Song of the Day: New York State of Mind- Billy Joel
Sorry this took so long to update, guys! Oh goodness, I've been workin' hard and sleepin' late and going to school and traveling around the state of Missouri...so I haven't had a lot of writing time between four stories xD
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The first thing I saw when my eyes decided to flutter open was the ceiling, white, blank and boring as that is, but it was the second thing that caught my eye...Murphy.
I was laying in my bed, on my back, and he was laid out beside me. I looked at him in silence for quite a few moments until it registered in my foggy brain that he was asleep, his lips parted slightly and little snoring sounds issued from him and I fought the urge to giggle.
What the hell, Aby? You're in a bed with a murderer and you're LAUGHING!?
That thought sobered me and I immediately glanced around the room for a weapon of some sort, my eyes landing on my horse head bookends on my wall shelf. I rolled carefully and slowly onto my side, trying not to jostle the mattress at all and then stood quietly and grabbed one of the bookends carefully and placed my hand on them to let them slide down slowly and make no noise. That being done, I edged around the bed, bookend held out in front of me defensively, and headed for my bedroom door, pushing it open with my back so I could keep an eye the sleeping man on my bed.
"Ya don't need that, lass," Connor's voice in my ear made me jump a mile and I shrieked as I spun around, brandishing my bookend in his direction. He merely laughed and took a step back to avoid the swing. The force of it sent my arm halfway behind me by the end and I felt hand grab my wrist and take the bookend from my stupid, thoughtless hand. I felt the other arm wrap around my chest underneath my arms and pull me back into a solid and warm body.
"Calm down, Aby," Murphy's sleepy voice murmured in my ear as he laid the bookend on the bad where he'd been sleeping a second ago. How the hell had he gotten up without her noticing in such short time? Oh, right...professional killer.
"No, let me go! Help! Hel.." Murphy's hand clamped firmly over my mouth and he shushed me loudly.
"Aby, calm down and think for a second," he said calmly, "It's me, Murphy, and that's Connor. We haven't changed at all. We'd never hurt you."
Connor nodded in agreement and my mind started racing like crazy.
He's right, they were always the Saints, now that you know that doesn't change anything about them.
Murderers! They're fucking murderers!
Vigilantes! They'd never kill anyone who didn't damn well deserve it!
Murder is murder! Didn't you WATCH the news!? That guy's eyes were blown out of his head!
It's their signature.
That's SICK!
"Abyssinia!" the use of my full, embarrassingly exotic sounding, history nerd name snapped me back to reality and I realized Murphy had turned me around at some point to face him. His eyes were locked on mine and he looked extremely concerned, but I also noticed a coldness there I'd never seen before. Had he always looked that way? It looked almost like a haunted dullness that was hidden well behind the concern he expressed now and the teasing attitude so often before this...yes, it had always been there, I realized.
"Murphy...I..."
"Sit down, alright? You look a little shaky," Murphy stepped aside and gently pushed me to sit on the edge of the bed then he knelt down in front of me and looked up at me with a whole new expression: fear.
"Murph," Connor said softly from the doorway where he was slowly backing out, "I'll go make some tea for her."
Murphy nodded over his shoulder and Connor left us alone together. Murphy sighed heavily and hung his head for a long time, to the point where I considered the possibility that he may have fallen asleep again, but then he suddenly lifted it and looked up at me sadly.
"Aby, I'm sorry about this whole thing," he stated softly, "I'm not sorry for the things I've done, because I don't doubt at all that I've done the right thing...but if they cause you to be afraid of me or hate me and Connor..."
"I don't," I found myself saying in a choked voice, "Murphy...I don't hate you."
He smiled slightly and laid a hand on top of mine where it rested on my knee.
"But you're scared," he commented grimly, "I can tell, Aby, so don't lie about it. You're looking at me with this...really weird expression and I don't like it at all. You don't have to be scared, you know we'd never hurt you, right?"
I nodded a small nod of agreement.
"Do you have any idea why we decided to tell you?" he asked next, his voice sounded different from any other time and I looked at him questioningly. He looked up then and met my eyes boldly. "Connor wanted to tell you a long time ago, but...I had to know you were ready because...because I don't want to lose you."
I held my breath, waiting for what I couldn't quite believe he was about to say.
"Connor and I...every since we first met ya, we've been kinda fightin' over you," he admitted, "But Connor told me a while back that he didn't really like ya in that way and that he'd just been trying to make me mad...so I decided I was tired of just being your friend. I...really like you Aby, and I wanted to tell you the truth so you could decide whether or not you want me back even after this."
I bit my bottom lip and sucked in my mouth in a nervous and excited habit, waiting for him to ask me what I now knew was on his mind.
"So...now that you know who I really am...would it be alright with ya if I called on you more often? And...as more than just your friend?"
Ha! Fuck you, conscience, I want this man like nothing else!
Whatever, girly.
"Murphy..." I said slowly, carefully, "I'm sorry I reacted the way I did, but it was...quite a shock, after all."
He chuckled grimly and nodded.
"With that being said," I continued, placing my hand on top of his which was now on my knee. "I'd...be delighted if you would be my "more than friend"."
That statement earned me a big, genuine smile and a bright twinkle in his blue eyes. He stood quickly and pulled me up with him, wrapping his arms around me in a tight hug, his chin rested on my head and he sighed happily.
"God, Aby," he muttered, "Thought you were gonna tell me to get lost."
"I could never do that," I whispered, "You and Connor are too special to let such a small thing come between us."
Murphy laughed out loud and I smiled as he tugged me towards the kitchen where Connor was taking my whistling kettle off the stove. He looked up from pouring three cups of tea and grinned wickedly.
"Did he ask ya?" he questioned, opening the fridge to get cream for the tea.
"Of course I did," Murphy muttered.
"And?"
"Sorry, Connor," I said teasingly, "You were too slow, I had to settle for Murphy here. Guess he's the best I can get."
"Damn right," Murphy growled playfully, "Best there is."
Connor and I both laughed and Murphy let me go to hand me my cup of tea and pick up his own. Connor dropped a sugar cube in his cup and leaned against the counter as he stirred it.
"I have some rules though," he claimed loudly, "Number one, no sex in my presence. Number two, please don't make me want to throw up with your cuddly sweetness. Number three, I don't want to HEAR about either of the two. Can you handle that?"
I blushed brightly as Connor's bold assumption and I wondered if these rules had been developed from Murphy's past relationships. However, I nodded in agreement to the rules and Murphy just shook his head with an angry squint.
"You're an ass, Connor," he stated simply, "We've been together all of three minutes and your mind's already in the gutter."
"Can't help it, little brother," Connor said calmly, "I know all about your sex drive. Sorry for ya, Aby."
"I can shove that wagging tongue of yours down your throat, little brother," Murphy threatened darkly, his fist clenched almost as if automatically.
"That's perfectly fine, Connor," I stated, knowing he wouldn't be expecting this from meek, innocent little me. "Sounds like we'll work out just fine because he's gotta keep up with me, after all."
Murphy choked slightly on his tea and tried to play it off like it was too hot and Connor just gave me a calculating look before taking a sudden interest in my 50s style moving cat clock on the opposite wall. I smiled into my cup of tea, knowing I'd won that little tiff.
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"You kids have fun," Connor called out as he grabbed his coat off the chair and headed for the door.
"Where are you going?" I asked, sad to see him leave so soon. We'd barely finished our second cups of tea.
"I rode a horse here, sweet thing," he replied with a smile, "Poor thing's been standing in the street since I got here. Gotta get home, things to do unlike lover boy over there."
Murphy glared at him from the couch and flipped him off. Connor returned the gesture before placing a kiss on my cheek and walking out the door. I sighed and walked back over to settle down next ot Murphy...my boyfriend...I really liked the sound of that. He placed his arm around my shoulders and pulled me closer to his side.
"Wanna watch a movie?" I asked suddenly, feeling that familiar zombie movie urge well up in my nerdy brain. "I'm feeling...Zombieland? Dawn of the Dead? Night of the Living Dead? Abraham Lincoln vs. Zombies?"
"I take it you really like zombie movies..."
"Love them."
"In that case, I leave it your expertise," Murphy laughed and I ran my finger over my shelves of DVDs until I found Zombieland and I stuck it in. I ran to the kitchen and started up the kettle again and pulled my hot chocolate mixes down from the cabinet while the advertisement played through.
"What kind of hot cocoa do you like?" I called loudly.
"Don't have to shout, woman," Murphy's calm voice in my ear made me jump and place my hand on my chest in surprise.
"Geez, how are you so damn sneaky?!" I snapped.
"I've always been the quiet one," he said simply, offering no further explanation, "What are my options?"
"Regular. Creme de Menthe Chocolate. White Chocolate. Caramel Cream. Raspberry Chocolate. Raspberry White Chocolate. Turtle. Tiramisu. Almond. Peanut Butter Chocolate. Dark Chocolate. French Vanilla. Butter Toffee. Almond Joy...and Peppermint Chocolate."
"Regular."
"You ass," I laughed, "Why didn't you just say so?"
Murphy chuckled and I shoved the packet into his chest and then turned to pull down two mugs, a green one with a yellow John Deere logo on it and a odd shaped, half mug that said "New York was so expensive I could only afford half a cup!". I eyes the numerous boxes, trying to decide what I wanted and finally just threw my hands up.
"Surprise me," I claimed and went back into the living room, leaving Murphy responsible for the cocoa. A few minutes later the kettle whistled and I heard the clinking sound of cocoa being stirred and Murphy appeared around the corner and offered me the New York mug. I took it with a 'thank you' and smelled it.
"Mm, peppermint," I said with a smile. Murphy set his mug down and walked to the doorway where he flicked off the kitchen light and the living room light, causing the apartment to go dark except for the tv screen's glow. It was like the man could read my mind! He took his spot next to me and I cuddle into his side, clutching my warm mug in my hands.
"It's snowin'," Murphy stated randomly.
"Perfect," I said happily, "I love snow and I don't have to work tomorrow."
Murphy laughed and pressed the play button, causing the gory, hilariousness of Zombieland to begin. I only buried my face in his arm when the clown popped out from under the bathroom stall door and at the end when it gets smashed. I hate clowns.
"Well..." Murphy stated when the credits began to roll, "That was probably the funniest shit I've seen in a long time!"
"It's a really good one," I agreed, "I think I own nearly every zombie movie in existence."
"You're an odd girl, Aby," Murphy ran his finger down my nose and flicked the end of it. "But I love ya anyway."
I snuggled closer to him, threading my fingers through his and nuzzling my nose into his neck. I felt his shiver at one point and I wished the lights were on a little bit just so I could see if my suspicions were correct about what that shiver had been caused by. But, in the darkness, the curious drop of my eyes to his lap revealed no information to me.
"I need to get home and help Connor with the chores, lass," he whispered after a little while, sounding very sorry to have to do so.
"Yeah, I know," I sighed. Connor would be pissed at both of us if he ended up doing all the work on the farm while Murphy and I snuggled the night away. "You can take my car again, then you'll have to come back tomorrow."
Murphy laughed.
"Yeah that's right, that fucker was my ride and he brought a damn horse," he mused.
"Guess he knew you'd be staying behind again," I reasoned.
A little while later found us standing by the doorway as he grabbed his coat from the chair where he'd thrown it earlier that day, he threw it on and buttoned it up quickly before he turned to me and placed his hand on the back of my neck to steady me as he leaned in for a kiss, which I gladly gave him. It was insistent, and I found my lips parted fairly soon and our tongues search each other's mouth eagerly, both of us wanting to taste the other more and so we fought for dominance a little bit...and I lost. Murphy tasted like chocolate and cigarettes and something uniquely him and the tastes lingered on my tongue when we finally pulled apart. Murphy stepped back and smiled at me.
"Mhm, peppermint."
Cocky bastard.
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Tada! Hope this chapter is up to snuff because I was literally falling asleep writing this and so I really don't know exactly what I wrote. I'll look at it later...zzzzzzzzzzzzz *snort* *mumble* Oh, hey...don't forget to review. Zzzzzzzzzzzz.