A/N: Hi there! It is time for the Wendell and Lilly spa weekend.
Thank you Kareneb and Mphs95 for reviewing the previous chapter.
Wendell had kept working the rest of the week, but he had only been partly successful. Especially the evenings had been difficult, without feeling the need to focus, the worries about his future had crept in. He really hoped a spa weekend was going to work with relaxing him and helping him make a choice. It was rather girly in his opinion, but since he had never been, he didn't really have a right to judge. Wendell had enjoyed Lilly's massage, but they were dating, so that felt a little more natural to him. He was a bit worried that he wasn't going to be able to relax with a stranger rubbing his back.
"You could have told me this spa was in New York."
Lilly smiled. "Well, that would ruin the surprise a little, right? DC doesn't have a spa hotel like this and I know exactly what is amazing here and what we might as well skip."
"You take all your boyfriends here?" Wendell asked.
She shot him a look. "You know I didn't really date much and my last somewhat serious boyfriend was over 5 years ago. He was not a fan."
"Sorry, I was just teasing you. I do appreciate you setting this up."
Lilly smiled. "I'll have my revenge. I just hope you're going to like this. A spa isn't for everyone, so if you hate it after the first day, we can totally do something else the other two days. I know a lot of fun places in NY."
"We'll see. Doing something new is always healthy anyway."
They arrived at the address. The spa was located in a narrow street, in the middle of the block. The building was all white and a couple of, three or four, stories tall. Lilly all but dragged Wendell in by her speedy walking. "Wow, what's the hurry?" Wendell asked.
"Sorry, I guess I am already back on NY time, everything goes so much faster here."
As soon as they were through the door, the atmosphere was the complete opposite of outside. Instead of honking cars and sirens, they were greeted by softly playing music and timed lighting. At the front desk, they were greeted by a zen looking woman. "Welcome to NY city spa."
Lilly handled the boring part of confirming their reservation. While handing over the keys to their rooms, the woman wished them a lovely stay and refereed them to a colleague. "Hi Mia," Lilly greeted the second hostess.
"Hi! So good to see you again, Lils. I can't believe you haven't been by for so long."
"Yeah, I know. That is the struggle with living in the next big city?"
"Hmmm. Sure is. We booked one of the suites for the two of you."
"Ah thank you." Lilly turned to Wendell. "You're going to love the suite, I am sure."
"Wow-zaaaaa", Wendell exclaimed as he stepped into the room.
"I'll leave you guys to it," Mia said with a smile at Wendell's big eyes, excusing herself from the room.
"How often did you come here if she knows your name?"
"About once every two-three months?" Lilly said.
"Damn."
"Not for three days at a time though. Sometimes I would just go in for a facial of a massage."
"That can't be cheap, this weekend can't be cheap," Wendell said as he looked around the room.
Lilly smiled. "It's - and will be - worth every penny, I promise. Besides my dad owns some of the stock for this spa, so we got quite the discount."
Wendell looked impressed. "What is it your family does again?"
Lilly blushed. "Um... have you ever heard of Johnson Inc?"
Wendell 's eyes bulged out. "Are you serious?!"
"Yeah... I am afraid so."
"Omg." Wendell let out, stunned by surprise. They had known each other for months now and apparently, he still didn't know a whole lot about his girlfriend. "One of my scholarships is from their program."
"Ah, that is pretty cool."
"Can we please not make a big deal out of this? Besides you, only Hodgins knows."
"I don't know. It kind of IS of a big deal, right? You're as rich as Hodgins is."
"No, I am not. Besides, The Cantilever group is a lot bigger than Johnson Inc. I am as much a student as you are."
"Yeah right, you don't have any study debt," Wendell said with a ping of jealousy.
"True, but that is because I have a full scholarship too from the NYC University program, because of my grades. I wasn't born or raised with a golden spoon, Wendell. Sure, there are some advantages, like going to the spa without having to pay full price, but I know the worth of money and I have made all the teenage mistakes of blowing it on fun things and being out of money for the rest of the month. So, can we please park for later this and just start our spa weekend?" Lilly asked, referring to Wendell's request to not discuss his impending decision about his future career.
"Fine but we're going to have to discuss this eventually as well."
"Of course." Lilly checked the clock. "We should get going because we have a massage waiting for us."
"Do you think it's a bad sign that we skip so many subjects to talk about?" Wendell asked. It was his suggestion to park his career choices as a conversation topic for at least the first 24 hours.
"We're not skipping, we're postponing. Besides, there are plenty of other topics we can discuss."
"Like what?"
"All sorts of things. If we really can't think of anything, we could always do the 36 questions to fall in love."
Wendell smiled. "That actually sounds like fun, maybe we can do those anyway."
"Alright, see? Problem solved."
Meeting Wendell in the massage room, Lilly grinned as soon as she spotted him. "What are you wearing?"
"Swimming trunks", Wendell said, feeling a bit silly for stating the obvious.
Lilly snorted. "Wendell, you're not supposed to wear anything."
"You're wearing a towel." He retorted.
"Yes, I am, but other than that I am all ready for the massage. Lilly threw a towel towards Wendell. "Go change." Seeing his hesitation, Lilly walked closer. "Does that make you uncomfortable?"
"Yeah, a little."
"Don't be. You'll hardly be without a towel anyway and the people here see naked people all day, they are not going to be surprised. Although... you're so handsome they might be." She teased.
"Ugh", Wendell sighed, shaking his head as he managed to work his trunks off while keeping himself covered by the towel. "Are you happy now?"
"Definitely," Lilly said seriously. "I mean I am about to get an amazing massage beside you at the best spa I've ever been to. I am not sure how I couldn't be happy."
Wendell nodded. "You have a point but I've never felt much for letting someone touch me outside of the person I'm in a relationship with."
Lilly chuckled. "Wendell, they aren't going to massage your private parts. That would indeed be my privilege. Getting massages has plenty of health benefits. You did enjoy my massage a few days ago. If you don't like it, we won't get any more after this, but please just give it a shot and try to enjoy it, relax a little."
"I will. It is beautiful here."
"I agree. It is pretty light here, you should see the sauna part, that is all dark and themed after a Roman bathhouse. It's still lovely but a little less polished, I guess." That was also part of the reason why Lilly wanted to go to this spa. A lot of saunas were so focused on women, Lilly didn't think Wendell would go for that.
After the message Wendell looked so relaxed, he seemed a couple of years younger. He really had taken Lilly's advice to heart. The masseuses had left them, telling them to take all the time they needed and that there would be someone bringing tea in 15 minutes. For at least those 15 minutes both Lilly and Wendell enjoyed the relaxation. The person bringing the tea was so quiet it was barely audible.
After another few minutes - or maybe over 10 minutes Lilly softly spoke up. "How are you feeling?"
"Heavy, relaxed, maybe even boneless," Wendell mumbled half into the table he was lying on.
Lilly smiled. "Yeah, this was a great massage. Do you still want to go into the city?" Wendell had proposed going sightseeing since Lilly had told him that their itinerary left a couple of free hours between this massage and the spa time later that day. Wendell finally opened his eyes. He looked so calm and serene and cute.
He shook his head. "No, I think we should drink our tea, put on our robes and just crawl in that bed with the thread count meant for an Egyptian emperor."
"Okay, that sounds amazing actually."
The rest of their time in the massage room and their walk back to the hotel room they spend in comfortable silence. Wendell went straight to the bed, pulling back the sheets, dropping his robe on the ground and getting in. He sighed contently with the softness and coolness of the sheets. "C'mon here," Wendell said, gesturing for Lilly.
Complying to his gentle command, Lilly did the same as Wendell. After crawling into the bed, she cuddled up against her boyfriend. Wendell put his arm around her and pulling her against him. "I love you," Wendell said, overcome with sleep and relaxation.
"I love you too", Lilly murmured before her eyes got so heavy, she drifted off into a relaxed sleep.
"Hi," Lilly said, trying to blink away the sleep from her eyes.
Wendell put a strand of hair behind her ear. "Hello."
"Did we just say the L-word before both drifting off into the best nap I ever had?" Lilly asked.
Wendell nodded. "Do you think it's too soon for that?"
"It's fast for sure but too soon? No, I think we were ready for that."
"Does that mean we should go public?"
Lilly shrugged. "Not per se, but yeah being able to share what we have with the world would be pretty cool, right? Besides, Booth and Dr. Brennan already know."
Wendell nodded. "I am going to say it again. I love you."
Lilly grinned. "You smooth talker you. I love you too." She kissed him.
A/N: Thanks again for sticking with this story!