The silence was harrowing. Their eyes locked for what felt like a life-time, in actual fact it had only been a mere few moments. It wasn't pointless staring though, they were both individually trying to read one another's facial expressions. Connie looked slightly panicked and apologetic whereas Grace looked hurt and puzzled.
"He, uh, he got back late last night." Connie started, her voice gentle and as calm as she could keep it. "The spare room was a mess because Ryan had been in there and I was asleep in your room anyway-"
"You'd already left my room." Grace interrupted coldly. "You were asleep with him, I saw you both." At this point, the room was so silent you could have heard a pin drop had you been there with them.
"Look, Gracie." She continued down a different line of reasoning after taking a deep breath. "I think we all need to sit down and talk about this later-"
"But I'm asking you now." The defiance and anger in her tone of voice and facial expression was new to Connie. It was slightly unnerving to say the least. "Why was he in your room?" The young girl's voice cracked, the emotion becoming quite evident.
"Grace-"
"Why do you both always have to ruin everything?!" The cruel words sliced right through her very being, she was frozen to the spot as she witnessed her poorly daughter shove her chair back roughly before storming out of the room. Why was every aspect of her life so chaotic? She thought to herself whilst taking a deep breath, running one hand over her hair in a stressed out manner. It was just one thing after another lately. Talking herself up, she gave Grace a couple of minutes before heading upstairs to speak to her. She had absolutely no idea what she was going to say or how she was going to explain this to her. She'd known from a very young age there would be no happy, united family for the three of them. It'd always be split and that's just the way it was, this was all she'd ever known so understandably this was going to hit her quite hard. Her brain continued to spin with thoughts as she moved up the stairs slowly, peering in at a knocked out Sam before making her way to Grace's room but before she could reach for the door handle the front door slamming shut made her jump. Her face contorted with confusion over who it could have been but upon opening Grace's door to find an empty room, she knew it wasn't someone arriving but Grace leaving.
"Grace?" She called out unsurely, just hoping for a response. "Gracie? Was that you?" Her brows remained furrowed as she headed back down the stairs to more silence. Studying the coat rack, her heart dropped noticing her pink coat was gone. Needless to say she yanked the front door open forcefully, walking quickly out on to the driveway in bare feet. "Grace?!" Her words hit the violent winds outside and more or less drowned in the blowing gale. Rain was pouring down harshly, leaves scattering across the floor as she scanned the surrounding road and houses. There was no sign of any pink coat in sight. Her hair was blowing around roughly, obscuring her vision, she tried to contain it, pushing it behind her ears but her arms wanted to stay close to her blouse-covered body to keep herself warm. "Grace?!" Shouting again, her heart started to thump quickly with panic. Normally she would be concerned of course but even more so at the moment with the many medical issues she was suffering from. Her worried mind would not be settled until she found her.
Quickly darting back inside, she made her way upstairs at an alarming rate, entering her room like a tornado. She made a beeline for her shoes and coat draped over the wicker chair in her room.
"Connie?" His groggy voice was low and growly, the fatigue extremely obvious. "What are you doing?"
"Get up." She spoke sharply, shrugging into her coat and grabbing her keys from the bowl on her dresser. "Grace has gone AWOL."
"What?" The alarm on his face matched her movements now, as he sat upright immediately. "What happened?"
"I'll explain in the car, I'll leave with or without you." Pulling her hair out from her coat collar she felt her body experience a momentary relaxed feeling as she saw him throw the covers back and start slipping into his clothes quickly. By the time she was at the front door again, he was halfway down the stairs and straight behind her out of the door.
"What else was I supposed to say, Sam?" She snapped angrily as they drove around slowly, both of them scanning the pavements for her. Surely she can't have gone far? They'd been driving for about ten minutes, the argument more or less starting as soon as she'd turned the key in the ignition.
"You should have just told her the truth-"
"Oh, yes because that would have gone down even better, wouldn't it?" Slapping him back with a sarcastic comment, she kept glancing at the road quickly in between looking out for her daughter's bright pink raincoat.
"I'm just saying, if you'd told her the truth then she might have been more understanding-"
"More understanding? She saw us in bed together, and from that one sight alone she's this angry. I don't even want to think about how she would have reacted if I'd told her the truth." She spat aggressively, shaking her head. "Every bit of bad news always has to come from me, and do you know what? I'm sick of it. You're dealing with this one because I do not have the strength or the energy this time." Her breathing quickened in pace with a mixture of panic and heightened emotion. Sam kept overlooking the fact that she was pregnant, even though it was visibly obvious. He'd been so wrapped up in Emma and Grace's illness he just seemed to keep failing to remember she was probably hormonal and more stressed out about smaller things at the moment. He had a lot on his plate but she had just as much, if not more.
"There!" He pointed ahead suddenly, his voice loud and full of relief. And there, straight ahead of them at the park they could see her pink coat as she sat slumped against a metal climbing frame in the rain. Connie immediately pulled the car over at the pavement, the pair of them jumping out into the angry weather. Sam reached her first, running at a faster pace as Connie arrived seconds after and slightly out of breath following the short jog. "Gracie?" He cooed, bending down to her level, she was as pale as a sheet, her teeth chattering and her clothes completely drenched.
"Leave me alone." Her breathless whisper was only just audible through her shivering jaw. Her hood was pulled up over her beanie, but her face was dripping wet. Sam ignored her stroppy commands, gripping her hand in his. "Grace, you're freezing cold, we need to get you home-"
"I'm not going home." Protesting more firmly this time, she was forced to yell out angrily as Sam ignored her demands and scooped one arm under legs, the other one around her back as he picked her up easily. She started to fight it initially but she was exhausted, freezing and slightly over it all despite her anger. She was still very much angry. The whole time Connie had been stood silently behind, everything she seemed to say to her daughter today was wrong so she let Sam take the reins for once, a sigh of relief escaping her when she saw the results. They turned and headed back to the car, both doors still open with the windscreen wipers going hell for leather and the interior alarm bleeping incessantly. He made his way to the back seat door as Connie opened it for him. Grace didn't look too good, her ghostly complexion and dark bags looked even more stark against her pink clothing. Upon seating her in the car, Connie stepped in beside him and moved straight for the sopping wet coat.
"We need to take this off, it's soaked all the way through." She breathed softly, disregarding the fact that she herself was absolutely drenched as well. Grabbing at her daughter's hands gently she managed to remove the coat and thankfully Grace was cooperating. "There we go." Soothing gently, she threw the piece of clothing over the back of the chair and into the boot as Sam took her beanie off and replaced it with a clean, dry one that was already in the back of the car. His attention being pulled from Grace as Connie took a sharp intake of air, her palm immediately going to her small yet prominent bump.
"Connie?"
"It's fine." She breathed in a whisper. "It's fine, it's just a twinge." Her brows were knitted together for a moment or two, with Grace's eyes on her too she quickly pulled herself together. "It's stopped now, see." Forcing a smile for Grace's sake, she avoided Sam's gaze and stepped back. He only watched her for a second or two more before returning his focus to Grace who was currently a shivering mess.
The car ride home was extremely short and extremely quiet, with the exception of Grace's shallow breathing as she continued to shiver in the back. After arriving home, they immediately got her showered, dried, re-clothed and straight back into bed despite it being only midday. She was supposed to be taking things easy as it was, never mind running down the street in this torrential downpour and icy air. As for Connie, she was drained. Only just realising how hard it was trying to keep things together at the moment. Sam had been present obviously, but his mind had been elsewhere for the last couple of weeks with everything that had been happening and then last night's events hadn't helped at all. Having changed her clothes too, she stood outside Grace's room, listening to Sam talking to her. It's the most she'd heard him speak in what felt like weeks.
"Are you going to tell me why you tried to do a disappearing act today? Or do I have to try and guess?" He pried sensitively, his deep brown eyes scanning over Grace's. They almost had the same eyes. He was perched on the edge of her bed, one hand on the other side of her legs as he leant over her slightly.
"Why can't it just go back to how it was before?" She mumbled with fatigue, her duvet almost covering her mouth as she lay settled beneath the heavy blankets.
"Before what?" His head tilted slightly. "Before you got poorly?"
"No, just before, like it used to be." She averted her eyes from his gaze and began fiddling with the corner of her quilt. "With you and Emma in your house and then Mum and Jacob here."
"You don't want me to live here with you both?" He attempted to keep the hurt from showing through in his voice, but Connie heard it from the other side of the door.
"Not that, just, both of you..." She trailed off for a split second. "You're just going to end up like Aunty Sally and Uncle David."
"What? Divorced?" His voice jumped in pitch, his brows furrowing with a mixture of shock and confusion. "That won't happen-"
"But it might!" She interrupted emotionally. "You're always arguing and you yell at each other every day. You both told me this would never happen, that it would always be separate and you'd never be together."
"Look at me." He smiled as she finally looked at him, her angry features strongly resembling her Mother's. "Your Mum and I aren't married for a start, so divorce is out of the question. And secondly, your Mum and I have known each other for a long, long time. In fact, I think we even argued ten minutes after we met." His smile spread across his face upon seeing her smirk a little, on the other side of the doorway Connie was smiling a little too at the recollection. "It wouldn't be normal if we didn't argue, that's just how we're wired."
"So then why can't it just be as it was? I don't want to end up like Ryan, he doesn't see his Dad at all anymore."
"Does it bother you when we argue?" He pressed on gently, encouraging her to talk.
"No, well, it never used to when you lived in your house." There was a short pause whilst she gathered her words in her head. "But now you're in the same house, you argue more. So, why can't it just go back to normal?" He noticed she'd repeated the same question more than twice now, forcing him to try and answer as best he could given his exhausted, emotional and delirious state still lingering from last night's traumatic events.
"Sometimes when bad things are happening to someone you love, it's nice to know there's someone else there beside you." He blinked tiredly. "You're not very well and it upsets me and your Mum, even though we know you're going to be okay." He quickly reassured, not wanting to frighten her. "But she knows how I feel and I know how she feels. Sometimes we need support too, like how you've got us looking after you, we can look after each other too. Especially now you've got a little sister on the way." He gave her hand a sweet squeeze. "And we argue because we care, even though that might not make very much sense to you right now, you'll understand one day."
"So, this is for good? You're with Mum now, I won't see Emma or Jacob anymore?"
"Yes, this is for good." He stalled, wondering how exactly to explain to whole Emma situation. "Emma's not going to be around anymore, no and neither is Jacob." Folding his lips together, he awaited her next question.
"But what about Emma's baby? My half-brother?" The twinkle in her eyes glinted at him, her sweet face so unprepared for the news to come.
"I was going to explain everything tomorrow when I'm feeling better but last night Emma had an accident." He swallowed. "She's okay, she's leaving hospital soon but the baby wasn't okay." She looked down with the awful news, she wasn't stupid, she knew exactly what this meant but she had no words that could accurately fit the conversation, suddenly her mind flicked back to her own Mother's pained expression earlier today.
"Is Mum okay?"
"Mum? Yeah, she's alright." He gave her a weary smile and on the other side of the door Connie could sense a but coming. "But what if she hadn't been?" He plucked the question out of the air, studying her perplexed facial expression. "Your Mum's got a lot going on right now, sometimes we have to think about things before we do them." He fought for eye contact and raised his brows once he got it. "So, next time you decide to sprint off down the street when you're angry just think about the consequences, yeah?"
"The baby, you mean?" Her expression sank with regret and sadness. "Is the baby okay?"
"She's fine, she's built of strong stuff like you." He lightened the mood again, the seriousness becoming a little too dark for a young teen such as Grace. He didn't want any guilt or feelings of responsibility on her small shoulders, she had enough to be dealing with already. Just as well he had changed the direction because Connie was seconds away from letting herself in to put a stop to the conversation. She didn't want Grace feeling guilty about any of this.
"So, you and Mum are really together now?" She smiled weirdly, the thought was so alien to her, it was something she'd never thought would happen. Of course, over the years she'd always imagined how it would be and she'd always wanted for it to materialise but she couldn't quite believe it was really happening.
"Does that make you happy?" His smiled widened again as soon as she nodded without hesitation. "And I promise, we'd never do this if we thought it would hurt you, alright? That's why we didn't tell you sooner."
"You just wanted to see how it would go first." She completed his sentence, shocking him with her understanding of the situation. "I just don't want you to hate each other like Aunty Sally and Uncle David do now, you won't let that happen though, will you?"
"Never." He kissed her forehead sweetly before tucking her in. "Get some sleep, you look like a zombie." He laughed for the first time in ages seeing her roll her eyes so expertly she could have even given Connie a run for her money.
"So do you, Dad." Getting the last word in, she smiled at him once he got to the doorway. "Love you." He uttered it back and shut the door behind himself, flinching slightly as he turned to see Connie leaning against the wall.
"You alright?" He asked, his voice full of concern as he approached her. All three of them honestly looked like walking corpses at the moment.
"Yeah." She whispered, glancing down at her feet. "Fine, you?"
"Been better." The sigh he let out was shaky and uncontrolled. "So, she seems okay with all of this."
"I heard." A smile crept across her face as she thought about how sweet he was with her only moments ago. "You, uh, did really well in there." There was a momentary silence as she fought herself to utter the words. "Thank you, you know, for dealing with it." Her eyes were looking everywhere but at his, almost as if she was embarrassed to be seen apologising.
"It's fine, and besides, you were right." Their eyes finally met. "You've been having to deal with far too much of this on your own, so I'm properly here from now on." He nodded surely, his face looking slightly more at peace with things despite his current heartbreak over the loss of his unborn son. "And I'm not going anywhere this time."
"So, what? You were just going to leave without telling me?" She cocked an eyebrow, her anger just simmering over into a boil. They were at a work Christmas party and it was 2008, attending separately of course. Sam's long lost son Kieran had just shown up out of nowhere a couple of weeks ago and completely balled him over. He was elated, proud and thriving in the reunion. Connie had been happy for him, she truly had. Until now, when he announced to everyone in attendance that he was moving to the United States. Leaving Grace, leaving her, like he said he would never do.
"Yeah." His head jolted back in shock, his own actions had even taken himself by surprise. The decision was so last minute and so unplanned but he felt like it was something he needed to do. "I wanted to tell you earlier but I just, I couldn't find the right words." The party was still proceeding around them, their words getting lost in the loud music and happy, bustling energy in the room.
"Well, I mean, just even knowing beforehand would have been nice." She scoffed with disbelief. "You know, I tried to avoid this from the beginning-"
"Woah, wait a minute." He interrupted quickly, seeing her becoming angry. "You used me, Connie." Her heart tensed in her chest, knowing the truth of the matter being that she never intentionally got pregnant. It was indeed accidental, she just wanted him uninvolved to save her from this very issue further down the line. It had happened sooner than she thought it would though. "I was just a sperm donor, remember? Now you've finally got what you wanted, I'll be out of the picture."
"No." She interjected, shaking her head adamantly. "No, that is not what I wanted! I wanted you to be a figment of her imagination, not a memory!" He fell silent as soon as she'd hissed those words at him. "I didn't keep you at arms length for that long and then finally let you in just for you to turn around two years later and do a vanishing act on her!" Her eyes glistened under the lights, her emotions getting the better of her. "I didn't want her to get to know you because I knew you would vanish somewhere down the line, because that's exactly what you are, isn't it? A guilt-ridden, absent Father and I never wanted that for my child." She lowered her voice, looking around as she quickly stemmed her tears upon remembering they were in a rather public setting.
"Are we really doing this here? Now?" He lowered his voice, glancing around at the people close by. Nobody seemed interested in their quarrelling tonight, for once. Admittedly, their arguments were show stopping but sometimes it was nice to not have an audience.
"Well you haven't left me much choice, have you? Given the fact that I'm only just finding out now." She let out an ill-humoured laugh, her left had coming up to prop itself on her hip. She looked completely blind-sided by the announcement and he was starting to feel a little guilty."I mean, I don't know why I'm even surprised to be honest. It's not like I didn't already know this would happen, I just didn't expect it to happen so soon."
"Connie-"
"No, no, you know what? It's fine." she halted him from continuing, holding her hands up in front of herself. "Just, uh, just don't forget her Birthdays and Christmas." She offered him a teary yet forced smile before turning and leaving. This was a different kind of sadness he'd seen from her, it was almost like second-hand heartbreak. As if she was hurting for future Grace. He could do no more than watch her leave, he was lost for words and movement. Second guessing his decision.
"So, you getting' a round in then since you're abandonin' us all?" Donna chirped tipsily in his ear, Maddy and Maria along side her. Maria was taking the news just as badly as Connie but he knew the importance of sorting this mess out with Connie. It took precedence over anyone else this very second, including his current girlfriend, Maria.
"What?" His head swivelled to face them irritatedly. "No, sorry, I've got some stuff to sort out." Sitting his glass down during the frosty reception of his words with the three women, he grabbed his jacket from the barstool and left in the same direction as Connie. The awkward silence left in his wake was only made worse by Donna's big mouth.
"Oops! I think Mrs B's takin' it quite badly by the looks of it." Her eyes widened. "I know they only shagged a couple of times, apparently, but like, I wonder if they'll have goodbye-sex? Is that something that people in their situation would do?" She blinked lazily, the alcohol having already gone to her head. "I think I would, if i was her I mean, like, he's the Father of her child. You know? There's gotta be some sort of chemistry between 'em."
"Yeah, no, I totally get what you mean." Maddy added after swallowing yet another shot of vodka. "There's a weird, animalistic vibe between them. Like, pure sexual tension even when they're pissed off at each other."
"You've noticed it too?" Donna asked in utter shock, believing she was the only one to have felt these invisible signs.
"What the hell's that supposed to mean?" Maria's voice sliced through the air between them, her face a mixture of hurt and angry. Had they completely forgotten she and Sam were an item? Still are an item? Or at least she hoped and prayed that was still the case. In all honesty, he really hadn't discussed any of this with her. Sam didn't strike her as the type for long-distance relationships and perhaps she needed to speak him about the matter.
"Nothin' mate, we just mean..." she faded off, looking to Maddy for help. But she just shrugged with wide eyes, highly anticipating her answer just as much as Maria was. "Well, you know what we mean?"
"Thanks a lot, guys." She snatched her coat from the top of the bar, brushing between them whilst speaking lowly. "You're supposed to be my friends, not mocking me to my face." Storming off irately, she left them in complete silence for all of three seconds until Donna found her voice again despite the blaring music.
"Well at least we're not doin' it behind your back!" Drunkenly shouting after her, Donna shook her head and looked at Maddy with a vexed and intoxicated expression. "She's been doin' my nut in for weeks, pinin' over him like he's already gone and left her. She mopes around after him like a sad little puppy, I can't cope with it. It's pathetic."
"Please tell me you did not just say that? You're practically like a bitch in heat when Michael Spence is around!" Maddy set off laughing, initially irking Donna but soon enough the alcohol caused her to join in with the giggles.
Across the car-park, in the hospital entrance there was a more on edge and fraught atmosphere going on. Sam had managed to catch up to connie just before they re-entered their work building, it was easier to spot her than usual. She wasn't dressed in her scrubs and blending in with the other scrub-wearing staff, she was clad in a ruby red, v-neck dress. It was snug to her figure, which was spectacular if he was being totally honest. Her hair was styled into a neat, sleek up-do and her makeup immaculate and striking.
"Connie, please, will just stop walking away from me?" He'd been calling after her as soon as he'd been within earshot out in the car-park, yet she was continuing to ignore him. "This wasn't an easy decision to make, you know?-" His sentence was killed off quickly as she stopped and turned to face him.
"Oh, really?" The sarcasm was dripping off of her words. "Because this all seems very last-minute and unprepared to me, you could've made the choice in split second for all I know."
"I don't get you, I really don't." He breathed out heavily with exasperation as she pressed the button for the lift.
"No, you obviously don't." She fleered, her eyes breaking from his when the lift doors opened. To her dismay, he followed her in. As soon as the doors closed, the silence grew loud and hostile. Before she could gather what was happening, Sam slammed his hand on to the emergency stop button. The lift, very quickly and efficiently, came to an abrupt stop.
"I'm not leaving on a sour note, so until we've discussed this in a civil manner we're stuck in here."
"Oh, how very mature of you."
"These are the extremes I have to go to just to get you to have a conversation with me, Connie. So don't start lecturing me on maturity when you're the one who won't willingly have a discussion about this!"
"Me?!" She barked back loudly, the small lift almost not coping with the volume. "Had I not attended tonight, I fear I wouldn't have even know you were leaving or left, should I say! And what about Grace? Are you going to say goodbye to her?"
"Of course I am." His voice softened considerably. "Do you think I want this? That I want to leave Grace? I love her more than words can describe." The questions were met with silence, she knew deep down in her heart that he would only leave her if he really, really had to. He was absolutely smitten with their young child, but still, this fact didn't make the situation any less painful. "This is my chance to put things right from my past, this has haunted me for years and I don't know if I'll ever get this opportunity again. I need to do this. So, please, don't make it any harder than it already is. I don't want to argue with you and leave on bad terms, that would honestly destroy me."
"Yeah." She nodded tearfully, her facial expression giving away the fact that she was desperately trying to keep a hold of her emotions. "Like I said, don't forget her Birthdays."
"And Christmas." He added with an equally emotional smile, watching her nod whilst she blinked rapidly to forbid any tears from running down her cheeks. "And you know what?" Asking all of a sudden, he looked surprised by his own voice, the silence between them more comfortable now in the confined and quiet lift. Her eyes were flickering over his with anticipation. "I'll miss you." Those three small words has the most impact out of the whole conversation she had, which shocked her to her core considering all the sweet things he'd said about Grace. But this? This hit her in the most frosted over part of her heart, possibly starting a slow thaw that would last for years to come until eventually she would be an open book in relationships. Of course, it would be a very, very slow thaw of course. She couldn't muster any words in response, she just nodded whilst still trying to terminate her own tears. His next move was so genuine and heartfelt, she almost felt butterflies in her stomach. Leaning in gently, he kissed her on the lips, gently and sweetly. Pulling away after five of six seconds, he took a moment to marvel at her beauty. But the air changed quickly, the body language between them altering automatically. Their soft breaths were completely in sync, slow to begin with but upon feeling the rising tension and heat between each other their breathing quickened with arousal. They merely stared at one another for a few moments until she moved in delicately, slightly apprehensive for once in her life but to her relief he met her halfway and kissed her again. This time she was prepared and invited it to progress in speed and intensity. Her hands moved up to cup either side of his face softly, her fingers buried in his short hair at the back of his head as his hands moved swiftly to her waist, The dress she was wearing was soft and emphasised her body in all the right places. Their previous sexual liaisons had always been just that. Sexual. But this one felt slightly different, to both of them it felt sentimental? Like there was meaning behind it, hence why they allowed it to transpire, as cheesy as it sounded, it just felt right.
The kiss was slow, sensual and passionate. Worlds apart from their previous bodily encounters, which were always urgent, rushed and verging on desperate. Despite her being very much an alpha female, she'd been surprisingly submissive during their sexual experiences with one another. Thus, he proceeded with caution as one always does with Connie Beauchamp, slowly pushing her back towards the rear wall of the lift. Their kiss still burning slowly and ardently, but he was caught by surprise when she reached out behind herself, her palm pressing against the wall to prevent herself from being pressed up against it. Instead, she turned the tables. With one hand still around the back of his neck, her thumb resting on his jawline, she used the other one to push off from the wall and ultimately began guiding him backwards to the side of the lift. The silver wall felt cool against his shirt covered back, highly contrasting with how warm his front now felt with her pressing her body flush with his. Her free hand came to rest on his chest between them, squeezing at his pectoral muscle before smoothing her palm up and down his front. His hands had quickly roamed down to her hips more or less as soon as she'd taken control of the situation. Her fingers soon becoming preoccupied with getting his shirt buttons undone, she broke the kiss softly and their eyes finally met again. The same feeling being reflected back at one another, pure desire. Breaking the visual contact, she looked down slowly as she popped the last button and tugged the shirt free from his trousers. He had nothing to play with since she was in a dress, but he soon found his hands travelling up and down her outer thighs, stroking at her seductively as he studied her movements, his mouth slightly agape with excitement. As soon as she pulled at his belt buckle, her breathing hitched eagerly. He was hardening beneath his trousers and even more so when she rubbed her palm over the front of his crotch erotically. Just the sensation of this alone propelled him to shimmy her dress up slowly, finding the hem of it just above her knees, he tugged at either side of it and began riding it up over her thighs with his thumbs, his fingers dragging along her flesh steadily until she undid his trouser zipper.
It was as if his own legs were giving way with the impending pleasure, she could feel him sliding down the wall and instead of fighting it, she just went down with him. The fervent lip-lock was reinitiated as soon as he was seated firmly on the floor, her hands cupping the sides of his head again as she automatically found herself straddled over him. Partially because his hands still rested on her hips and had helped to guide her down. The soft moan she let out interrupted their passionate kiss as she halted it for only a split second to vocalise her building indulgence. She could feel his hands palming over her bum as he continued to move his grip up and down from her waist to her arse, squeezing at her in all the right places. Switching her own hand positions, she moved one to his upper chest as the other one travelled between their hot bodies, finding his crotch whilst she rolled her hips, setting things into motion. He greedily commenced the kissing again, he could feel her grinding on him, the fabric between them only enhancing their individual arousal as she finally managed to pull him free from his pants and through the trouser zipper. He breathed deeply into the lip-lock upon feeling her hand wrap around him, working at him expertly before she moved the same hand to rest between her own legs. This sent him wild, suddenly breaking their lips apart he breathed heavily into the small space between their faces, impatiently awaiting her next move. She dragged it out painfully, teasing him as she rocked her hips a few more times before finally guiding him into her. For a short second, the small boxy space was silent with approaching relief and pleasure. The mutual feeling was expressed in the same way as she groaned hungrily, shortly followed by a grunt of satisfaction from him. Their brows furrowed in unison, their lips parted as their breathing jerked with the intense feeling. His grip hardened on her hips, almost helping her to roll against him as she started rocking slowly at first. The eye contact was a new thing, during their other sexual run-ins they'd never gazed at one other. It was oddly peaceful but the building excitement soon had them wrapped into another lip-lock again, her hand squeezing firmly at his pec, the other palm still placed on the side of his neck just below his ear. Her back arched suddenly with the mounting pleasure, her hips quickening in pace as she bucked over him, his hands moved up to her waist embracing her trim and attractive figure as he ceased the kiss. Breathing heavily, he could feel her panting too with each time the front of her body lapped up against his, there was a low volume of sound with each of her breaths. Like soft, higher-pitched moans that she was trying to suppress. He soon saw an end to that, with each roll he began pulling her even closer to him, ultimately hitting her even more deeply. Finally she was vocalising her rapture with no holds barred. The hand that had previously been on his neck reached out for the wall of the lift to the side of them, desperate for something to support her as she panted out her pleasure filled breaths.
She lay in bed beside him, her memory vividly detailing over that encounter they'd had all those years ago. She knew it now, but that feeling between them back then was possibly something more than just sentiment but it had taken all this time for them to fully realise it. Rolling over from her back to her side, she lay face to face with him in the dark. He was sound asleep and looked the most at peace he had in a while, her eyes rolled over his features studiously. He hadn't changed much, his still had that wistful look, and those deep brown eyes of course. She smiled a little to herself, reaching her hand up she rested it where she normally would when they were kissing deeply. Right on the side of his neck, just below his ear as her thumb lay across his cheek and jawline. Her fingers immersed in his dark hair at the back of his head. That was perhaps the only change, the few speckles of grey hair he was sporting now. Her eyes moved slowly over his facial structures, her thumb stroking over his cheek soothingly. Everything he'd said to Grace earlier was true, having him by her side was helping more than she could ever explain. There was a feeling of content between their bodies as she smiled tranquilly before starting to move her hand away. Before she could get too far, his own hand came up to rest over hers reassuringly, almost as if he could tell exactly what she was thinking about.
"I told you, I'm not going anywhere this time."