(NSFW)

Jade let the water run down her face, over her shoulders and down her thin body as it nearly singed her with heat. She did not care, it felt amazing; an amazing, wonderful distraction against the thought of Dave. Dave's flushed cheeks and the way he had moaned deeply at her touch; the press of his body against hers, his soft lips on her neck, his tongue in her mouth and on her skin. His teeth grazing and nipping and biting and the water was just really not hot enough. She twisted the handle of the shower to full heat as she felt an intense pressure building between her legs. She was intoxicated with the thought of him so close to her, the memory of him him touching her and holding her and kissing her and wanting her. Her breath was shallow, and her mind was foggy with anxiety and heat, the way she had felt when he had pulled her on top of him and ran his hands down her back, barely skimming the bare skin before he moved his hands away again.

The space between her legs pulsed softly now with unbearable heat, a numb pleasure running through her as she panted shallow breaths, the hot shower water billowing clouds of steam around her, pressing against her skin like a blanket. She hated herself, hated her inexperience, hated her timidity. Hated that she had left him standing there, knowing he must have realized something was wrong. Tears sprang to her eyes as she pressed her hands to the back of her neck, and then to her face, shuddering as the feeling ate away at her, trying to push it down. Way, way down. Down to where the heat was, the heat of the shower, the heat of her own body, the heat that had been on Dave as she had touched him. It could have been his hands between her legs, not her own, her body against his instead of the wall of the streaming shower.

She whimpered as she pressed her fingers against her mound, holding it there for a moment before beginning to move her fingers over it in light, slow circles. The sensation was overwhelming, her body hypersensitive and wanting with lust. She was breathing heavily and noisily, and she soon had to hold her free hand over her mouth to keep anyone from hearing her outside. She shut her eyes and there was his face, the way it had looked the night before. He was on top of her, kissing her for the first time, his cheeks red with blush and heat. And then she thought of the morning, the way his hands had felt against her skin, and she imagined those hands instead of her own, and she was so close that she almost fell over, putting all of her weight on the shower wall. She remembered the feeling of him, hard and pressing against the inside of her legs before she had pulled back. But in her mind she didn't, she pressed herself back against it and rubbed, and she imagined his moans of pleasure as she let out her own, moving her hand faster against herself, feeling the ache of needing pleasure that let her know she was about to come. With another heavy, kneading motion she said his name into her hand, orgasm wracking her body with a fierce wave of pleasure. It moved through her like electricity, her legs giving out as she slid to the floor.

She breathed hard as her vision blurred, pleasure melting away and suddenly aware how unbelievably hot it was. Her skin felt like fire as the steaming water poured over her, her face flushed with heat that was no longer arousal. She tried to push herself back up, but she was tired, so very tired. She closed her eyes, trying to focus herself so she could use her powers, teleport, or move the knob, or open the door. Her mind was too slow, her thoughts coming long after she had lost the ability to process them. She whimpered softly, this time in tired fear, tears coming to her eyes that ran cool against her hot cheeks.

Jade had been gone for a long while before he started to grow anxious. Maybe she was mad at him? Maybe she had not intended to come back. He felt a pang of unease at these thoughts, and quickly pushed them back away. He was going to go find her and ask her for himself instead of letting his shitty teenage angst tendencies to take over. He walked immediately toward Rose's room, hoping to find her and Jade there, ending this search and his confusion swiftly. He was never so lucky. He looked in and after a fairly decent go at snooping around, his search remained futile. He decided to check the computer room, and so headed in that direction. When he got there, he say Rose sitting across from Kanaya, talking with a smirk on her face. "Hey, LaLonde."

"Hm?" She said, turning toward him with a lingering smirk.

"Do you know where Harley ran off to?" He phrased it as nonchalantly as he could, he did not want her to catch something in his voice that would give away his anxiety.

"I showed her into the shower in my room a few hours ago, and then after she said she was going to go back to spend more time with you. Did she not show up."

Dave's heart plummeted, but he kept a straight face. "No, I haven't seen her."

And then a feeling of worry gripped him, and he could not explain why he needed to check but he didn't question himself as he turned from his sister to walk back in the direction he had come. She was used to his abrupt departures, and turned back to Kanaya to resume their conversation.

He reached Rose's room and walked a b-line to her bathroom door, touching his ear against it to find out if there was any movement. There wasn't. There was no sound but that of the running shower. He knocked hard on the door and raised his voice so she could hear him over the sound of the water. "Harley?"

He thought he heard something, but it did not sound like an answer so he tried again, raising his voice a little more "Harley are you in there?" Again, there was a soft noise. Someone was in there alright. He knocked again, "Jade answer me." He said it with a little too much inflection in his voice, but at the moment he was beyond caring. He pressed his ear hard against the door and listened as intently as he could. He heard a light thump and then a shaky, whispery voice, "D-Dave." His cool was gone instantaneously as he cluched for the doorknob. It wouldn't turn. Fuck no fuck no. Without hesitation, without even backing up first, he rammed his body into the door, a dull but throbbing pain shooting through him at the shock of it against his bandaged body. He sucked in the air, his eyes tightly shut as if to shut out the pain, and then without wasting another second he threw himself against the door again. FUCK. He ignored the pain this time and threw himself against it again and again until the wood buckled. He pushed himself through the door into the unbelievably hot, steam-filled room. He had trouble breathing in the thick air, but he ignored that as well and found his way to the shower door. He could see the shadow of a body behind the fogged glass, curled up limply against the wall. He wrenched open the door, his hair already drenched with the water in the air. He shoved his arm inside and grabbed at the knob, turning it until the water came out icy.

Without a thought he went in, the freezing water pouring over him causing his body to convulse with shock. He barely even noticed, his eyes on Jade, staring up at him with tired, empty, red-rimmed eyes, the green striking out at him in contrast. Her body was on fire, her skin red with heat and her breaths coming in slow, shallow pants. She was shivering as the water hit her, but she didn't make any move to speak. She barely seemed to even register that he was there at all. He did the only thing he could think of and put his arms beneath her the way he had last night before carrying her into the bed with him, being careful not to put his hands too near to her chest or her thighs, eyes focused unflinchingly on her face. He pulled her to him, cradling her body against his lap, pulling her up to rest her head on his chest. He ran his shaking hand through her wet hair, and he felt her breathing against him, more evenly than before. She was still shivering, and he pulled her closer, pressing his face against her forehead. "I'm sorry, we have to cool you off. I'm sorry," he was trembling. She nodded weakly, still shaking hard. He pulled her into him as hard as he could, wrapping his arms around her curled up body trying to keep her from shivering more.

He waited, the cold of the water leaving him tense and numb, until the flush of her skin began to recede. It was time to take her out. It was an effort pushing himself to his feet, his muscles feeling as if they were frozen solid, but he finally did. Cradling the girl in his arms, he stepped out of the shower and took her into Rose's room and lay her on the bed. She was not shivering as much anymore, and she did not look him in the eye as she pulled herself into the fetal position, trying desperately to cover herself. Dave silently walked into the bathroom again, grabbed a big lavender towel hanging from the wall, reached in to turn off the shower, and returned to the bedroom. He unfolded the towel and wrapped it around her gently, all while making sure she could tell he was not looking by the direction he turned his face. Once he was done, he pulled away and turned around, making no expression the whole while despite the fact that his body was still shivering with a deep, unrelenting chill. "G-get dry, and w-warm." He said, failing to keep the shivering out of his voice.

He walked out of the room and Jade just stared. She should have thanked him. She should have done something, but she hadn't.

Finally got over my fear of writing dirty words (within the context of the story). Well, not quite, but... it's a start.

Even without the romantic stuff, I honestly read Dave as being this kind of person. The kind to care about his friend's well-being before his own. He showed this when he went back in time to save John, even though it meant an enormous amount of self-sacrifice. His identity. Anyway, I have a lot of feelings about Dave. So many.

-CS