Your Intuition
Chapter 6: We've Got Tonight
I know it's late, I know you're weary
I know your plans don't include me
Still here we are, both of us lonely
Longing for shelter from all that we see
Why should we worry, no one will care girl
Look at the stars so far away
We've got tonight, who needs tomorrow?
We've got tonight babe
Why don' you stay?
Deep in my soul, I've been so lonely
All of my hopes, fading away
I've longed for love, like everyone else does
I know I'll keep searching, even after today
So there it is girl, I've said it all now
And here we are babe, what do you say?
We've got tonight, who needs tomorrow?
We've got tonight babe
Why don't you stay?
Trying to recover his bearings, John pulled away from Natalie. "Convincing?" he gasped.
"Maybe," she exhaled as she smiled shyly at him and leaned against the wall to keep from sinking to the ground.
"I'd try harder, but dinner's going to burn," he replied with an indulgent roll of his eyes as he pulled his pants back on.
"You're worried about food?"
"Need to keep my strength up," he shot back as he picked his shirt up off the floor and handed it to her.
"Really?" she asked as she slid into it, "for what?"
"I'll show you for what," he laughed as he pulled her towards him for another passionate kiss.
Breathing heavily as they ended the kiss, Natalie shook her head to clear it. "Well, it certainly doesn't seem like you're in danger of not having strength."
"I will be if we keep this up."
"Well, then, I wouldn't want to be to blame for you losing strength," she teased as she moved pass him.
"Oh, I seriously doubt that," he laughed as he pulled her back against her.
"I thought you wanted dinner," she pallied back as he pushed her hair over her shoulder.
"Perhaps I'll just have to eat you," he answered as he sucked at a tender spot on her neck.
With something between a moan and a giggled she shifted away from him so she could look back over her shoulder at him. "What? Are you a vampire?"
"Only in a past life," he replied sardonically as he moved his lips towards hers.
"How intriguing," she laughed as he gently bit her bottom lip, only for the moment to be broken by the ringing of the telephone. With a weary sigh, she turned and eyed the phone while worrying the flesh he had just touched with her own teeth.
"Let it ring," he told her as he placed his hands on her shoulders and pulled her back towards him.
"It might be important," she started to protest as Clint's voice carried over the answering machine: "Natalie, I just wanted to let you know that the pilot called me. He said that he can't fly out tonight. . ."
Feeling John's hands slide off her shoulder's, Nat lunged for the phone and picked it up, speaking awkwardly: "Clint, sorry I didn't pick up sooner. . .no. . .I'm fine, honestly. . .umm, well, John's here," she admitted as she turned and looked at him, not sure what to make of the expression that was on his face. "No, that's ok. . .He did?. . . Well, I went to see Rex for a little while after we spoke. . .right. . . no, that's fine. . .no, I'll be home so he can call me here when the weather shifts enough for us to leave. . .not a lot, I've already packed some things. . . .should I. . . oh. . .OK. . .so…yeah… tomorrow then," she sighed as she ended the call and hung up the phone.
Uneasily, she turned back to John, twisting the bottom of John's shirt in her fingers. "That was my father. I'm.. . well, the thing is. . ."
"You're going somewhere, apparently," he finished for her in a voice tinged with annoyance.
"To London. He asked me to come stay with him for a while," she sighed as she looked down at her feet.
"And what was this? Goodbye?"
"I don't know. It's not like either of us planned this, John. We didn't even. . . Sh!t!"
"We didn't what?" he asked coming towards her.
"Use protection," she answered, embarrassed.
"Well, I guess that's something we need to discuss, isn't it?"
"A bit late, don't you think?" she shot back testily as she moved towards the kitchen.
"Why is it," he started as he followed her, "that women think that men should have to carry the responsibility for protection? What are you doing?" he asked abruptly as she moved to the stove.
"Finishing dinner."
"Somehow, I don't think that matters much right now."
"Then I'm keeping the house from burning down!" she replied as she turned off the burner. "And for you're information, I'm on the pill," she added as she spun around to face him.
"So we did use something," he sighed as he leaned against the counter across from her.
"Why do guys think that when a woman's on the pill it means that they don't have to use anything else?" she retorted as she turned back around and picked up the pot the wrong way. "Dmnit!" she cried out as she dropped the pot back on to the stove.
Shaking his head, John moved to her before leading her over to the sink. There he ran her hand under the cold water in silence. "I really didn't plan this. I wasn't going to tell anyone. I was just going to go."
"Your mother will worry."
"I doubt that she'll notice," Natalie sighed as he released her hand and she leaned tiredly against the sink watching him turn off the water. Accepting the towel he offered to her, she dried her hand and looked up at him, "so now what?"
"You tell me. You're the one who's running away."
"I'm not," she protested, then at his look clarified: "something's going on with Clint. I don't know what, and the fact that he's told me not to worry about why he wants me to go stay with him has me even more worried than if I knew, especially since Cord is the one picking me up at the airport. I'm not exactly sure I'll even be able to pick him out of the crowd. And with everything. . ." she shook her head, not even knowing how to express what was going on in her mind.
"Hey. It's OK. You gotta do what you gotta do."
"I don't want to loose this," she admitted hesitantly.
"Whatever this is," he added watching her.
"What should it be?'
"What do you want it to be?" he countered.
Confused, she started to slip pass him. "This scares you, doesn't it?" he accused, watching as she stopped in the doorway. "You want this to be something," he added, causing her to turn and look at him.
"Can it?" she wondered. "Can it even if I go to London in the morning? Can we have something, because I have to tell you, John, that I do want us to be an us. I want us to be more than a one night stand or even friends with benefits."
"How long?" he asked as he crossed to her.
"How long what?" she asked as she got lost in his eyes and the feel of his hand cupping her cheek.
"How long are you going to be gone?"
"As long as Clint needs me to be there," she answered truthfully.
Nodding, he dropped his hand, slightly disappointed, but not surprised. "Well. I guess we start with tonight then. The rest we'll have to figure out as we go."
"Will we?"
"I don't want to loose us either, Natalie," he admitted as he took her hand in his and entwined their fingers. "So, yeah. We'll find a way. Although, it'll be interesting. I'm not that great with up close relationships. I can't promise that I'll be better at long distant ones," he admitted sheepishly.
"But we'll try, right?'
"Yeah," he agreed. "We'll try. . ."
I know it's late, I know you're weary
I know your plans don't include me
Still here we are, both of us lonely
Both of us lonely
We've got tonight, who needs tomorrow?
Let's make it last, let's find a way
Turn out the light, come take my hand now
We've got tonight babe
Why don't you stay?
Why don't you stay?
Song credit: We've Got Tonight
