-I am so so sorry I had to take such a long break from this! But I recently started reading over it again and I think I'd like to give this series another chance. Please be patient with me, guys, I didn't mean to leave this laying around for so long. I hope you enjoy it just as much. The characters might be a little out of character now, and my writing style might have changed since the last time you read this. But it's still the same story, lol.

Also, a small warning, some chapters coming up may be rated M, but don't panic, people; I'm not graphic at all in anything I write, so it's not gonna be unbearable for you lol.

Again, I'm sorry, but here, read this :)-

-Thunder-

She remembered the first time she almost forgot herself with him.

It was a particularly rainy day in the middle of April. The two had been dating for a while and Alina felt more comfortable with him than she'd ever felt. He was quickly becoming the person she confided in when she needed someone, or the person she called over when her favorite movie came on. Not that she had forgotten Genya, of course. Genya wouldn't let Alina forget her, even if she tried. But there was just...something about Aleksander that Alina couldn't get out of her mind. It was that captivating thing she'd noticed the first time she saw him, when it was the middle of a cold night and he'd just stepped off his motorcycle.

She was so screwed.

On THAT day, she had just gotten back from another one of their growingly frequent dates. It wasn't anything fancy; literally just a short drive down to a little pastry shop just opening in town that she'd been wanting to check out. But it was nice outside that morning and she wanted to look nice to match, so she'd put on a summery red dress that ended above her knees. Miraculously, her hair had behaved for her, so she was in a pretty good mood.

They made it halfway out of the car in front of her house when it started raining.

She should've known this would happen.

"Where did THIS come from?!" she squeaked, tripping over her own foot as she stumbled out of the car. The bottoms of her sandals flopped onto the wet stone of her walkway. Jesus, it was already soaked, as were the flowers gathered around her porch, and her HAIR.

"I think it's called rain," he told her sarcastically, car door swinging shut as he rounded the hood.

Alina threw him a glare over her shoulder. "Oh, ha ha, you're so hilarious," she scoffed. "You'd think you—Oh my god!" Spluttering, she spit a strand of drenched hair out of her mouth.

The dark sound of his laughter made her turn to give him another smoldering look, but it was wiped right off her face when she saw him. The downpour had made short work of his hair and his grey tee was soaked through. Alina had seen him shirtless before, so it shouldn't have been much of a surprise to see the hard muscle outlined by his shirt.

...but damn, how could she NOT notice?

Wiping dripping water out of his eyes, Aleksander blinked at her through rain-dusted lashes. "Your hair is beautiful today," he said, deadpan as he examined her ruined curls.

"All right, that's it, I'm going in!" she announced. As if punctuating her words, a sudden rumble of thunder shook the ground. She turned wide eyes on Aleksander. "Yeah, I'm outta here." Without waiting for an answer, she bolted for the house. Her sandals slapped the stone walkway and she could hear the footsteps of Aleksander close behind her. Halfway there, she realized the true ridiculousness of the situation and burst into laughter. She stumbled over a jutting stone, shoulder meeting Aleksander's side. Giggling out an apology, she beamed up at him as he steadied her with a hand on her back. His answering smile made her feel warm inside.

She was still laughing giddily when they thumped up her porch steps together, then pushed through the door and into the calm of the house. Snorting, she straightened her wet dress as Aleksander shut the door behind them. At once, the hissing of rain and distant growling thunder were muffled to a pleasant hum. Alina covered her silly grin with a hand as Aleksander glanced first out the rain-streaked window, then at her. "What's so funny?" he asked in that quiet way of his, the corner of his mouth tilted up.

She shook her head. "I don't know," she chortled. "Oh—You're dripping on my floor."

"So are you." He ran a hand through his hair, tousling it into a charming mess. Alina felt her heartbeat skip.

"Here, I can get you a towel," she offered, fighting down the last of her foolish giggles. Spinning away, she took the few steps it took to reach the kitchen and grabbed a towel from beside the sink. How stupid she must've looked, laughing for no reason at—

When she turned around, he was almost right in front of her, only five inches separating them. She gasped slightly, freezing as though she was caught in doing something wrong. There was just...this look in his eyes and that rare smile on his lips, only softer. "I think you need it more than I do," he said. She almost jumped when his fingers curled around the towel in her grasp and took it from her. Her hands remained uncertain in midair as he raised the towel to her face. Her eyes closed on their own when he brushed the droplets from her forehead and down her nose.

She didn't know what she was doing. The brush of the towel against her skin was sending something coiling inside of her, almost as if it were his fingers touching her instead. She felt it slip across her cheeks, drying her skin. But then it was like Aleksander himself forgot what he was supposed to do. Alina bit back a gasp when she felt the towel graze her neck, skimming down along it until it reached her collarbone. She forced herself to swallow, to breathe. Then she was hit with a wave of his scent, wonderful and rain-soaked, and his nose brushed her jaw.

"Oh..." It left her in a breath, as his lips found the side of her neck. Her hands moved on their own, one at the back of his neck and the other on his side. She could feel the smooth flex of muscle beneath his shirt and a shudder ran down the length of her spine. He pushed her damp hair back and kissed the water from her skin. She heard his quiet murmur of her name and now she opened her eyes because she needed to see his face. Feeling the coolness of water under her fingertips, she cupped his jaw and gently pulled his head back to meet his gaze. Her heartbeat sped up, if that was even possible at this point.

He looked like the night and the sky, black hair rumpled, grey eyes foggy. The way he looked at her could've made other girls' knees give out and his hands were barely touching her waist. Everything in him was sure and beautiful and asking for permission. Alina found that she had no trouble giving that; she surprised herself when she grabbed his collar and yanked his mouth onto hers.

She heard the pitiful gasp she made when he kissed her, hard and demanding, and heard the soft sound he barely let himself make. Suddenly, his grip on her waist was strong, pulling their bodies together in the little kitchen. He was kissing her senseless, forgetting his soft control. Alina didn't mind, not even when he bit her lip just a bit too hard. She wanted him, right there, in that single moment, and that was all that mattered in her world right then.

She stretched up on tiptoe to meet him, arms looped around his neck and fingers clutching the back of his shirt. It was still wet, both of them were, but she didn't care. All she cared about were her fingers now under his neckline, on bare damp skin, and his answering whimper against her mouth. She felt the muscle in his back bend and his grasp tightening on the back of her dress. It floored her.

Never, even in her wildest fantasies, had she imagined that he would be desperate for her too.

Bold, she curled her fingers and dug her nails into his back. "God, Alina, I could just—" He broke off, reaching down to pick her up with hands on the backs of her thighs. Alina's blood sang in her veins as she tangled her fingers in his hair. Raking it off his face, she pressed their mouths together again, intent on making him just as breathless as she was. Her legs were secure around his waist as he blindly carried her from the kitchen to the living room and paused, hovering unsurely over the couch. "Where—?"

"Here," she gasped, taking two fistfuls of his shirt and dragging him down to the couch with her. Her back met the cushions first and the softness soaked up the moisture from her skin. It was the perfect contrast to the hard lines of Aleksander above her, trapping her between his forearms, their legs a tangle of skin and denim. Alina wasn't thinking anymore. Her mind was a fog of him, of his touch, of his everything. She hooked her legs around his hips without pausing to think of her dress bunched up around her waist or how he must see her, acting this way. She just met his gasping kisses with her own and clawed his shirt up his back.

She missed his lips on hers for the moment it took for him to strip out of his shirt. But then he was at her neck again and she let her head fall back. Curling wet strands of her hair spread out across the cushions as he kissed down the line of her throat, taking his time. When he reached her collarbone, he slipped his hands under her back and sat up. Curled around his lap, she closed her eyes and let him run his teeth down the curve of her neck. She let her hands smooth over the expanse of his back as he did, biting her tongue to keep from moaning out loud.

To her surprise, it was Aleksander who moaned, mouth on her shoulder. His fingers hooked around the straps of her dress and her bra, peeling them down off her shoulder to reach more of her skin. Alina's head spun. Nobody had ever kissed her there before. Her arm shot out for an anchor, hand digging into the side of the couch. "Aleks—" she managed breathily.

"Let me," he mumbled into her shoulder, arms wrapping around her as rain pelted the roof overhead. She felt fingers at her dress, finding the zipper there. The action didn't fully register until he pulled it downward, opening the back of her dress. Then cool air whisked across her back and a twinge of nerves washed through her.

"W—wait," she stammered.

Aleksander froze immediately. His hands were at the small of her back, fingers on bare skin in the gap of her dress. "Did I—?" he started, then broke off, swallowing. Lifting his head, he searched her expression through dazed eyes. "I'm sorry if I was too—"

"No, it's fine," she said hurriedly. "But I, um...I don't wanna rush into anything. If that's okay with you."

He rested his forehead against hers, noses brushing together. "Of course," he murmured. "I'd never push you into anything, Alina."

Alina smoothed a hand over his hair, feeling the strands beginning to curl with rainwater. Her heart suddenly felt warm and she had to drop her gaze from his. "Sometimes," she whispered, "I don't know if I deserve you."

"You don't," he agreed and she stared at him in shock. Then he pulled her farther into his lap, dropping a kiss on her jaw and burying his face in her neck. "You deserve more than me."

It was such an affectionate gesture that at first, she wasn't sure what to do. His words swam in her head, making her unbelievably happy. The only thing she could think to do was hug him back, closing her eyes and breathing in his scent. Their clothes were still rumpled and her dress strap hung uselessly off her shoulder, but they'd fix all of that later. Right now, she wanted the simplicity of his arms around her, with rain pounding away on the rooftop.

-X-X-X-

That was probably when she realized she was in love with him.