Elizabeth sat on the bench outside Henry's apartment, nestled cozily in her winter coat, her hat pulled down so far it almost covered her eyes and her hands wrapped around a take-away coffee cup. She had crept out of bed, leaving Henry sleeping so she could get some air and bring him some pastries for breakfast. The little bakery just around the corner from the apartment block always had the best selection and it meant she could try something different every day. She felt rather pleased with herself for discovering it, truth be told and it had become a bit of a routine.
As the first morning light had woken her, she had been a little reluctant to leave Henry's embrace in all honesty. Elizabeth was getting rather used to sharing a bed with him and she felt safe when his arms were wrapped tightly around her. Having been so closed off and used to being by herself, letting someone get past the barricades and actually take care of her was a huge deal. The only problem was, she'd soon have to get used to being back in her tiny dorm room, all alone once again and the mere thought made her want to cry.
Pushing those unwanted thoughts to the back of her mind, she focussed on Christmas and what she was going to get Henry. They had said no gifts as they'd only just met and what can you really buy someone you barely know anyway? But his pure heart and generosity were such that she wanted to show her gratitude. They'd had this very conversation only last night when Henry had insisted that she didn't need to show gratitude as he was just as grateful she was there with him. But one thing led to another, as they do, and they'd both ended up showing a great deal of gratitude…. Twice. Elizabeth subconsciously started chewing on her bottom lip as she replayed their exploits in her mind. She was starting to think she may have a bit of an addiction to his body, and definitely what he could do with it.
"Watcha doing out here all alone?" Henry's voice startled her from her dirty thoughts and she blushed profusely as he leaned over her shoulder and pecked her on the cheek.
"I was just going to bring you some breakfast but you've kinda spoiled that now. Why are you up so early? I wanted to let you sleep." She curled into his side as his arm wrapped around her shoulder. They joined so perfectly together, it was almost as if they were always meant to connect.
"I missed you and you're like a mini furnace, keeping me nice and warm. So, when you're not there, the bed's cold."
"Awwww poor baby, we can't have that, can we. Shall we take these pastries and have them in bed?" The twinkle in her eye wasn't lost on Henry and as he looked at her, the sudden fear of being without her struck.
"I...errr… Sure." He could feel his heart thrumming in his chest and his mouth was dry. He'd never felt so scared of losing something in his life.
"Henry? What's wrong? Are you sick? What can I do?" Elizabeth realised she was bombarding him with questions but he'd gone from being all flirty to looking like he'd seen a ghost and it had freaked her out.
"No, I'm fine. I just felt a little dizzy for a second. It's all good. I heard you mention going back to bed but I'm afraid I didn't catch the rest. What will we be doing there? Just so i'm prepared." Henry was quickly back to his flirty self, smirking at the beautiful blonde before him.
"Why don't we go and find out?" Elizabeth tossed her empty cup into the nearest trash can and grabbed Henry's hand "Race ya."
Sex scenes in the movies had always been a bit of an Enigma for Elizabeth. She didn't have vast experience in that area, but even so, the moans and groans… The constant passion and the headboard banging against the wall, disturbing the neighbours always seemed like a crock of shit. That was until now!
The pastries had been cast aside in favour of getting naked… again! And as good as the sex had been up until this point, something seemed to have clicked all of a sudden and a whole new level was occurring.
"Ohhhh fuck Henry…. Harder… Oh god." She was alternating between gripping the sheets beside her and dragging her nails down his back. She really didn't quite know what to do with herself, it felt that good. Surely sex like this was only in the movies.
Henry upped his pace and thrust into her so hard the bed shifted slightly and the wooden headboard was now making an almighty racket against the wall. The Bang...Bang...Bang every time Henry moved, reverberating around the small room.
"Can you stop doing that Henry, it's distracting." Elizabeth tilted her head back, grabbing Henry's shoulders as she got closer to the edge. "Uhhhh right there."
Desperate to please her, Henry stopped moving so the headboard didn't bang, just as Elizabeth had asked. Looking down at her with a wry smile "Is that better?"
"Noooo! What are you doing? I was right there and you stopped. Fuck Henry." Her legs wrapped that little bit tighter as she glared at him "Keep going."
Once again, Henry did as instructed and went full throttle, his own climax almost upon him. But, as he moved, the Bang… Bang… Bang made a reappearance.
"Urghhhhh christ Henry. Stop making that noise. I'm trying to have an orgasm here."
"It's not me, it's the fucking headboard. So do you want a silent room or do you want to come hard?" His slight frustration at the whole situation made him look so cute.
Elizabeth looked up at him and a huge grin spread across her face. Henry wasn't really one to curse but when he did, it was fucking hot. "Go for it… Let's see how loud we can be." The way she'd said it was almost challenging so Henry happily accepted.
"Hang on baby." The cracking of the wood against the concrete wall was stupidly loud and had Henry not been on the edge of irrefutably, the best orgasm of his life, he'd have worried about the state of his bed.. and his wall. But at that moment, all thoughts were going south.
Elizabeth no longer cared about the noisy distraction as she careered towards what she thought might actually be heaven. That particular notion was clearly in her mind as she cried out "OH GOD HENRY." As they both crashed head first into the 8th wonder of the world (or orgasmic bliss) which were apparently one and the same thing, Elizabeth started to laugh uncontrollably.
"Henry.! We broke your bed. Who even knew that was a thing."
"It's not funny Elizabeth. Mrs Harris next door is about 105 years old. She'll think we're in the midst of an earthquake." They both looked at each other and burst out laughing again. "I'll have to go and check on her."
Henry flopped to the mattress beside his girlfriend? Friend? Acquaintance? He wasn't even quite sure what Elizabeth was. But as his body made contact, the bed made a rather loud crack.
"Oooops. Look what you did." The beautiful smirk on Elizabeth's face made Henry melt inside. She was absolutely stunning and words tumbled out of his mouth as he propped himself up on his elbow to get a better look at her.
"What are we?" It seemed like a fair enough question.
"Well, I'm sweaty, exhausted and starving. What are you?" Elizabeth had no clue what he was going on about.
"Don't joke. What are we Elizabeth? Are we dating, exclusive, are you my girlfriend? What?"
Elizabeth took a deep breath and her first instinct was to bolt. But, as she gave herself a second to consider those options she smiled. "I'd like it to be all of those things Henry. I'm your exclusively dating girlfriend."
"Well that's the best Christmas gift I'll ever get." He placed a deep kiss against her lips and let his hands start to wander.
"Oh no you don't. We don't want to make Mrs Harris jealous and I wasn't joking when I said I was starving. Time to eat."
Once they'd managed to prise themselves out of the somewhat dilapidated bed and get themselves showered and dressed, it was already mid afternoon and they still needed to hit the shops. After much disagreement (and Elizabeth playing a little dirty) they had decided on one Christmas gift each. Now that they were actually official, it was only right they swapped presents at Christmas.
They tried the mall but everything seemed so generic and the quaint little shops around Charlottesville had far more character anyway. They split up and agreed to meet back after an hour.
Henry gravitated towards the cutest little book store, certain he would be able to find Elizabeth the perfect gift. After all, books made her whole soul light up so he couldn't go far wrong.
Elizabeth had other ideas. She'd noticed an antiques store as they'd parked up and loved rummaging around in places like that. She had no real clue what she was looking for and for all she knew Henry would have preferred a mall bought piece of tat. Although, she already knew that wouldn't be the case.
When their hour was up, they both met back at the car, each of them looking incredibly pleased with themselves.
"So.. What did you get me then?" Henry was trying to peek like a little schoolboy.
"Mind your own business. And don't you dare think about trying to find out before Christmas either, it's only a few days away."
"Spoilsport. You're no fun." Henry took hold of her hand and headed for the little Italian restaurant they'd agreed on for dinner.
"Bed… Broken… Do I need to remind you of how much fun I can be? Really Henry?" In the days since they'd met, Henry had noticed her features change. She'd looked sad when he first caught her in his arms as she slipped on the ice. But as time moved forward, a smile had slowly appeared and it was now a permanent feature.
"You're beautiful and sexy and I'm crazy about you." He was staring into her eyes, completely transfixed by her.
"Flattery will get you everywhere." She gave him a slight nudge, trying to divert.
"I'm serious Elizabeth. I think you're it for me."
"You're only saying that because I've got you a christmas gift and brought you pastries." She wanted to tell him she felt the same. How the thought of spending a single day without him terrified her, but she just couldn't do it.
" Talk to me! What are you so scared of Elizabeth?"
Elizabeth looked deep in thought for a moment and then met his gaze. And with just one single word from her, Henry's heart ached deeper than he ever thought possible. Just one word….
"Everything."