Disclaimer: iDon't own iCarly. Also, this ficlet is rated T for themes.
I live for rainy days. That wasn't always the case; I used to find excitement in the sunny afternoons that allowed for bike rides and trips to the pool, but at the age of 21 I found that stormy days were, indeed, the best. I blame Freddie entirely.
It started with a rained out picnic date, which left us twiddling our thumbs in my Seattle studio apartment close to campus. Always the makeshift romantic, Freddie grabbed the blanket we were to use in the park and spread it across the empty space by the large window. With the apartment bathed in dim light, he grabbed a nearby lighter and lit the candles I had on various counters and end tables around the living room.
"I've been dying to spend some alone time with you all week,' he confesses, as he removes some of the items in the mini cooler. "I'm not about to let a little rain wash out our plans…pun totally intended."
I laughed at his adorably corny joke as I grabbed the bottle of wine from the cooler and uncorked it with the accompanying corkscrew. We continued our picnic in my living room, eating and watching the raindrops dance across my window pane. We talked a little about our anxiety towards upcoming mid-terms, which led to us talking about how much we missed each other. Of course, that paved the way for fevered kisses, caresses, and, quite swiftly, me being carried the short distance to my bed, where we proceeded to show each other just how much we missed the other's company.
Rainy Dates sort of turned into an unspoken agreement between us. When the forecast spoke of rainy or stormy weather (which was often the case in Seattle), we would barricade ourselves in either his or my apartment with food, a bottle of wine, a cozy blanket, and as of lately, a wireless PearPod dock that would add a certain ambiance of two hopelessly in love adults, trying desperately to create their own little world. It was never a question of whether or not we were available; we always made time on those occasions.
Yesterday afternoon was kind of a surprise. Earlier in the week, the forecast predicted mildly sunny weather for the weekend. Freddie called me at 1:25 p.m., just as I was wrapping up an essay for my Textiles 3100 class, to let me know that he spotted dark clouds where I was and was coming over with take-out from my favorite Greek restaurant around the corner from my building. When I drew back the curtains, I immediately spotted the gray clouds floating just above, and I could barely contain the excited smile that manifested on my face.
We huddled closely under my sheets hours later, food devoured, wine bottle close to empty and all of our clothes discarded about the room while the storm and the Maroon 5 ballad from the PearPod deck converged into beautifully distant background noise. My arm was wrapped around his torso while I curled against his side, legs intertwined. One of his arms was wrapped around my shoulders while the other is stretched languidly above his head. This is usually the time when we share things with each other: secrets, unknown facts about ourselves, dreams that we've never uttered to anyone…it amazes me how we've known each other since we were kids, yet there's still so much to learn about each other. I could hear Freddie humming along with the music. I was suddenly struck with a memory.
"Hey, remember Gibby's ex, Tasha?" I asked, lightly pinching his side in order to get his attention.
"Yeah. What about her?" Freddie responded just before placing a kiss in my hair.
"I hated her," I confess. I started tracing random patterns on his bare chest, which felt much harder than it did even two months ago. Though he never talks about it, I think he's been working out. His chest and biceps had become increasingly more defined over the four years we have been together, but even more so lately. I suspect he's been sneaking in workout sessions in between his morning classes.
"Really?" he asked. "Why? She was nice, wasn't she?"
"Oh, yes, she was nice. I was a little jealous of her, though."
I feel the bed shift a little above me and I tilt my head upward to find Freddie staring back at me with a look of confusion and slight bewilderment. I immediately understand the source of his confusion and I rush to dispel any wrong assumptions.
"No, no! I wasn't jealous that she was dating Gibby!" I deny before he can even speak the possibility. He lets out a sigh of relief and I turn my head to lightly kiss his chest. "No, I was jealous of the way you reacted when you first met her. I believe the quote was, 'Where'd he get one of those? I want one of those!' Let me know if I'm mistaken."
He let out a deep chuckle, which I could feel rumbling through his chest. "I was just shocked that Gibby was able to pull that off, that's all. You were, and still are, way hotter than her."
"Well, it was just so soon after we broke up that I thought that you had already moved on," I shrugged. "I wasn't sure of how I felt about us yet, but I knew that I didn't like the way you looked at her and I just wanted to break her ankles so she could never saunter into our studio again." After I said it, I felt so silly. Freddie didn't laugh, though. He just tilted my head upward and kissed me on my lips.
"I've found someone way more amazing than Tasha, or any other woman, could ever hope to be," he says with a that dreamy half smirk does, which makes it so hard not to pounce on him again. "You have no competition, believe me."
I smiled. Have I mentioned how much I love this man?
"Speaking of competition," Freddie continues as he pulls me closer against him. "Soooo…a few months ago my news feeds on my SplashFace page informed me that you added Adam as a friend."
Oh, no. Adam was a guy I had a small crush on when I was sixteen. Freddie couldn't possibly still be jealous of him, could he?
"Freddie," I said gently as I lifted my head and propped it on my elbow so that I could make eye contact with him. "Is our SplashFace friendship going to be a problem? Because I can remove him-"
"No, baby, that's not necessary," he interrupted, shaking his head as if to assure me that the notion was ridiculous. "I'll admit, I was just a teeny bit jealous, though. Then I went through some of his photos and noticed how…athletic…he looked." Even through the dim light I still noticed the slight blush across his cheeks. He was right; Adam was definitely looking buff lately, which I'm sure could be attributed to the fact that he was on the tennis team at his university. I noticed, yeah, but Freddie is my world. I could never look at anyone else the way I look at him. I was about to tell him this, but he continued before I could.
"Well, at first I ignored it, but then I kept wondering what you thought about his body. Then the wondering turned to jealousy. Next thing I knew, I hopped in my car and headed to the campus gym. I've been working out ever since."
I knew it! Of course, he'd been working out. I just didn't know that Adam was the catalyst for this sudden change. I know I have insecurities still lingering from high school, but I didn't think Freddie still worried about that after so many years of being together.
I felt such a rush of affection for the man laying with me that I grabbed his face with both hands and firmly kissed him on his lips. I could feel his arms wrap around my waist as he pulled me until I was laying on top of him. Pressed against him, skin against skin, I felt my body heat up very quickly and I knew I had to stop myself before things escalated beyond control, as they often did. I looked down at him, determined to make him understand that he had nothing to worry about.
"Babe, I love you. You could have a pot belly and a receding hairline and you would still be the only one for me," I assured him as my thumbs brushed his cheeks. Then I kissed him on his cheek just before I leaned in to whisper in his ear, "For the record, though: you look delicious. You have no competition, believe me."
Recognizing his own words flipped back on him, he returned my smile with his own and tilted his head to kiss me once again. He only managed to mutter "I love you" against my lips before I nibbled on his bottom lip and trailed soft kisses across his jaw line, allowing the pounding storm to guide us as we express with our bodies what we are unable to with our words.
Looking up at the sky now I can see the gray clouds arriving, just as last night's forecast said they would. My phone vibrates with a text from Freddie.
From: Freddie Bear
My place this time?
Wine's already in the fridge. ;)
Apr 03, 12:21 pm
Today's going to be an excellent day.
A/N: Thanks for reading! What do you think? A review is the simplest way to make my day. :o)
Hollaatchyagirl,
Phunky