Chapter IV
The Will Was Strong
The will was strong, but my legs were weak.
I could not walk and I could not speak.
- "Please" by Sawyer Fredericks.
The evening had gone over better than he'd anticipated, but he was still relieved when the night ended and he found himself hidden in the guest room, alone.
Dinner hadn't been half as awkward as he'd feared. Though he'd been scared to sit between Holly and her mother — her mother who sent scrutinizing looks his way every time he said something, training him not to speak unless addressed — the quick-witted joking between Holly and Mr. Flax was so entertaining that he'd hardly felt nervous by the time dessert came out. And they were both so welcoming that now, he almost felt as though he could find a place in this family.
And damn, did he want to find one.
Anyway, conversation had moved into the living room, and at that point Mr. Flax had gone to bed. Holly seemed to be just as close to her mother, though in a different way, and because of that, their conversation was a bit exclusive. She'd really been trying to keep Michael involved, but when the moment came that she set him free — telling him he "looked tired," to which he replied, "jet lag," to which she insisted that he go to bed — he took the opportunity and ran with it. Twenty minutes later, and he was still awake, not tired at all. And she was still in the living room.
Even though he'd spent the whole evening with her, he missed her. He loved talking to her so much, but her parents had taken two-thirds of her attention, leaving him wanting a little. Plus, he felt uncomfortable showing too much physical affection in front of her family, so he was starved for touch. And he'd thought after he got to Colorado, he wouldn't feel that way anymore.
He wasn't upset with her for it, of course. They'd just got here, and she'd spent much more time with him in the past few years than she had with her parents. But that didn't keep him from envying her parents — especially her mother, who seemed to be keeping Holly away on purpose.
"I don't trust it. I don't trust you."
Michael didn't know what the woman wanted from him. He'd already proposed and moved down to another state to make a life with her. It wasn't even that sudden of a decision! He'd wanted to marry her since he met her, years ago. He'd waited for her while she dated other people, and nearly got engaged to A.J…
A.J.
"If I ever have to see someone treat her the way that asshole A.J…"
She'd been about to finish before Holly had come back, and for the life of him, Michael couldn't stop thinking about it. A.J. had always seemed perfectly nice to him. If he'd ever thought that Holly's boyfriend was mistreating her, or hurting her, god forbid, he would have done something. It couldn't have been anything like that.
He nearly jumped out of his skin at the sound of footsteps coming up the stairs — Holly's, unmistakably. He finished pulling his shirt down, while looking at himself in the mirror, into his own eyes.
It was strange, looking into a different mirror at night.
Holly then knocked at the door, which was also strange. She never had to knock.
"Who goes there?" he asked with a bit of a smile.
In floated a weak, high-pitched voice. "Only a 'umble peasant girl in need of a place to rest 'er 'ead."
He lowered his voice to a gruff tone and replied, "Come in, peasant girl, an' take lodging for the night!"
"Gladly, good sir!" she said, and opened the door, peeking her head inside.
When he saw her, he felt all the anxious air built up in his chest suddenly escape, his shoulders sinking, a smile spreading on his face. Her eyes were sparkling, lips still stuck in a smile and cheekbones so adorable — and unkissed. He wanted to resolve that.
"Hey," he greeted, rising to his feet. Looking her over, he opened his mouth to ask how it had went downstairs; but she was too fast.
"Tonight was amazing," she said without missing a beat as she lingered at the doorway, and slowly started into the room. "I'm… on Cloud Nine right now."
Michael raised his eyebrows, a smile subconsciously covering his face. "I can see that."
Holly chuckled at that, slowly approaching him. "I know! I can't stop smiling," she admitted, beaming wildly with every step nearer to him. "I'm just so relieved, you know? I mean, my mom's such a handful and my dad usually isn't this lucid, and it seems like the more I care about someone, the more likely Mom will scare them off."
"Oh, I believe you," he replied quickly, nodding. He'd only known Mrs. Flax for a few hours and he was already scared out of his wits.
At that, Holly seemed nervous, and her hands reached for his tentatively. "She didn't scare you off, did she?" she checked, eyebrows raised in concern. She pulled their hands up to her chest, holding them to her heart as though she could hold him there. "I mean, you haven't changed your mind, right?"
No matter how terrified he really was, that was a silly question. "Of course not," he insisted as he rubbed her fingers between his. "And I do like your parents. Your dad's hilarious."
She smiled again. "I knew you two would hit it off. And it seemed like he really likes you, too. Mom will come around."
He swallowed, not replying to that. I hope so.
"What did you guys talk about while Dad and I were upstairs?" Holly then asked, and she must not have known what kind of Pandora's box she was about to open there. There were plenty of things he could tell her about that conversation — plenty of questions to ask, about their breakup and A.J. and why the hell her Mom was so biased against him. He almost did.
But she was smiling, and not only with her mouth, but with her eyes and every other muscle in her body. The way she looked at him was so full of happiness and love, as she stood so close to him, playing with his fingers. She was blissfully ignorant, and he didn't want to take that away.
"We talked about the future," he said, not lying but simply redirecting. He stared down into her eyes as he paused, hands squeezing hers. "About kids. I told her I wanted four, but I don't know if that's- I don't know how many you want. I just had the idea in my head, I guess, that we'd have four. Anyway, stuff like that."
"That sounds great," she said as her lips crept a little closer to his.
"Yeah, well, I don't know what she thought, but…"
"Put me down for four," she added. And that, coming as a complete surprise, had his mind completely floored.
And in that moment, he didn't feel that he needed to respond. He didn't feel that he needed to say or do anything, except to slip his fingers out from hers so that he could hold her by the waist — loosely at first, but more tightly the closer she grew to his lips, in anticipation… Her eyes seemed a bit dreamy, drifting closed at the instant when his lips landed on hers, brushing softly over her skin as though she were a ghost, hardly touchable and barely there. Then he dove in for another, leaning farther down to kiss her more deeply, more slowly. His teeth grazed against her lower lip just before she pulled back — and he released her reluctantly.
"Michael," she whispered, and he was prepared to hear it. They weren't supposed to have sex here; he remembered that now. He wanted to kiss her again just to keep her from saying it — because her energy was electrifying right now, and he really, really wanted her. Why was fate so cruel?
"Thank you."
He hadn't realized his eyes were closed in anticipation, until he opened them to look at her. She was still grinning, lips reddening and eyes sparkling. He raised his eyebrows. "You're welcome," he whispered, peering into her eyes. "For what?"
Holly just shook her head. "You made tonight perfect. You've made this whole move so perfect, and so…" She inhaled a shallow breath. "Easy."
He blinked. "Oh. Well, yeah, I… I try."
"'Do or do not,'" she caught him, in her adorable Yoda voice. "'There is no try.'"
And Michael did not find puppets sexy, but that right there was so sexy that he didn't even waste time trying to think of something smart to say back. He pulled her back to his lips with one motion, kissing her widely. The corners of his mouth tickled against hers as he felt her incessant smile reappear, and he laughed into her lips, and she laughed with him.
After a moment, Michael expected her to retreat, for the sake of the no-sex rule — but she didn't, strangely, and he wasn't about to remind her to do it. He slipped his hands beneath the back of her shirt to feel her skin under his hands as he felt her tongue meeting his mouth, catching him by surprise. He sighed, a little drunk on her lips, and inched her back toward the bed. Then, she seemed to come to her senses.
"Wait," she muttered while halfway between kisses, and took a moment to stop herself — only long enough to take a breath and whisper, "Michael."
"I know," he breathed, not wanting to hear her say it.
"We have to be quiet," she said instead. Her eyes had a teasing glint in them as she bit her swollen lips, watching him. "Seriously, extremely quiet."
Michael inhaled a short breath, pausing to realize what she was saying — and then he bobbed his head. "All right. Yeah!"
"Okay," she said with a laugh, returning to the kiss instantly, and began pushing him toward the bed.
I'm glad at least a few people are enjoying this so far. From here out, you'll see some liberties taken with Michael's and Holly's families, and past relationships. It should all fit into canon information though. Thanks for the reviews and follows/favs.
