Hello! Sorry it's been so long but I've been having computer problems! Anyway, here is Chapter 12. Hope you enjoy it! Please review, it really keeps me motivated to write more. Plus I thought this chapter was a little bit cheesy, so just let me know please! Thanks for reading:)
I glanced at Tony, noting the anxious expression, and turned to the girls.
"First off," I said, "This isn't as bad as it looks."
Both girls sniggered. I took a deep breath.
"We've been together almost three months."
Tony rubbed beneath his lower lip nervously.
"What?" they both asked shocked, dropping the giggles.
"You said it had only been a month!" said Stacey, right as Kim said,
"You've been dating?"
I grimaced.
"Sorry guys. We didn't want to tell anybody," I said glancing at Tony, "Tony hasn't told any of his friends either, right, right Tony?" I said, looking for his support.
"Right," he said his voice oddly steady and comforting, "Well, except-" he trailed off.
Jack.
Shit.
"Except who?" asked Kim.
We exchanged nervous glances.
"Except Jack," he said finally.
"What?" asked Kim indignantly, "he knows?"
Stacey, very aware of Jack as Kim's father and one of my friends, as well as his friendship with Tony, which I had undoubtedly mentioned to her sometime in the hours I had spent talking about him, merely smiled at Kim's reaction, though maintaining her indignation.
"But that wasn't intentional," said Tony quickly.
"Still," said Kim, "I can't believe he didn't tell me."
"Well, you can't tell anyone either," I said, "Especially anyone at CTU."
I gave her a meaningful look.
"Well clearly," said Kim, "If it got back to Chappelle-"
She left us to fill in the blanks as Tony sat with a look of disgust on his face.
"I have to think about that man enough at work," he mumbled, making Kim and I burst into laughter.
I looked at a confused Stacey.
"The bureaucratic ass I told you about," I said, "Tony gets to deal with him at work."
I smiled, Stacey finally understanding and grinning. I had told her plenty of stories.
"Which doesn't help," said Tony, "That I'm now officially your boss," he added quietly.
We sat in silence for a second, Tony and my hands discreetly sliding on the couch and grasping onto the other's.
"Wait move back," said Stacey, "Jack found out? You didn't tell him? How exactly did he find out then?"
Tony glanced at me, and I could feel my cheeks growing hot as we both tried to suppress smiles.
"Um, well, we haven't exactly been the best at keeping our relationship out of the office at breaks, so," I smiled, watching the girls giggle as they saw where this was headed.
"At least we weren't in bed," said Tony, referring to Kim and Stacey's entrance and discovery, making all three of us burst out laughing.
I turned, giggling hard, burying my burning cheeks into Tony's shoulder. It was automatic, as apparently was his arm going around me and the soft brush of fingertips moving curls behind my ear.
She turned to face the girls, staying in my arms, which somehow made me feel loads better.
"Honestly I don't think this situation could've been much more embarrassing," I said in an effort to get the obvious out in the open.
"I know you're one of Michelle's closest friends and I didn't particularly want to meet you this way," I said, smiling at Stacey, "and Kim. I met you when you were, what? Sixteen? Seventeen? I never particularly imagined this scenario happening. I'm just grateful that you're nineteen instead of seventeen."
At this everyone started laughing again.
"So that's it," said Michelle, once the giggles had subsided, and I suddenly noticed that I had been rubbing my fingers behind her ear, moving her hair back and playing with it. I could tell that Stacey and Kim had more questions, but I could feel Michelle's stomach rumbling once in awhile, as well as my own, and was more than happy to let her deal with this herself, and I was sure she wouldn't mind.
"I think I'm going to go make that dinner," I said, "What do you feel like?"
"Anything easy," she said.
"Ladies?" I asked, "food?"
They both declined and I removed my arm from Michelle and went to the kitchen to fix something.
"Hey," she said, opening the door.
I got a glimpse of her friends sneaking up to spy, but put my intention instead on her.
"I told them I was going to check to make sure they hadn't traumatized you too much."
She giggled, making me smile, our foreheads together, her arms on my neck and back of my head, mine on her lower back, pulling her body against mine.
We were silent for a moment.
"Thanks," she said quietly.
"For what baby?" I asked.
"For doing, well, this," she said.
"Anytime," I said, smiling at her.
"You know that whole Jack thing could've been a bigger problem," she said, a devilish smile playing around her lips.
"Aw shut up," I smiled against her lips, joking, one of my favorite things to do with her.
"OK," she said, smiling against mine and giving in, kissing me back with the short, playful kisses I had initiated.
"You know," I said in between kisses, her lips on mine.
I bit my lip, smiling.
"I think," she continued with the in between kisses, instead biting my lip for me with a grin as she kissed me quickly.
I smiled.
"We should-" I continued, grabbing her lips with mine before she could cut me off again.
"be happy-"
She kissed me again.
"We have more-"
Kiss.
"Movers."
She giggled against my lips, and I smiled, moving my hand to the back of her head, sick of these short sweet kisses, ready for a full one.
I pulled her lips into mine, teasing them open with my tongue. We kissed full on for a moment before I pulled back, slipping my lips from her now wet ones.
"You better get back," I said with a grin.
"Go," I smiled at her skeptical, disappointed look.
I kissed her on the lips softly, letting them linger right next to her, both of us smiling. She finally managed to leave, sending me a suppressed grin before leaving, much the same, sly look she gave me when leaving my office after one of our many make out sessions. I couldn't help but love ever bit of her.
I wiped at my lips, then went back to the TV room. Stace and Kim were giggling slightly.
"So what do you think?" I asked, half my mind still on his kisses.
"Well," said Stacey, "He's funny- and hot."
We laughed.
"It's clear he adores you," said Kim.
I smiled. I knew this too. Better yet, I was completely sure we both adored each other.
"So Chelle," started Stacey, and I knew this was the part where they'd ask all the questions they wanted to know, even the intrusive though girly talk ones.
"He's hot, yes, that's obvious. But how is he at say-"
"Kissing?" I interjected, knowing that's not at all what she was going for but pretending it was in order to avoid her real question for at least a little bit longer.
"Amazing. I could kiss him all day," I giggled.
"That's not what I meant," said Stace, smiling.
"I know."
"Well?" said Stacey, her and Kim looking expectant.
"What do you want me to say?"
"Hmm," said Stacey, "Well, is it better than with any of the guys you've told me about?"
"It's better than all of them combined," I said automatically.
They both smiled.
"Really, that good?" smirked Kim.
"As a matter of fact, yes," I said.
"So he's hot and good in bed," said Stacey, "Sounds like you've got it made!"
"Hey," I said, joining them in their giggles, "No really," I said trying to stop laughing.
I looked down slightly, and they looked at me curiously.
"He's unbelievable," I glanced at them.
"He's spectacular, we're all over each other all the time," I smiled now.
"It's like we can't get enough of each other. He's the sweetest, most amazing man I've ever met. He cares about me, knows how to make me feel better, always knows the right thing to say, but not in a fake way, it's always sincere and genuine. And he's fun, and, and he gets me," I said, looking at them, trying to get them to understand my love for this man.
"And you're right, he's sexy and gorgeous," I smiled.
"He's such an authoritative figure at work, when he needs to be. But he's sensitive and understanding too. I can't help but be in love with him," I finished.
"Don't let him hear you say that just yet," said Stacey with a grin.
"We've already said it to each other," I said.
"Michelle," said Kim in the 'oh I'm so happy for you' voice that all women reserved for such occasions as engagements, pregnancies, and a really great new relationship apparently.
"This is so great!"
"I'm so pleased for you!" said Stacey.
"Thanks," I said, smiling at them.
I could smell something heavenly coming from the kitchen and opted to ask the girls if they wanted to come hang out in the kitchen for awhile.
Opening the door to the kitchen, I saw Tony chopping.
"I said anything easy," I said, sure he could hear the smile in my voice.
He grinned, eyes still on what he was chopping.
"Pasta is easy sweetheart," he said, glancing at me, just then noticing Kim and Stacey beside me, heading for the stools next to the counter.
He gave them a slight grin.
"'Easy' doesn't include cutting things," I said, trying to get a glimpse at what he was doing.
"I'm not doing much, just making the sauce taste alright."
I stared at him for a second, trying to find a clue to reassure me he didn't mind doing what I considered one of the fouler chores. He looked like it didn't bother him in the slightest.
Tony broke the silence that had settled.
"So Stacey, what do you do?"
Stace looked taken aback at this kind interest.
"I work in an advertising agency," she said.
We talked pleasantly for awhile until Tony went and switched off the stove after tasting the sauce.
"Sure you aren't hungry?" he asked Kim and Stacey.
"No thanks," said Stacey.
"Actually, we should probably get going," said Kim, "Dad will be wondering where I am."
She smiled with a joking roll of her eyes.
Tony glanced at me, reminding me of what I'd forgot.
"Kim," I said, "speaking of living with your Dad. I have an idea of how you could get your own place."
And I told her about us moving in together. Kim was completely on board, and they both offered to help us move. As I walked them out, neither could stop saying how good we seemed together. I waved them out the door, then leaned my head against it slightly and sighed. Well, telling my closest friends was out of the way at least. Tony came up behind me and wrapped his arms around me, kissing me quickly on the neck. I turned around in his arms, kissing him.
"You were great with my friends," I said, smiling at him, "they couldn't stop telling me how good we seemed together."
"Well, I think they're right on that one," he smiled, brushing a curl out of my face, tucking it behind my ear and leading me into the kitchen to eat.
Michelle showered me with thanks for the dinner. Apparently she thought anything past sticking some food into the microwave was worthy of applause. But I didn't care. I loved being able to do something for her that she really liked. After dinner we washed up, then headed into bed. It was well nearing one in the morning and we were both feeling the effects of a long day starting to wear us out. We reached the dimly lit bedroom, and Michelle sank onto the end of the bed tiredly. I kneeled down in front of her. Truth be told, a lot of the time that I had been cooking I had been at the door, trying to listen in on what they were talking about. I had heard most of what Michelle had said about me and us, and it made me want to show her just how much I treasured and loved her all that much more. I gripped the bottom of her shirt lightly and pulled it over her head. She moaned a quiet 'thank you' with a small half grin gracing her beautiful lips. I leaned up and kissed her lightly, and her hand reached for my face, kissing me back. She pulled my shirt out from my pants and we parted only so long so that she could pull it over my head and toss it away from us. I pushed her slowly down on the bed, kissing her passionately. The rest of the very pleasant evening was something of a haze, spent discarding clothing and making love, then falling asleep in each other's arms. There was only one thought that managed to push itself through the fog and lull me asleep: Michelle.
Thanks for reading! Please please review:)