For The Good Times

"Normally I'd be saying I'm bloody glad to hear it, you might decide to marry the fucking paperboy next time, but you might want to wait until after tomorrow, believe me we're going to need alcohol, well, I know I will"

"What about tomorrow? I thought your birthday was Sunday"

"Who told you it was my birthday Sunday, how did you know?"

"Course I know when's your birthday, medics need to know these things" Molly raised her eyebrows and giggled "So I might just possibly have looked up your file, once, maybe, for a bit of checking, research or some'ing, you know we have to know all about …. stuff ….. and anyhow it was a long time ago now so I can't remember exactly why" She pulled as much of an innocent wide-eyed look as she could manage, aiming for 'butter wouldn't melt in her mouth' and then giggled again as his eyebrows shot up and he smirked "And sometimes we just remember things don't we? I don't know why but little things that don't matter that much just stick ….. like when it's your birthday, so what's happening tomorrow, why you might gonna need to get ratted?"

"We're going to a party, well I have to and you're going to come with me aren't you? to hold my hand"

"A birthday party? Shit Charles, I dunno 'bout that, it feels ….. previous, me turning up at your birthday party. It's a long way to Bath …. 'n then I'd have to stop the night and I'm not sure I'm ready to see your mum and dad, and I'm bloody sure they won't be ready to see me, so we'll do some'ing another time, what do you want for your birthday anyway?"

"No, it's at my cousin's in Streatham and it's not for my birthday, it's a housewarming that just happens to be the day before my birthday and" He totally ignored what she'd said about Bath or meeting his parents again "I want you to come with me"

"Housewarming? Dunno … sounds a bit shit, and a bit sort of grown up, am I gonna be the youngest person there?"

"Without a shadow of a doubt" He laughed "And the most beautiful and the funniest and the sexiest …. and they are all going to be so bloody jealous" He laughed again "And you just asked what I want for my birthday and that's what I want, I want you to come to Shelley's with me, apart from anything else it'll stop her eating me alive"

"What? Your cousin fancies you?"

"No of course not, I meant it'll stop her and the rest of them interrogating me on behalf of my mother as to when I'm going to find a nice girl and settle down"

"A nice girl? Well that bloody rules me out then dunnit?…. If I go with you and I'm not sayin' I will, I'll need to buy a pot plant or some'ing, I can't go to someone's house warming empty handed"

"Nope, she'd only kill it" He snorted "And not only are you the most beautiful girl I know, but you're also the nicest one as well, and the kindest and you're almost as nice as you are sexy, in fact you're fucking awesome"

"Alright, that's enough bullshit, if you overdo it I definitely won't come with you"

"Good, and you needn't worry about taking anything because I've already got the wine so we'll just give her that and a couple of straws and she'll be happy"

He leaned over and kissed the tip of her nose, not even bothering to try and disguise the blaze of triumph in his eyes and the smirk at getting what he wanted. He was now sure that despite what she'd said about not being sure he knew she would go with him to a gathering that he'd been dreading ever since he'd found that he'd apparently agreed to go. An evening that had now turned into something to look forward to instead of something he'd been doing his best to find a good excuse to let him wriggle out of it.

"Now what are we going to eat?"

He was scrabbling around in a drawer, eventually finding and waving a bunch of takeaway menus in the air "Do you want me to choose for you?"

"Can do if you like"

"Bloody hell, you've changed your tune"

"Told you, I'm not very hungry 'n if you're the one chooses it'll be all your fault if I don't eat it, I can say it's not me wasting food but you making a crap choice"

"Pizza it is then"

"Don't pull that face, if you don't want that, tell me what you do want then?"

"What and spoil the fun? Pizza will be good, not one of them horrible meaty ones though"

She wanted to say that she had meant what she'd said, that she really wasn't hungry and that she didn't want anything to eat, she just wanted him to take her upstairs to bed and to stop bloody messing, that this was not at all how she'd envisaged the evening progressing from when they'd stood still in their wet coats and dripping on the bloody doormat. Maybe Lisa was right and she had been getting a bit ahead of herself.

"Can we talk about something else now or I might lose my appetite for meaty pizza as well"

"Oh you didn't?"

"Nope, you're right I didn't"

She looked around as Charles faffed about and tried to sort out the fire and wondered what it was with men and lighting fires, not Dave of course, he couldn't be arsed, miles preferred to flick on the one bar electric one "I can see it's a nice place you've got 'ere"

"What, you like it? I'm shocked, I thought you'd hate it"

"Nah, why would I? Well …. yeah sorry, I s'pose I do a bit, sorry"

She could see that whoever had done the tarting up, and she didn't think it was him, had got very busy with the Kirstie sledgehammer and had knocked down most of the walls so that it was now one big room with stairs across the middle separating the sitting room bit which had the sofas and the fireplace from the kitchen bit at the back with its double doors out onto the dark garden. There was no fire lit of course, Charles was struggling to get it going so that it felt chilly and empty, and really a bit shit as the rain hammered against the windows and he got up and shut the wooden blinds which Molly thought were bloody hideous, she really thought the room could do with some nice cosy curtains. Being his, it was very tidy of course with its plain wood floors and the big cream rug and sofas which she vowed not to stand or sit anywhere near when she had red wine in her hand, if and when she decided she hadn't really given up booze forever. There were no pictures or anything, just everything plain and shiny and bare, even the work tops in the kitchen were empty except for the kettle and the Nespresso thingy, not even any crumbs, so that it was probably the most horribly un-cosy place she'd ever been in her life.

"I shouldn't 'ave said that should I? It was a bit bleeding rude, but where's all your stuff?"

"What stuff?"

"Your photos, and pictures 'n cushions 'n that, your stuff"

"I haven't got any, except for what's back in Bath" He tucked his tongue in his cheek and smirked, and tried very hard not to laugh out loud. He was almost smug about how right he'd been "I knew you'd hate it"

"Well it's not my house"

"Nope, not mine either, I just rent it"

He laughed again at the expression that flitted across her face. He'd known instinctively that she wouldn't like it, that the whole place was about as far from saying Molly as it was possible to get, although looking back now he wasn't entirely sure if that was what had persuaded him to rent it in the first place.

-OG-

"What are you trying to do to me? That dress is distracting to say the least, I think we'll just stay in after all"

"Nah, we won't, we're going to a party, you had your chance last night"

She giggled and pulled the skirt of her stretchy, black, tight and very short dress down over her bottom while trying to look as if she was joking, was teasing him, although it had wrankled a tiny bit that he hadn't pounced. They'd talked for hours and she'd done her best to reassure him about Adam, as well as reassuring herself because Lisa's words had been ringing in her ears. She'd been so sure that the evening was going to end with her in his bed but it hadn't so she'd been forced to accept that he wanted to take things a bit slowly, but had been a bit glad that she hadn't had clean knickers and her toothbrush sticking out her pocket.

"You scrub up well, I've never seen you in a suit before, 'ave I? You look …. dead smart … and dead grown up"

"What's that supposed to mean? That I look old?"

"You are old" Molly laughed "You will be tomorrow anyway"

"Better make the most of tonight then, hadn't I?"

"Told you, too late, you blew your chance yesterday"

The party was in full swing when they finally got there, late because of the difficulty in finding a taxi driver prepared to take them all the way to south London so that Molly had suggested they went by train knowing that wouldn't happen as Charles' stubborn streak made him more and more determined and more and more angry with himself for not pre-booking. He'd turned into Boss man at his very worst, so that she'd stopped looking forward to any of it by the time they got there.

Charles had put a reassuring hand in the small of her back as he started introducing her to hordes of what looked to her to be middle-aged people, the men all wearing suits like Charles although in her opinion none of them looked as good in theirs as he did in his and the girls were mostly like her in little black dresses, although none of their dresses were as little as hers. Once again Molly had the feeling of being completely wrongly dressed for something as she pinned her most confident smile on her face knowing that she was attracting quite a lot of sideways looks from the other women. The high ceilinged room was almost empty of furniture and was packed with people drinking and shouting over the music as they all tried to make themselves heard above all the other people doing the exact same thing and someone kept on turning up the volume on the music. It was posh, well-spoken bedlam.

"So, how long have you known him then? My ugly little cousin over there"

Shelley, Charles' cousin was a hell of a lot older than him and hadn't been one of the girls giving her funny looks as she now waved her glass in Charles general direction and slopped wine all over herself in the process.

"Couple of years, I've known him a while"

Shelley was obviously completely out of it, either on booze or judging from the state of her pupils, on a mixture of a lot of wine and some illegal substance or other and if her puzzled face was anything to go by she'd forgotten immediately what it was she'd asked, she seemed unsure what the fuck Molly was even talking about as she slurped a great gulp of wine out of the biggest wine glass Molly had ever seen. Shelley was already having huge difficulty focusing so that Molly badly wanted to giggle, being on the sober moral high ground was such a great feeling and was so unusual that it made a really nice change. It wasn't even 9 o'clock which meant Shelley was going to feel bleeding horrible in the morning, if not before and when Molly looked around she could see that their hostess wasn't the only one by a long way. Housewarming would appear to be some posh euphemism for having a get together with your closest friends and family, which in Shelley's case seemed to be about 150 of them at least, and then for everyone to do their fucking best to drink one another under the table as fast as they could, so it was obvious now why Charles had said they would need alcohol.

He was putting the world to rights in an apparently serious arm waving conversation with some bloke whose name she had been told but had now forgotten, but every so often he would turn to look over at her and mouth 'okay?' to just make sure that she was still alright. It made her feel unbelievably happy when he did stuff like that … it made her feel …. safe … and loved.

"Stop it"

She put her hands behind her and pulled his up to rest on her waist from where they were on her bum and making her skirt ride up so that she was attracting even more attention, mainly from men this time, as they danced or rather swayed together in the three square feet of floor space they'd been able to carve out of the crush.

"Stop what?"

"Showing my arse to the room"

"Sorry … tell you what, shall we go?"

"Now? I mean I'd love to … but we can't can we, not yet, be a bit bloody rude cos we haven't been 'ere long enough ….. 'ave we?"

"In case you hadn't noticed they're all pissed so they won't notice if we go and they won't care even if they do notice"

He smirked as he took her hand and dragged her behind him towards the small room off the hallway where there was a huge heap of coats to burrow through to find theirs.

"Come on, I'm tired of sharing you, and it's my birthday in an hour so I'm allowed to do as I like"

"Are you pissed?"

"Nope … well, not very, I don't get pissed, I just get a bit ….. happy"

"Are you happy?"

"Very"

Getting a Uber home was one hell of a lot easier than getting one into town had been earlier, although Molly had the feeling that it might have been cheaper to buy the bloody car, but Charles didn't seem to care as he wrapped his arms round her and prepared to spend the whole journey kissing her and nuzzling at her neck. Instead of which he found himself forced to listen politely to their driver, who was apparently pre-disposed to chat to his customers and was determined to give them his opinion on politics, the weather and Donald Trump's election victory, all of which Charles answered in polite and non-committal monosyllables…

-OG-

The journey had lasted several lifetimes when they eventually stumbled up the slippery path in the rain, then for the second evening in a row fell through the front door, arms still wrapped tightly around each other as he kicked the door shut and bent his head to kiss her. He'd meant it to be soft and gentle, he'd had every intention of taking things slowly and of building bridges, of putting things right and showing her that he wasn't rushing her, but all that vanished the minute she wove her arms round his neck pushed her fingers into his hair and fitted her body against his.

"Is this make-up sex?"

"Bloody hope so" He swung her up in his arms ready to carry her upstairs, then stopped "I don't know, is it?"

"Might be ….. but only if you put me down, I don't want you putting your back out do I? Gotta be careful at your a …"

"Right you're going to pay for that"

And then the laughter was over as he took her hand and pulled her behind him up the stairs, throwing his jacket at the sofa and missing and then leaving it in a crumpled heap on the floor.

In a lot of ways it was like coming home and yet in other ways as if it was all brand new. His body was as she remembered it, hard against where she was soft so that he fitted her so well, or maybe it was that she fitted him as he stroked his hand down her back and then ran his fingers through her hair pulling her tighter and tighter against him as the kisses got deeper and harder and their tongues stroked against each. He stopped kissing her long enough to pull her dress over her head and followed it by removing her bra and the even smaller scrap of black lace of her knickers and felt as her tiny fingers struggled to undo the buttons on his shirt, so put his hand down to help, and then shrugged it off and threw it on the floor.

"You're making a mess"

"Shut up"

"That's what you'd say to me"

"I'll stop and tidy up if you like"

"Nah, you're alright"

Every single bit of her body felt alive as if it was humming as she lay back feeling him press her against him. It was as if he couldn't get close enough or kiss her deeply enough, as if he needed to feel all of her and to lose himself in her as she squirmed and whimpered and fumbled at the buckle on his belt and struggled to undo it so that he put his hands down and helped her, then dropped them over the side of the bed so that they too fell in a crumpled heap on the floor.

Her head was full of the memory of the number of times he'd managed to make her come by kissing her breasts and nibbling and sucking and tonguing her stiffly peaked nipples so that she moved against him to encourage him to move his hands over the rest of her body otherwise she was going to show him exactly what a pushover for him she was. As she pushed his boxers off with her heels, she gave a little shout of triumph when she managed to get them down far enough to release his erection so that she could wrap her fingers round him and make him groan and hiss as she teased with her lips and hands until he was hovering over her as she arched upwards to meet him and then encouraged him to go harder and deeper and faster, grinding herself against him until they were both covered in a faint sheen of sweat and were muttering and panting and pleading with one another not to stop as a lot of remembered and forgotten sensation flooded her body with fireworks. As she screamed his name he buried his head in her neck and let his pleasure rock his world.

Aware of his weight he rolled off her slightly and tucked the warm little body that still felt and smelled exactly as he remembered into his side, the way he always used to so that she was laying against him with her head burrowed under his chin where she fitted perfectly the way she always had. Their breathing and their heart rates both slowly went back to normal as the mingled sweat dried on their bodies and he pulled the duvet up around them.

"Thank you"

She giggled as she said it, breathing the words out and kissing his neck where she could reach without having to move her head.

"You're welcome"

"Not the duvet Numpty"

"Oh, trust me, the pleasure was all mine" He laughed as he heard her murmur 'nah, not all yours' "And that was the nicest birthday present anyone could ever have given me … hey, where are you going …. And what the fuck is that?"

"Going to the loo ….. and that ….. that's a tattoo, told you I did some shit stuff back then, didn't I?"

"What is it? Let me see" He examined the emoji on her bum "It's lovely, I just thought for a minute it might be my name"

"Did you? Why would I wanna do something like that? Would have been a bit bloody awkward to explain when I found someone else, wouldn't it? And yeah, I might just possibly have been a tiny bit plastered, but I hadn't totally lost me mind, I mean you might be very sweet 'n that, but well, you know …." She shrugged then giggled.

"Sweet? Me? No-one's ever accused me of that before"

"I think you are … sometimes"

-OG-

A/N: Thank you for your feedback, I have spent so much time deleting, editing and re-writing bits of this as I try not to make it too tacky that I have decided to go with it, it's either that or scrap it completely and start all over again, keeping it firmly above the navel. Please be kind - Chapter 13 soon.