Longshot had a very amused look in his eyes the whole, very quiet walk back to the flat. The expression was only just barely there, but Smellerbee could see it, every time she glanced over at Longshot and caught his eye; each time, she'd quickly look away. She knew what he was thinking about.
Etsuko, and seeing Etsuko give Smellerbee a kiss on the cheek without any sort of retaliation from Smellerbee.
And, Smellerbee knew that if she caught Longshot's eye for more than a fraction of a second, she'd be forced to explain herself, and that was not going to happen. It just sounded so petty, that she'd purposely tricked Etsuko into doing that, just for some peace of mind.
Not to mention she wasn't going to tell Longshot that she spent money in doing that, money they simply could not afford to spend.
And so, Smellerbee refused to look at Longshot directly for a long time. He had to know something was up, just at that, but he was probably so damn amused by what he'd witnessed that he wasn't going to push it. He didn't push much anyway.
As they turned a corner, down another street, Longshot put his arm around her, his hand on her shoulder, causing Smellerbee to jump. It wasn't so much that she was caught off guard by the gesture, but the gesture itself that shocked Smellerbee- they were outside! In public! This never happened. They were always just so very private with any sort of affection, keeping it all indoors, away from anyone else.
But, Longshot had put his arm around her, and was pulling her closer as they walked; he was clearly breaking some sort of unwritten rule between the two of them.
Smellerbee looked sharply up at him, not really sure what to say, but she couldn't just ignore what he'd done. And he looked over at her with the same amused expression, clearly innocently saying, 'What?'
Like this wasn't some big deal.
"You know what," Smellerbee said. She didn't force Longshot's arm off of her though. She would never do that. Well, not never. Maybe if she was mad at him, but she couldn't ever imagine that. They hadn't argued since the Freedom Fighters were still together.
Smellerbee made the mistake of continuing eye contact with Longshot, for the next thing she saw from him had her turning bright scarlet, and doing exactly what she thought she'd never do- forcing his arm off of her.
"That is completely different and you know it!" she sputtered, stopping in her tracks. And Longshot still had that stupidly amused look! This was not amusing. "You- you and I are- and she- I'm not in love with Etsuko, I love you-"
Smellerbee immediately clamped her mouth shut, her cheeks feeling impossibly warm as she stared at Longshot. Right now, she knew better than to look away.
Neither of them, verbally or otherwise, had ever admitted to loving the other. This was big, real big, and it stupidly was happening in the middle of a street, with people bustling around them.
Longshot's reaction surprised Smellerbee. She didn't really know what to expect from him, though; he was sometimes very hard to gage. He stepped closer, his expression soft, and put his arm around her again before pressing his lips to her forehead.
And then he stepped back.
That was it. Just a simple, light kiss to the forehead. Smellerbee felt kind of…gypped. It was nice, but…she'd just confessed to loving him. Didn't that deserve more than that?
Ugh. She was probably just acting like a stupid hormonal girl.
"Come on, let's go home," Smellerbee said, probably a bit more gruffly than necessary. That amused look returned to Longshot's eyes, and he followed her back to their flat.
Later that night, Smellerbee awoke for a few brief moments, not entirely awake, but certainly not asleep. Longshot was shifting slightly beside her, his lips grazing against her neck and earlobe. She shivered, his breath against her neck making her do so. And, before she could roll over to either get him to stop or distract him with some…activities, Longshot spoke, his lips brushing against her ear.
His words were light, just barely there, but Smellerbee heard them. She'd heard them, and she would not ever forget them.
Just a short little chapter this time.
Please leave constructive criticisms.
