Just a small warning, it's a little lemony at the end. Nothing big though.

"Cate and I have been meaning to talk to you about something," Mark said as I helped out with setting the table. Priestly was in the shower, and he had told me he was taking me somewhere later tonight.

I lost my cast about two weeks ago, and most of my muscles in my leg were coming back. It had been weird to walk on my leg after having a cast for so long, but it felt better for every day that passed.

"Well, you've lived here for almost two months now," he stated as he poured the salad in a big bowl and placed it on the table. "And we know that you're going with Priestly to Santa Cruz in about two weeks."

"If you have nothing against it, we would like to adopt you," Cate finished and I stopped in my movements where I stood to look at them.

They looked serious, and Cate continued when I didn't say anything.

"We like you, and we like having you in the house. We figured it would be easier for you, having parents on a paper."

"What about Hugh?" I asked slowly. I was still terrified of him. He had no idea where I lived, but I feared him every day. What if I would see him, what would he do then? I didn't doubt that he would hurt me, or even worse.

As I talked, Cate opened a drawer and took out some papers that she placed in front of me on the table.

"Legally, he can't say anything about you," Mark told me and I looked at them.

"Does Priestly know?" I asked and Cate shook her head.

"We wanted to talk to you first.

"It's your decision," Mark said carefully, like he didn't know what my answer would be. Like he couldn't even guess.

I took a deep breath and glanced at the papers. Those papers would set me free from everything. No more Hugh, no more fear. I would be free.

"Where do I sign?"

Cate smiled, and I smiled back as Mark handed me a pen and I quickly signed the two papers. Then it was Mark and Cate's turn.

"That's it?" I asked as Cate placed the papers in an envelope.

"Now we just have to send them in, and wait for the answer. But yeah, that's it."

I gave them both hugs – yes, I was comfortable enough to do that now – and then went up the stairs to tell Priestly that the food was done in a while.

He was standing in his bathroom, working on his hair, when I walked in.

"Dinner is done in fifteen minutes," I said and glanced at his face through the mirror. I saw him looking back.

"What's that big ass smile about?"

"I think maybe Cate and Mark should tell you that."

Dropping the hair straightener, he turned around to look at me.

"Okay, even though you're smiling you're kinda scaring me. What's going on?"

I took the few steps that was needed to reach him, and placed both of my hands on his hips to pull him closer to me.

"You know how I was never adopted when I was a baby?" I asked, but didn't let him say anything. I barely let him think about my question. "That's fixed. I just signed the papers."

A small smile broke out on his lips, but then he stopped himself from smiling completely.

"Cate and Mark are adopting you?"

I nodded and the smile broke out completely. It was hard not to smile back.

"Wait, this doesn't make us... family or something?"

"No," I laughed. "It's just paperwork."

"Good, because then I can still do this," he chuckled and leaned down to place a kiss on my lips. I kissed him back as his hands wrapped around my waist, and held me tight. I sucked on his lower lip as he traced his tongue over my lip, and I let him in. Meeting his tongue with mine, I pressed myself closer to him and my hands found their way in under his t-shirt to run over his back.

In a swift movement, I was suddenly sitting on the counter, pressed against the mirror. My legs were on either side of Priestly, and our kisses were growing deeper and fiercer by the second. His hands ran over my hips to my breasts, and groped them.

Yeah, we had gotten that far and I loved it. But we hadn't gotten that much further. I could handle him being outside my bra, but not under it. It was frustrating, and I still couldn't understand how he could have such patience with me. I didn't have that kind of patience.

As his hands were kneading outside my shirt, he groaned and then broke the kiss with a sigh.

"Don't stop," I murmured as he tried to catch his breath again.

"I have to."

"Why?"

He laughed once and then looked at me.

"Because you're not ready. And because I know my limit."

"So what, a groan is your limit?"

He always stopped after that groan, and it was annoying. Especially since I wanted to continue. I wanted to be ready.

"No, but that groan means that I'm at my limit."

"Why not go over it? Just once, to see what happens?"

"Because then I won't be able to control myself."

"But that's a good thing," I smiled and he shook his head with a low chuckle. It wasn't humorous though.

"Yeah, maybe. But not with you, not since you're not ready. I don't know if I would be able to stop myself if that was needed."

"It won't be needed," I said, knowing it probably wasn't the truth.

"You're not fully comfortable yet, and until then..."

"No sex," I finished and he nodded with a grimace. "Why are you so patient with me?"

He was quiet for a long, long time and when he answered me he wasn't meeting my eyes.

"Because I want you to be ready, and because I might be stalling."

"Why are you stalling?"

Again, it took a moment before he answered me.

"Because I don't know if I'm ready."

"Why wouldn't you be ready?" I almost laughed, but then abruptly stopped when he looked at me. "You've never...?"

"Nope," he shook his head and I felt myself smiling. He was just as new to this as I was. I would have never guessed. Never. But I loved it. My first time would be with him, and his would be with me. How could I not love that?

Kissing him softly, I told him I loved him.

"I love you too."

"Where are you taking me?" I asked, Priestly pulling me along where he went.

"You'll see," he answered me with a chuckle. We had been driving for over an hour, and we were outside of Brooklyn.

He pulled me around a corner, and then stopped. I looked around me and quickly saw where he was taking me.

In big letters, the word "MUSE" was written. He was taking me to a concert. A Muse concert.

"I thought you said you hated Muse."

"I said they're okay," he corrected me. "But you love them."

We had to stand in a line for over an hour before we got inside, and well inside there was a band playing before Muse.

But the place was crowded, and even though I had gotten more comfortable I wasn't comfortable with this. Everyone was touching everyone. And I didn't like it.

"You okay?" Priestly asked over the music as he wrapped his arms around my waist.

"I'm fine," I lied. He bought the tickets, and I really wanted to see the band. Me being uncomfortable shouldn't stop that.

"Do you wanna get out of here?" he saw through me but I lied again.

"No, I want to stay."

"No you don't," he screamed in my ear, but it sounded like a whisper because of the music playing so loudly. "C'mon."

He took my hand and started to lead me out of there, and I was thankful. When we got out, it felt like I could breathe again.
I let go of his hand as soon as we were outside, walked a few steps away from him and took a deep breath. There was a ringing in my ear, but I knew it would stop eventually.

Priestly didn't say a word as he waited for me to collect myself, and when I turned around to face him he reached his hand out for me. Taking it, Priestly pulled me close to him and wrapped one arm around my shoulder. I leaned against his side and held my arm around his torso as we walked toward the car.

As we reached Brooklyn again, Priestly asked if I wanted something to eat and he stopped the car outside a cafe.

"I'm sorry," he said as we walked inside.

"About what?"

"About taking you to that concert. I should have known you weren't ready."

"It's okay," I promised. "We'll go some other time."

"Yeah," he told me but looked kind of distant. Like he was thinking about something.

"Can you order for me? I have to go to the bathroom," I asked and he nodded. "Just order twice of what you're getting."

I pressed a quick kiss against his lips before I found the bathroom, and did what I went in there to do. Washing my hands, I suddenly felt that familiar breath of alcohol. Too scared to really do it, I glanced up in the mirror and saw what I expected.

Him. He was just an inch behind me, and we were alone in the restroom. It was a shared restroom, both for men and women. But of course no one else was there. I was alone, with Him. And I was too scared to even breathe. I could feel my heart beating fast and hard against my chest as he leaned down so that his mouth was almost touching my ear. His hand reached to grab my wrist, and I knew he would do something.

But I was lucky, and heard the door open. He heard it too, so he released my hand and settled with threatening me in a whispered voice.

"I warned you not to tell anyone. I'll find you again, and I'll kill you."

My eyes were closed by now, and I felt the tears burning behind my eyelids. My hands were holding on to tight on the sides of the sink, and I was too scared to move.

I heard the door open and close again, but I was still too scared to open my eyes. I was too scared to move, too scared to cry. He could still be there. He could be outside, waiting for me.

"Tish," I heard Priestly's worried voice, and a tear rolled down my cheek. I could feel his familiar touch, his hands tracing over my arms and I started to cry even more. Now it wasn't just one tear, now it was a whole flood running down my cheeks.

"Baby, let go. You're gonna hurt yourself."

He was still worried, and I still hadn't opened my eyes. But I could feel his hands on mine, and I realized I was probably holding on too tight. Letting go of the sink, I could feel that my hands were hurting. He was right, if I would have hold on to that sink tighter, I probably would have injured my hands in some kind of way.

As soon as I let go, Priestly turned me around and held me against his chest. I clung to him, grabbing his t-shirt and cried into his shoulder. His arms went tightly around me, holding me close to him.

"What did he do?" he asked after a moment, and I didn't answer right away.

"He... He warned me."

"What did he say?"

"'I'll find you again, and I'll kill you'." My voice broke, and I felt Priestly going rigid and stiff. His embrace became tighter, but I didn't care. I wanted his arms around me. I wanted him even closer. He made me feel safe.

"We're not staying another day!" I heard Priestly yell from the kitchen. I was sitting at the top of the stairs, listening. As soon as we got back to the house, I went to take a shower while Priestly told Cate and Mark what had happened. I had already told him I still wouldn't press charges, and he knew that. He knew I was terrified.

After the shower, I had sneaked down the stairs and sat down to listen to what was said. But I could only hear Priestly's part of the conversation. He was the loudest.

Suddenly I saw the front door opening, and a beautiful blonde woman walked through the doors. I recognized her from pictures in the house – Mel. Cate and Mark's daughter.

I knew she was supposed to come home for two weeks before school started again, but there was a month left before school would start.

"You must be Tish," she said as she saw me and I nodded. "Mel."

Instead if finding her family, she walked up the stairs with a smile and sat down next to me. Shaking my hand, her smile widened.

"So what is this fight about?"

"You sound like it's not the first one you've heard," I said and she laughed.

"Are you kidding me? Since Priestly moved in, I've heard a few. Not to mention how many I started back in the days."

She laughed, and I found it easy to laugh with her.

We chatted some, and five minutes later Priestly came around the corner and walked up the stairs. He glanced at both me and Mel, but didn't say anything to any of us. His face was flat, and I knew he was upset. He had been angry ever since the cafe.

"I haven't seen that Priestly in a while," she said under her breath and then looked at me. "I should go find my parents. I'll see you tomorrow."

"I'll see you around," I told her, got up and walked up the stairs. Priestly's door was closed, but I opened it and walked inside. He sat on the bed, and looked up when I walked inside.

"What did they say?"

"Cate's gonna see what she can do, and if we're lucky we can get out of Brooklyn by the end of the week."

"Good," I said and walked up to him, taking a seat in his lap. I leaned my face down to his, letting our lips almost touch. "Your cousin seems nice."

"Yeah, she is. I should probably go say 'hi' or something."

"She's spending time with Cate and Mark, so you can do that later," I murmured and he looked into my eyes. I locked my arms around his neck, and his hands grabbed my ass. I leaned down the rest of the bit, and let my lips touch his. Sucking on his lip, the kiss grew deeper in a slow pace. Slow and comfortable. But once my tongue was inside his mouth, our breaths were speeding up and growing more and more shallow. I could hear Priestly letting out the groan again, and I knew that he would break the kiss. But I refused to let go.

"Tish..."

"Priestly, please?" I murmured, and I heard him groan again as I gently bit his lower lip. But he didn't let go, and he didn't break the kiss. Instead, since I was straddling him, I could feel exactly how much he really wanted this. It wasn't the firs time I had felt his erection, and it was only the first time that it had made me slightly uncomfortable. Now I just liked it, and it was actually turning me on. I could feel him growing more and more as the kiss proceeded, and I had an idea.

Breaking the kiss, I moved half an inch backward so that I could reach his zipper.

"Ti...-"

"Shh, I just wanna try something," I breathed and felt his eyes on me. So I opened mine, and looked into his beautiful, piercing, green eyes. As I unbuckled his jeans, I could see his erection bulk up. I kissed him again as I closed my eyes and slowly slid my fingers under the edge of his boxers. I hesitated for a moment, but then I slid my whole hand down and gently started rubbing. But I only managed one rub before all those memories came back, and with the memories came tears. Priestly grabbed my wrist and pulled my hand up, breaking the kiss.

"I told you you're not ready," he whispered.

"I'm not ready for sex, but I just thought..." I stopped as the tears became too much and my voice broke.

"Hey, hey, hey," he murmured and cupped my face with his hands.

"I just wanted to..."

"It's okay. You don't have to."

"I want to."

"It will come, when you're ready."

"I want to be ready. I'm desperate to be ready."

"I know," he told me and I leaned my forehead against his. "But maybe you're not ready because you're desperate. Just let it take it's time."