AN: Just a heads up, the second half of this chapter is NSFW. (Sorry, I got a bit too self indulgent.) There's a page break where it starts.

She's okay. She's okay. She's alive. She's here. She's not hurt. She's okay. She's okay.

No matter how many times he repeated it in his own head, Connor couldn't seem to get rid of the horrible, horrible image that was scorched into his mind. He sat on the edge of his bed, gritting his teeth with his face in his hands, mentally straining himself with how hard he was trying to purge the horrific memory of earlier that day. But he couldn't. He just couldn't. Every time he thought he might have finally started calming down, it'd just slam back into him at full force out of nowhere. Why was it still so upsetting to him!? He was holding Chloe in his arms meer minutes ago, so why couldn't he stop reliving the brief moment when he thought she was dead!? It was only for a second, too, until Hank jumped in at the last second and told him it wasn't Chloe.

His lack of mental control was infuriating, only rubbing salt in the raw, bleeding wound that was his emotions right now. He groaned in frustration, curling into himself and pulling at his hair. It was embarrassing enough having an uncontrollable breakdown in front of Hank and the entire DPD, let alone Chloe.

He just wanted to yell at himself to snap out of it.

Just snap out of it!

But it wouldn't go away. It just wouldn't. It got to the point where he was seconds away from slapping himself in the face, when Hank's voice shouting from the other room interrupted his spiraling.

"No, Chloe, don't! Leave him-"

Before the man could finish, the door to Connor's bedroom abruptly slammed open, making him jump out of his stupor. He only managed to catch a flash of blonde hair before he suddenly fell backwards onto the bed, completely unprepared when Chloe tackled him.

"Chloe!?" Connor scrambled to put his arms around her, only getting more disoriented now that she was gripping him for dear life and hiding her face in his neck. She didn't say or explain anything, as she was almost as much of a mess as he was now. He did eventually manage to get a secure hold on her, but as soon as he did, his heart dropped in dismay, realizing how hard her chest was heaving from how much she was holding back sobs.

"Chloe…" his attempt at sounding comforting was sincere, but it only made things worse with how weak his voice was, still catching his breath from the battle with himself he was having. In fact, it actually caused her to finally let out a single, heavy sob before she caught herself again, squeezing him even tighter and taking shuddering, deep breaths.

Connor mentally stabbed himself for that, deciding to just shut up before he made things even worse. Hesitantly, he kissed the top of her head, keeping his face in her hair and closing his eyes slowly, a wave of relief flowing through him when he felt her body gradually beginning to still.

He himself let out a silent sigh, his thumb running along the skin of her arm softly as they both began relaxing in sync. Having Chloe in his arms again finally started to douse the fire within himself, and knowing that she was calming down from whatever the hell made her this upset evened out his breathing. Soon it was to the point where she was able to mimic the rise and fall of his chest, her grip on him slacking and her tears all but fading away.

Once he felt they had both been calm for long enough, Connor brought them both up to a sitting position, but maintained their embrace. He was a little surprised at himself when a small smile appeared on his face, once again amazed with how quickly Chloe could not only make him calm, but content in a heartbeat. Just being in the same room as her was enough to improve his mood one way or another, what with her golden glow that he swore made the entire area around her warmer.

Hank tried to warn Connor that he was in what was called a "Honeymoon phase." And that while they would definitely still be just as in love if they constantly kept working at their relationship, it would feel different soon, but to not be worried if it does. The young Android honestly had no idea what that meant, but also didn't really care. The way he felt about Chloe was different. Different than anything else he'd felt for anyone. He just wanted her to always be close, to always hear her voice, to always be surrounded by her glowing brilliance. He could hardly imagine feeling any different about his dove. After all, it's been an entire month and nothing had changed. He was still-

"-So in love with you."

He didn't even realize he whispered that last part out loud, perceiving it as only a thought he had as he planted quick kisses down the side of her head. His heart melted straight through his ribcage when Chloe giggled from his affections, drawing out a happy hum from the young man.

"Connor, you're just trying to seduce me again," while her voice was soft and subtle, there was no trace of sadness or fear anymore.

"Hmmm, is it working?" He asked slyly, Chloe's laugh only becoming louder when she felt his mischievous smile grow against her cheek.

"Hmmm, maybe?" She spoke in the exact same tone Connor had used, placing her forehead against his own and giving him a playfully innocent look. It actually managed to make him laugh quietly once or twice, taking her face in his hands and giving her a soft, loving kiss for a brief moment.

"Are you alright..?" He asked just after he pulled away, concern more than apparent in his words now, looking over her darling face carefully. "What happened? Why were you crying?"

The young Android had almost been afraid to ask before, but he couldn't just pretend that didn't happen, even if they were both feeling better. Whatever happened was definitely more on the extreme side if it was enough to make Chloe hold back her tears like that. She actually didn't cry that often at all. In fact, she was almost always cheerful, really only getting upset enough to produce tears from fear and worry.

Sadly, Chloe's smile started fading away when he asked, her gaze dropping down from Connor's eyes and her posture sinking just a bit. He waited patiently for her answer, his hands subconsciously finding her hair again and twirling a lock between his fingers delicately.

"... You didn't tell me."

Before Connor even had the chance to ask what she meant, he answered his own question almost immediately. His gentle gaze quickly twisted into an aggravated glare, his jaw locking into place as his eyes wandered to his bedroom door.

"Hank wasn't… Supposed to tell you…" His words were so deliberate and steady that it actually made it obvious that he was forcing himself to not get too angry. He closed his eyes and swallowed hard, taking a second to gather himself before continuing.

"... I knew you'd be scared if I told you," Connor began to explain, opening his eyes again to see that she thankfully wasn't in tears again. Just… Disappointed, it seemed. "It wasn't something that was vital for you to know about. I swear I wasn't trying to belittle you or treat you like a child. I just…" His voice abruptly got caught in his throat, his face paling again and his breath tumbling out of his lungs when the image of the eyeless, vacant corpse flashed through his head again.

"... I didn't want you to feel… This," he managed to whisper, his gaze at Chloe's face intensifying while he tried as hard as he could to replace that memory with the vibrant, more than alive girl he was seeing now.

"Connor…" Chloe sighed, slowly pulling him into a gentle hug and kissing his cheek comfortingly. "I'm… I'm glad you were thinking about me. I'll be fine soon, but… Please be more honest with me," he fully expected her to be mad, but as he wrapped his arms around her in return, she actually sounded more defeated than anything. "Don't… Don't hide the truth if you can help it, please..?"

"Yes," the young Android sighed in relief that she wasn't nearly as upset as he thought she'd be, nodding in agreement with her reasonable request and resting his forehead on her shoulder. "Yes, I will. I'm sorry I didn't tell you before."

The tension he felt from that minor case of confrontation all but disappeared when Chloe made a small sound of relief, petting at his hair as she murmured a tiny "I love you." The words made a wave of warmth completely wash over Connor, his breath starting to shake a bit while his arms began to pull away from her waist, almost automatically moving them upwards to pull her into a kiss.

"Why were you trying to have sex with me earlier?"

Before Connor could even get his hands to her face, every muscle in his body locked up when Chloe asked her question in such a nonchalant way, his eyes shooting open and his heart skipping a few beats. She hadn't moved at all, still hugging him fondly and petting his hair like it was nothing. You'd think that he'd get used to how blunt the girl was at times, especially when it came to things like intimacy, but it somehow always caught him off guard. Every single time.

"Ah-" He stuttered, abandoning his attempt to kiss her and just putting his arms around her again. "I- I uh…"

The poor boy had no idea how to explain it to her; how to say that he wanted to just… Feel her. After experiencing the absolutely horrendous feeling of seeing her cold, lifeless, literally empty face, he wanted to really feel that she was alive. To have the indescribable energy flow between the two of them, to be connected in the harmonious movements of their bodies, to see the way her luminance grew nearly tenfold when she was in a state of ecstacy, to just… Really know that she was filled to the brim with life.

But that'd be just embarrassing to admit.

"You were…" Connor kept trying, despite being fully aware that he was starting to look like an idiot at this point. "I just felt like… There was…"

"Did you still want to?"

Once again being shocked into utter speechlessness, the young Android held his breath when Chloe finally pulled back to look over his completely bewildered, wide-eyed expression. Her eyebrows were raised in inquiry, her lips parted slightly as she ran a hand down his chest almost lazily. It instantly made Connor's pulse start hammering like drums in his ears, a hot, electric match striking in the pit of his stomach while his breath was practically sucked out of him.

The word "yes" was already starting to bubble up in his throat, meer seconds away from spilling out of his mouth. But before he even had the chance to say it, the girl pressed her fingers down through the middle of his shoulder blades, the corner of her mouth twitching into a mischievous half smile, knowing exactly what she just did.

A weak, trembling half gasp, half moan forced its way into Connor's lungs, his head lulling backwards slightly as his entire body shuddered so badly that he almost lost his hold on Chloe. Luckily, she was able to keep herself steady, moving in time with him so that she could press her body against his, a pleased hum from the girl vibrating right next to his ear at what she had accomplished so easily.

The boy managed to gather enough strength to lift his head back up, his eyelids only opening halfway from how dazed he was now. Unfortunately, the first thing his sights landed on was the door to his bedroom hanging wide open, causing some vague thought of them not being alone to float in the back of his head somewhere.

"Chloe…" He breathed, gesturing towards the door half-heartedly. "Hank… Hank is…"

He felt her deflate a bit in his arms, frowning upon realizing that he was right. Her eyes flicked between the open door and Connor, seeming reluctant to have to get up and let go of him.

Then, out of absolutely nowhere, Chloe moaned as loud as she could, slapping Connor out of his lust-filled haze and making him jump. It was so artificial, so completely obviously not real in the way she vocalized it that there was no way Hank would think anything was actually going on between them.

"Connor!" She cried out in the exact same tone, punching the boy square in the chest from hearing his name like that. His entire head flushed into a bright blue glow, quickly hiding his face in his hands from how unbelievably flustered he suddenly was.

"You don't need to put on a show," an exhausted, but surprisingly not that irritated sigh came from the other room, a few incoherent grumbles following shortly after. "Just ask for me to leave, jesus christ. I'll just... Take Sumo for a walk or somethin'."

Just after the man uttered the word "walk," an excited string of deep barks followed Hank outside, the house going quiet as the front door shut firmly, leaving the two completely alone.

"... That worked better than I thought it would," Chloe mused, turning her attention back to the bashful mess in front of her, giggling upon seeing how severely the poor boy had reacted to it.

"I'm sorry, Connor. That was a bit ridiculous of me." She kissed his forehead when she apologized, bringing his hands down away from his face and smiling reassuringly at him. "I'm sure that's the last time we'll have to-"

Chloe's sentence was interrupted when she made a high pitched squeak, not expecting Connor to suddenly grab her by the waist and spin her around. He then let go of her so that she fell backwards onto his bed and climbed over top of her, the entire action taking only a single second from how fast he moved.

"You are… Something else," his voice had dropped an entire octave along with his now rather carnal expression, his hands gliding up her arms to her hands, pressing them into the mattress while he watched Chloe's eyes widen in absolute shock. As absurd, embarrassing, and unnecessary her method of getting Hank to go away was, it still managed to set his entire core blazing with a roaring fire, his brain buzzing from the adrenaline-like rush he just had as he leaned down dangerously close to her lips.

It was Chloe's turn to have her cheeks turn a vibrant shade of blue, breathing out a stuttering whimper from experiencing this different side of Connor that neither of them knew he had. Her mouth hung open just below his lips, every breath she took completely audible with how hot and bothered she had become within just a few seconds.

"... So are you-" she barely had enough time to get her sentence out before he dove in and kissed her. And god, did he kiss her, the fervency that went into it almost instantly pulling out a genuine, breathless moan from Chloe when she kissed him back desperately. Now he gave himself permission to completely drown in her, to succumb into the trance-like state that was lust, to just feel life around him. He let himself feel her heartbeat, her frantic breathing, her skin, her body twisting and turning underneath him needily, the vibration of her voice against his mouth, her body heat beginning to mix with his own. He clung to anything, anything that exuded life from Chloe. Because not only did it assure him that she definitely wasn't dead, but it also made he himself feel so incredibly, overwhelmingly, undoubtedly, truly…

Alive.

He was so passionate.

The amount of desire Connor emanated from what must've been his very soul was beyond intoxicating. Chloe was an entirely new level of drunk in the suffocating heat of their lovemaking, feeling like she was practically flying from the constant stream of deep affections that he provided to her. While every other time she's been physical with him was magical and romantic in their own right, this untapped act of borderline worship of each other was something else all together.

Normally Connor was fairly quiet, really only getting vocal when he was approaching his peak. But this was a completely different story. His panting that was usually under a fair amount of control was huffing out of him so intensely you'd think he'd pass out. His strained moans that were usually reserved for particularly acute climaxes were now competing with Chloe's for how consistent they were. He really didn't swear all that often, only letting a harsh word slip when he had particularly strong feelings for something. But now he was grunting out curses left and right, something that was the role she normally played.

And Chloe loved it. She loved every single second he produced sounds of extreme pleasure. It was a luxury she thought she wouldn't be able to indulge in like this. Just knowing that it was her who was driving him this crazy, that she was the one making him feel so good, that she had the ability to give him a feeling this extraordinary, it was almost too much for her to handle.

And that was just from him being vocal, let alone the physical side of things.

Connor was almost constantly kissing and biting clumsily at her neck, only ever stopping to kiss her lips every once in a while. Chloe would normally think it was just another method he used to get her to crumble into pieces, knowing damn well how much it drove her wild. But this time it felt like it was something he was craving, something that might've even given him pleasure from doing it.

Every single inch of skin that he could reach on her was touched in one form or another, grabbing and stroking and groping at her as if he'd simply die if he didn't. The feeling of his hands gliding absolutely everywhere on her body sent pins and needles endlessly down her spine, drawing heavy gasps out of her whenever he paid special attention to the extra sensitive spots that he'd memorized the exact locations of.

And his sex. Dear god his sex. Chloe had never felt this kind of pleasure before in her entire life. Every thrust Connor drove into her went so far, so hard inside of her that the entire bed was rocking along with them. He was much, much more rough than he usually was, but it was definitely more than welcome to her, the near mindlessness of it drawing her down further and further into her otherworldly state.

Euphoria didn't even begin to describe how good he felt inside of her, but her uncontrollable heavy moans and outcries might suffice as a description. She was honestly shocked that she had lasted this long, thinking she should've tipped over the edge within thirty seconds of Connor's senseless fornication. Then again, maybe that's the very reason why he had already gotten her off not once, but twice before his pants had even come off.

Chloe wasn't sure how it happened. Maybe he had shifted his angle a little, maybe her leg twisted into just the right position, but whatever the case, there was a moment where Connor managed to hit just the right spot inside of her, sending a shockwave through her entire body and making her vision go blurry when she involuntarily cried out his name, not really even processing that she said anything at all.

"Connor..!"

A switch must've flipped in his head, a wall must've crumbled, alarm bells must've gone off, something happened inside of himself that made any trace of self control he had completely disappear. He suddenly lifted himself up high enough that he could seize the headboard of the bed with one hand, now making it slam into the wall over and over again as he somehow drove her into the mattress even harder, grunting and groaning heavily as he did.

Now Chloe felt herself rapidly climbing to a plateau, this new angle she had on him finally letting her fully see his face, revealing how truly lost he was in pleasure. That incredible, rare sight was more than enough to make her vocalizations abruptly cut out at nearly the exact same time as Connor, sharing the same brief moment where she swore she was going to explode from the tension with him.

And then it all came down harder than a plane crash, managing to reach their absolute peaks at the same time. The sounds of their blissful, overstimulating gratification intertwined together poetically as they trembled and shook, orgasm pulsing through both of them more intensely than it ever, ever had.

They rocked their way through it together, slowly but surely settling down from their ethereal moment until they were both sprawled out on the bed. The two stayed like that for a minute or so, laying limp while they fought desperately to catch their breath that they technically didn't need.

After a few minutes of stillness, Connor, not yet fully recovered and shaking like a leaf, managed to gather enough strength to lift his head up above her. His messy, tangled hair brushed across her cheeks when he started placing slow, tender kisses all over her face.

"I love you," Connor's whisper rasped heavily from how much he'd overused his voice, but it wasn't quite rough enough to cover the heavy quivering that came along with his declaration to her. The severity of the emotions he was experiencing at that very moment became crystal clear to her when his hands reached up to her head, cradling her face and continuing on with his nearly breathless display of adoration.

It was this simple, yet so incredibly intimate action that caused Chloe's last remaining bit of composure to collapse. A single tear streamed down her face, as a small, almost delirious smile appeared along with it. She sniffled softly when Connor finally placed a kiss on her lips, bringing her arms up around him once more in loving embrace.

The young man pulled one hand away from her face, tilting her head up by her chin with the tips of his fingers while his thumb rubbed her cheek comfortingly. He pulled away, but only just enough so that their lips weren't connected, staying as close to her as he could.

"I love you, too," Chloe was surprised that she was able to speak so coherently, her eyes sliding shut and causing a few more tears of happiness to roll down her cheeks. Connor quietly brushed away her tears, a smile becoming audible in his gradually steadying breaths as his forehead fell gently against her own.

They stayed like that for what seemed like hours. They didn't say anything, they didn't move, they didn't even really kiss. They simply wallowed in the afterglow of their love blissfully, letting it soak in to the bone. Not much else was needed than that, both Chloe and Connor perfectly content in the silence of the waning night. They almost forgot about what had happened not too much earlier that day, the only thing on their minds being the warmth, the love, the very life that flowed between the two of them growing stronger and stronger every waking moment.