Good talk in silence

Snow was covering the ground and everything was quiet, the only sound audible was the crunching of the snow under their feet. Bundled up in their thick winter coats, they walked quietly beside each other, both of them staring ahead on the small path beside the lake. It was a beautiful silence around them, but an awkward one between them. How does one start such a talk, he wondered and watched how his foot sank into the snow. He was a blunt guy, one that carried his heart on his sleeve and he wasn't good at hiding his feelings. He had chosen to pursue what he wanted, even if it meant being rejected. Usually he knew where he stood at least, especially after what happened between them, but this time he was lost. He glanced over at her for a second and found her still looking straight ahead, her hands buried in the pockets of her coat, her nose red from the cold. How long would they have to walk through the ice-cold wind until one of them found the courage to speak up?

They had engaged in awkward small talk from the moment he had rung her doorbell until they had reached the park in her neighborhood, then there had been silence. She had been surprised when he had shown up at her door at nine o'clock in the evening; he had seen it on her face. But after working with her for one week after the incident, how he called it in his head, he just couldn't stand the tension anymore. He wanted to go to sleep in the evening without imagining all the ways she could reject him. He wanted to go to work in the morning without an aching stomach, knowing that the awkwardness would make the lab feel as icy as the wind that blew into his face right now.

"Hey, uhm, I thought maybe we could talk?" he asked when she opened the door and he saw the surprised look on her face. He stuck his hands in his jeans pockets and looked down to his feet, clearing his voice nervously.

"Yeah, uh, sure. Michelle has some friends over though so…" she replied and shrugged a bit helpless.

"Can we go for a walk then? Please?" he said and looked her directly in the eyes. He needed this talk and he needed it now and just couldn't wait any longer. Now that he had found the courage to come to her and confront her, he needed some kind of resolution.

"Let me just get my boots and my coat," she told him quietly and was gone for a moment, then came back into the hallway, wearing brown leather boots. She wrapped her black scarf around her neck before she slipped into her thick winter coat and grabbed her keys. "Michelle, I'll be back in a bit," she called into the living room.

"Ok," came the short reply from the teen and they left the house.

"You wanna drive somewhere or just walk around a bit?" he asked her when they stood helplessly on her porch, not knowing where to go or how to act.

"There's this park down the street so we could go there," she said and he nodded.

"Sounds good".

"I usually only go there to run in the mornings, because there's too many people there in the afternoon. Lots of kids playing and people with their dogs," she rambled and it made him realize that she was just as nervous as he was. She wasn't known around the lab for her rambling.

"Didn't know you go jogging in the morning," he replied, not knowing what else to say.

"Not every day, just sometimes," she replied with a shrug and stuck her hands in the pockets of her coat just when they reached the park. And then there was silence.

His nose and ears started tingling because of the cold wind and he pulled the hood from his vest up over his head because snow had started falling again and he didn't have an umbrella. Out of the corner of his eye he looked at her and saw the white snowflakes landing on her dark hair before they dissolved into drops of water that glistened in the faint light of the sparse lamps, which bordered the path. Her hair was still wrapped in a tight bun but now some strands were sticking and falling out of it. It looked kind of like that night… except for the drops of water.

"Oh, I didn't know you were still here," he said surprised when he found her sitting on the sofa up in the lab. She was still wearing the beige skirt but had taken off her heels and put on some thick socks and a grey hoodie.

"Yeah, I'm still waiting for the effects of the vodka to wear off. I don't want to drive when I am drunk but I need my car tomorrow morning, so I decided to read for a while and then head home," she replied and didn't move when he sat down next to her, so close that her knees touched his thigh.

"What are you reading? Feminist trash again?" he smirked at her and put his bag down on the floor and took off his jacket. She hadn't asked him to stay and he hadn't even asked himself if he should stay, but he wanted to and she didn't object. Actually, he had waited for an opportunity like this. He liked talking to her, he liked flirting with her and he knew that he wanted to see where this could be going. However that was hard because he could barely catch her alone. She was mostly in her office and he didn't shy away from going in there simply to talk to her, but her door was always open and everyone just waltzed in there, her phone was ringing constantly and she also had a lot of work. It didn't really help to evoke romantic feelings in her while the smell of decomp and formaldehyde hung in the air and she was up to the elbows in human remains.

"No, I'm reading a new study on decomp rates of bodies that lay in the water," she replied and put the book down on the table in front of him.

"Salt water or freshwater? And in which climate?" he asked interested but she just rolled her eyes at him.

"You really want to discuss this now while we're both completely wasted?" she asked him with a smile.

"Hey, I'm not wasted, I can hold my booze," he laughed and put a hand on his chest.

"Me, too! Well, in general. I 'm not so sure about your little moonshine here. What did you put in it?" she asked and pushed playfully against his shoulder.

"I'll email you the recipe tomorrow. And would you stop slapping me already? First the slap in the head, now this. Is there some paragraph in my contract saying that my boss is allowed to physically abuse me?" he said in mock annoyance and rubbed his shoulder.

"Aw, poor guy," she cooed and then laughed out loud. He pouted solely for her amusement.

"It really hurts," he whined but then had to smile himself. Her laughter had made him laugh, and made him want to make her laugh more often.

"You want me to kiss it and make it better?" she asked still laughing and didn't realize what she had said until a cocky smile came on his face and he moved even closer to her, so close that their noses were nearly touching.

"We could definitely try that," he replied in a husky voice, the smile still firmly in place.

"Oh, you really want me to kiss the back of your head and your shoulder?" she laughed, clearly amused by his behavior.

"You hit me, there have to be consequences," he said and noticed for the first time that strands of hair had fallen out of her chignon and played around her face.

"Ok, come here," she finally grinned and pecked him lightly on his right cheek. "Better?" she asked when she pulled back but he was too surprised to answer at first.

He hadn't thought that she would actually kiss him, not on the cheek, not anywhere. He had been joking. Ok, hopefully joking, maybe wishing against hope that she would do it. And here she was kissing him on the cheek. He lips were soft and warm, she smelled like expensive perfume and moonshine and his pulse sped up. When she pulled back the spot where she had touched him felt hotter than the rest of his face and although he hated the expression, he felt butterflies in his stomach. She looked at him and was still so close. Still smiling, her eyes were sparkling at him and he felt lightheaded. He couldn't think anymore, he just looked into her eyes, felt like he was pulled towards them and before he knew what he was doing he kissed her, right there on the orange couch in the lab. He gently kissed her lips and just when he started to pull away he felt her soft fingers graze his cheek, felt her respond to the kiss.

Encouraged by her response his tongue exited quickly and slid over her lips as her hand went to the back of his neck. He felt as if he couldn't get close enough just before their tongues met. They kissed one another deeply, broke the kiss quickly to breathe for a second and then went back in with full force. His arms had wrapped around her waist and pulled her to him so she sat nearly on his lap. He kissed her with so much intensity and still it wasn't enough. He leaned against the armrest of the couch and she leaned into him, pressed her chest against his and moaned against him. Her other hand was now tangled in his hair, and her fingers stroked over the spot she had slapped earlier that day. His hands wandered from her back to her front where he found the zipper to her hoodie, which he pulled down slowly, still testing the waters. When she didn't protest but just sucked his bottom lip between her teeth for a second and then granted his tongue entrance again, he continued..

He slid the grey vest off of her and let his hands glide up her naked arms until he reached the fabric of her white blouse. He smiled into the kiss when he felt the goose bumps under his fingertips but that smile was wiped of his face when she slipped her left hand underneath his brown T-shirt and he felt her fingers against his chest and his stomach. Arousal surged up even stronger than when their lips had first touched and his hands fell from her arms to her waist, then further down. His lips moved from her mouth over her chin and her neck down to her décolleté. The V-cut gave him easy access and he sucked on her collarbone, secretly craving to mark her with a hickey, while she tilted her head to the side to give him better access.

She had pushed his shirt up as far as it would go and it had stopped just below his chest. His breath hitched every time she dipped a finger in his navel while she let her fingers wander over his toned stomach and under his shirt up to his chest.
Her white blouse was tight and it was basically impossible to slip a hand underneath. He tried to push it off by her shoulders but the fabric wouldn't budge. He let out a frustrated groan when he realized that he had to pull away for a moment so he could go on.

"Where are the buttons or the zipper?" he mumbled against her throat, unwilling to stop placing kisses on her soft skin, while his hands wandered over the blouse.

"There's none," she replied and her answer ended with a throaty moan when his hands cupped her breasts.

"Stupid blouse," he replied, moved up and kissed her again slowly and fully involved. When they had to break the kiss after a short moment they were both breathing heavily. Their eyes met and slowly they realized what they were doing and where they were doing it. Slowly she took her hands out from under his shirt and he took his off her breasts. Still looking him in the eyes she moved away from him and plopped down on the couch beside him. He pulled his shirt down and looked at her, saw how her eyes seemed to get bigger and bigger, her breathing getting faster at the same time.

"Cam?" he asked not really sure what he should make of her reaction. He placed a hand on her arm, but she pulled away like his touch had burned her. She opened her mouth several times to say something but nothing came out.

"What… why…we were…. God, there are cameras everywhere," she finally said in a horrified tone and he wasn't sure if he should be worried by her tone or relieved that the cameras seemed to be her biggest problem.

"Maybe we should go somewhere else and… talk," he proposed because he knew that they had to talk about what happened before they could jump each other again. He caught her eyes and looked pleadingly at her, but saw her pull back already.

"I have to go," she said hurriedly, grabbing her vest and hurrying away from him. He watched her flee and leaned back against the couch with a heavy sigh, then covered his face with his hands. How had they got here, he wondered, from flirting and teasing to this?

He still asked himself the same questions while they walked quietly through the cold night and hoped that she would say something that would tell him where they stood. Yet, she remained silent and just watched the snow fall on the narrow path in front of them. He looked at her again, this time not secretly but in a way that she knew he was watching her. He saw her shivering in the cold and she took her hands out of her pockets and rubbed them together to warm them. Without saying anything he reached over with his right arm and covered her hands with his. At his touch she turned her head and looked at him directly for the first time since they had left her house.

"We really need to talk," he told her insistently and she let her hands drop to her side. He let his hand fall with hers and caught her left hand with his right again.

"What are you doing?" she asked him and looked down at their hands.

"You have cold hands," he shrugged like his gesture meant nothing at all, although his eyes betrayed him.

"I'm cold," she nodded slowly and he was surprised when she squeezed his hand. He had waited for her to pull away, but she didn't and that made his heart thump harder in his chest, his stomach fluttering nervously.

"I think I can help you with that," he replied with all the courage he had in him and stepped in front of her, blocking her path.
"Really?" she replied and her smile was expectant but timid.

"I think so," he nodded and smiled back at her. Encouraged by her reaction so far, he laced his fingers through hers and put his other hand on her waist and pulled her closer. Before he could talk himself out of it he leaned down and kissed her softly. Her free hand came up and cupped his face when he angled his head and deepened the kiss. When they came up for air he wrapped both arms around her shoulders and pulled her tightly against him. Her cold nose pressed against his warm neck and she made a point by sticking her hands in his coat pockets. It wasn't really comfortable for her standing like this but at least it was warm. He laughed softly against her hair and pulled back slightly, unzipped his coat and then hugged her again. She wrapped her hands around his middle then, underneath his jacket. They stayed like that for a while until Cam started to chuckle against his shoulder.

"What?" he asked and had to laugh himself, although he didn't know why.

"Good talk," she giggled before she reached up and pulled him down to her and kissed him tenderly.

"Very successful talk," he grinned when they broke the kiss.

He reached up with both hands and slowly and carefully pulled the hair-band and the pins out of her hair and combed through the long dark curls with his fingers.

"I wanted to do that for a while now," he informed her with a grin and made her laugh.

"Still cold?" he asked her then.

"No, not anymore," she replied and melted against him when his lips found hers again in a deep kiss while the snow fell silently around them and the only thing audible was their labored breaths and a quiet moan from time to time.

There might be an extended (slightly different) m-rated version following some time...