Okay, so this is a little shorter than normal, but I got all the stuff I wanted to be done in this chapter, well, done.

I've got a few more ideas I have lined up for this story, but it's some stuff that needs some time to past first and some history to be explained. So I hope y'all are down for some fluff and angst for the next few chapters! lol

Anyway! I hope you guys enjoy! Much love, everyone!

"So you two basically made-out on a cliffside?" I flashed my best friend a large smile as I closed the kitchen cabinet door.

"Yup."

"But you never ended up asking her what you two were to each other?" I chuckled nervously as I turned my attention back toward him.

"Yup." Toby sighed dramatically as he pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Jim. I love you man, but seriously?"

"I know I fucked up, alright?" I placed my hands onto the counter as I let out a sigh of my own. "What am I supposed to do?"

"I don't know. Let's see." Toby tapped at his chin jokingly for a second as he looked off toward the air above him. "Oh, I know. ASK HER!" He slammed his hands onto the counter we were both leaning on now as I gave him a blank stare.

"Yeah, totally didn't think about that. You're a lifesaver, Tobes."

"I know right? The wonders of having common sense."

"I hate you."

"Love you too, my dude." I chuckled as I pushed myself away from the counter to run my hands through my hair.

"How do I do about it, though?"

"Seriously?" Toby gave me an annoyed look.

"What?"

"You two made-out but you're nervous about actually asking her out? Wouldn't you have lost your marbles over that instead?" I sighed as leaned instead against the counter behind me.

"I'm fucked, aren't I?"

"I'm fucked aren't I?" Douxie just laughed at me as I flopped onto the couch while pushing a pillow against my face. I groaned into the fabric of the pillow.

"Can't hear you when you're muffling yourself, Claire." I flopped the pillow into my lap before turning my head toward the older artist.

"I said, why in the hell am I acting like this? It's not like I haven't dated before. What's so different about Jim?"

"Besides the fact that he's Jim? Maybe it's the fact you actually give a fuck about this one?" I turned my head toward the ceiling as Douxie kept talking softly to me. "It scares you and that's fine, love."

"It's more than just scary." I let out an airy laugh. "It fucking terrifies me."

"Welcome to-." I pointed my left index finger toward him as I cut him off suddenly.

"Don't you dare say the l-word."

"Are talking about l-."

"Nope."

"Aw, come on. It's just l-."

"Nuh-huh."

"Jimmy and C-Bear sitting in a tree. K-I-S-S-I-N-G." I took the pillow from my lap and chucked it right into Douxie's face. Causing him to fall backward and nearly completely off of the coffee table he was sitting on.

"I swear to the Gods I'll kill you, Hisirdoux Casperan!"

"JESUS! I know you can throw a punch, but damn you can throw a pillow."

"Do that again and you'll learn both from experience." Douxie sat up with a smile as he tossed the pillow back into my lap.

"Just talk to him. It's not that big of an issue."

"Ease enough for you to say. You never had to deal with this with Zoe."

"That's because Zoe," He rose to his feet in the middle of the sentence. "and I were mature about it."

"She grabbed you by the collar, called you a dumbass for not thinking she felt the same, and then kissed you." I smirked at the now blushing man. "If I remember how you told it, at least."

"As I said, mature."

"The only mature thing about that was her language, Doux."

"Exactly." I rolled my eyes at him and he placed a hand on my left bicep as I was still laying down on the couch. "But seriously, it's simple. Just talk to him. Don't worry about expectations or the normalities, but about how you feel. That's all that matters within relationships anyway."

"You seem to forget who you're talking to." I swallowed dryly as I felt my eyes nearly gloss over. "Every relationship I ever had was to either cause me to feel something besides being numb or to piss off my parents. Every single one of them led to more pain than I began with. Whether I liked them or not."

"But Jim isn't a Steve just as you're not the same Claire as you used to be." Douxie crouched down beside me as I sat up slightly. "You've grown so much from the girl I met at a dive bar those few years ago. You're stronger and more resilient than you ever were. A fine young woman, if I may." I smiled toward him only to see a soft smile dancing on his face. "I know I don't say it enough, but I'm proud of you, Claire." A happy look shined in his eyes even though I knew by the sudden glisten that the punk was near to tears. "I'm proud to call you my sister. Blood or not." I reached out and wrapped my arms around him with a smile on my face.

"I love you too, Doux." He chuckled into my shoulder as he wrapped his arms around me as well.

"So you can say the l-word." I smacked him lightly in the back as he just laughed a little harder.

"You're ruining the moment."

"I love you too, little sis."

I paced back and forth anxiously as I was waiting outside of Jim and Toby's front door.

What in the fuck are you thinking, Claire Maria? It's ten on one of Jim's busiest workdays. You know he's gonna be near exhaustion but now you decide to want to talk to him about everything. Without even a warning text or anything. The fuck are you thinking? You're not. Exactly.

Suddenly, the door beside me opened wide to present me with a tired-looking Toby rubbing his right eye with his free hand.

"Claire? It's like, midnight. What's up? Is something wrong?" I blushed slightly as I gave him a nervous laugh.

"It's only ten, actually. I just wanted to talk to Jim."

"It must be hella important if you can all the way over here for it." The red-head gave me a smirk. I gave him a half-hearted glare in return.

"Even though I enjoy you, Toby, I really just want to speak to Jim before I get seconds thoughts." He chuckled a little as he moved away from the door slightly.

"I understand a lot more than you think. Do you wanna come in? I'll go get him for you." I nodded my head sheepishly as I slipped through the door as he went to the right of it. "Jimbo!" He called out down the hallway as he went for the stairs. "You've got someone here for you!" I closed the door behind me as I leaned against it with almost all my weight.

This is stupid. This is really fucking stupid.

I stared down at the floor as I started to fiddle with my hands in front of me.

You know what?

I felt my hands grip themselves into fists as I felt a sudden wave of determination into my system.

It's obvious he likes you back. He wouldn't have kissed you if you didn't. Even if you do l-.

Wait. Don't even think that word, Maria. Don't you fucking dare.

I shook my head slightly.

Nevermind that. You like him. Maybe a little more than you would admit at this moment, but you do. He likes you. Maybe in the same way you actually do. Don't let confronting that scare you off.

"Claire?" I nearly shot my head up as a tired voice spoke out toward me. "What are you doing here?"

Or maybe it should have.

I turned my head to my left to see that Jim was stretching his arms above him slightly as he came a little closer. His normal blue jeans and plain t-shirts were replaced with a baggy pair of grey sweats and a muscle shirt with the same emblem on it that I knew was tattooed on his chest. The words 'The Forge' was placed under the symbol in giant bold letters. His hair was a little messy instead of his normal clean-cut look. His eyes looked a little glossed over which was obvious due to his grogginess that was obvious within his features.

"I didn't wake you, did I?"

"Not really. I've been tossing and turning for hours."

"Something on your mind?" He chuckled at me as he took a small step closer.

"Seems you do too if you're here." His eyes now looked at me with such a soft gleam to them that I felt as if I could faint just looking at them. I took a deep breath as I looked down toward my hands that I still had before me as I knew I went back to fiddling with them when I first heard him speak.

"Yeah." I swallowed dryly as I looked up toward him once more. He had a soft smirk now on his face. "What's with the smirk, Lake?"

"You're nervous."

"Wouldn't anyone?"

"Well yeah," He reached out and placed his hands on mine with the corners of his mouth now forming a delicate smile. "Just thought it would be me. That is," He chuckled nervously. "If I'm not looking too far into this." I smiled up toward him. His eyes were looking at me as they always did. As if I was some kind of priceless painting. Like I was some modern Mona Lisa.

Like I deserved to be looked at like that.

Huh. I was overthinking this. Douxie was right. As fucking always, it seems.

I toyed with his hands for a moment until I was able to intertwine them together before us. I glanced up toward him to see him smiled toward me with the softest tint of pink to his cheeks.

And for once, I'm okay with it.

"I wanted to talk about the other day. At the cliffside."

"I wanted to as well. But you're the one that drove all the way here, so you can speak first if you want." I smiled at that as I looked back down at our intertwined fingers. I decided at that moment to just let myself speak without a single thought since overthinking has gotten me nowhere so far.

"I really like you." I laughed a little at that as I brought our hands up slightly. "It feels a little weird, saying it out loud, but I do and even if I have a lot of fucking baggage, I want to give this a try." I squeezed his hands. "I know it'll be difficult. Especially with all the shit I know both of us have more than likely been through, but you're the first person that actually makes me feel like I'm something more than just my past. That I'm more than just some broken pieces or a dead last name. Even if I'm afraid all to hell because I know this will break me if this-." I stopped myself as I looked away from him for a second. He didn't say anything, but the way he gently squeezed my hands told me enough that he wasn't going to force me to continue if I didn't want to. Yet I took a deep breath and continued anyway. "If this ends in flames, I would rather try than wish I did." There was a moment of silence after that which acted as if it was his way of making sure that I was truly done basically exposing myself to him.

"I do too." I fought to keep the shocked look that wanted to express itself on my face as I looked up toward him. "I'm afraid just as you are, but I feel the exact way. Honestly, I don't even think Shakespeare could explain it better than you just did." I felt a laugh shake my chest as he just smiled down at me with the same soft look in his eyes.

"You only said that because you know I like Shakespearean literature a little too much."

"I said it because it's true." I felt myself take a step closer to him as we were now only centimeters apart. Our hands still intertwined beside us as we seemingly agreed that no more words needed to be said between us. We just looked into each other eyes as our foreheads leaned against each other gently as the tips of our noses rubbed against each other lightly. I felt the corners of my lips upturn even further than they already were I closed my eyes contently.

I could stay like this forever.

He leaned forward softly which caused his lips to press against mine like a feather drifting gently across my skin. I leaned into him as well, deepening the kiss and causing the press of our lips to be a little more firm.

Nevermind. I can stay like this forever instead.

Our hands unraveled themselves from each other as his hands placed themselves onto my waist as mine found a way to reach up and cup his cheeks. We pulled back slightly from one another but after a mere second of our lips being apart, we were connected once more. But even if this was probably one of the mere hundreds we have shared already, it made me feel just as electrified as before. My skin must have been covered in goosebumps with how chills ran down my spine each time I felt his breath against my lips. My eyes felt like they were trying to roll themselves into the back of my head even if I still had them closed at this point.

This is how it's supposed to feel. Electrifying as well as terrifying. Warming as well as chilling. It's not filled by the release of a sex-driven hormone but filled with emotion that frightened me as well as enlightened me more than anything I have ever felt before.

It's like a drug. Like ecstasy. But instead of becoming an addict, the only downside is becoming broken-hearted.

Honestly, it's worth the goddamn risk.

"Holy shit." We pulled apart suddenly to look over toward Toby who just had a smirk on his face. "I thought you came here to talk to the man, not suck his face." I glared at the redhead as Jim just let out a hearty laugh while pulling me close to him. "I'm guessing you two are finally dating then?" I turned my head back toward Jim as I saw his signature lopsided grin on his face. His blue eyes seemed brighter than ever before as he looked back at me with just an endearing gleam within them. Before I even knew I was speaking though, I gave Toby the answer he was looking for.

"Yeah. I guess we are."

I couldn't help but smile as I was setting up a new front table display within the flower shop. It had been only a week since Claire and I spent the day on the cliffside together and only a few days of us being officially together but I still felt like I was on cloud nine from it all.

"You're in a really good mood." My mom chuckled about me as she placed a hand on my right shoulder. I flashed a wide smile toward her in reply. "A really good mood for you to enjoy putting a display up this morning."

"Some good stuff has happened." I kept my smile while moving around a few of the flowers in the bouquet in the center of the table.

"O~!" My mother gave me a smirk. "Does this involve the tattoo artist that you've been hanging out with next door?"

"Mom."

"What? You never had much interest in dating before so let me have this, will you?" I chuckled at that.

Mom was never one to question me on my decisions unless she knew it was for the wrong reasonings. When it came to me and relationships, she knew I just didn't desire it at the time. Yeah, there were a few here and there where I tried, but it would always end before I really felt anything.

But when I first told her about Claire, it was even she knew that this one was going to be different.

She insisted that she was already family when the two of them met and I could tell that she knew that something was going on between Claire and me. Every time that the tattoo artist would come through the front doors of the shop, mom would make sure that I was the one tending to her before forcing me to take a break so we could talk a little bit before she had to get back to the parlor next door.

It was relentless, but I put on a smile as I knew this was basically her way of already accepting what she saw was inevitable between the artist and me.

"What if it does?" This caused her eyes to widen like saucers.

"You're kidding."

"Nope."

"You're serious?"

"Deadly." She gave me a wide smile before pulling me into a tight side hug.

"Congrats! How did it happen? Where did it happen? I need details, young man." I laughed wholeheartedly at her reaction.

"We've only been official for like, five days, ma. Can't you chill for a little bit?"

"And not get all the juicy details of my son's first real girlfriend? Hell to the fucking no."

"Ma." She let go of me and started heading toward her office that was in the back of the store.

"Fine. Don't tell me anything. But know this, my boy, I will find out. Either by you telling me or from Claire herself." I groaned as she walked away. One thing that I loved at first was the fact that when Claire and mom first met a few weeks back was how quickly they got along. Mom basically adopted her just like she had with Toby and Douxie when we were kids.

"Finally! Another woman in you boys' lives." Douxie and I chuckled at this as my mom gave Claire a large smile as she held her hand out toward her. "Barbara Lake. Wonderful to finally meet you."

"Nice to meet you as well." Claire gave her a smile in return as she took her hand without hesitation. "Seems you already know who I am."

"Oh of course! Claire Maria. Tattoo artist and probably the only girl I heard this one talk about more than anything!"

"Mom." I crossed my arms over my chest as I felt a blush appear on my face. Claire just laughed in return before the two women retracted their hands from their greeting.

"Really? I hope it's good things he speaks about."

"Oh, the best." Douxie chuckled at my side as he nudged me in the ribs with his elbow.

"Seems your secret's out, mate." I blushed even deeper at Douxie's whisper as I thought the older man didn't know of my feelings toward his self-dubbed sister.

"You two are going to be the death of me, aren't you?" My mom and Claire both turned their attention word me as the smirk on the tattooed Latina told me enough that my statement was true.

"Oh, most definitely, my boy."

I was pulled out of my memory as I heard the front door's bell ring gently to tell me of a customer's appearance. I turned to greet them but instead of being able to say anything, I felt a familiar pair of arms wrap themselves around my neck as a quick kiss was placed on my cheek. I chuckled lightly knowing exactly who it was that was greeting me in such a way. She pulled back to give me a wide smile while I put my arms around her in return.

"Good morning."

"Good morning to you too. Early break?"

"Had an early start to the day. A guy was wanting to get this big ass back tattoo started this morning but wanted to get it done as soon as possible and insisting on being my first customer of the day." She pulled her arms back to hold up her tattooed forearm and pointed at it. "It was basically as long as my forearm but went from shoulderblade to shoulderblade." I gave her a wide-eyed look.

"All in one sitting?"

"Kind of. It's not done yet because you can only do so much, you know?" She wrapped her arms back around my neck as she continued. "But nearly. Just needs coloring and final details."

"What was it about?"

"It was a giant Ganesha tattoo."

"Gane-what?" I tilted my head to the side but my confusion just caused the woman before me to laugh lightly in reply.

"A Ganesha tattoo. It's the Hindu God of beginnings. To describe him in the most depriving way possible, he is basically a giant elephant with human-like skin and four arms. He symbolizes wisdom and understanding."

"Sounds very intimate. Culturally and religiously."

"Yup! Makes sense why I was asked, right?"

"With your culture pieces, most definitely. He'll be proud to have it on his skin if it's you working on it." She smiled up toward me as she rolled her eyes slightly.

"You're only saying that cause I'm your girlfriend."

"I'm saying it because you're talented as hell. Not just because you're my girlfriend. I feel a lot more confident to say it though." She giggled at this as I couldn't help but smile at the sound. "Hell, I wanted a tattoo from you before we started dating and now it's just a bonus."

"I'm still teetering on that, by the way."

When Claire and I agreed that we wanted to be together, she told me that she felt uncomfortable tattooing her drawing on me. I could understand why with her track record that Douxie had described to me with the slightest details. He said that almost every relationship she had ended in a disaster no matter if she cared for them or not, it was obvious to me exactly why she felt like I would regret the decision in the future.

She believes that this would end in a pit of flames just like all those before me even though I can't see us ever hurting one another.

Just proves how different we are, once again.

"Completely understood." I raised my right hand up beside me as I gave her a small smile. "Whenever you feel comfortable." She gave me a soft half-smile in reply.

'Have any plans later?"

"Other than getting the fuck out of here, no."

"Cool. Want to hang out or something? I know it's nothing exciting, but honestly, I just want to have a normal night with you for once." I chuckled nervously as I knew her statement was true. Every time we hung out as friends always ended with something happening and it seemed the tradition was continuing into our new relationship.

Well, doesn't help that the night before you first kissed her you ended up in a fistfight with her ex.

"I would love that, honestly. We can always chill at Toby's and I's. Tobes is going to go see Darci tonight anyway so I wouldn't mind the company."

"Perfect." She turned her head to look at the clock on the wall only cause her face to fall. "Damn it. I should start heading back." She gave me a quick kiss on my cheek once more as she slipped out of my arms. "How's seven sound?"

"Sounds perfect. What kind of movies are we talking about?" She shrugged as she walked backward toward the front door.

"We'll figure it out as we go." I gave her a lopsided grin as I crossed my arms over my chest.

"Not really good at planning, are you?"

"Oh absolutely not." She gave me a small wave. "See you at seven." She turned her attention toward the door before opening it.

"See you then!" The door's bell rung gently once against as it closed behind her. I smiled at where she stood until I felt a hand place itself onto my shoulder which caused me to jump slightly.

"A date huh? Is this the first one?" I turned my head toward my mom's voice who I shot a half-hearted glare at.

"You were watching us, weren't you?"

"Of course. You two are quite cuddly for a new couple. Just remember, always have protection on-."

"Mom!"

"Just saying! It's always good to be safe." I felt like a blushing fool as I desperately wanted to fade away from the conversation.

"Can we seriously not talk about this?"

"Only if you tell me how you two got together." I groaned as she pulled me into another side hug. "I am happy for you though. You deserve to be happy." I felt my blush fade from my cheeks as I gave her a soft smile.

"Thanks, mom." She smirked as she slipped out of the side hug and started toward her office once more.

"But I don't want to be a grandma until I'm fifty!"

"MA!"

When Claire arrived at the house, Toby had left a little bit prior, so I decided to show her around the place since we haven't really spent much time together there over the months of knowing each other. She knew where basic places were like the kitchen, living room, and bathroom was, but we never explored the upstairs or, my personal favorite, the basement. It was my favorite for one reason and one reason alone.

The idea that I made it into my own mini boxing gym.

"You have a small boxing training arena in your basement." I smiled toward Claire as I slipped on some patted gloves.

"I did tell you my Godfather owned a gym right?"

"Well yeah."

"Well," I tightened the straps with ease since the patted gloves were fingerless. "It was based on boxing."

"So that's how you were able to beat the living fuck out of Steve that night." She gave me a smirk as she took a step forward. I gave a simple shrug in reply.

"I only use it when I need to. Nothing more, nothing less." I felt a sudden smirk take over my face as a sudden idea popped up in my head. "Want me to show you a thing or two?"

"You sure to wanna do that? I've tussled with Douxie before since he wanted me to know ways how to defend myself in the last few years of high school so I'm not new to this stuff." I gave her a wide smile as I made my way into the center of the large pad I had laid out onto the floor.

"There's a spare set of gloves on the bench." She slipped off her normal leather jacket off while walking over toward where I said the gloves were.

"Last chance, Lake." She dropped the jacket onto the bench and grabbed the set of gloves before slipping them on with ease. As she came closer, I brought my fist up into a ready stance while flashing her another smile.

"Come to me, Maria." She smiled at this as she brought her fist up into the same stance as well.

"I won't go easy on you."

"Won't expect anything less. Start on three?" She gave me a nod. "Perfect. One." I brought my hands a little bit higher. "Two." I watched her do the same with a wide smile. "Three."

Almost instantly, I felt her right foot knock my left foot out from under me while she swung her right arm back and knocked me into my chest that caused me to fall backward onto my back almost instantly. Once I landed onto my back she pushed her hand onto my biceps to keep me down onto the mat while putting a knee on both sides of me so she was basically straddling me. She gave me a wicked smile as a lock of her hair dangled before her face. She gave it a simple puff of air, she was able to blow it out of her face with ease. I swallowed hard as she brought her face close to mine.

"Didn't I tell you I wasn't going to go easy on you?"

Toby had joked before when we were in high school that I had a thing for girls that could easily kick my ass. I would always refute it especially since my 'relationships' that I had wouldn't even last longer than a week.

Now having been pinned down by Claire in a matter of a few seconds, I can happily say that Toby was right all along.

I felt a blush take over my face as I stuttered out a reply.

"I-I knew you can handle yourself, b-but damn. Remind me to never anger you." She giggled at that which was a stark contrast from the confident girl that just pinned me to the goddamn floor in a matter of seconds.

"I don't think you can, Lake." She leaned in and pressed a quick kiss to my lips before bringing herself back up to her feet. "Wanna go again?" I scrambled to my feet in reply as I gave her a wide smile.

"Definitely." She gave a small laugh as she brought her hands up once more.

"On the count of three then. One. Two." I brought my hands up as I already had a plan in mind. "Three." I moved as fast as I could to wrap my arms around her waist. I picked her up with ease but she was able to twist around in my grasp and lock her legs around my center. She pushed her weight forward which caused me to become off balance as I fell back onto the mat as I did before. She tried to pin my arms down again, but I flipped us around and was able to pin her by her wrists instead. She struggled for a second under me but gave up once she realized that I had her planted firmly against the mat. "Thought I had you there for a second." I smiled down toward her as I released her wrists to lean back a little.

"I thought you did too. Never had anyone used their weight against me like that. It was really smart, actually." She unwrapped her legs from around me and leaned back onto her palms.

"Why thank you. Good idea picking me up like that. Made it difficult for me when I like going for the legs." I chuckled at her as I sat on my calves.

"Kind of figured with how quickly you went for my ankles."

"You're like six foot. What else is my 5'6 ass is gonna do? Go for the face?" I smirked toward her as I felt a sudden surge of confidence in my system.

"I wouldn't have minded it." A similar smirk appeared on Claire's face as she sat upright.

"Oh yeah?" I hummed in reply as she just shook her head slightly. She grabbed the collar of my shirt and pulled me into a quick kiss before she pulled back with a wide smile. "Like that?" I smiled like a fool toward her as she just gave a small giggle in reply. She released the collar of my shirt so she could rise to her feet and stretch her arms high above her head. "How about we call it a tie and move on to something else, huh?" I pushed myself up and onto my feet with a smile.

"Sure. There are some movies upstairs if you want to just spend the rest of the night just having a small movie marathon." She dropped her hands to her sides before taking my left hand into her right.

"What kind of movies?"

"Some geeky ones like Gunrobot and Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Some are more fantasy. Some are adventure-based. I know we have some horror films too if that's more up your alley."

"Gunrobot's your favorite right?" I gave her a simple nod in reply. "How about that one then? I never saw it before anyway." I gave her a shocked look as we made our way up the staircase together.

"You never watched Gunrobot before? Not a single one?"

"Not a single one."

"Good news, we have all three and you're going to enjoy each and every one of them." I felt her squeeze my hand gently as we exited the basement.

"Wouldn't want to spend my night anyway else."