island and go back to the living room, Tessa following behind you. You move the coffee table out of the way and set up a blanket and pillow for Tom to lay on.

Tom joins you in the living room, setting his takeout on the coffee table you pushed aside. "Nice set up," he says, examining the space you have laid out. He takes his shirt off and tosses it on to the couch and lays down on the floor on his stomach. Your eyes are like saucers. You had expected this to be a 'through the clothes' kind of massage but you weren't about to ask him to get dressed. You eye him up and down, eyes raking over his back muscles down to the Calvin Klein waistband peeking out from his jeans. Before you even touch him Tessa has gotten up from her bed and is now trying to lick Tom's face off. "Tess!" Tom whines. He gets up and takes her out back, shutting the door so the two of you will be uninterrupted. Tom is back on his stomach so you wordlessly drop to your knees by his side. The tips of your fingers meet his skin, warm and firm. You slowly move your hands up his spine, slowly palming his tense back. You feel him laugh under your hands. "Your hands are so cold, darling," he teases.

"Give it a minute," you say, lightly slapping his back and pretending to hit him. Your hands continue across his shoulders, where he is most tense. Your thumbs dig into the muscle, and Tom moans under you. You dig your thumbs into the same spot again.

"Fuck," he moans again. "You can go harder, I won't break I promise." You weren't exactly trying to be gentle, but it was hard to put your weight into it when you were arched over his side.

"Okay," you start "I just have to...," you trail off as you swing your leg over his waist and you're now straddling him. Tom lets out a soft laugh, but you don't acknowledge it. Now with better leverage, you dig back into his shoulders. Tom's smile is wiped off his face and is replaced with a look of ecstasy as he lets out a long moan.

"Shit," Tom gasps through another moan. "What did you just hit?"

"I guess you have a g-spot in your shoulders." This makes the both of you laugh. You bring your hands down to his shoulder blades and start massaging the muscle that surrounds the area. Tom had some bruising on his back from his stunt work so you didn't want to get too rough with him. Tom moans into the pillow, this time lower and drawn out. "Geez, I hope the neighbors don't hear this, it sounds quite sexual."

"It's better than sex," Tom mutters.

"Oh?"

"Not really, but it's a close second." He turns his head and looks back at you over his shoulder giving you that killer smile. You work your hands lower again, reaching the small of his back. "Am I getting an ass massage too? My glutes are sore from all the running I had to do on set today."

"In your dreams, Holland," you roll your eyes.

"Fine, fine, what about a happy ending?" Tom starts laughing before he can even finish his joke.

"Once again, in your dreams," you tease him, although for a second it crosses your mind that something like that might be in your dreams too. You massage all the way down Tom's back and all the way up to the top again. After about a half hour of massaging Tom, you finally crawl off his back and sit on the floor next to him. Tom's eyes are closed and he's half asleep from the relaxing massage. "Alright, my fingers are about to fall off." Tom slowly flips over onto his back. Your eyes dart to the bulge in his jeans. He isn't totally hard, but he at least has a semi. He doesn't seem to notice or acknowledge it as he rubs his eyes. "What? Only the back side? What about the front?" He teases again.

"You're not getting a happy ending!" You exclaim.

"That isn't even what I meant," Tom says through his grin. "My chest is sore from pull ups and I paid for the full experience!" You shoot him a confused look. "I gave you lo mein, duh."

"Tom, I had like two bites!"

"Yeah! One bite for the back and one for the front!" Tom takes your hand and brings it to his chest.

"Have I told you that you're annoying?" You badger him, caving in to his request. With your hands on his chest, you move your palms in slow circular motions, hands traveling from his chest to his shoulders. You can feel Tom looking at you so you meet his gaze. With Tom facing you everything feels a lot more intimate. You feel every inch of your skin connected to his, the heat radiating from his body to your hands. Tom licks his lips and all you can think about is kissing them again. Before you even know what you're doing you're crawling on top of him and straddling him again. "Um... leverage," is all you can stutter out. Your cheeks are flushed pink but so are Tom's. His eyes travel down your body before slowly grazing back up. Your eyes meet again. Your hands are on his chest, legs around his waist. You're riding him.

Well, sort of. You can feel his bulge pressed against your ass now, straining against his jeans. His hands come up to your waist, taking a firm hold on you. Without a second thought, you bring your face to his, lips crashing again his. Tom captures your bottom lip with his teeth, teasing you before slipping his tongue into your mouth. He traces over your lips before gliding his tongue over yours, flicking against you. Your kisses become needier, filled with lust and desire. Your noses bump together, trying to melt into one another as deep as you can go. Tom pulls your body flush against him, every part of you now rubbing together. Tom's hands explore your back, hands traveling up the back of your shirt. You bring your hands to his face, capturing his strong jaw. Tom consumes you, surrounds you with himself. From his hands on you to his tongue tracing your teeth, you feel yourself falling into him. His breath is warm, spilling into your mouth, his mouth now traveling down your neck. Tom moans against your neck, his guttural groans sending shivers down your spine, you can feel yourself getting wet. You gasp, fingers catching in Tom's hair, slowly grinding your body against his. You bring your lips to his about to press them against his again but then...

Both of you hear a whining followed by a bark. Tessa wants back inside. "She'll be fine," Tom says, his lips returning to your neck.

"No, it's fine, we don't make her stay outside. It's not like there aren't other places we can make out," you say as you get off of him, standing up. "Besides, when was the last time you even vacuumed?"

"Not since I moved in," Tom says as you go to the back door to let Tessa in. She trots into the living room, ignoring Tom and going straight for the lo mein, burying her nose in the takeout container. "Tess!" Tom chides her. "No, nasty!" Tom drags her by the collar away from the food. You can't help yourself but giggle at how things went from you on top of Tom to Tessa stealing his food. "Go on, go put yourself in timeout!" Tessa's head hangs as she slowly walks up the stairs.

"Aw, c'mon Tom she just wanted a bite! Plus you deserve it, you locked her outside."

"Whatever," Tom says as he rolls his eyes, taking his food to the trash can to throw away. Finally, with a moment to breathe, you check your phone. It's nearing midnight and you have some work to get done tomorrow.

"I should probably get going, I have to be up in the morning and it's getting a bit late." Tom looks at you with those puppy dog eyes that he has perfected but all he does is nod. He walks you to the door and gives you a soft kiss on the cheek.

"Will I see you tomorrow?" He asks.

"Yeah, sure," you smile at him before returning the kiss, this time on his lips. "See you tomorrow, Tom."

The next day it was around 7:30 pm and the sun was already beginning to set. After a long day of working from your computer, you were ready to throw in the towel. After taking a bath, you decide to text Tom and ask if he is almost home from set. It isn't until 9:00 pm when he finally responds. Just got home. Come over. Without a second thought, you get dressed and walk over to his house. As soon as your knuckles meet the dark wood of his front door, it opens to Tom's face, brightly lit with a smile. "Miss me?" Tessa comes running out the front door and sniffing at your feet.

"Tessa clearly missed me," you say, flashing a smile back at Tom.

"I missed you more," he says as he moved out of the doorframe and motions for you to come in.

"Were things easier on set today?" After how run down he looked the other day, you were hoping he was still feeling okay after another long day.

"Not too bad. Nothing a genius like me can't handle," he says as he ruffles his hair.

"I guess that explains why your head is so big."

"What!" Tom shouts, cocking his head at you. Tom grabs you around the shoulders and starts messing up your hair.

"I'm kidding, you dork!" You tell him, grabbing a hold of his arm, all too aware of the muscles underneath his soft skin. Tom releases you from his strong grasp. "Your head is perfectly average sized."

"Thank you!"

"Your ego on the other hand," you start. Tom's eyes widen again, ready to lunge at you. "Kidding again!"

"You better be," he jokes, pulling you in close again. This time his hands are wrapped around your waist, head tilted over yours. He brings his face to yours, closing the distance, lips meeting again. So this is what you were now? Intimate. More than friends. Nothing was set in stone, making you all the more nervous. You move your lips against his, falling into his kiss once again. Once you pull away you smile at him, but Tom can tell there's something off about the look on your face. "Is everything okay?" He asks, hands falling off your waist.

"I just... um," you start, shaking your head. "I hate to sound so cliche but what are we?"

"Friends?" Tom says, a confused look on his face. You return the confused look back.

"Just friends?" "Well, um, special friends," Tom clarifies. Clarifies in a way that clarities absolutely nothing. You take a step away from him.

"What does that mean exactly?" You look deep in to Tom's eyes. It's hard to tell what he's thinking.

He's wearing his glasses today making him look cute as ever. His hands are pulled tight by his sides, clearly showing he's a little on edge. "I guess I don't know exactly." Tom leans against the counter, putting a little more space between the two of you. "I just...," Tom trails off. "I can't really be in a relationship right now."

"What? Why?" You demand, the edge in your voice all too clear. You don't mean to sound pushy or even sound angry, but having your emotions toyed with is something you've never put up with. Knowing your worth has always been important to you and you didn't like to play games. You and Tom had been flirty from the start, so there was obviously something between you. In a matter of seconds, every interaction you've had with Tom flies through your head, analyzing everything from mixed signals, missed opportunities, to your especially erotic massage make out session last night. Had you missed something? What weren't you getting? What wasn't Tom getting?

Tom's mouth hangs open for a second as he tries to articulate what he's thinking. The seconds stretch out in front of you, feeling like years. "I'm not gonna be here forever," he starts. "I'm constantly going back and forth between places. In two months, once I'm done with this shoot, I'll be back in London for who knows how long." You feel the ground start shifting under you as Tom talks. Tom, the guy you had been slowly developing feelings for no matter how hard you tried not too. Tom, the guy who was jaw droppingly gorgeous and the sweetest gentleman you've ever met. Tom, the guy who didn't want to date you.

You try to muster up a response but you have no idea what to say. Now it's your turn for your mouth to hang up. "I guess I don't know what to say." "You don't have to say anything," Tom says, closing the distance between you, wrapping his arms around you again. "Why do we even need to have a label on it? Why can't we just enjoy each other's company? I've loved spending time with you and I don't want that to change."

"But...," you start.

"But I just can't have a relationship right now, love." Tom places a kiss on your forehead. I have to be a million places all over the world as soon as press for my next movie starts. It would just make it harder on both of us and I can't do that to you. I can't promise you something when I know it isn't going to work out." You do your best to suppress rolling your eyes. After all this time of being a total gentleman, now he wants to be a fuckboy like every other guy in California? Hannah would definitely be hearing about this later.

"Sure," you say bluntly. You were irritated and you just wanted the conversation to be over. If Tom didn't want a girlfriend then fine, you wouldn't push the envelope, but you wouldn't let him play with your emotions either.

"Please, don't be mad at me-"

"I'm not," you interrupt. "I guess I'm just disappointed. Let's just drop it." You cross your arms and lean against the counter.

Tom crosses his arms too and stays silent for a moment. "I'm sorry," he mumbles. "I can't lead you on I couldn't keep that from you."

"It's fine," you reiterate. "It's whatever. I'm glad you told me." You really were glad he told he told you. Glad you could keep yourself from getting more hung up on him. You uncross your arms to keep yourself from looking too upset. "So what's the plan? Are you making me dinner or do I have to do everything around here?" There was a stillness and a comfort around you. Without worrying about a potential relationship you could just enjoy yourself, right?

Tom cracks a small smile of that, breaking through the troubled look on his face. "How about I buy you takeout instead." You jokingly roll your eyes, making fun of his inability to cook.

Friends. There was nothing wrong with friends. Watching Tom as he grabbed his phone to order food, you thought to yourself that there were plenty more fish in the sea.

"I don't think I'm understanding," Hannah ranted. You texted her as soon as you got back from Tom's and she immediately made plans to come over the next day. Now the two of you were laying in your room listening to music as you so often did before you started spending so much time at Tom's house.

You pull your blanket over your head, groaning into the soft covers. "I don't even know why I got so invested. I'm sorry I haven't been around as much, I shouldn't have let trying to get with Tom take up so much of my time."

"Don't say that!" Hannah asserts. "You're still in desperate need of dick and it doesn't always just come to you, you have to put in work for it sometimes!"

"But I didn't even get any!" You whine. "Besides that wasn't what I was going for! Haven't you ever heard of happily ever after?" "My happily ever after includes me getting good dick." While Hannah is talking you get up from your bed and go over to your bay window, sitting down on the cushions. "His dick isn't even off the table either, hun. I know it isn't exactly what you were hoping for but you don't have to go back to the nunnery just yet." "I think that's called a convent," you tease. Hannah always knew how to make you smile even when you were feeling down. Hannah sits up from the bed and joins you at the window. You look over at Tom's backyard to see him coming outside with a towel, about to go for a swim. "Listen, boys change up like the weather all the time. They never know what they want and they're always changing their minds. It doesn't matter if you and Tom aren't destined to be together, just have some fun." Hannah grabs your hands, pulling you close. "I know you're never satisfied with guys and they're always letting you down, but you've been the happiest hanging out with Tom than you have been in a while. You don't have to totally cut him out just because he's a little bit of a douche. We already knew that hun, he's a guy they're all dicks."

You let out a soft laugh and nod. Hannah had a point. She always did, she was too smart for her own good. "I'm not gonna tell you you're right because you already know you are."

"Of course I'm right, babes," Hannah says as she hugs you. "Have some fun, let loose! You practically wet yourself when you made out with him. It's up to you, hun, do whatever you want. Do you know what you want?"

You look out to Tom's yard and watch as he dives headfirst into the pool. Dating Tom might not be in your future, but there was obviously something between you. Did you know what you wanted?

You took a few days to yourself to think about your situation. Tom had been texting you but your responses were inconsistent and sporadic. He asked you to come over more than once but you told him you were busy or had plans with Hannah, which wasn't technically lying as Hannah had come over for a few nights to watch movies. Now, it was the weekend and you had spent most of the day laying in bed. Tom was at work but you had texted him and asked to come over later. He replied almost instantly with an absolutely. Tom didn't seem to be upset with you even though you pulled had a bit of a disappearing act. He could probably imagine how confused you had been over the past few days. But you weren't confused anymore. Tom was just a boy and you were just a girl. And you were just a girl wanting to let loose.

You found yourself in Tom's living room once more. Tom was on one side of the couch and you were on the other. It had felt a bit awkward since you had come over, but the conversation had been flowing as usual. You had fallen back into your typical poking fun at each other banter and Tom had put on some shitty horror movie. "Why do you always have to put on shitty movies like this, why can't we watch a good one?"

"Well if it's a shitty movie then we can make fun of it. We always end up talking over it anyway," he explains.

"Then why don't you put on music or something, dummy," you tease.

"Fine!" Tom caves in. He turns off the movie and pulls up Spotify on the TV, turning on one of his playlists. "Alright missy, you got your wish, now what do you want to talk about."

"First we can talk about how Chris Evans is so much hotter than you," you joke. Tom tosses a pillow at your face but you smack it out of the way before it hits you. "I'm kidding Mr. Holland, you're the hottest superhero."

"Damn right," Tom says, smile proud on his face. You roll your eyes at that.

Would now be a good time to ask him? runs through your head. You've thought about it for days now, so why pussy out? It's just a few simple words. "Tom, I...," you trailed off.

"Huh?"

"I, um... ," you started again. "Um, do you have any snacks?"

"Oh, uh, yeah," Tom says as he got up from the couch. He disappeared into the kitchen to grab whatever the fuck he thought you wanted. Shit was all you could think. You always froze up at the last second, always too scared to shoot your shot. After a minute, Tom came back with an assortment of snacks. He dropped the pile of snacks on the couch next to you and took a seat on the other side. "Plenty?" Tom asks as he digs his hand into a bag of chips.

"Yeah," you start again. "Actually, um, I meant to ask about the other day." Tom looks up from his chips, mouth full and his loud crunching distracting you. He doesn't interrupt, just keeps looking at you. "About the relationship thing..."

"Hun, I-"

"You're not looking for a relationship," you interrupt him. "That's fine, I know, but... why don't we just... have fun then?" Tom studies your face for a minute. His eyebrows are scrunched together and the look of confusion takes over his face.

"I'm sorry," he starts. "What exactly are you asking?"

Hannah's words fly through your head: just have fun. "Fun, like I said," you say, looking him in the eyes, his tight knit eyebrows slowly coming undone. "No strings attached."

"Friends with benefits?" Tom asks.

"Exactly," you explain. "You don't want a relationship and I don't want to get my feelings hurt. But that doesn't mean I'm not still... attracted to you." Tom keeps his eyes trained on you, watching you as he chews on his bottom lip. "You can say no, I'm just thinking out loud."

"Are you sure?" He asks. You weren't fully sure of yourself, but these days you often weren't. The world kept going even when you were standing still, so what was the point in waiting around to question yourself any longer?

"Yes," you blurt. "We have a good thing going for us already, I mean. And we're both adults with needs so... why not?" The silence hangs in the air for another moment, the atmosphere in the room warm and still. Your hands are clammy and your face is definitely on fire. You weren't often bold like this and it was a new sensation to you.

"Well then... why not?" Tom finally says. "I mean, I'm not exactly sure how to go about this I guess."

You weren't exactly sure how this would go either. Or even how it would start. "We can just let things happen organically and see what happens."

Tom nodded, tossing the bag of chips aside. "So we can make out now?" He looked like an eager kid in a candy store.

You laughed at him and rolled your eyes. "I said organically, Thomas."

After talking to Tom about the new aspects of your friendship, you decided to turn the shitty horror movie back on to fill the silence while you retreated into your thoughts. It was hard to tell what Tom was thinking and it made you more nervous that he might be thinking this was a bad idea. He seemed excited enough, but your doubts had a way of getting the better of you. You were so shrouded in your thoughts you hadn't even noticed the movie was over. "Not as shitty as the last one but still pretty shitty," Tom commented.

"I get to pick the movie next time," you declared.

Tom laid down on the couch, using your lap as a pillow. "My taste is immaculate, don't be jealous." You rolled your eyes at that one. "Have I ever told you how gorgeous you are?"

"I think so. Every night before I go to bed you tell me I'm gorgeous and the most important woman in the world," you pester him.

"No, that's Tess," he says laughing.

"Whatever," you roll your eyes.

"You are gorgeous though," he says again. "I know I've put you in a complicated situation and all, but you're the fittest girl I've ever met. You're stunning and you're way smarter than me."

"Clearly," you tease him again.

"And I'm not just complimenting you to get in your pants, I really mean it," Tom says. "I just... are you really sure about this?" Tom looks into your eyes. His eyes are soft in gentle. Everything about him is soft and gentle. He's so sweet and compassionate and caring that you start to feel your doubts melt away. Maybe you weren't making the right decision, but it was a decision that still made you happy. You push him off your lap and force him to sit up. Before he can say anything else, you press your lips against his. It's softer than your last kiss, this one more gentle and subdued. Your lips move in sync, pushing into one another, slow and passionate like you have all the time in the world. Tom runs his hands through your hair, pulling you into him.

Tom pulls back for a second to look at you. "Is this okay?" He asks, voice heavy with desire. You nod your head and lean back in, lips meeting his again. You deepen this kiss this time, slipping your tongue into his mouth. Tom's breathing is getting heavier by the second as the kiss becomes more intense. His hands find your waist, pulling you closer until he has you in his lap. You wrap your arms around his neck as you straddle him. Your tongue slides against his, teeth clashing as the kiss becomes sloppier. Tom pulls away again, this time his lips shiny and starting to redden from your lips hungrily attacking each other. "Should we take this upstairs?" His voice is low and gruff, saturated with lust. You try your best to formulate words but all you can is nod your head.

Tom leads you up the stairs. He brings you to his bedroom, which you haven't been in since the first night you came to Tom's house. He closes the door behind you and dims the lights, giving the room a soft, sensual glow. Tom backs you up against the edge of the bed and you let yourself fall back onto it. Tom crawls on top of you, kissing up your neck as he comes back to your lips.

Your hands find their way under his shirt, slowly traveling up his back. Tom breaks to kiss to take his shirt off, pulling it over his head. You watch as his abdomen muscles ripple as he moves before his mouth is all over yours again. You can already feel the heat building between your legs, the wetness forming as your desire for Tom burns like a wildfire. He kisses back down your neck to your collarbone until his lips meet the fabric of your shirt. "Can I take it off you?" He asks, looking up at you. His puppy dog eyes now taking a different form, something more raw and needy.

You sit up as Tom grabs the hem of your shirt, pulling it over top of your head. "I don't think I've ever told you how great your tits are," Tom teases.

"Shut up," you laugh, shaking your head at him. You unclasp your bra, letting it slide off your shoulders. Tom's mouth practically gapes at the sight of your bare breasts.

"Wow," is all he can muster. You giggle at him as you back your way to the top of the bed, Tom following right behind you. With you on your back, he crawls between your legs, wrapping them around his waist. He slowly grinds his body against yours and you can feel his erection through his sweatpants. You palm his bulge, feeling the harness through the fabric. Tom moans into your mouth as his tongue meets yours again, warm breaths exchanged between you. Tom begins to slide down, his bare skin against yours as he goes. He kisses a trail down your neck before choosing a spot to slowly lick and caress with his tongue, gently sucking in a way that will be sure to leave a mark. His hands find your breasts, taking a handful and slowly rubbing them and creating friction against your nipples. A gentle moan leaves your lips, giving Tom the green light to let him know that you love what he's doing. After he's satisfied with the mark he's left on your neck he lowers his face to your tits, his tongue finding the nipple. Tom gently begins to suck and graze his teeth of your sensitive nipples, now hard from Tom's work. This time you let out a louder moan, knotting your fingers into Tom's hair as his warm, wet tongue focuses on your erogenous zone. Tom moves to the other side, his tongue lashing at the tender skin, driving you crazy before you're even fully undressed.

"Fuck, Tom," you let out a breathy moan. He looks up at you, nipple in his mouth and lets out a low moan. You bite your lip at the sexy sight of him. While Tom is still working on you, you start to wiggle out of your pants, unbuttoning and unzipping them with one hand. Tom notices you struggling and helps slide them off of you. With his warm mouth gone, the cold air hits your skin where he has left it wet with his tongue.

With your pants gone, you're left only in your underwear, and Tom looks captivated by the sight. "You're so fucking sexy, love," Tom practically moans. He positions his head between your thighs and kisses each one, licking his way back up. His mouth meets the fabric of your panties and he lets out a hot breath that breaks through the thin fabric. By now you're practically soaked from anticipation, desperately aching to feel his tongue on you. Tom hooks his fingers across the fabric, moving it to the side without taking them off. He licks a tantalizing slow strip up your slit, his tongue finding it's way between your slit, enveloping him in your heat. "So fucking wet for me," he moans against you. Tom's mouth feels like heaven against you, his soft lips rubbing against you, his tongue working it's way in and out of you, gliding up and down your slit. Tom grabs your ass, slightly lifting you off the bed to slide your panties down to your ankles. He spreads your legs as far apart as he can before his head finds it's place between your legs again. His lips wrap around your clit, slowly licking against the nub before grazing his teeth against it. You involuntarily gasp for air and moan, throwing your head back against the pillow as your hips buck up against his tongue. You look back down to watch Tom as he gently assaults your clit with his tongue, eyes trained on you. "Keep your eyes on me," Tom murmurs against you.

"O-okay," you manage to get out between moans. It had been a while since a guy had gone down on you but this was already a million times better than you had ever had before. Tom lets out a gentle puff of air onto your sensitive, throbbing clit. You struggle to keep your eyes open, watching Tom as he expertly works every inch of you. Your hand finds it's way to his hair again, your fingers threading through his hair, keeping his head in place. Tom's head is moving up and down now, his tongue traveling over your soaked folds. Tom has one hand on your thigh keeping you spread open as he moves the other one to hover over your clit. As his head moves down further, his thumb takes the place of his tongue, now rubbing your clit in circles.

Tom moans against you again, sending deep vibrations into you that you feel in your core. "You taste so fucking good," he groans.

"Please, fuck, please," you moan. "More." Your hips are slowly bucking in rhythm with his tongue, your juices flowing from how turned on you are. "Fuck," you gasp. "Please... fingers." Tom wordlessly responds. He lifts his head up spitting onto your opening, saliva and your juices dripping from his lips. It's messy and sloppy and probably the hottest thing you've ever seen. Tom uses his spit and your wetness to easily slide his index finger inside you. "Fucking hell," you gasp. You sit up on your elbows to get a better view of Tom as his tongue travels back to your clit, as he buries a second finger inside you. "Tom, fuck!" You cry out. Tom curls his fingers inside you, pumping them in and out, quickly picking up the pace. The faster he goes, the more stars that start to appear in your vision. "Tom, I'm getting close," you warn. You feel your body begin to get warm all over, that pit of pleasure building in your stomach. Tom begins to pick up the pace of his fingering, his tongue lapping aggressively at your clit, swirling around it and gently biting it. "Fuck, fuck!" You scream as your body starts to fall to pieces. You feel your orgasm wash over you, starting in the pit of your stomach and reaching all the way to the tips of your toes and back up. A sob escapes your throat as your toes curl and the orgasm finished wracking through your body. "Holy shit, Tom, where'd you learn to do that?"

"Practice," he says, flashing that cheeky smile at you. Although this time he has your juices drenching his lips and chin. Tom comes up from beneath your legs, planting a wet kiss on your lips. You can taste yourself on his lips but that seems to only turn you on more.

You pull away and give him a devilish grin. "My turn?"

"You're naughty," he teases. "But absolutely," Tom crawls off of you and falls beside you on his back, putting a pillow behind him to prop himself up. His hard on is still raging through his sweatpants, a small patch of precum leaking through the grey fabric. Fuck, his bulge looks big. You run your hand across his bulge, palming at his hard member. Tom hooks his thumbs over his waistband and slides his sweatpants down, cock smacking against his stomach as it jumps out from his underwear. His cock is long and hard, precum dripping from the tip. His cock is red and straining, throbbing from how excited he is. Without hesitation, you grab his cock, slowly pumping the thick meat. You rub your thumb against the head, spreading the precum over it and dragging it down his shaft. "Fuck, baby," Tom moans, head falling back against the headboard. You tease his cock, jerking him off at a tantalizingly slow pace, letting the tension build.

After teasing him with your hand, you bring your mouth down to the head of his cock and flick your tongue against it. Tom lets out a breathy moan and tangles his fingers into your hair, pushing your head down with a bit of force. You take the head into your mouth, tongue finding the sensitive spot under the tip. Tom's cock was already hard but you felt it grow rock hard in your mouth, his pre cum leaking into your mouth now, hot and salty. You bob your head up and down, opening your throat up for him. "Your mouth feels so fucking good," Tom pants, thrusting his hips up into your mouth. You grab his balls, slowly tugging at them and working them around with your fingers until his cock is buried entirely down your throat. Tears escape your eyes but you keep yourself from gagging, pulling off his cock. You lick a stripe up his shaft and back down, taking a second to play with his balls in your mouth, tongue traveling around his sack. You take his cock down into your mouth again and he thrusts up into your throat. Tom pushes you down further onto his cock, fucking your mouth. You gag a couple of times before you get the hang of it, but once you do Tom is thrusting into your throat with ease.

Tom's breathing is heavy and labored as he breaks out into a sweat. He raises up his hand, bringing it down on your ass, causing a loud smack, leaving a red hand print on your ass. "Open your legs for me, baby," he commands. You do as he says and he leans forward so he can reach you, his long fingers finding their way in your slit again. He collects your wetness and brings it to your mouth. You open up for him and taste yourself on him, your tongue dancing around his fingers. You moan onto his fingers before he pushes you back down onto his cock again. He leans forward again, this time his fingers meeting your entrance, sliding into you to the knuckle. He fingers you fast and rough, the sounds of your wetness turning him on even more.

"I can't take it any longer I need to be inside you now," Tom demands, standing up on the bed as you pull off of his cock. "Get on your hands and knees." You do as he says, positioning yourself on the edge of the bed. He gets on his knees, his face in line with your dripping pussy. He buries his face in it, tongue licking it's way through your folds, making you gasp and scream with pleasure.

"Fuck!" You moan, burying your face into his duvet. "Tom, it feels so fucking good!" As you're gasping into the pillow, Tom gets up from his knees and lines the head of his cock up with your entrance, slapping his head against your soaked folds. You bite your lip and push your hips back against him, begging to feel the fullness of his cock inside you. 

Tom teases you with his cock, holding your hips in place, making you wait and beg for him to give you what you want. "You want more?" All you can muster is a moan as you push against him harder. He slides the head inside you, slowly opening up your entrance. "So fucking tight."

"Oh, fuuuck!" You cry out, mouth hanging open as he slides another inch inside. He slides in until he's halfway in and you can feel yourself stretching around him, the heat of your tight walls adjusting to his size. "Tom, please," you hiss. "More, please." Tom adheres to your begs, sliding in the rest of his cock with a quick, hard stroke, balls slapping against you. "Ah, fuck, Tom!" You moan, gasps and hisses falling from your mouth. You try to form a sentence, tell him you love it, tell him it feels fucking amazing, tell him his cock is bringing you the most pleasure you've ever felt, but all you can muster is garbled moans and cries.

Tom starts pumping in and out of you, faster and faster, his hips slapping against yours. You can feel his cock throbbing inside you, his rhythm steady and consistent as he fills you up. Tom grabs you by the hair and pulls you up, your bodies flush against each other. He buries his face in your neck, licking and sucking on the mark he already left on you, the skin still sensitive from the earlier assault. Tom's hand travels down to your now easily accessible clit, his index and middle finger rubbing in circles in time with the rhythm of his thrusts. "You're so fucking wet... dripping down my cock," Tom grunts through gritted teeth. "Fucking hell, your pussy was made for me."

Tom pulls out of you and spins you around then pushes you back on the bed. He crawls between your legs and lifts them onto his shoulders, centering his cock with your entrancing and sliding his entire length back into with a resounding thrust. "Fuck!" You cry out, grabbing hold of his arms, feeling the veins that wrap around his muscles under the soft skin. Tom immediately picks the pace back up, the bed squeaking and shaking from the ferocity of his fucking.

"Play with yourself, I wanna see you touch your clit while I'm fucking you," Tom orders. Your hand flies down to your clit, fingers toying with yourself. It feels even better with him inside you, every thrust sending a shockwave to your core.

You throw your head back, letting your body succumb to the pleasure. "Tom! Fuck I can't...," you trail off. You try to warn Tom that he's getting you close, bringing you closer to the edge with every thrust, but the pleasure has left you unable to form words. Tom brings your legs down from his shoulders and wraps them around his waist. Tom lays his body across yours, bare skin rubbing against bare skin, gliding over the other from sweat. Tom wraps one arm behind your head, bringing your face together, lips meeting as he buries his cock deep inside you, the head rubbing against your sweet spot as he slowly grinds his hips against yours, hitting that spot deep inside you over and over. "Tom!" You moan into his mouth. You feel the pressure building in your stomach each time he buries himself deeper. You grab his hand from your waist and push it to your clit, begging him to give you your release. Tom gets the memo and starts to rub your clit in circles with the rough pad of his thumb.

"Such a dirty girl for me," he moans into your mouth. You feel your body start to convulse. You grab on to his shoulders, your walls closing in around him. Tom picks up the pace of his thrusting, burying his cock as deep inside you as he can, working on your clit harder, collecting your wetness on his fingers to use on your clit.

"Tom," you gasp. "Fuck, don't stop!" Your hips buck and your legs shake, Tom hitting your sweet spot as you feel the pressure release. The pleasure washes over you, your mouth hanging open as guttural moans escape your mouth. You close your eyes, stars swirling around your vision as you feel your orgasm reaching it's peak. Tom knows what he's doing to you and he's loving every second, feeling your walls tighten on his cock, feeling your body shake in his hands as he pushes you over the point of no return. You buck your hips onto his cock, riding out the waves of your orgasm as you start coming down.

Tom gives you a few more thrusts before he grunts in your ear, his thrusts becoming short and hard as his body tenses up. He lets out a final groan before his pulsing cock begins to spurt his ribbons of cum inside you, holding your hips steady as he realizes inside you. "Fuck!" He grunts through gritted teeth. "Fucking hell," he moans, pumping inside you, his spent cock throbbing and twitching, fucking the cum out of you, letting it drip from your opening. Tom's mouth meets yours again, tongues intertwining as you pant and moan into each other's mouths, hardly able to move from how spent the both of you are.

Breathing heavy, the air hot and sticky, Tom is the first to break the post-orgasm silence. "I can't even remember the last time I came that hard," he smiles, breaking out into a laugh.

You bury your head into your hands, hiding your face from him. "So we really did that, huh?" You peek out through your fingers to see him flash that cheeky grin at you. You start laughing and shaking your head. "Such a dork."

"A dork who made you cum harder than you ever have before," he teases, leaving one final kiss to your neck. You roll your eyes at that, even though it was the truth.

Tom gets up from the bed to grab a towel from the bathroom. He turns on the shower before coming back, placing a towel beside you. "So," he starts. "Again tomorrow?"

"Obviously," you giggle, flashing him a devilish smile. Oh boy, what had you gotten yourself into?

Taglist: @hollanddolanfangirl​ @quaksvn​ @fandom-phaser​ @hollands-osterfield​ @evanssgi​ @happytsholland​ @lu-morningstar​ @ilivefortomhholland​ @quaksonhehe​ @ninjassassin13​ @softholand​ 

[colour-outside-the-liness]

That abandonment prompt actually had me thinking about a situation like this

Jamie's birthday falls on one of those days after they move into the haunted house and Dani forgets her birthday.

So here it goes, on her birthday, Jamie wakes up with a hope of spending some quality time with Dani atleast on that day. To atleast have a nice conversation with her, unlike everyday. Earlier, Dani used to wake her up with her clumsy kisses, she used to make her a good english breakfast and take funny pictures of themselves in bed. She wakes up, freshens up and gets ready for the day. She wears the suspenders gifted to her by dani on one of her birthdays, hoping for her to notice that. She reaches for her camera and sits down on her bed for a while, going through all their pictures and videos. This had become kind of a ritual to Jamie. There's also a video of them slow dancing on one of jamie's previous birthdays and she adores that video. It makes her happy but also sad when the reality hits her that she's not gonna have any of those moments again with the love of her life.

She puts the camera down and heads towards the kitchen to prepare some breakfast. Even though jamie wasn't expecting to see any english breakfast sitting on the table, waiting for her, some part of her still hoped for it and it somehow broke her heart when there was nothing. She finally manages to make something and she sits down at the table with some tea, breakfast and a news paper. She hears footsteps coming from upstairs, it's dani, she's coming towards the kitchen. Jamie wishes her good morning but receives no response from dani. Dani doesn't sit at the table instead sits at the kitchen counter and has her breakfast. Jamie completes her breakfast, has her tea and starts washing up the dishes. Dani approaches her and looks at jamie and every part of jamie wishes for her to notice her,her presence, the suspenders she's wearing but she dani just says that she'd help her out with those. Jamie washes the dishes and dani dries them up and she offers to prepare lunch because jamie made her breakfast. After doing the dishes, dani heads straight up to work and both of them work in complete silence. Dani only talks to jamie when she has any queries about the work and that's it. There's complete silence in the house and just then there's a notification on dani's phone so it brightens up. Jamie hopes for dani to notice the date atleast then but dani just ends up opening the text and then ends up calling some friend of hers as she walks away from the room. Dani comes back into the room and they get started on the lunch.While having their lunch, dani tells jamie that she'd be going out with her friends tonight and asks her to not wait up for her and then Jamie says "Tonight ? " with a tone of sadness and desperation and dani says "yeah, tonight. Why ? do you not want me to have fun with my friends now ?" she mumbles slowly, while picking the food on her plate to which jamie replies " what? where's this coming from now?" to which dani replies saying "then why are you so particularly asking me about me going out tonight?" jamie's eyes are filled with tears at this point but she manages to keep them inside and replies "that's not what i meant.....*please, stay with me today,i don't wanna be alone for today atleast.....she wants to say but she doesn't say it, instead she says* "nevermind" and leaves the room, changes out of her clothes. She gets her hardware tools and starts working on those parts of the house that needs the hard labour repair work. Dani goes upstairs into her room and starts getting dressed up for the night. When it's time, Dani comes downstairs and jamie cannot help but admire her beauty. Dani looked unimaginably beautiful that day but somehow jamie manages to look away from her and concentrate on her work in order to occupy her mind with something else other than the pain that she's been feeling today. Dani tells jamie that she shouldn't be doing all the hard work labor by herself. Jamie just nods and dani heads outside. Jamie notices that dani had forgotten a jacket AGAIN and the weather is bloody cold outside so she grabs whichever jacket is available at the nearest. She calls out dani's name and hands her the jacket. Dani takes it,thanks her and just when she's about to drive away, jamie bends over, looks at dani through the window and says "stay safe". Dani just nods and drives away slowly and just then jamie whispers to herself "i love you" and starts walking into the house. Dani looks at jamie through one of the rare view mirrors in that car, jamie looks defeated, her shoulders dropped, her head down and walking tiredly dragging her feet. Dani heart goes out for jamie after looking at her extra sad in that moment.

Jamie goes back into the house, completes all the work and vacuums the entire house. She's dreadfully tired, physically and mentally so she heads into her room. She grabs the camera once again, expecting to feel better. She goes through all the pictures and just when the video of them slow dancing together, displays, she can't hold those tears inside her anymore so she breaks down and eventually she cries herself to sleep.

Meanwhile Dani is out with her friends, having dinner but not any drinks because she has to drive back home. This is when the thought of jamie passes her mind, those moments when dani and jamie used to go out, dani used to drink to the fullest and jamie had to stay sober in order to drive them back home. As she's indulged into her thoughts, a man approaches her and asks her if she's available and dani politely declines. The man notices the ring on her finger and apologizes to her and invites the group to join one of his friend's birthday celebration and that's when it strikes her. She apologizes to her friends and leaves hurriedly. She starts driving and she notices the jacket on the passenger seat which was given to her by jamie when she was leaving, the jacket was jamie's and all those moments keep flashing in her mind when jamie was there for her at her lowest. Dani now realizes why jamie was so particular about today and that she shouldn't have left jamie all alone ny herself today and should not have been so mean to her today because deep down dani knows that jamie was trying, jamie was really trying.

Jamie on her birthday was at her most vulnerable state because before dani, she used to never celebrate it because she had no one to share the joy with. She had no one to call them of her own. She was abandoned by everybody she knew and she loved, so jamie hated her birthday until dani. Dani used to make her feel better by being there for her and comforting her on this day the most and promised her that she'd never be left alone, ever again. All these thoughts tend to hover inside of dani's mind on her way home.

Dani reaches home, parks the car and sees that the whole garden was tended to. The excessive grass was cut down, the plants and flowers were tended to. She goes into the house and notices that all the hard labor work was finished. Jamie has overworked and finished everything by herself which could only mean that she was deeply hurt. Dani opens the fridge and sees that all the food was as it was and there were no dishes in the sink, which could only mean that jamie hasn't eaten. Dani enters jamie's room and sees a pile of used tissues on her night stand, which could only mean that jamie has cried herself to sleep, literally. Dani sits on the bed and starts rubbing jamie's head soothingly, since jamie is a heavy sleeper, she doesn't wake up. she grabs the camera layed beside jamie and goes through all their pictures and the videos and wonders if this was what jamie did every night before going to bed. When the slow dancing video plays, dani starts tearing up as in the video she promises jamie that she'd never be left alone, never again. She whispers to jamie saying "I'm soo sorry". She stays there for a while and then heads up to her room and cries herself to sleep.

Urgh this prompt broke my heart but I LOVE it!! Poor Jamie feeling totally abandoned on her birthday!! This would bring back so many bad memories and would open up so many old wounds but I love this so much for hurt and angsty plot lines!! I would love to add something like this into the conjuring AU thank you for sending it my way ☺️

[cocomaxley]

What's Left of Us - Part 2

This is a part of a TRR A/U called Cordonians Gone Wild, a collaborative effort by @ao719 @speedyoperarascalparty @leelee10898 and yours truly. Catch up HERE.

Summary: Genevieve has to decide if Rashad deserves another chance.

Rating: Angst, I'm sad

Tag List: @fullbeaumonty @brightpinkpeppercorn @alj4890 @zaffrenotes @annekebbphotography @carabeth @moneyfordiamonds @give-me-ernest-sinclaire @3pawandme @indiacater @ooo-barff-ooo @ownworldresident @tornbetween2loves @perfectprofessorherokid @stopforamoment @editboutique @wannabemc2 @enmchoices @lauradowning29 @lodberg @smalltalk88 @gibbles82 @heatherfilliez @drakesensworld @nikkis1983 @sweetest-marbear @classylady1234 @daniv2278 @jlouise88 @jared2612 @liamxs-world @notoriouscs @blubutterflyy @captain-kingliamsqueen @lynne1993

Rashad left the office and joined Anitah, Pam, Liam and Drake in the living room. He spotted Genevieve across the room as guests offered their condolences. He noticed three men approach her that he recognized. He watched Thomas and Julian hug her and kiss her cheek before stepping aside. Rashad’s eyes narrowed when Christian stepped forward and hugged her longer than he liked. His hands clenched into fists when he saw Christian wipe a tear from her face.

Anitah noticed Rashad’s tense posture and looked to where he was staring. She smirked, “There’s someone who would treat her right if he had the opportunity...” Pam added, "Old habits die hard, eh Rashad?"

Liam frowned, “Anitah, Pam...please don't start. He already feels like shit.” Drake grumbled, “That’s his own damn fault, Liam.”

“Excuse me…” Rashad stood up and walked out the front door. He sat down on the porch swing, relieved to have a moment alone. He knew he needed to talk to her so he could beg her not to take the job and to come home instead.

The front door opened, and Thomas, Julian and Christian walked out of the house. Thomas and Julian shook his hand and headed to their car. Christian turned to him and said, “Take care of her...she's really hurting.” He extended his hand and Rashad shook it. Christian got in the car and the three men left.

The door opened again. Genevieve stepped out and stood in front of him. He got up and smiled weakly at her. She shook her head as tears streamed down her face. “You hurt me...a lot. But I think you know that, otherwise you wouldn't be here.”

He pleaded with her, “Gen, I’m so sorry. My job, my company, nothing will ever be more important than you. I was angry, and I took it out on the one person that didn't deserve it. I will never forgive myself for that. Please, don't take that job. Please come back with me. I will never hurt you again.”

She whispered through a sob, “I don't think I can give you another opportunity to hurt me again. Please go home, Rashad.” With that, she walked back inside the house leaving him alone on the porch. He slumped down on the porch swing feeling like he was just punched in the stomach. Tears welled up in his eyes, and he didn't even bother to wipe them when they finally fell down his face.

The two couples said goodbye to Genevieve and met Rashad on the porch. Anitah and Pam didn't even acknowledge him before getting into the waiting limo. Once the car was on the road, Rashad cleared his throat and looked at the two women, "Did she tell you she's not coming back to Cordonia, and that she accepted a job offer here?"

Drake and Liam shared a shocked look but didn't say a word. “Yes,” Anitah stated still staring out the window.

"I love her....and I want her to come home." He was trying to fight back the tears that were threatening to spill over.

“Rashad...do you really love her? Or did you just not want to be alone...or maybe she was good for your ego? Looked good having her on your arm at events?” Anitah sat forward looking at him. “Because I’m seriously questioning whether or not you ever loved her. You don’t destroy someone you love, Rashad. Breaking a woman’s heart goes way deeper than you guys may realize, and this goes for all of you,” she eyed each man in that limo. “We may be able to walk around with a smile, we may be able to act as though it doesn’t bother us, or in Gen’s case, we maybe able to act as though we can just up and move forward...but the truth is, you just destroyed her outlook on love. You ripped her self esteem to shreds, for you to make her think that she wasn’t enough for you, that she was a ‘mistake’ as you put it. And you very well may have just lost the best thing that ever happened to you, Rashad. And if that’s the case, I’m sorry, but you have no one to blame but yourself.” Anitah sat back and crossed her arms.

Rashad stared at her with his mouth open. “I do love her...with everything in me. I'm not going to act like I know how she's feeling. I'm sure it's far worse than what I'm feeling and I feel really fucking horrible. I just want the chance to fix it and make it right.” He choked up before continuing, “But she told me that she didn't want to give me that chance. And you're right, it's all my fault.” He could no longer hold back his tears. He pulled his gaze from Anitah and looked out the window.

Liam gave his friend a sympathetic pat on the shoulder, “Rashad...just give her some time...she has a lot going on right now with everything.”

Anitah gave Liam the side eye, glaring at him as she looked over to him. He silently motioned to a now crying Rashad giving his wife a look in return. She widened her eyes shaking her head as she shrugged her shoulders. Liam shook his head knowing he lost this silent argument.

Pam glared at Rashad and was about to say something when Drake put his hand on her knee, “Baby, I know you wanna yell at him. I’d very much like to see it, but maybe just wait. I really don't think he can handle much more. He knows how you ladies feel.” Pam crossed her arms over her chest and rolled her eyes. But she remained silent.

When they arrived at the hotel, Rashad let the four of them walk ahead of him. He watched as Liam wrapped his arm around Anitah’s waist, pulling her tight against his side. Drake draped his arm around Pam’s shoulders and pulled her close. Before going into his room, he looked down the hall at the two couples as they reached their hotel room doors. Liam was standing behind a giggling Anitah. He leaned down and kissed her neck. Drake had Pam pinned up against their door, lips locked in a passionate kiss.

He went into his room and removed his suit jacket and tie. He threw both items onto the bed before raiding the mini bar. His phone rang and he rifled through his suit jacket to find it, hoping it was Genevieve. When he saw it was his business partner calling, he threw it across the room and watched it shatter against the wall.

Genevieve sat on her bed in her childhood bedroom, hugging her Sunshine bear. All the guests were gone, and she was finally alone. She opened her phone and went through the texts and voicemails from Rashad. The messages from the day before were more desperate than the day of the fight, his voicemails more frantic. She wiped the tears from her face. She was sick of crying. She felt like that's all she's been doing for the past few days. There was a knock on her bedroom door. She looked up as her mom, Carla, walked into the room.

Her mom sat on her bed and cupped her cheek, “Baby girl, I know you're hurting, and not just because of grandpa. That poor man looked so lost when he was here. But when the two of you saw each other, it was like the world stopped. I've never seen anything like it. You know I'd rather have you close to home than some foreign country but...your heart knows where it calls home and I don't think that's here anymore.”

Genevieve looked down as more tears streamed down her face, “He hurt me, mama. He made me feel so unimportant and disposable. Like I was...nothing.”

She pulled her daughter into her arms, “Gen, sometimes it's easier to hurt the people we love than the people that actually deserve it. It's a sad truth. I don't think he meant what he said. I think he regrets all of it, and I think you know that.” Carla tilted Genevieve's face to look up at her. “You are my daughter. I love you with all my heart. You are beautiful, intelligent, and resilient. But you are equally sarcastic, facetious, and infuriatingly stubborn. Baby, if you decide to stay, I'll be so happy to have you here. But will I have all of you or will your heart be elsewhere?” She kissed Genevieve’s forehead and left her with her thoughts.

The following morning, the five friends met in the lobby. “You guys ready to leave? We can decide who rides in which jet when we get to the airfield,” Liam said to the group.

Pam shook her head, “Actually, why don't the three of you go ahead in Rashad’s jet. Anitah and I are going to stay for a couple more days. Today is the first day Gen hasn't been surrounded by people, so I think her grandfather’s death will hit her hard...she needs us since her boyfriend is probably eager to get back to work.”

Rashad hung his head, “I deserve all of this, and I've taken everything you've given, the yelling, the anger, the hurtful words...but I can't listen to it anymore. It kills me that I've lost her. I was devastated when my ex left me. Losing Gen is a million times worse than that. Don't you see? She is my world, my everything. You both are with the love of your life. How would you feel knowing you fucked up so bad that you lost them? So please stop...I can't take anymore right now.” He walked out of the hotel without another word.

Everyone got into the limo. The men were dropping off Pam and Anitah at the Sanchez home. When they pulled up, Carla was outside throwing salt down on the slick sidewalk. She walked up to the car and greeted them. “Good morning! Is anyone hungry? I just got done cooking breakfast. My crabby little princess is inside eating right now,” she said with a laugh.

Liam shook his head, “Oh we couldn't impose, Mrs. Sanchez.”

“Nonsense! I insist, everyone inside right now.” She pointed to the house, and everyone did as they were told by Mama Carla.

They walked into the kitchen, and Genevieve smiled until her eyes fell on Rashad. Her face turned into a scowl as she grabbed her plate and walked towards the stairs.

“No food upstairs, young lady!” Carla shouted after her daughter.

“I am almost 30 years old! I will eat upstairs if I want to, especially when you invite unwanted visitors into our house,” Genevieve yelled back, stomping up every single step.

Anitah giggled as she yelled, “You’re grounded!” Just as the door slammed shut.

Carla let out a hearty laugh, “My daughter is amazing in the morning. She made me understand why wild animals eat their young. Now, there's only one rule in this house, if it's there, it needs to be eaten. So help yourselves.”

Carla arched her brow as Liam loaded his plate with bacon, sausage, eggs, pancakes and French toast. “Does no one feed you?” She pushed the plate of pancakes closer to him. Liam just smiled as he ate.

Genevieve's dad, Roberto, stood up from the table and looked directly at the men, “You better be careful...she makes you fat so you can't run away.” They all laughed as he walked into the living room.

The older woman noticed that Rashad remained quiet during the meal, barely eating. His eyes kept darting towards the stairs. She walked up behind him and put her hand on his shoulder, “Just give her some time. She's stubborn, you know that. But she will come around.” She gave his shoulder a squeeze. He smiled at her, “Thank you, Mrs-...” she gave him a warning look, and he cleared his throat, “mom.”

“Now, Drake, all this closeness is probably killing you. Roberto is probably sleeping by now. Go ahead and take the remote from him.” She winked at Drake who stood up and kissed her cheek, “Thanks, ma.”

“I've heard a lot about you, Anitah. Tell me more about yourself,” Carla inquired. Anitah cleared her throat, “Uh, I grew up in New York, literally met Prince Charming and fell in love…” Anitah giggled and Carla smiled. “Where in New York?” She asked with a thoughtful expression on her face. “I grew up in Long Beach, and I went to Fordham in the Bronx. I worked at a bar while in college. Then met this group of goons there one night.” Liam feigned offense, “Hey!”

Pam finished her plate of food and joined Drake in the living room. Roberto was asleep in his recliner when Drake took the remote from his hand. Genevieve’s dad woke up with a loud snore once Drake changed the channel. “What are you doing, boy?” Drake’s mouth fell open, “You...you were sleeping...mom said I could…”

Pam giggled and took the remote from her husband. “Drake, never touch another man’s remote.” Pam handed the controller back to Roberto as she said, “Sorry, dad. Don't mind him.”

Once Liam had his fill of food, the men said their goodbyes and left for the airport. Pam decided to check on Genevieve leaving Anitah in the kitchen with Carla. Once Pam convinced Genevieve that the boys were gone, the two women went downstairs. Anitah wiped her face when she saw her friends walk into the kitchen. Genevieve was about to say something when she saw her mom shake her head, so she kept her mouth shut.

The next day, Genevieve asked Pam and Anitah to go apartment hunting in areas near the city. She knew they were leaving the following morning. She wanted some company looking for a place close to the hospital since she no longer had a car. The girls met her realtor who took them to an Evanston apartment. Genevieve walked around the tiny living space and stopped as soon as she saw the kitchen. “Nope, not gonna work for me. I can't open the oven door all the way because it'll hit the cabinet handle.”

The realtor took them to another Evanston apartment that was only a ten minute walk from the hospital. Genevieve immediately said no because of the outdated bathroom. After several apartments, the realtor finally found one that Genevieve couldn't pick apart. Pam and Anitah stayed in the living room while she looked through the master bedroom when she heard a crash. Genevieve and the realtor came running out and saw a light fixture broken on the floor. Anitah pointed to the broken glass, “Gen, this place clearly isn't constructed very well. Do not sign the lease on this one.” The realtor stared at her with her mouth open.

The next apartment was newly renovated with a view of Lake Michigan. “I love it! This is it girls!” Genevieve squealed. “Gen, there's a giant crack in the wall. This may have some structural problems.” Pam said pointing to a large crack in the wall. The realtor was about to say something when Anitah pulled her into the hallway. “Ugh, I guess I'll have to keep looking,” Genevieve groaned.

On the ride back to Genevieve's house, Anitah asked, “Gen...are you...are you sure staying in Chicago is what you really want to do?”

Genevieve arched her brow, "What do you mean? A job like this doesn't just get handed to you every day. Some people would kill for this opportunity.” She sighed before continuing, “Besides...what's in Cordonia for me? You guys are married and you'll be starting families soon...maybe this is where I need to be."

Anitah gave her a questioning look, “Are you going to try and talk to him?”

She shrugged, "There's nothing to talk about. I told him to go home and he did...so that's that. He knows I'm taking the job...I just need to send in the offer letter."

Anitah continued to question her friend, “Well is there a reason you haven’t submitted it yet, Gen? You’ve had plenty of time to do so...yet it’s still sitting at your house...”

"It's been a busy two days with the wake and the funeral...this is the first day I've had to even think about it." Genevieve replied.

Pam couldn't hold her tongue anymore, "You're full of shit, Gen. You haven't sent that letter in because we both know that stupid asshole, who is actually a really sweet guy, who fucked up and knows it, still owns your heart. I know you're mad, but it's time to be honest. You love him..."

Genevieve fought back her tears, “Well, sometimes love isn’t enough, Pamela.”

The next day, Drake and Rashad walked into Liam's office. He finished his phone call and hung up. “The girls will be landing shortly. I sent a car to wait for them,” Liam gave Rashad a compassionate smile. “She could have changed her mind. She might be on the plane, Rashad…”

Rashad gave him an unconvincing nod. Even Drake had simmered down and started to feel bad for him. A little while later, they saw the black SUV pull up in front of the palace. The three men went outside and watched the driver open the rear passenger door. Pam, Anitah and Brad exited the vehicle. Liam and Drake greeted their wives as Rashad stared at the open door. Rashad’s heart broke when he watched the driver push it shut. She didn't come back with them.

His voice cracked as he spoke, “Welcome home, Pam, Anitah. I’m going to head out…” He wiped the tear that rolled down his cheek. Pam and Anitah gave him a sympathetic smile.

After he got into his car, another black SUV pulled up blocking him in his parking spot. He groaned, knowing he was stuck until the vehicle moved. Looking through his rearview mirror, he watched the driver get out and open the rear door. When the door shut, he saw her. He turned around in his seat and looked out of the rear windshield to make sure his eyes weren't playing tricks on him. He fumbled with the door handle and got out of his car. There she was, standing in front of him.

“You...came back…” He took a few tentative steps towards her. She smiled as tears rolled down her cheeks, “No, I came home.”

He closed the distance between them and wrapped his arms around her. Unable to hold back his emotions, he broke down crying. She held him tightly as she sobbed in his arms.

“God, I missed you. I love you, Gen. I will spend every single day showing you how sorry I am and how much I love you. Your happiness will always come before anyone or anything. I can't live without you.”

“I missed you too, and I love you so much, Rashad. But we need to talk. We have a lot to work on...together...” she managed to say through sobs.

“Whatever it takes, sweetheart. I just never want to be without you...ever again,” He replied wiping the tears from her face.

“Oh my god! Kiss her already!” Anitah shouted.

The pair turned to their friends. Liam and Drake were grinning from ear to ear while Pam and Anitah were crying. She smiled up at him, and he leaned down capturing her mouth in a passionate kiss. She closed her eyes relishing the feeling of his lips on hers.

After they broke apart, Rashad walked up to Anitah and Pam, “You guys put me through the ringer...but thank you for being such good friends to her, and having her back when I didn’t.” The two women threw their arms around him and pulled him into a tight hug. “We forgive you, cinnamon roll!”

“Let's go home,” Rashad grabbed Genevieve’s hand and led her towards his car.

A Few Weeks Later…

Rashad and Genevieve were hosting dinner in Domvallier. The friends were laughing and talking during their meal. Demetrius walked in with an envelope in his hand, “Rashad, son, what is this bill from Chicago?”

Thinking it was a bill from the hotel from when threw his phone, he took the paper from his father. “This is a bill for damage to two apartments in Evanston. This must be a mistake.”

Anitah was drinking her water when she choked on it causing her to spit it out. Pam tucked her lips between her teeth to keep from laughing. Genevieve noticed the two women turning red, “Oh my god! You two broke that stuff in those apartments so I wouldn't sign the lease?”

Rashad questioned her, “What are you talking about, sweetie?”

“Before I decided to come home, I was looking at apartments. In one of them the light fixture ‘fell’ from the ceiling, and in another there was a huge crack in the wall.” Genevieve snorted, “And then you told them to bill Rashad? That's brilliant!”

The three women burst out laughing while Liam glared at Anitah. “You're welcome, Rashad! You're welcome.” Anitah said through her laughter.

Rashad chuckled, “It's a small price to pay, I suppose. I'll take care of it, Father.”

[angelstrenchcoat-67]

Game Day - A Matchmaker's Story

Pairing: Alex x Reader

Warnings: Fluff for days

Summary: Going to the Whitecaps game to support Alex.

Author's note: This is a headcanon for my Matchmakers series but you don't have to read it to understand it (tho I highly recommended it because it's awesome). There are a few references but nothing to big.

Beta'd by @winchestersandco

"Looking good, girl" Kathryn smiles brightly at me as I take the seat between her and Katherine. Gen, Dee, and Vic couldn't be here today since they are back home with their families so the girls came to keep me company.

"Not hiding it anymore, I see" Katherine smirks as she stares at the back of my shirt where CALVERT reads in big blue letters.

"It's not like we've been secretive about it" I mutter, looking for Alex at the bench. He’s running his hand through his hair as the starting players move to the center of the field. "Besides, most of the fans have already figured it out"

"How did it happen? You haven't given us the details to your love story" Kathryn asks me as a loud whistle indicates the beginning of the game.

"I kinda knew that I liked him, I was just in denial about it and he says he knew he liked me and that he had always wanted to ask me out but never got the courage" I bite the side of my lip to hide my grin. "But when we went to the beach with the guys, they made it their mission to get us together so we ended up spending most of the time together, so it was impossible to pretend like nothing was going on between us"

"And who made the first move?" Katherine turns around to focus on me, more interested in the conversation than in the game.

"Mmm, Alex tried to kiss me first but I ran away but later I kissed him so, I don't know" I chuckle at the surprised look on both of them. "I did walk in on him when he was showering so maybe that was me making the first move.

"You saw him naked?"

"You ran away?"

They both ask at the same time, the noise of the crowd stopping the people nearby from hearing them. "I panicked when I saw him leaning in and no, I didn't see him naked. He was already walking out with a towel wrapped around him"

"Boring" Kathryn pouts before turning her eyes back to the game. "I bet he looks good naked, no offense”

"Non taken, I know what you mean" I blush, remembering all the times I've spent staring at Alex when he is shirtless or in a towel after he has taken a shower.

After a while, the game comes to its first break so I decide to get something to eat. Alex hasn't played yet but I think he is going on in the next part of the game. As I wait in line, I check for my phone only to find several tweets about how I came to the game to support Alex. There are a few hate comments but nothing too serious. I get them, I've been the fangirl with a celebrity crush before.

I get back to my seat just as the game starts again and I see Alex being called out as the camera points to him as he gets ready to enter the field. "Oh my god, he’s going in”

"What if he scores a goal and dedicates it to you?" Katherine giggles as she watches me looking at Alex.

"He’s playing defense so I don't think that's gonna happen" I smile as Alex runs for the ball, being completely focused on the game.

As Alex moves in to stop a player from scoring, the other guy hits him and he falls to the ground. A few players run to him so I cannot see what's going on.

"Is he okay?" I stand up to get a better look but I can only see his face and I can tell he is in pain.

"Yeah, I think the other guy kicked him" Kathryn stands up to watch too.

"I am going to kill him" I turn around, ready to walk down there but Katherine stops me.

"It was probably an accident. And look he’s already back on his feet" She points at Alex as he stands up, wincing a little bit as he takes his first steps. "He’s going to be fine"

"I hope so because if that guy hurt Alex, he is going to be a Hellhounds meal" I huff, flopping back into the seat.

"People are staring, Y/N" Kathryn smiles awkwardly at a girl who is frowning at us. "No more supernatural references, okay?"

The game went over pretty smoothly, Alex played really well even though it was his first time playing on such a big field. We are currently waiting for him to come join us, I even got him a beer so that he can cool off.

"Hey baby" I grin widely as I watch him walking over to us. He bends over to kiss me, a smile present on his lips. "You were amazing"

"Thanks" His eyes are soft as he watches me before giving me another kiss, deeper this time.

"Mhm" Katherine coughs, smirking when I turn to glare at her. "Get a room, Calverts"

"We are not married, you know right?" I roll my eyes as I wrap my arms around Alex.

"Yet" He winks at the girls and before I can reply, he gives me a quick peck. "So, let's get going"

"Wait, I want a picture" I give my phone to Katherine and then I turn around so I have my arms around Alex and his last name is visible in the back of my shirt. He wraps one arm around me, holding his beer in the other hand as he smiles to the camera.

"I love it" Kathryn giggles as she leans over Kat’s shoulder to look at the picture. "You guys are so cute I swear"

"I know, right?" Alex runs his hand through my hair as he looks me in the eyes. "I am one lucky guy"

"Stop it" I blush as he grabs my hand to guide through the stadium.

"Do you really want me to stop complimenting you and admiring you?" He pulls me to his side so he can wrap his arm around my shoulder as we walk, the girls following close behind.

"Okay maybe not" I turn around to look at the girls which makes them hide their phones since they were taking pictures of us. "Thank you so much for keeping me company today"

"We loved coming here" Kathryn beams at me as we say our goodbyes. "We need to see each other more often"

"Yeah, let's meet up for coffee before shooting starts again" Katherine suggests so we all nod along.

After a lot of hugs, the girls go their way, leaving Alex and I on our own. We walk hand in hand, bumping into other actors as we make our way to the car.

"Did I mention how much I love that shirt on you?" Alex pushes me slightly against the side of the car, placing on hand on the hood and the other one around my middle. "That's all I've been thinking about"

"I am glad you liked it" I whisper as he leans in to kiss me but then pulls back slightly when I reach for his lips. "Don't tease me, Alexander"

"We are in public, buttercup" He rests his lips against my forehead, holding me in place. "Whenever I kiss you, I lose track of what's happening"

"I don't mind it" I hug him against me, not caring about the fact that minutes ago he was sweating like crazy. "I actually love it"

"I know you do" He gives me a wink as he pulls back, creating a distance between us. "But I don't think the other people do, besides we don't want to end up on E! news because I couldn't keep my hands to myself"

"You take the fun out of everything" I pout as he opens the door of the passenger seat for me.

"Trust me, I'll show you fun as soon as we get home" He gives me a quick kiss, not even letting me react to it.

-

"Can you put your phone away so you can pay attention to me?" Alex pushes my phone away from my face as his head is resting on my lap.

"I am writing the caption of our photo, just give me a second" I quickly type the words before uploading the picture to my instagram. "I tagged you so you have to like it"I give him my phone so that he can look at the picture.

"Y/i/n: He might have played defense but he is a keeper. Love you, my angel 💙"

"God, you are so cheesy" He bites his lips as a smile creeps over his face. "C'mere"

I lean in to meet his lips halfway, placing my hand over his chest. He bites my lower lip, I open up my mouth so he can deepen the kiss. He sweeps the tip of his tongue over my lower lip just as I slip my hand under his shirt, feeling his muscles tense under my finger tips. He groans under my touch, running his hands through my hair to pull me closer. The position is getting a little uncomfortable so he moves to sit next to me but instead of just turning my head, I decide to straddle his hips. He brings his hands down to hold my hips as his lips move from mine to my cheek then to my jaw and finally to my neck. He knows my neck is the way to make me melt in his arms so as soon as his lips are on my skin, a deep groan escapes my mouth.

"God, you are killing me" He breathes out heavily, digging his fingers into my skin. I grab the hem of his shirt, he takes the hint and brings his arms up so I can remove it.

"Have I mentioned how much I love your abs?" I ask him as I run my hands through all the lines marked in his abdomen.

"They are all yours, babe" I can feel his breath getting harder as he reacts to my touch. Before I know it, I’m placing kisses over his shoulder then down to his chest.

"Do you want me to take the jersey off?" I ask him as I move my lips back to his face, biting him slightly under his jaw.

"Tempting, really tempting" He groans as his fingers move under my shirt. "But there's something about you in just that shirt and underwear"

"Why?" I pull back to rest my arms around his shoulder as his fingers draw lines in my back.

"I don't know, I just-" He breathes out before looking me in the eyes, a little more serious now. "I love seeing you with my last name on your back, it reminds me that I finally have you"

A silence falls between us, and I don't dare to move, I just look into his light blue eyes. I feel a lump in my throat as he reaches his hand to tuck my hair behind my ear. "I am sorry. I shouldn't have said that, I probably scared you, I-"

"Shut up" I place my hand over his mouth. "You are ruining the moment"

"Okay" He mutters when I remove my hand to place it over his cheek.

"You didn't scare me, Alex. It shows me you love me as much as I love you" I hide my head in the crook of his neck, hugging my arms around his middle. "I am keeping this shirt forever"

Half an hour later, Alex is snoozing next to me, completely exhausted by the game. I quickly snap a pic before looking at the comments on the picture I posted earlier.

"@danneelackles512: You two are killing me, I swear😍"

"@nowandgen: in love with your love❤️"

"@jaredpadalecki: You guys are adorable, I want to throw up"

"@jensenackles: I see Alex found someone just as ridiculously cheesy as him"

"@mishacollins: I am still waiting for you to properly ask for his hand"

"@kathrynnewton: Favs💕"

"@katramdeen: Adopt me please"

I laugh at all the comments, liking them before noticing one that immediately makes my heart feel like it's going to explode.

"@alex8calvert: I could watch you forever and it would still feel like the first time. I love you"

——��—————————————————————

Matchmakers is my baby and I don’t want to let it go so when I saw the picture Jenna posted on her instagram story, I knew I had to write something. Hope you like it:)

Also, I wrote 'Claire' insteand of Kathryn and when I was fixing it I realized that I had Kathryn and Katherine so I hope that is not too confusing. For those of you who don't know, Kathryn is the actress that plays Claire and Katherine is the one that plays Alex :)

General Tag List:

@fallenangelsneverfade @waywardwboys @thesoundofme @i-hear-crazy-calling-my-name @randomstuff-idontwannatalkboutit @josephineasting @mypassionsarenysins @bitchfacesammy @franchisefan14

Matchmakers Tag List:

@mahalaraewolfe @typicalweirdbookworm @xostephanie @sam-winchester168 @theoraeken9 @dustycelt @winter-moons @sillydecoy @in-my-heart-and-on-my-sleeves @mannls @spnjerks67 @madxhttr22 @ahopelessshipper @hortonhearsahoeblr @spnimpalaimagines @literally-just-for-fanfics @allison-rosewood-maximoff @beepbeepanna @l4life @caswinchester2000 @spn-obession @expectosel @morgannope @dpaccione @oliolioxiclean @mallorydoesstuff @meghanamrhein @s11041104 @tearsforhan @chevycastiel1967 @babydollbunny99 @maariaa-xoxo @ivyohmy @multifandomizer @fandom-menace @love-faith-and-alittle-blood @thecuriositydoorlocked @creamxpuffxchan

[marshmallowatheart]

To All The Boys I've Loved Before (Part 30)

(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) (10) (11) (12) (13) (14) (15) (16) (17) (18) (19) (20) (21) (22) (23) (24) (25) (26) (27) (28) (29)

Dear Veronica,

Kissing you feels like the start of a new season, the sun in the early morning, and moonlight reflecting on the ocean. There is never a moment that I don’t think about your lips and how they make me feel when they are on mine.

I wish I were kissing you instead of just writing about it.

- L

P.S. You look beautiful today. You always do.

Veronica’s grin breaks through her face as she reads the note again and again. She bites her lip, grinning and embraces the feeling of being the absolute giddy teenage girl that she's come to be.

She’d fallen asleep with a smile the night they'd admitted to wanting them to be real and she'd been falling asleep smiling ever since with memories of his lips on hers and his confession of love playing in her mind. Logan Echolls really should come with a warning label and a list of side-effects; it's barely been a week and she feels addicted.

They’re in Journalism class when he slips her his note, he’s talking to Dick – hands wild and grin blazing as he talks about the upcoming surf competition they’re both sure to participate in when she reads the little poem he’s found for her. She softly smiles as he chatters on and she decidingly puts pen to paper.

Dear Logan,

things that fall

petals

tear drops

snowflakes

rain

stars

tides

eyelids

time

shadows

leaves

the sun

and I,

for you.

She’d seen this little snippet at a time when she'd thought her love unrequited. Ever since Logan had come back into her life and re-familiarised himself with her heart every little love poem, sappy quote, meaningful lyric became about him.

She’d never thought she’d actually share them with him but she hasn't responded to his notes before and she finds herself wanting to know if he'll smile at her note like she does at his.

She glances at his note, biting down on her lip and continues to write.

I love the way I feel when your lips are on mine.

- V

P.S. I wish you were kissing me too.

She folds it up, inks his name on the outside like he does with hers and lets it sit beneath her book as she waits for him to return to his seat beside her.

She hasn't actually given anyone a love note before. She's written her letters but those were just for her and she hadn't been the one to send them out - she didn't get the chance to feel the anticipation brim up inside her as the letters ventured out into the hands of the objects of her once affections.

She thinks that she could slip the note into his book and wait for him to open it but he's Logan and chances are he'll snark his way through class until the bell rings without opening his book. She could slip it into his pocket like he's done before but she doesn't think she can pull it off in the sauve way that he can. She could let it sit in his locker but she wants him to see it as soon as possible because her nerves are building as the note sleeps under her hardcover book.

He spins himself into his seat as Ms Dent begins to talk about layouts and interviews and things that Veronica should be listening to but can't seem to care about; she's got her on-going assignment and she knows she's not going to be asked to submit anything else along with it.

Her eyes find his brown ones between the chaos of their classmates negotiating on their assigned pieces. They're next to each other but not close enough to be touching

It's become devastatingly difficult to not touch him because she wants to feel his skin under the tips of her fingers and she wants to let herself fall in a spell of his fingers against her skin. Her body aches with the memory of his fingers on her neck and his lips on her jaw and it wants more.

She bites on her bottom lip and his eyes are immediately drawn south to her coloured lips that's peach, glossy and sweet - she thinks of his note and how he wishes he were kissing her - she finds herself looking at his lips too.

He looks like he wants to say something, whisper something to her, let his fingers touch her skin but he stays silent and tries to refocus, taking deep breaths and she knows that he's thinking about the four minute heated make out session they had in his car before they had to enter school this morning.

She sucks in a breath and leans closer to him. He moves forward, meeting her half way and she holds out her note for him between two fingers like it's something she's casually doing and she hopes it hides how much thought she's put into the simple act of passing him a little note - an act he's able to do everyday without a second thought.

She doesn't feel too confident about how she gave him the note, her body is jittery and she needs to turn away because his eyes are smouldery and his lips are looking as kissable as ever.

He looks surprised and soft and gentle and happy and she doesn't understand how his name sprawled on a folded side of the piece of paper incites so much of feeling into his brown eyes.

She looks away as he opens her note because as much as she wants to see his reaction to her words, her heart is beating a bit too fast and she's not sure if she can handle seeing his smouldering eyes without kissing him right here in the middle of class.

The minutes drag on to what seems like forever and the moment class is over he pulls her into the girls bathroom, slapping her out of order sign on the door - once again making use of the little red warning sign she initially only used for investigative purposes.

She's propped up on the bathroom counter, legs wrapped around his waist and his mouth on hers - hard, long, needy kisses.

Their hands are tangled around one another, grasping for closeness as they squeeze in their need for each other in the five very short minutes they have until their next class.

They haven't had time to be alone since their confession of wanting their relationship to be real. She's had soccer practice and Heather shaped obligations she's taken on while he's getting ready for surf competitions and accompanying his mother to formal events she'd rather not be alone at. The only time she's gotten to see him when he picks her and Heather up for school, at school and when he drops them home.

All they've had this week were stolen kisses between hours, brushing of hands as they go their separate ways coupled with heated glances from across the hallway. And Logan's little notes. Notes that flame the fires within her and make her feel the ache of not having him to herself now when he's finally hers to have.

They're late to their next class and Veronica's grateful for the tardy slips she's kept from months ago.

--vm--

It's Friday night and there's parties being thrown and appearances needed to be made but Veronica's home baking last minute cookies for Heather and her friends because she's written sleepover on Meg's to-do board that's hung on the side of the fridge and her dad is still working the night shift so she's got supervision duties.

She's working fast, shaping up cookies and baking them as quick as she possibly can. Her hair is a mess, the kitchen is a mess and the once neatly organised planner board is a mess. She remembers Heather swooning about Nutella filled crepes and fruit filled crepes and dozens of other homemade options that she'd had at her last slumber party because Lauren's mother is a perfectionist. Meg's never let them feel disappointment over not having something other kids had, she worked hard at cultivating fancy dishes and napkins and organising entertainment. Veronica wasn't about to be the one that damaged her sister's childhood.

"Ronica? Are you done yet?" Heather asks, tilting her head as she throws her bag on the side of the couch. "I need to be at Ophelia's in like thirty minutes so we have a bit of time before the sleepover."

Veronica's brows furrow, still working on the cookies, trying to be fast and diligent at the same time. "Why doesn't she come over here? I mean wouldn't that be easier?"

Her sister shoots her a quizzical look, plopping on a bar stole and stealing a bit of cookie dough. "Uhm no, we're staying over at her place, I told you this last week."

"Wait," Veronica stops, hands resting on the counter top as she looks at her sister in her eyes. "The sleepover isn't here?"

"No," Heather shakes her head, oblivious to her sister's incredulous expression as she licks her fingers. "Why would you think that?"

"Because," the older Mars blows out. "The board. Sleepover," she says and wants to hit her head for not being specific enough. She sighs. "Let's wait for this batch to be done, it'll take ten minutes more to bake and you can take it with you to Ophelia's."

Heather beams, bright eyes and toothy grin. "Thanks, Ronica."

She gives her sister a soft smile before she asks, "So are you and Ophelia good? I mean, did you talk to her?"

"I didn't have to," the little girl starts her story. "I saw Ophelia give Ryan her red balloon. She loves balloons. She wouldn't even let me have a balloon and I'm her best friend."

Veronica's brows furrow as she continues to stare at her little sister. "Because you always pop your balloons. It's like you're a human cactus."

Heather shoots her a glare. "Whatever. You don't understand how it looked under the sunset sky and the two of them smiling at each other. And she told him that she likes him."

"Were you spying on them?" Veronica asks, brow arched and tries to put on a disapproving face - she either fails or Heather doesn't take notice.

"I was observing my friends from a distance," the little blonde reasons.

"Uh-huh. Heather -"

Her sister doesn't let her finish as she continues with her story, "It's only after we went on the Ferris Wheel and Ryan gave me the red balloon that I realized that Ophelia was only trying to help him because she liked him as a friend."

"He gave it to you? I didn't see you with a balloon."

"Because it got popped," Heather tells her, sighing loudly like she misses the balloon. "Ophelia knew it would too. She thought it might break the ice between us, give us something to laugh at because I get nervous around him," she explains everything so quickly that Veronica almost doesn't catch the end bit but thankfully she's trained herself to be an attentive listener.

"Heather Mars, nervous?" Veronica clunks her tongue with the roof of her mouth. She looks at her sister nostalgically and says, "You're growing up way too fast."

--vm--

She texts Logan about her change of plans when she gets home from dropping Heather off. He doesn't ask her to come to the party with him, she doesn't really want to go but she feels disappointed that he doesn't offer because she does want to spend time with him even if it means sharing him with his friends.

She turns on her music, puts her apron back on, starts to finish off making the cookies and tries to let go of her woes for the night.

It's when she's cleaning up the mess she's made in the kitchen that she hears the unexpected chime of the door bell. Grinning before her, clad in a green shirt and blue jeans is her brown eyed, snarky and hot mouthed boyfriend.

"Hey," he lets out, soft and needy and she honestly wasn't expecting him to be here at her doorstep tonight.

"Hey," she breaths out, head tilted slightly, curious eyes and appreciative smile because she's happy that he's here. She missed him.

"Kiss the Baker," he reads, trademark smirk on his lips, looking at her with twinkling eyes as he comes in.

She closes the door behind him and gives him a curious look, he pointedly gestures to her apron with his brows and she chuckles, rolling her eyes.

He moves in closer to her, eyes set on hers as his arms come to wrap around her waist. "Who am I to deny the embedded command of the apron makers?"

She chuckles, teasing grin falling on her lips as she stares up at him with equal playfulness. Her arms snake up his sides and she adds, "You wouldn't want to upset them."

"Mm," he bops her nose with his before leaning in and whispering, "I wouldn't want that."

She sucks in slightly when his warm breath lingers on her lips before he closes the gap between them, capturing her lips with his in a sweet, sensual kiss.

He smiles, breaking from her before it got too deep. "Is that cookies I smell?"

She doesn't answer him, instead she moves her hands to his neck and pulls him back down to her, kissing him deeper and longer than their initial kiss. He has no qualms taking her into his arms and falling into the their kiss or the kisses that follow.

It feels good to not be in a race against time, they're on her couch when Veronica finds herself glancing at the clock. She knows that Casey Gant's party has already started so she asks Logan about it and all he does is inaudibly mumble against her skin and she can't help but chuckle in response. "I thought you wanted to go to the party?"

He nuzzles his nose into her hair and murmurs into her skin, "Not tonight. It's been too long since I've hand my Veronica full. I want to be selfish with you for a little bit longer."

He kisses her neck, lightly sucking careful to not leave a mark - not that he doesn't want to but he knows it'll be awkward for her and he doesn't want to put her in that position.

She aches into him at his words, lightly nods, his lips now pepping shoulder kisses as she airs out, "I didn't want to go to the party anyway."

He smiles against her neck, his nose pressing hard against her and she doesn't know why his nose of all parts of his body but it does.

She pulls back slightly, nudging his head up with her hands and kissing him senselessly. She's so filled with want and need and uncharted desire that she doesn't really know what to do with it. She just knows that she wants to kiss him until their lips are swollen and numb to the point where they can't kiss anymore.

Her lips find his neck, she peps kisses like he had done for her and he moves his neck easily to accommodate her. Her kisses line up to his jaw before she finds her way back to the crook of his neck and lightly sucks and bites. He groans, his neck leaning into her with force she hasn't felt before and she likes it. She wants him to do that more, make noises and press his body tighter against her.

He pulls away, capturing her face with his hands, he brings her mouth to his, kissing her fully and pouring his need into her. Their eyes are closed as they lean into each other, gasping silently for air between their long drawn kisses.

Her throat feels dry and the house is quiet reminding her of how alone they are. "Do you wanna go upstairs?" She means to be suggestive but she doesn't really know how to be especially not when he's pressed against her like this and she's melting into his touch. She thinks that the suggestion is obvious enough given the context of their position.

He leans in harder into her before bowing out. "I don't think that's a good idea," he breaths out.

"Oh," she lets out, disappointing breaking through the silence.

He tightens his hold on her, silently begging for her to not misunderstand him. "I don't want us to move too fast," he tries to explain, he's never had to have this particular conversation before but he often finds himself getting lost in the taste of Veronica and it takes everything in him to break away. They're alone in this house but he knows the sanctity of the couch will preserve him some limitations that her bedroom doesn't offer. He doesn't want her to regret him.

She nods her head against him, insecurity rattling it's way up her spine and he wants to assure her but his methods come in ways that he doesn't think she's ready for so he takes a minute and tries to gather his words. He holds onto her, letting his touch assure her until his words can. "I want you so much, Veronica," he finally whispers against the silence. "I don't want to ruin us by being too selfish."

"How is it selfish if I want you too?" She whimpers out against him. She doesn't know what she's promising. She wants his skin against hers. She wants him in her arms and she wants his mouth on her lips, her neck and everywhere his hands touch. He makes her want more but she's not sure what exactly more is yet.

He whispers his love against her skin and she revels in the glory that it brings. He doesn't move them to her room and she's silently relieved because she finds herself wanting more than she's ready for and she's not sure how he knows but she's thankful that he does.

They switch on a movie, wrapped in each other, fingers caressing skin and kisses in between snarky remarks. It's calmer than before and it feels good to just be in his arms.