Maybe this Time…

Chapter 5: Friday

Author: Knowhere

Rating: Light R

Disclaimer: Nothing.

AN: Thank you again for the feedback/comments/support. All is greatly appreciated.

H :D

Read? Please Review. Thanks.

Summary: Maybe this time…Change is inescapable. One week. Seven days. A relationship comes together.

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"Feelings are rediscovered. Uncharted territories are explored for the very first time…"
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Friday: 7:27 P.M.
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"It's date night and you bring me to your apartment for takeout and a movie?"

He stops rummaging through his kitchen drawers for a second. "No good? Did you want to go out?" He's genuinely confused.

She leaves him hanging for a moment. A slow grin creeps up. "It's perfect. Thank you." She sits down on his couch and slips off her heels. "It's been a while since I've had a relaxed night with nothing to do but veg."

Bringing the takeout containers over to the coffee table, he offers her a box. "This place is really good. Best Chinese you'll get within ten miles of here." He sits down next to her.

"Smells great."

He nods and digs into his own carton. "How was your day?"

She pauses before answering. There are so many things she remembers about him and their past, but that question is new. She honestly can't really recall when he had ever asked her that just for the sake of conversation, with no expectations of anything in return. He's listening because he actually wants to hear the answer. "Good. Just the same, you know. How about you?"

He shrugs. "Had another meeting with my editor this morning. He chopped what I have so far into pieces. Suppose it comes with the territory. But…" He takes a bite. "I think things are heading in the right direction. At least I have my head out of my ass. A couple of months ago, I was writing absolute shit."

She's enjoying listening to him talk like this.

"I had this idea to format the book. Well, more like, structure it. Thought it'd be good to branch out. But I haven't worked out all the kinks just quite yet. Apparently it doesn't flow as much on paper as it does in my head." He chuckles and catches her staring. He wonders whether or not she's hearing any of the words that are coming out of his mouth.

"I like you like this." Her voice is soft and out of sync with the moment.

The air condenses around them and becomes thick. He swallows and blinks. "I like you like this too."

She smiles. "Like what?"

"Blunt, easy going, self-assured…" He trails off and picks at his food with his chopsticks. "Sexy." He mutters and doesn't dare look at her reaction.

Her head tilts and she bites the inside of her cheek. She thinks he's pretty damn sexy as well. Hair's tousled and messy, clothes are laid-back but tailored to fit his body, and she likes the easy smile on his lips the most. A little crooked, but entirely his own. There's a shy quality to him right now and that sends her right over the bend. In her opinion, he'd been so confident when they talked lately that it unnerved her. But right now…he doesn't know quite what to do and that is more attractive than she could ever explain. Setting down her food on the coffee table, she reaches out to touch his arm. "Sexy?"

He nods but there's a hint of a smirk beneath a day of stubble, and a subtle flash of arrogance in his understanding that she too, finds him sexy.

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Friday: 9:52 P.M.
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The television remains on the menu screen of the movie. It's been over for a while but they haven't notice. Food's gone and left on the table. Containers are empty and bits of sauce have spilled onto the glass surface. Shoes are abandoned on the cold floor. But…

Bodies are warm on the couch. She stretches out on top of him with their lips sealed. His hands are resting on the curve of her lower back. Wandering fingers dip below the waistband of her jeans, feeling the fabric of her underwear, but he doesn't push further than that. Her zipper is digging into him and it makes him uncomfortable. He shifts but she traps him from above. "Your jeans are digging into me."

"Hm." She kisses him but doesn't make the effort to move. Her teeth capture his lower lip and she tugs just a bit.

Still jabbing into him, he moves her weight onto the right side of her body and fumbles to find the top button of her jeans. Sliding the zipper down, her lower body is more exposed, but she no longer stabbing at him. Kissing him harder in response, she moves down to his neck. Plucking the buttons of his shirt absentmindedly, she watches him. His eyes are partly closed and he tucks his chin in to get a better view of her. Propped up on his chest, she unbuttons his shirt carefully and purposefully. "You okay?" His voice is impossibly tender and something in her body surges.

"Yeah." She stills.

"You sure?" His left hand finds its way into her tangled hair.

She's sure and whispers. "Yes."

"Good." He sits up and pulls her into his lap. Leaning forward, he rests his head between the shallow valley of her breasts. "So…you wanna spend the night with me?"

She closes her eyes and lets those words wash over her. How many times did she imagine being with him? Countless. But did she imagine him asking like that? Never. So courteous and direct. "Yes."

His head drops back on the couch with a dull thud. "God, I never thought I'd hear you say that."

"I'm saying it now."

He breathes out and looks up to meet her eyes. "Yeah…you are."

She smiles down at him. "So, how do you wanna do it?"

He bites back an off-color sarcastic remark. "Take things slow?" He wonders whether he asks for her benefit or for his. He feels like he's skin is peeling off his body. Torn apart. Ripped and exposed.

She couldn't have asked for anything else and nods solemnly in response.

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Friday: 10:45 P.M.
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She can't help it. She cries. Turning her head to the side, she wishes she could stop and that he doesn't see her, but she can't. Everything is really happening. He stills and puts his weight on his elbows. Resting his bare chest against hers, he waits. Calloused fingers follow the path of her tears down her cheeks and over the bridge of her nose. But he's not put off. His arousal doesn't even falter. This is who she is and he loves it.

"I'm sorry." She's embarrassed.

He knows it. "Don't be. I'm not."

A misplaced chuckle vibrates her body and he drops his head on hers feeling the contraction of her body around his own. She holds his biceps. "It's just…weird, you know?"

"Yeah, I know."

She closes her eyes and wonders out loud. "So this is what it feels like to have you inside me."

Her words alone could be enough to make him find his release. He moves out of her just a fraction and enters again as he feels her hips lift. He gently kisses the tip of her nose. Muscles straining, he whispers, "Yeah…"

"Hm." Undulating her hips in experiment, she can feel him shudder. She realizes that she does, indeed, have some sort of power of his man. This man who seems so strong, who seems like he doesn't need anyone…she knows he needs someone.

This is what he's been missing. All those years. This is what he willing walked out on. But…if he had stayed and experienced it years ago, he would probably never have this moment. This wonderfully painful experience that makes him feel like he's being dissected alive. In the back of his mind he realizes that she's been touched before and that knowledge makes him feel strange. Other men have laid claim to her. Other men before him. But…

Tonight. This. It is about something else entirely. Tonight she's his. There's no one else but them. They are now two different people meeting again. He's not the same. She's not the same. But somehow…somewhere…something still feels similar. Even if he's never been with her like this something makes it all feel right. Unexpected emotion is coursing through his veins. Arousal, he expected. Release, yes. But the overwhelming feeling of need—no. He needs her.

He's not in the moment anymore. She knows it. He's thinking of something else and his expression has changed. "Jess?"

His eyes snap back and focus to hers. He questions silently.

"Where did you just go?"

The fact that she understood makes his breathing hitch. He rolls off of her and onto his side. But he doesn't leave her body. Voice gruff, eyes dark, "Sorry."

She pushes hair off his forehead, her touch as chaste as friends. "S'okay."

Sarcastic, he tries to hide the truth behind his self-effacing humor. "Would it undermine your opinion of me if I told you that right now…this, is scaring the shit out of me?"

Cuddling into his chest, her hands stroke any skin she can find in an effort to calm him. "Maybe taking things slow is still too fast for us."

With her head tucked under his chin, he looks out into the void of the room. "Regret?"

"You?" She looks up and swears she sees his eyes water. "No."

He nods and bends down to kiss her. Gentle lips, no tongue. Sliding out of her, he wants to start again. He crawls down the bed and between her bended knees and runs warm palms over her legs. She sighs and reaches for his hands. Lacing their fingers together, he kisses her shoulder, then her chest, her breasts, her stomach, the dip of her bellybutton, the curve of her hip…lower and lower still…

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Friday: 11:27 P.M.
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She curls into his chest and they both pause for a moment. "We should have done that a long time ago."

He chuckles. "Yeah, that would have gone over well with Lorelai." He speaks softly. "Plus, I don't think you were really ready back when we were together."

She chews on her lip for a moment, hesitating. "I was ready."

Sharp eyes turn to look at her. "Excuse me?" He must have heard her wrong.

"I was ready." She dances idle fingers across the skin of his chest. "I thought I was. I told my mom back then that it was pretty much inevitable with you." She looks away and feels sad. "I really thought you'd be my first."

"Hey." He reaches over and tucks her back into his body. "I'm here now."

She reaches up and smoothes her palm across the curve of his cheek bone. "Yeah, I know."

Lightening up the moment, he cocks up his eyebrow and leers at her. "I'm here…" He kisses her mouth. "And here…" Her neck. "And here…" Her elbow. "Here…" Her breast. "Here…" Her hip. "And here…"

She laughs loudly as his tongue hits a particularly sensitive spot. "Not there…" She chokes out laughter. "It tickles."

He pauses and goes back up to kiss her fully on the lips. "I'm anywhere you want me to be, Baby."

"That's so corny."

Mocking hurt, "I think you just wounded my pride." He shrugs and regains his expression as lust darkens his eyes once more. "Although I don't hear you complaining about my abilities in the bedroom."

She giggles and pushes her hips into his obvious erection. "Nope."

"Exactly…"

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Friday: 11:38 P.M.
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She smiles broadly into his bare shoulder. "Where did you learn how to do that?"

He smirks. "That's classified information."

"That was way better than I imagined." At the sight of him cocking his head to the side, she grins coyly. "And I've imagined some pretty good stuff."

He speaks to himself out loud, "Yeah, I definitely like you outspoken."

She giggles and watches him prop himself on his elbow. Settling down into the pillow, she traces the muscles of his chest. Circling his nipples, she hears him suck in a breath.

"Tell me." His request is sudden. "Tell me what you've imagined."

And that is why she knows she's ended up in his arms again. Words. Even if he never talked much when they were younger, he collected words. But now that words are his life…he needs them more. And she's more than happy to give. She's more than glad to share. To tell. He's the only one who ever understood her need for words.

Nuzzling into his throat, she feels him swallow as she begins. "I've imagined that your bed has navy sheets. But I guess I shouldn't have been surprised that they're black instead. I think you're the kind to want space when you sleep. Not a big cuddler. Am I right?"

He drapes an arm beneath her breasts and pulls her closer. "You'll have to wait and see for yourself."

She smiles and continues. "You feel the moment. You don't care if it looks silly; you just do what feels good. Like when you kiss. You kiss like someone who wants to be kissed back. There are no real fancy moves or planned out stuff. You don't make plans. You let the moment take you."

He rests his chin on her shoulder.

"And I always thought that you'd be the silent kind in bed. The occasional groan, but nothing else. You let your body do the talking for you." She stokes his jaw. "You might talk more these days, but listening is what you do best. It's who you are."

He playfully nips at her retreating hand. She giggles. His hands spread out across her bare back, bringing her body into his. Leaning over, he captures soft lips between his own. Lying back down on his pillow, they kiss side by side. As lovers. As equals.

She pulls back less than an inch, "Yes…this is who you are."

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Friday: 11:49 P.M.
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