Chapter 12: Trusting

Hey readers,

as you may have read I changed my beta. So thanks to Millemini for her work.

I am going to post the second version of Chapter 11 as soon as I can.

Hope you enjoy the next chapter!

Please read and review.

-Grace

What happened last:

Annie rummaged through it while Auggie collected some longnecks and placed them on the table. Annie handed him the DVD – Armageddon. Auggie took it and walked over to the entertainment center. While he loaded the DVD in Annie curled up on the sofa. Auggie took the seat beside her and did something Annie hadn't thought she'd see him doing so soon.

Auggie leaned forward and began to push on something under his trousers, on the right side of his leg. Then he sat up and manipulated his leg a bit. He began to roll up his pant leg and with one smooth move he got rid of his right prosthetic. With just a little hesitation he repeated the process with his left leg. He could feel Annie staring at him while he removed his prosthetics and deliberately avoided to look at her. With both legs removed he used his arms to shift his weight and settled into the cushions.

"Ready to start the movie?" He turned slightly towards Annie with a questioning look on his face.

"Ye… yes Auggie." Annie stuttered and avoided to look at anything below Auggie's waist.

"Something wrong Annie? I thought you were okay with seeing me as I am?" Auggie turned away from her, pushed himself toward the edge of the couch and bent down to grab his legs. He felt a hand on his shoulder pulling him back.

"How can I get you to understand that these doesn't mean anything to me?" Annie leaned down and touched his prosthetics. "I like you the way you are! And it's not like I haven't seen you without them before. Have you forgotten about our sessions in the gym? I just didn't expect you to take them off so I was a bit surprised." Annie put all of her strength into pulling Auggie back up and then she pushed him toward the back of the couch and snuggled into his side. To say Auggie was shocked, would be an understatement. He didn't know how to answer so he just reached for the remote, hit play and draped his arm over Annie's shoulders. Neither one of them said anything for a while. Annie put her arm around Auggie's waist and began to absentmindedly draw circles with her hand on his side, Auggie drew the same circles on her shoulder. About halfway through the movie Annie was getting thirsty. She turned to Auggie.

"I'm thirsty. Do you want something to drink, Auggie?"

"Non I'm fine. Want me to pause the movie?" Auggie leaned forward and reached for the remote.

"That would be nice. I need to use the bathroom too."

Auggie paused the movie and removed his arm from Annie's shoulders.

"Okay. I think I'll change into something a little more comfortable. Do you want to borrow some sweats?" Auggie asked as he lowered himself to the floor.
"That would be great. Thanks Auggie."

With that Auggie moved on the floor into his walk in closet, Auggie grabbed pair of sweatpants and a comfy t-shirt for Annie and headed back to the bedroom where he put the clothes on his bed.

"I put some sweats on the bed for you," Auggie said as Annie appeared in the doorway.

"Thanks Aug," Annie replied with a smile. She grabbed the clothes and headed into the bathroom.

Auggie headed back to the closet and shut the door behind him. He grabbed a pair of shorts, which would display his liners more, and a t-shirt and quickly changed his clothes. Showing Annie his residual limbs without any barriers he was more than he could bear at this point, even if she felt comfortable with his disability and he had the impression that him moving on the floor of his apartment just seconds ago didn't really matter to her.

After changing he hand walked back to the bedroom where he retrieved a blanket from the bed, noticing that the sweats were gone and the bathroom door was closed. He threw the blanket over his shoulder, he didn't want to get tangled up in it as he hand walked back to the living room. He threw the blanket onto the couch and dragged his body up again. Annie had put the drinks on the table before going to the bathroom. A few minutes later she came back again. Auggie held his arm out and without any further prompting Annie sat down and snuggled up again, not even acknowledging that he wore shorts. When the film reached the scene in the chapel at the end Annie was crying silently, Auggie felt her trembling. He took her face into his hands and turned it up to his.

"Don't cry sweetheart. It's just a movie. Cum'ere." Auggie wrapped his arm firmer around her and she moved even closer to him. He looked into her deep brown eyes and kissed her. The first kiss was a bit tentative, but when Annie reciprocated Auggie pulled her closer and deepened the kiss. He was very aware that Annie had one leg draped over his stumps, but he enjoyed the weight of the woman he found very attractive, both physically and mentally, in his lap. His hands began to explore her body in a more romantic way than they'd done in the training room and she reciprocated. A few moments later Annie pulled away an laid her hands on his shoulders while she stared stared intently into his eyes.

"Can I ask you something? Feel free to say no, I don't want to upset you." Annie asked, a bit hesitantly. Genuine curiosity shone through her brown eyes.

"Uhh sure….?"

"I would like to try something okay?" she said with an encouraging smile.

"Okay. Go on. I think I can bear it – whatever it is." Auggie seemed a bit insecure.

With that Annie pulled herself a little closer to him, her hands exploring every inch of his body, getting lower and lower. They kissed and explored more. Annie had her hands on his sides at hip height and broke the kiss. She looked expectantly at Auggie.

He knew what she was asking with her eyes. He had to trust her. She made it clear to him that she wasn't fazed by his appearance and that she thought of him as a whole man. He felt like this was a do or die moment; he could lose the little confidence he had if things went wrong, but he could gain more than just confidence - he could gain love. So he nodded.

Her hands inched lower and then she was touching his residual limps, prodding a little bit, cupping the end of them. She could feel the muscles, which had to be there, because the silicon couldn't be so hard. She could feel his muscles twitching beneath the layer of silicone.

"Are you really okay with this?" Annie asked. She didn't want to make him feel awkward.

"Yes, it's okay. Doesn't this faze you? I couldn't touch them for so long." He blushed and looked down.

"No I'm not. This," she patted them, "is you and this is your normal. Please don't think any less; I'm so happy that I met you. Auggie you're worth a lot and I like you so much." With that she leaned in and gently grabbed his chin; then she lifted his head up so she could kiss him again. They kissed for a long time, lost in their own little world. It was past midnight when Auggie dared to break up their little make out session. He looked at his clock and was shocked to see how late it was.

"Annie it's late. I don't want you to drive back home at this hour. You take my bed and I'll take the couch." Auggie was very commanding.

Annie smiled at him. "Seriously Auggie, how old are you? We're both adults and I think we can share the bed without something happening." She stared him down.
"Okay I surrender," Auggie laughed, holding his hands up. "Please do me a favor?"
"Sure, what?"
"Can I go to the bathroom first?" He wanted to be in bed before Annie; he didn't want her to see his limbs exposed, he wasn't comfortable with showing them to her yet, but sleeping with liners was a no go. Annie just nodded and Auggie lowered himself to the floor and walked to the bathroom to clean up for the night.

A few minutes later he got out, Annie walked straight in. Auggie walked to the right side of the bed and collided with something. Annie had put his prosthesis up to his side of the bed. He couldn't hold the smile back as he dragged himself up the bed. He pulled off the shorts and then the liners, and then he disinfected the inside and left them inside out so they could dry overnight. He tended to his residual limbs by working some lotion in them and was ready as he heard the toilet flush.

Auggie lay beneath the sheets and smiled warmly at Annie when she stepped out of the bathroom. She had his t-shirt on; it was too big for her and covered a good half of her thighs. She climbed into the bed and settled in next to him.
"Thank you Annie." He smiled, wanting to acknowledge that he was pleased that she was comfortable with touching his prosthetics. It made his life easier that she was okay with bringing them into the bedroom. Annie just smiled and motioned for him to let her snuggle up again.

After a few small kisses they drifted off to sleep, both of them were tired as hell after the emotional time together. They slept peacefully through the night; Annie wrapped in Auggie's strong arms, with a smile matching his on her face.