Chapter Nine
While Claire was on the upward swing once again, she still wasn't feeling her absolute best all of the time. Ann and Popuri had volunteered to come over for a few nights and help take care of her, which really just consisted of Popuri feeding the chickens, Ann taking care of the sheep and cows, and having some major "girl time" with one another (well… girly stuff wasn't really up Ann and Claire's alley, so they did a lot of movie-watching and cookie baking). It had only been a few days of this before Claire saw Trent again.
Ann and Popuri were still sleeping on the pull-out couch when Claire tiptoed out of her room, planning to make breakfast. As she'd started cooking up some pancakes, the two woke up drowsily to the smell as well to the rather frightening knock on the door.
"Who's here this early?" Popuri mumbled, rubbing her eyes and wrapping her blanket around her shoulders as she went to answer it. She woke up immediately, then, eyes growing and chin hanging low. Claire and Ann craned their necks confusedly, trying to see what had caused their pink-haired friend's expression.
"D…doctor!" she finally choked out, taking her hand off the door handle and tightening the blanket around her. Claire's skin erupted with instant chills upon hearing his voice.
"Oh, hello, Popuri. Nice to see you… how's your mother doing? I just got her shipment of medicine in…"
Popuri stepped aside to let him in, blushing madly now. The doctor walked in, a lot more casual than Claire was used to seeing him in some tan pants and a black sweater. He was also carrying a briefcase, which Claire supposed was filled with medical items.
Ann turned extremely red seeing him, smiling goofily and stuffing her blankets up to her chin. Trent didn't seem to notice, looking straight at Claire, his expression warming instantly upon seeing her. It was Claire's turn to become all tomato-colored now, but she couldn't help but grin seeing him again.
"Claire. You're looking well. Ann and Popuri taking good care of you, I see." He walked forward, placing his briefcase on a clean spot on the counter. It was all Claire had in her body to not plunge forward and take his body in her arms. Claire turned off the stove, abandoning a half-cooked pancake and wiped her hands on her apron.
"Of course they are!" Claire peeked from behind him to see her two friends snickering and pushing each other, watching the scene intently. "Um, what are you doing here?"
"I thought I'd come to your place for once… I'm always asking you to come to the Clinic and I know it's a bit of a walk. Your stitches have been in long enough so we can remove them; I'd like to do a little check-up, too." He took her arm and led her to sit down at her dining table. "Is it alright if Claire and I have a little privacy, girls?" Trent said over his shoulder, getting his things set up. "I can call you back when I'm done—"
"No worries!" Ann jumped up, her voice sounding much stranger than normal. "We were getting ready to leave any way, right Popuri?" The redhead grabbed her friend's arm and headed for the door without any of their things. "Well, bye!"
The door opened and closed quickly, leaving Trent and Claire in silence. She kept staring at him as he got out a few sterile instruments. After a few moments passed, Trent moved over to her again, letting the back of his hand feel her forehead. "Still no fever. Been working outside?"
"Yeah, but just the animals. And not too much, either, because of Ann and Popuri."
While he was listening, Trent pulled up her hair to examine the side of her head. Claire wasn't sure why, but a sudden fear rushed through her. She was completely passed out last time for the stitches so she didn't remember feeling anything at all, but now she was very much awake.
"W-wait!" She pushed his hands away.
This didn't shock him in the least bit. "Don't worry, it won't hurt. I promise. It will be really quick too."
"Trent, these are stitches in my head! What if all of the blood comes out and I die?!" She started to scoot her chair away, but he pulled her back, a soft look about his face.
"Nothing of the sort is going to happen," he was having a hard time hiding his smile. Claire tried holding still as he started cleaning the wound, but eventually her bravery fleeted and she squeezed her eyes, holding the front of his shirt in her hands. He didn't push her away or anything, just pulled out the stitches easily and painlessly. It was over as soon as it started. She felt her chest untighten and eyes open again. Trent was leaning in front of her, beaming. "What did I tell you?"
Letting a laugh loose, he started to clean up and went to wash his hands. Claire couldn't help but think something was so different about him now. It was like he wasn't holding himself back in the least bit… like if he wanted to hold her or kiss her at any moment, he totally just would.
He finished cleaning up, coming back to the table to sit down across from her. He didn't speak for a couple minutes. "You probably don't realize it, but New Years Eve is today."
It felt like she was getting a cold bucket of water splashed in her face. New Years Eve already? Had time really gone by that quickly? She looked behind her at the calendar, just to make sure he wasn't trying to be funny or anything. Nonetheless, he was absolutely telling the truth. Too shocked to say more, she folded her hands in front of her and looked away. This had been one heck of a year; it had completely changed her life in a way no other year had done before. It was amazing to her.
"You've probably guessed it by now, but there's going to be a festival at the peak of the mountain. There's usually food and drinks, and everyone from Mineral Town gathers to watch the first sunrise of the New Year. We usually wear nice clothes for the occasion, too. And it starts at midnight. It's a lovely experience every year. I'd love for us to go together."
Claire sat, blinking her big, blue eyes at him. His directness was something she would have to get used to! "Um, sure. I mean, yes! I'd love to go with you, Trent."
He stood up then, nodding sharply. "Great. I'll meet you at around eleven and we can walk up together? You can dress nice but don't forget a jacket and some blankets; it will be a little cold, and I don't want to risk you getting sick again." Before he left, he smoothed down the back of her hair with his hand, gentle smile on his red lips. Claire opened her mouth for a moment, wanting to tell him again that she loved him and wanted to talk to him about their current relationship, but thought maybe it wasn't the right time and watched him calmly as he left her house.
When Claire and Trent had gone to the Full Moon Festival before, Claire'd told her mother about the occasion and how she had to borrow a dress from Popuri. Her mother thought this was ridiculous and insisted on sending Claire a dress for future occasions (which she never thought she'd wear). Now it was a few minutes before Trent was supposed to pick her up and she stood with the dress in her hands, so grateful that her mother had actually sent it to her. It was beautiful—a long, silver, silk empire waist dress that glimmered every time the light hit it. There were no sleeves, so she had to throw on a light jacket, but it didn't take away from how magnificent it was. Throwing it on over her freshly curled hair, it slipped onto her skin as if it was made for her body.
After brushing on a light layer of mascara, she went to grab a few blankets. In the back of her mind, it was still bothering her how quickly things had changed between her and Trent. First they were on ordinary terms, then they weren't speaking, and then they confessed their love to one another… now this. Whatever this was. Was she able to just go ahead and be affectionate with him? Was there still a barrier there? She shuddered, still too nervous to consider it.
Trent's sharp knocks interrupted her train of thought so she went to open the door. She took a deep breath, glancing into the mirror once more before going to let him inside.
He was standing the same way he was when he had come to her house to invite her for breakfast the first time—leaning up against the doorway with him hands in his pockets and his eyes watching over the entire, snow covered farm. He looked classy in a simple black tuxedo and his hair loose and relaxed, in fact it was a bit longer now than it was when she met him and she quite liked it that way. She watched him for a minute, as he didn't seem to realize she'd opened the door, then touched him gently on the arm without saying anything. Trent turned now to look at her, a soft look about his expression. Letting out a huff of air, he beamed and ran his eyes down her body and back again.
"Wow. You look incredible, Claire. Beautiful." For a moment he blinked at her in silence while she blushed shyly. He'd never told her that he thought she was beautiful before…
"Thank you," she said, feeling his eyes scanning her again. "You look really nice too…not just nice! Handsome, gorgeous, um…" Claire closed her eyes, not wanting to screw up anymore. When she managed to open them again, Trent was chuckling softly, seemingly finding this amusing, and from that, Claire felt a bit of her worries ease up. Maybe she was taking it all too seriously.
He peeked inside to check the time, "I think about everyone should be arriving at Mother's Hill now. Ready to go?" Claire nodded, scooping up her blankets and closing the door. He walked alongside her as they headed to Mother's Hill, matching her slower-than-usual pace due to her mini-heels. They didn't speak, but Claire didn't find it awkward; they just moved along the path in a peaceful silence, bumping into each other every once and a while and casting flirty glances back and fourth.
Arriving at the peak was indeed a strange experience. The only ever person she'd been up here with was Trent, but now the entire town was packed onto Mother's Hill. Blankets were sprawled everywhere, so that there was barely a patch of ground to be seen. The townspeople were mingling and drinking out of steaming thermos cups, waiting for the event to begin.
Doug, Ann, and Cliff walked over to the two, Doug in a nice white shirt and black pants, Cliff in a blue suit, and Ann in a matching blue dress. "Nice to see you two have arrived! You're the last tonight. I guess that means we can get the party started." He smiled, ringing his arm around his daughter and Cliff (who turned ridiculously red and stared off into the distance). "Go ahead and find a spot anywhere. Thirty minutes until new year! We've got paper lanterns and fireworks this time. Exciting, huh?" Doug walked away after handing them a few lanterns and Ann and Cliff followed after him, but not without Ann casting them a giggly glance.
Trent took Claire to the back left spot, so they could be slightly secluded with a perfect view of the sky. They laid down a blanket together, and he covered them in a second woolen sheet, sitting so close their sides were pressed together, keeping each other plenty warm. They tried to ignore the curious looks back at them, which was a bit difficult, because all Claire really wanted to do was snuggle up with Trent without the petty gossiping. Trent really didn't seem to notice though, which took Claire by a bit of surprise. That's when it occurred to her that they had never really been in front of everyone like this, and all the while Claire had always thought Trent would be totally weird about it. On the contrary, he was totally calm, ignoring their giggles and almost enjoying the fact that he had Claire to show off to everyone.
"They seem to be rather chatty that we're here together, don't they?" Trent chuckled, acknowledging the keen stares from Manna and Sasha. "I don't think they're used to seeing me with anyone, let alone you." When the women had turned their faces back towards the night sky, Trent slipped his hand into Claire's. His fingers seemed to fill the spaces between hers so perfectly, as if that was their sole purpose. Claire relaxed a bit, laying her head on his shoulder and to this, Trent rested his chin against her crown. She didn't feel nervous or anything. In fact, it all just felt so right to her. Sitting close to him, holding his hand, cuddling, knowing that the man that was beside her loved her and that she loved him too… It was perfect. A little voice inside her asked why they'd waited so long to be like this, and honestly she didn't know.
"New year in fifteen minutes, folks!" Doug called.
Upon hearing this, Trent cleared his throat and without much warning began to talk. "I feel the need to apologize to you, Claire. About the way I've acted this whole time between us, and especially how I acted a few weeks ago."
Claire shook her head, coming up to look him in the eyes. "You don't have to apologize."
Trent sighed, watching as Stu and May chased each other around, weaving in and out of the different groups. "But I do. I've been thinking about it a lot and I realize the consequences that could have come from this if I had never sorted myself out in time. I could have lost you." Claire took a minute to soak this into her brain before Trent spoke again. "The only example of love that I ever had growing up was through my parents, and I had never even seen them act remotely romantic with one another. They'd never so much as hugged in front of me. As a child I thought that it was just a routine part of life to get a degree, a career, and to get married. I never thought that I could actually fall in love with anyone…I didn't really seem to connect the two or even understand what love meant. When I got a bit older, it occurred to me that I didn't even understand what a working, loving relationship looked like besides what I had seen in the movies. With my work and studies I thought it would have been impossible for me to make a woman truly happy. I convinced myself that if someone ever fell for me, it would just be like my mom and my dad, where they were totally and obviously unhappy, and I wouldn't ever want to do that to someone or to any possible children I would have. So I figured that what was best was to live life alone. But then, I met you. Of course I still had those thoughts in my mind, but I couldn't stay away from you because every moment I spent with you I fell more and more in love with you that it was out of control. You were the most amazing, selfless, beautiful person I had ever met and I didn't want to hurt you. That's why I responded to everything the way I did and that's why I've been so hesitant. But…when you told me you loved me too, I figured maybe I was doing something right. And I realized that I didn't have to be like my dad and mom…I could just be me, and you could just be you, and we could be together and we could just be happy." He grinned, running his thumb over the back of her hand. "It was you that allowed me to see that. I can't thank you enough for changing my life, Claire."
Claire was speechless. Her throat locked up and she felt as if she was going to cry. They could finally be together, now. And not only that, but Trent also seemed to be so much happier to have figured this all out. Seeing him so confident like this was the best thing on this Earth to her…and to think it was because of her own actions and words…
Claire embraced him, leaning her forehead against his and running her hands up the back of his hair. She watched as he closed his eyes, saying the only thing that seemed right. "I love you, Trent."
They sat like this for a few seconds, but a bit of commotion pulled them apart. Everyone was getting ready for the new year celebration, standing up with their lanterns and saying whatever they needed to say to one another before the year ended. Trent helped Claire onto her feet and they walked to join their friends. Doug helped them light their first lantern and they stood close together, kneeling down to the ground to let the hot air expand the paper. Everyone else was doing the same, now, as they started counting down the last ten seconds of the year. Claire and Trent stared at each other, grinning the entire time.
"5…4…3…2...1!" The townspeople cheered, and all together they made their wishes and stood up, releasing their lanterns into the sky. Claire watched theirs float beautifully among the rest; spellbinding fiery orbs gliding through the sky almost like large stars. Trent draped his arm around her shoulders and in return she hugged his waist, welcoming in the new year together.
After all of the lanterns were released into the night, down below was an engaging spectacle of fireworks that lasted nearly fifteen minutes. Everyone was cheering and in high spirit, basking in one another's company. A few of the musical talents in town had brought their instruments and for hours everyone danced under the moon and stars. Even Trent asked her to dance with him a few times, although Claire was rather horrible at it and kept stepping on his feet. He would just laugh and hold her even closer than before.
Six in the morning came quicker than Claire thought it would. She and Trent sat back on their blanket, looking over the half and half crowd of snoozing and awake people as the first sunrise of the year appeared.
"My biggest wish is to watch many, many more of these with you," Claire said.
Trent held her close to him. "I couldn't think of anything better."
The viewing party was finally over when the sun was up and gleaming in the sky. Trent offered to walk Claire back and they made their way to her house. She hadn't realized how tired she was until her eyes were half shut and swollen upon seeing Ringo running up to welcome her home. Trying to stifle a yawn as she opened her front door, she turned to see Trent had considerable dark circles under his eyes as well.
"Nobody works on New Years Day, right? Why don't you just crash here? I can take the couch," she said sheepishly, going to grab a pillow and blanket from the closet.
Trent obliged, looking in much worse shape than her as he was probably not used to skipping on a healthy amount of sleep. However, he insisted she sleep in her own bed because of her "condition," then sunk to the couch and passed out almost immediately. Claire was so tired, she honestly didn't even have a moment to think about how happy she was before she fell dozed off.
It was noon when Claire had woken up, still in her dress from the day before. She changed into a pair of jeans and a simple white sweater, then ventured into the living room. Trent was still asleep with the blankets pulled up to his ears, his thick black hair sticking up in every direction. Claire giggled, walking into the kitchen feeling especially light on her feet and made them breakfast. By the time she was done, Trent had forced himself awake to come eat with her, a sheepish grin on his face.
"I don't think I've ever slept this late in my entire life," he said, shoveling a bite of omelette into his mouth. "It's not good for your circadian rhythm, but every once in a while staying up late is alright."
Claire leaned her chin into her palm, finding it hard to eat with the fact he'd just woken up and looked so freaking adorable already.
Trent finished eating, shooting her a thoughtful glance. She shook herself out of her long stare, hoping he hadn't noticed. It didn't seem like he did and he began to talk again. "Every New Years day the folks around here gather up at towns square and eat some rice cakes. It starts at six, so if you're not too tired would you like to go?"
She stood up to clean his plate for him, but he snatched it away quickly with a smirk on his face and went to clean up everything himself. Claire leaned up against the counter, watching as he scrubbed away. "Sure, but I've still got to take care of my animals. I think they'd like the fresh air."
Trent set down the last plate, looking at her curiously. "Your animals, huh?"
A wide smile spread across Claire's face as she grabbed his had, dragging him towards the door. "You should help me! They love people, honest!"
While he looked a bit skeptical, he nodded and moved to put on his shoes and Claire did the same. When they opened the door, they saw that nearly every inch of snow had melted with the late morning sun, showing a long stretch of her green, grassy field. She crossed her arms, looking over her farm with a bit of satisfaction. Today marked her one year anniversary of living in Mineral Town, and if she did say so herself, she had done a great job. A year and six months ago, she was bored stiff and miserable, working at a dead end office job with no life ambition, living in a cramped studio apartment. Now she had found what it was that made her life worth living; a small group of townspeople that cared for and respected her, a beautiful farm, healthy, happy pets, and the biggest of all, the love of her life.
Trent slid his arm around her waist, giving her instant goose bumps. "It's funny how different everything looks after the snow melts away, isn't it?"
Claire gazed up at him, his dark eyelashes creating lovely shadows across his cheekbones. "It seems to catch me off guard every year…every time."
They went to the chickens first. Trent hugged himself, looking rather uncomfortable when Claire picked up a chicken and told him to hold it.
"This is for sure my best chicken. He's really good with people. Just hold him, he won't mind you!"
He reached out his arms tentatively, taking ahold of the fluffy white chicken and pulling it towards him. It flapped its wings uncontrollably, causing Trent to panic set it back on the ground, running to the door and huddling up against it. Claire laughed so hard she had tears in her eyes, coming to calm her chicken down. "It's not funny!" Trent barked. "That thing was going to injure me!"
With a bit of difficulty, Claire dragged him to her barn next. He seemed to be much better with her cows and sheep, brushing them and helping Claire pass out a fair share of fodder. When the time had come to take care of Lennon in her stables he was completely fine. He fed the horse a few carrots and walked beside them as Claire rode Lennon around the farm a couple of times.
When they were done it was nearly time for the New Years day celebration with everyone. Claire had to take a shower, so Trent returned to his place to change out of his clothes, which he was still wearing from the day before. He came back to pick her up wearing a pair of dark jeans and a plain white t-shirt, looking the most informal she'd ever seen him (totally sexy in her opinion!). He smiled, taking her hand once again, and the two of them met up with the townspeople for plenty of rice cakes to fill up their stomachs. Of course the curious glances and gossiping had become intensified as they were being a bit more public with their affection, but all everyone seemed to care about was the fact that they were happy together. Even Elli had offered a bit of her congratulations.
"Take good care of him, Claire! He worries too much about other people and forgets to worry about himself!" She leaned in close to Claire, widening her eyes. "He's lost so much sleep thinking about different medicines to prescribe!"
It had been bit over two hours when Claire started to feel tired again. She really didn't want to part with Trent after such a perfect extended time with him, but knew she had to come anyway.
"I think I'll head back now," she said, pulling Trent away from his conversation with Duke. "I'm getting really sleepy."
He raised his eyebrows. "Oh? Well alright. You'll have to let me walk you home. I don't want you to be wandering back in your condition."
She rolled her eyes, chuckling. "My 'condition' has been under wraps for days now, Trent." But he ignored her, wrapping up a few rice cakes for leftovers and taking her back home. Once they reached her door, the two of them paused, both not really wanting to bid each other farewell.
"Is it weird that I miss you already?" He laughed softly through his nose, saying exactly what was on her mind.
"We haven't even said goodbye for the night," Claire tilted her head a little and narrowed her eyes. Trent leaned in a little more, his nose rubbing hers and breath touching her top lip.
"I don't want to know what will happen to me when I do have to say goodbye to you," He said. With that, he leaned in the rest of the distance between her lips and his, kissing her whole-heartedly. She couldn't help but smile into their kiss at first, throwing her arms around his neck as his hands found her hips. This was the first time they were kissing, both sober, without any hesitation or remorse whatsoever from either of them! Claire was sure there was no better feeling in the world than his lips on hers, and she'd do anything to receive these kisses for the rest of her life.
For some time they stood outside in the cool spring air, the only sounds to be heard were the chirpings of a distant grasshopper and the soft, wet noises from their lips. Claire wasn't sure how long she'd be able to handle all of this: his eyelashes brushing her cheeks, his nose mashed up next to hers, his tongue gracefully moving in her mouth, and his hands running dangerously low on her back and up again. She was sure that sooner or later she'd go crazy without his touch. Finally, Claire's fingers had started to throb from clutching the back of his shirt so tightly, ripping her away from the steamy moment and back into the blue night. She opened her eyes to look into his and found he was staring at her hopefully through half-open lids, his mouth still slightly agape.
"You know," Claire said quietly, running her hands over his shoulders. "You must be really tired too…if you want you can sleep over here again. I'd hate for you to have to walk all the way back to your place with a foggy conscious."
Trent laughed, closing his eyes and kissing her again. "Alright. I'll take the couch again."
She pushed him away, her eyebrows raised slightly. "You slept on the couch last night! I can take the couch and you can sleep in my bed. That old sofa isn't the most comfortable thing in the world—"
"All the more reason for you to sleep in your own bed, Claire," he said, looking much more serious now. "I don't want to take any chances with your health. It's important for you to get a good night's rest. Since I don't have any existing conditions, then—"
She let out a huge snort, slapping him on the chest. "Oh stop with all of this 'condition,' nonsense, will you? If it's such a big problem then fine, we can both take my bed!" What was intended as a joke came out sounding a lot more sincere than she meant it to. Once it was said, though, she wasn't totally opposed to the idea…Trent didn't seem to mind either, though he looked a lot more nervous than he did just moments earlier.
"W-well. If you insist then I don't think it would be that bad of an idea."
She nodded, leading them inside and to her bedroom. Ringo seemed to be upset that Claire was there so late coming home, growling at Trent as if to blame him for all of this. Claire rolled her eyes, pushing the barking puppy outside and shutting the door. She quickly tossed an extra pillow onto her bed and realized for the first time how small her bed seemed to look. She looked back at Trent to see if he had noticed this too, but he was already stripping down to his nightclothes. To be more frank, he was taking off everything except for some black cotton boxer-briefs. Claire spun around quickly with her eyes the size of golf balls and her body starting to feel very hot. She'd just seen his amazing toned body nearly naked! How was she supposed to climb into bed with him if the mere sight of one his nude abs made her all blushy and giggly and girly?
Grow up! She told herself. You're just sleeping in the same bed. That's it. Just get in there, close your eyes, and try not to touch that those beautiful sculpted shoulders or his tight little butt. Don't even think about how impressive his biceps look without sleeves covering them. And…wow, those obliques were sharp—no! No, don't think about those either! Just climb in, go to sleep, and it'll all be fine.
Claire swallowed hard, undressing quickly and pulling a sweatshirt over her head. When she turned around to get into her bed, she saw Trent already under the covers and squeezed over to the opposite side to let her in. He had been watching her intently until she noticed, growing embarrassed and sinking farther under the blankets. She ignored this, finally climbing in to her tiny little bed. There was just enough room for the two of them, but she could definitely feel his entire side warm against hers. She reached to shut off her light, telling herself how bad of an idea this all was. There was no way she was going to get to sleep with him there!
"Goodnight," Trent said, pulling her to his body for a nighttime cuddle. Due to this, her face was up against his left peck and his bulging arms were around her shoulders. Her body broke out in a sweat, now. Why, oh, why did he have to take his shirt off? Why, oh, why did he have to be so friggin' hot?!
"'Night." She allowed herself to wrap her arms around him, pulling her sleeves over her hands so she wouldn't feel his skin. There. Claire thought to herself. Just stay like this and fall asleep and you'll wake up in the morning without all of this crazy sexual tension. It was all fine and she even felt herself drifting off a couple minutes later, but then Trent moved around and her cheek was now pressed up against his smooth, trim back, her arms still tight around his stomach. Claire squeezed her eyes hard, trying to resist running her hands over every indent of every muscle on his abs. By this time she was repeating Go to sleep! Over and over in her head, but it wasn't working. About half an hour later, he moved again so that they were back in their original position. He seemed to be just as reckless as she.
"Trent?" She beckoned softly, just in case he was sleeping. "Are you still awake?"
It took him a minute, but he answered with a sharp exhale. "Yeah."
"Can't sleep?"
He shook his head. "No. I know it seems silly after having a tiring day, but then I feel you next to me and I just—" Trent turned beet red, flipping onto his side and pulling up his blankets. "Never mind."
Claire shivered (partly because he'd pulled the sheets half off of her body). He must've been having the same problem as her…If they were in a relationship and they couldn't even sleep next to each other without getting fervently excited, what where they supposed to do? "Well I'm having trouble sleeping too," she muttered, hugging thin arms around herself. "What do you suggest we do?"
He harrumphed, shuffling onto his back, then after looking at her, onto his side again. Claire tried hard to stifle her laughter, crawling over to place her head on his shoulder. She knew he was a bit shy, but this was ridiculous! "Um," he started nervously. "Since we are together now, I imagine we'll be spending a lot of time at one another's places. Correct?"
Claire nodded slowly.
"A…and a lot of time…like this. Right?"
She furrowed her brows. "Like this?"
"As in…we'll be in bed together."
Claire started to share a bit of his coy attitude, now, sitting up straight. "Oh, right."
He sat up then, too, but was still furiously scarlet. "I just thought we should establish some…ground rules?"
She couldn't seem to understand where he was going with this, scrunching her eyebrows even more. "What do you mean?"
"What I've been thinking is, since I'm the uh, man in this case, and you are the woman, you've got the right to let me know if something's okay and if something's not okay. If you want something and if you don't. If you like something," he blinked a timid glance at her. "or if you don't. It's all up to you."
She tilted her head so that her blonde hair spilled off of her right shoulder. He waited for her reply with his breath held in, pupils flicking back and fourth as he watched her expression. Honestly, she had no idea that he was going to go in that direction. She had never really done much in the terms of the bedroom, was always waiting for a proper guy to come along. Trent definitely seemed to be that for her. Their relationship, while it had only just started, seemed to be one destined to last a while. It felt sort of right to do this kind of stuff with him.
"You can have a say in all this too, you know." She hugged his arm, nuzzling against his neck. "We have to work together to make things work. That's the whole point of a relationship."
"Of course, of course. It's just that…well I've already thought about what I'd want and what I'd like, I guess, and since I don't really know if you're comfortable with…being rather comfortable with each other…You just have to be the one to say it, okay?"
Her breathing seemed to feel a little constricted and her body felt flushed again. "You've thought about what you want to do with me?" She asked, feeling a bit giggly.
"Weellll, you're a very beautiful woman, Claire, and I love you. I can't say I haven't thought about...stuff…between us."
Claire sniggered, leaning into his ear. "Oh, really? Like what?" For some odd reason, the mere fact that Trent had 'thoughts' about her was very exciting.
"Just…like…I don't know…" He moaned, humiliated. "Forget it. What about you? Have you ever thought about…stuff?"
She thought for a moment, a devilish grin spreading across her mouth. "Weellll, you're a very handsome man, Trent, and I—"
Trent had tackled her, turning her into a squealing mess. He was tickling her sides as a form of punishment for mocking him, and she had tried with all her might to push his hands away, but he was way too strong and heavy and her laughter was making her weak. After a few seconds, she got ahold of his wrists and shuffled so that she was on top of him, kissing him to make him stop. She could feel him smiling against her lips as he ran his hands down her back, pushing her closer to his body. If this wasn't pure bliss, then Claire wasn't sure what was.
"I think," she said, pulling away to peer into his eyes. "It might be possible that you and I might want and like the same things."
Trent's body tensed a little. He bit his lip, flattening down the back of her hair. "Well, then." He let out a little cough, then very suddenly and in one fluid motion moved her under him.
They caressed each other softly, gently, taking it slow and drinking in every second of this immaculate embrace. Claire would have never guessed that for a Doctor his touch would have been so tender, his hands so sensually gratifying as they moved across her bare skin. There didn't seem to be a single place on her body that his lips had not met. Even the hot breaths that escaped his mouth seemed pleasurable to her. It was a little awkward at some moments, yes, as neither of them had really done anything like this before. Yet those amateur moments quickly grew into something of a beauty—the charming element of their first time together as loving individuals who couldn't dream of doing this with anyone else.
She felt a little funny when it was all over, curling up into his chest and pulling the blanket to cover them both, thoughts running through her head like madness. It was strange to think about the way her life had unfolded; moving away from her financially stable job to get a farm in the middle of nowhere, where she met and fell in love with a doctor.
"Sometimes it's weird how things work out, isn't it?" She mused. "What if I had never been reading through the paper the day I saw the ad for the farm? What if I had never have fainted that first week coming here? Would it have been different? I wouldn't have met you the same way…I mean I'm sure I would have met you eventually…but it wouldn't have been the way that started all of this, y'know?"
"I guess so," he said, tangling his fingers through her hair. "But I don't think we should really question the way that the world works, should we? Things happened this way, and all we can do is just be very happy that they did." He rested his chin against her forehead and closed his eyes, finally allowing the fatigue to take him.
Claire grinned sheepishly, suppressing a yawn. "Yeah, you're right. Let's just be happy."
There was no doubt in her mind that they would have any problem doing that.
***Author's Note***
Well, here it is! I hope you guys like this chapter. It took me forever to write, mostly because of schoolwork, and I feel really bad because I haven't updated it in forever, but I finally finished it over the holidays. Hooray!
Also, I have decided against making this the last chapter and writing one more conclusion chapter, which will be a bit long as well.
That's all for now, I hope to finish the last chapter sometime soon, but it might take a while so please be patient with me! Thank you for reviewing, favoring, and following as always.
All my love.