"Come on, Tally-wa! Let's get all warmed up."
With a vapid smile, Tally Youngblood stepped through the door to Zane's dorm as he held it open for her. The usual out-of-place feeling arose, and she resisted the urge to check over her shoulder for anyone watching in the halls. Even though it was coming up on a month since the two had been found on the roof of Valentino Mansion, and subsequently began spending more time together, Tally couldn't help but feel that she didn't really belong here in Pulcher Mansion. Didn't really deserve to be with Zane. Even though she knew that none of the Crims judged her for it, beyond some good-natured ribbing about how the newest member of their clique had hooked up with its leader right away- "Wow, you move fast, huh?" There were parties to attend, surge to get, and more recently, tricks to plan- all much more exciting than gossip about who was seeing whom in private.
Maybe her hesitation stemmed from the weight of the secret that she and Zane shared. While the Crims turned an apathetic eye to their sudden union, the city's wardens seemed much more interested. Apparently not buying that the two had scaled Valentino Mansion as part of a harmless trick, they'd fitted them with interface bracelets. Every glance at Tally's wrist was a reminder of the price she'd paid to become bubbly. Not that the end result wasn't worth it. Her mind was getting clearer every day, thanks to both the pill she'd taken and Zane's presence. But living under constant surveillance was paranoid-making, and tiring too. After a day of keeping up the illusion of normality, Tally often wondered if it were possible to talk her way back into pretty-mindedness. Now that she'd broken free of it, she was reluctant to go back, but sometimes the ease of being hazy lured her.
Zane's room was chaotic, as usual, looking like his closet had vomited its contents over every surface. It had only recently occurred to Tally that perhaps Zane's refusal to recycle his clothes was deliberate. Anything could be hidden away in this mess. But she hadn't asked him, unable to find a pretty phrase in which to cloak her words. She discarded her coat onto the nearest chair and gave Zane her brightest smile as he turned toward her, his amber eyes glowing.
"Oh, Zane-la," Tally purred. "Let's have hot chocolate. Winter is so freezing." She raised her hands above her head, stretching her tired muscles. After an evening of ice-skating and a long walk headwind back to Pulcher Mansion, Tally's insides felt stiff and frozen. Her heated coat could only do so much. Tonight at the rink, Zane had taken her hand and together they had skated faster than they ever had before, flying past the rest of the Crims as if they'd grown wings. If that wasn't bubbly-making, nothing was. Tally had felt exhilarated as she and Zane left the Crims in the dust, as if something set them apart from the rest. Well, she reminded herself, there is.
"Can't make hot chocolate," Zane said, throwing off his coat in a similar fashion to Tally. "We drank it all last night."
"Ask the wall for it," Tally suggested. She almost added that she wouldn't mind having dinner, too, but caught herself. Eating wouldn't help her get the bracelet off.
"Silly Tally," Zane said. He walked over to her side, shaking his head. "The wall can't give us food."
"Can it give us mugs?" Tally asked. She moved closer to wrap her arms around Zane's neck. Tilting her head back, she gazed into his shining eyes, and felt herself tremble at his beauty. Zane's arms snaked around her waist, hugging her with a solid warmth. The hint of a smirk formed on his lips.
"Too lazy to do the dishes, Tally-wa?" Zane reached up to touch the tip of Tally's nose with his pinky finger, while she playfully glowered. His long black gloves still sheathed his hands. Tally was about to ask what they were doing there, when Zane drew his mouth to her ear and whispered, "Let's stay bubbly."
Stay bubbly. Right. It was hard to do after an outing with the Crims, when Tally felt like melting into Zane's bed and staying there. But she had to keep fighting against the blemishes inside her brain that the cure was supposed to erase. Fortunately, being with Zane made it easy. She tugged at the black scarf wrapped around Zane's arm, eager to feel his skin against hers, but Zane startled her with a kiss. Dazed, Tally eagerly returned the kiss, her body trembling again as Zane's fingers trailed her cheek.
The kiss ended just as suddenly as it had begun. Tally stepped back, blinking as if she had been staring at the sun for too long. Her scattered brain searched for words, but nothing seemed right to say. It was all far too meaningful for pretty-talk. Too emotional for Zane to hear, even if they had been together already for nearly a month.
Zane stared hard at Tally for several long seconds. He seemed to be searching her face for hidden meaning, like a map in a littlie's storybook that showed buried treasure. Then he reached out and took her face in his hands.
"Tally," he murmured, so quietly that Tally barely heard him. "I was thinking of another way we could… warm up."
Now it was Tally's turn to search Zane's face. She thought she understood, but she needed to be sure… Was he talking about…
Gently, Zane lowered his head and kissed Tally again. His lips traveled the length of her face, touching her cheeks, her nose, her forehead, her hair…
Tally's lips parted in a quiet sigh as the intensity of Zane's contact quaked through her. By holding back, he was giving her so much more. She started to pull her gloves off, to feel his touch with her bare hands, but in a flash his hands folded over hers, stopping her. "Don't take them off," Zane's tender voice whispered in Tally's ear. She complied, dropping her hands. Did Zane have a thing for the gloves? She'd figured he hated the reminder of the city's surveillance.
As if Zane heard Tally's thoughts, he gathered her hands up and gave them a squeeze. For a moment he wouldn't look her in the eye, which surprised Tally. Pretties weren't supposed to be shy in moments like this. They were the picture of physical perfection and had nothing of which to be ashamed. Still, when Zane finally addressed Tally, he spoke haltingly, as if afraid that she would run away.
"I… I want you, Tally." Zane let go of her hands and stared deeply, unblinkingly, into her eyes. "If you'll have me."
If I'll have HIM? It should have been the other way around. It felt as if all the time they'd spent together since their fateful breakfast several weeks ago had been leading up to this inevitable moment. Already they'd shared so much, from the cure, to stories of their individual pasts, to a bed every night for the past week. Zane was so pretty it almost hurt to look at him, and behind that beauty lay a razor-sharp, criminal mind. He was the right person with whom to take the chance. But was Tally bubbly enough to accept him?
Shortly, Tally came to her conclusion. Zane had told her that she was different, a natural Crim. And Zane… Zane was different, much different from the other Crims, not to mention every pretty Tally had met before. He was the only person with whom she could have imagined splitting the cure. In a way, they were made for each other, having been the first Crims to awaken their pretty minds. And having done so together.
"Of course I'll have you," Tally whispered, though she wasn't sure why. The wardens couldn't possibly hear her through the gloves and the scarf, nor would they particularly care to hear two pretties about to hook up for the first time. Or would they? Was Zane keeping his gloves on out of modesty?
Without speaking, Zane moved back until he was sitting upon his bed. He beckoned Tally forward with an idle motion of his gloved hand. Utterly unresisting, Tally came forward. Zane started to rise to meet her, but she pushed him back down and climbed onto his lap, pressing her lips to his. Tally felt Zane's breath stutter in his throat. He squeezed her shoulders as she gently pushed her tongue into his open mouth. She'd never kissed that way before, but with Zane, it felt right.
They broke apart only to shift positions. Tally fell back against the bed, her head spinning as if she'd just completed a particularly dizzy-making hoverbounce. Her hands trembled as Zane leaned over her, pinning her to the mattress. Eagerly they began to kiss again, but this time Zane moved from Tally's lips to her jawline, and then to her neck. He pressed a row of kisses down her throat to her collarbone, which caused a delicious tingle to spread through Tally. She strained against Zane's body, eventually freeing her hands to reach beneath his shirt. His muscles were solid and well-defined despite his skinniness, but Tally lost interest quickly. If only she wasn't wearing gloves. She gasped as Zane pressed another kiss to her throat, before letting her hands travel to the waistband of his jeans.
That was when Zane sat up straight, abruptly depriving Tally's pleasure.
"Wait," he said, before she could protest. He turned to the hole in the wall and asked for condoms. Without the distraction of Zane's touch, Tally found her mind wandering. She wondered how many new pretties remembered the lectures on safe sex that their teachers in the ugly days had drilled into them. She'd been on the verge of forgetting herself before Shay had warned her about how easy it was to fall in love as a new pretty, wanting to go to bed with every face in the crowd. How many times had Zane done this?
After Zane had retrieved the condoms, he slid back into bed beside Tally, ready to resume where they had left off. Tally thanked him, watching his eyes sparkle. Once again her hands traveled down his body, coming to rest at his zipper. Zane helped Tally pull his jeans off, but found she had no trouble sliding down his boxer shorts. Again he sat up, to put on the condom with which the wall had provided him. Tally watched his flash tattoos spinning, and realized hers must be going haywire as well. Blood rushed in her ears, and it was all she could do not to grab Zane and bring him back to her.
Soon enough, Zane's fingers landed on Tally's hips, working deftly to remove her pants and panties. Tally hugged Zane's chest to hers as he undressed her, the soft fabric of his gloves causing sweat to emerge on her inner thighs. Heat blossomed forth in the pit of her stomach and spread rapidly downwards at the muted touch. At once she was throbbing in a way she had never felt before. It wasn't merely fulfilling an urge, as she had previously done on her own. No, she wanted Zane… needed him…
Zane began to caress the sensitive skin between Tally's legs, but though she was aching for his touch, the gloves were far from satisfactory. Fortunately Zane seemed to realize that she wasn't squirming in pleasure- or maybe he was bored with his inability to feel her properly- and instead slid his fingers beneath Tally's shirt. Tally let out a stifled moan and stretched upwards to kiss Zane's unsuspecting mouth. This kiss was different from all the others that she and Zane had shared. It was desperate, needy- hungry. Then Zane's glove-clad fingers trailed against her breasts, and Tally giggled childishly against Zane's mouth.
At the sound of Tally's giggle, Zane broke off the kiss and removed his hands from her chest, sliding them down to Tally's belly. She was about to grab the back of his neck and pull him closer, but Zane's quiet whisper stopped her.
"I won't do this if you're not bubbly. It's like taking advantage."
"I am bubbly," Tally fervently replied. Zane's dark eyebrows angled upwards.
"Prove it to me." He kissed her cheek.
In response, Tally buried her hands in Zane's hair and dragged him down, their open mouths colliding. By the time the kiss was over they were both breathing hard. Zane looked as if he were blushing, and his lips were curved into a jubilant smile.
"Tell me if you want to stop," he murmured. "Tell me if it hurts…"
Tally nodded. "It won't hurt. I trust you…"
"Okay." Zane kissed Tally's lustrous hair, before slowly and gently entering her body. Tally groaned, her pleasure suddenly turning to pain.
Her body tensed as old insecurities unexpectedly filled her head- everything she'd feared back when she was ugly. She wasn't good enough to sleep with a boy… no one would ever want her until she turned pretty…
Then Tally looked into Zane's eyes, and saw how intently he was watching her, motionless. "Does it hurt?" he whispered.
Tally nodded, but stopped Zane as he was about to pull away. "No, don't stop. I want this… I want you."
Zane's smile returned to his face, and they began again. Tally hooked her legs around Zane's hips as he moved inside her. Their eyes were locked onto each other, watching closely for any sign of discomfort. But in a few seconds, Tally's pain was forgotten. Back in school, she'd heard from her peers that sex wasn't as great as it was supposed to be, but she should have known not to believe a word from those young uglies. Back then, they'd probably had to make love with their eyes shut tight, eager for it to end so that they could shamefully crawl back to their dorms and never speak of it again. But now Tally and Zane were both gorgeous and free to look at each other, and it felt amazing.
So focused was Tally on Zane's perfect face, on his smoldering eyes and his flushed cheeks and his teeth clenched against his lower lip, that she was almost distracted from the physical sensation. Almost, but not quite. As Zane moved faster, it became harder to stay silent. Tally started to call out his name- "Zane, Zane"- but Zane pressed a finger against her lips. Visibly struggling to keep himself quiet, he indicated his interface bracelet, hidden by a glove and wrapped with a scarf. He really is being modest. Tally's throat filled with a moan that could not be voiced, an urgent beg for Zane to keep going, keep going… Unable to find any other way to express herself, she shoved her fingers into Zane's hair, pulling his lips to hers and sloppily kissing him. When Zane pulled away, he was panting, and Tally had to firmly press her lips together, sucking in breaths that weren't quite enough through her nose.
It wasn't long before Zane's movement slowed, and he let out a muffled groan. His body shuddered against Tally's. At the sight of his fluttering eyelids and his full lips parted in a silent cry, Tally was overwhelmed. She found herself awash in a tide of pleasure that threatened to carry her away. Her body jerked awkwardly against the bed, and for a second she felt she had to scream aloud. But then it was over, and Tally collapsed against the sheets, sweat dripping from her tingling limbs. Her eyes slowly refocused to see Zane, lying sprawled over her chest.
Slowly Tally lifted her head, which along with the rest of her body, felt strangely buoyant. She pressed clumsy lips to Zane's temple. He opened his eyes just as slowly and smiled at her, and at once the force of his expression struck Tally. She'd never seen Zane like this, not when he was having fun at the many bashes they'd attended, not when they skated on the ice rink, not even when they had climbed Valentino Mansion and taken the cure together. When Zane smiled, he always projected an aura that seemed to say, I care about you. I find you fascinating. But now there was something more to it, something that went beyond the regular charisma of a new pretty. Zane was staring at Tally as if she as if he had gotten lost in the wilderness, just as Tally had in her ugly days, and now Tally was swooping down from the heavens with a glow-light in hand. He looked at her as if she were the only girl worth looking at.
Tally opened her mouth to speak- and found that every possible word failed her. What could she say to Zane after such an experience, something that the interface bracelet wouldn't pick up, something that hadn't been said before?
As she pondered, Zane gave her nose a delicate kiss. He then pulled out of her, sat up, and discarded the used condom.
Tally found herself wondering what Zane had been like as an ugly, what he had looked like and what his nickname had been. Would she still find him beautiful then, as she had once found the ugly-for-life David to be beautiful? After all, Zane's looks weren't all that attracted him to her. Pretty or ugly, Zane was one of a kind- full of spirit and passion that couldn't be reproduced anywhere else.
Returning to the bed, Zane pulled his shirt over his head and snuggled up next to Tally, whose eyelids grew heavier every second. She watched Zane unwind the scarf from around his wrist and peel his gloves off, before reaching over to remove Tally's. Tally shook her head and leaned in, her lips brushing Zane's ear.
"Why'd you leave them on?"
Zane waited a second, glancing at his bracelet, before shoving his hand under the pillow and whispering. "It had to be special, Tally. Just you and me, and no… uninvited guests." He chuckled and unwrapped Tally's arm, pausing only to murmur, with a devious smile, "But next time we won't wear them."
Next time. Tally grinned broadly. Give those wardens something interesting to listen to. The room's heated air gave her palm a warm welcome, an instant before Zane's sweaty fingers slid between hers and clung on tightly. Curling up beside Zane, with his arm wrapped around her, Tally fell into a deep sleep.
AN: During a recent re-read of the Uglies series, I came to the following conclusions: 1. I have been in love with Zane for nearly ten years now, and 2. I finally feel comfortable enough with my writing to dig up this old fic, edit it, and share it. I realize the title is generic, but it came partially from Colbie Caillat's song "Bubbly," which along with Uglies, was one of my major middle school obsessions. So this entire fic is basically a nostalgia trip for me. Please review if you liked it or think anything was out of character!