Context: Jamie and Amy's encounter in the pool room, and what transpires between then and Stuart's arrival the next day.
A Step Too Far
It was easy enough. They were just going to swim…but they'd ended up much too close together. Not that she looked like she minded at all…he certainly didn't…
Something was telling him to just do it. Forget about any other commitments…just live in the moment and do it. Who knew when he'd be able to do something this forbidden again?
His instincts took over, and he leaned in.
Her skin felt like fire, most likely from all the alcohol she'd consumed. But it was such a wonderful sensation that he kept going, opening his mouth just a tiny bit. She complied, bringing her hands to his face, pulling him closer…
And suddenly her hands were pushing against him.
What the hell…
"What are you doing?" She looked frightened.
"I'm sorry…" He blinked, confused as to why she was acting like this. "You seemed to like it!" He, after all, hadn't been the one to sneak her tongue into his mouth…
"Well, I didn't, and you shouldn't have done that!"
She was right about that. What the hell had he been thinking? "Alright…"
"I love Stuart! I'm always going to love Stuart -"
"Alright!"
"I'm gonna be your sister-in-law."
Right. It was all on him. Again. "I thought you were coming onto me."
She glared at him. "You thought wrong." She flounced away, slamming the door behind her.
Brilliant.
He sighed, sitting heavily on the nearest pool chair, his hands clasped together.
What was wrong with him? What had given him the okay to make a move like that? She was taken…but that was what made her so tempting…not to mention getting back at Stuart for all he'd put him through…
It was stupid on his part. He shouldn't have gone out to look for her. He should have been a good boy and stayed in his room with Debbie.
He'd get grief from her tomorrow, for sure. He'd just up and left her, after all. And he wasn't about to go back to the hotel, not at this hour.
But his mum wouldn't like him being here, he knew. And the further away from Amy he could get, the better. He couldn't stand to see her in the morning, especially once she found out Cathy was living -
Cathy.
He'd said her name aloud, bringing him to yet another problem he had. He'd just moved in on someone else when he was already dating someone. Someone he was going to dump for someone else.
Three girls in one night. If the situation wasn't so serious, he'd congratulate himself on a job well done.
Could this get any worse?
His phone bleated. Displayed on the screen was a message from the boss: NO ONE SAYS NO TO ME!
"Shit!"
For a second he listened to how his voice angrily echoed off the walls. Why couldn't things turn out in his favor? For once?
Amy kept forcing her way back into his racing mind. Maybe he couldn't pry her off of Stuart with physical advances. Maybe he was going about this the wrong way…
The picture.
He quickly flipped through his phone, finding it. There were Stuart and Leanne, leaving her hotel room.
"We'll see how much you love him," he muttered, turning off his phone and pocketing it. As soon as he had the chance, he'd show her how very wrong she was.
He kept still for another fifteen minutes before wandering into the kitchen to eat something. He put some cream cheese on a slightly stale bagel and tried to figure out where to go from there.
He didn't want to head back to his flat - not yet, at least. He'd have to deal with whatever the boss had done, and he was certain he'd done something. Going back to the hotel meant facing Debbie sooner than planned, as well as explaining why he'd left during the night. Staying here meant dealing with his mum and Amy and -
Cathy.
His heart gave an uncomfortable lurch. He couldn't tell her about what had happened. She'd almost bitten off his head at seeing him with someone else; Lord knows what she'd do if she ever learned about him and Amy.
But more importantly…she didn't deserve what he'd done. It had been careless, and she didn't have to suffer because of that. He'd given her enough grief over the past month.
He took another bite of his bagel, feeling very much alone.
He'd forget about it. He'd erase it from his mind, put it behind him as something done in the heat of the moment. It wasn't like kissing her had been that enjoyable, anyway.
Well…
It had been better than kissing Debbie. Debbie slobbered all over him like she was a lapdog (which, now that he thought about it, was probably true).
Amy had been better than that, obviously. But now that he thought about it, he realized exactly what he'd felt when he'd kissed her.
Nothing.
He'd felt no emotional attachment whatsoever. It had been out of pure lust and instinct that he'd done it. And on top of that, there'd been nothing there. Just the lure of her alcohol-warmed skin. There hadn't been a jolt of electricity shooting down his spine or the pleasant dizziness in his head.
That only happened when he…
…was kissing Cathy.
It was the only time he felt his feet stick to the ground, and his pulse racing, and his stomach turn over and over.
It was the only time he felt loved. (At least…by someone not related to him.)
So maybe he'd made a mistake. He couldn't let that hinder his happiness. Wasn't that why he'd decided to go after her in the first place? To be happy?
To make her happy?
He sighed, the full force of everything he had to face hitting him for the first time. But as he finished his bagel, he decided he wouldn't let any of that bother him. He'd leave all that for tomorrow…or for later today, seeing as it was very early in the morning.
For now, he'd forget all that and focus on what he wanted.
And what he wanted was up the stairs and down the hallway.
Hers was the last room among the maze of doors. He could hear Amy being sick in the master bathroom, and hurried down the hall before he had an impulse he'd regret.
He opened the door as quietly as he could.
He still marveled at how nice all the bedrooms were; there were about twenty pillows on the bed alone. She must have been exhausted, because she hadn't bothered to remove any of them. She lay under the covers, the pillows surrounding her head like a barricade.
Jamie knew, if it was anyone else, where this would go. He'd crawl into bed, uninvited, and start kissing and feeling her up. She'd probably be annoyed at first, but give into him, and soon whatever sparse clothing they'd been wearing would be on the floor. By the time the sun was up, he'd either leave without an explanation or get her phone number, followed by another round.
The thing was this: he could do that right now. She'd be too tired to fight back, and he could easily make her quiet. He was stronger than her, and even if she fully woke up, it would be useless on her part…
He felt an uncomfortable shiver run through him at just the thought of doing that. Cathy wasn't like anyone else he'd been with. And he'd respect that. He wouldn't do anything unless she wanted to.
She sighed in her sleep, breaking him out of his thoughts. She rolled onto her back, her hair messily spread out. Smiling, he tiptoed to the edge of the bed, pulling up a nearby chair to sit in.
She looked rather calm when she was asleep, he noted. The line of worry on her forehead was gone, and the only movement besides her chest were her eyelids. He saw her eyes move beneath them once in a while, sometimes quickly, sometimes slowly.
If someone was watching him sleep, he'd find that a bit strange. But at the moment, he couldn't bring himself to sleep downstairs on the couch or go swimming again. He wanted to stay here, even if she wasn't awake; it was comforting to be near her, especially since…
"Jamie?" Cathy raised her head, her eyes still heavy from sleep. Blearily, she blinked at him. "Whaaaa…"
"Go back to sleep, Cathy," he whispered. He suddenly realized just how creepy this looked. "I'll leave if you want me to."
"You can stay." She lay back down, snuggling back into the mound of pillows. "You should come sleep with me," she added through a yawn.
He felt his eyes widen a bit. "Erm…Cathy, I don't think…"
"Just shut up and get over here." She made room for him. "You'll get a crick in your neck if you sleep in that…chair…" She yawned again.
He shook his head, berating himself. "Cathy, I'm going to go downstairs, so if you need me…"
"I like the swans. They're so big…"
"What?"
"And they have biiiig wings…"
"Cathy, go to sleep."
"Jamie, come oooooon. Get over here before I have to drag you." She rolled out of bed and fell to the floor with a thump. She tried to get back up, but flopped face-down, moaning in defeat.
Jamie let out a quiet laugh before gently taking her in his arms and lifting her back into bed. "Alright, you win. I'll sleep in here with you, okay?"
"Yaaaaaay." She smiled sleepily as he climbed under the covers. "You look like an angel," she added, running her hand over Stuart's dressing gown.
"Right." He kept his distance, laying practically on the other side of the bed. He wasn't sure if he was completely opposed to her moving to lay against him.
"You make a lovely angel, Jamie," she said, laying her head on his shoulder. "Can you take me to see the swans?"
"Of course, Cathy." Was she always this way when she was half-asleep?
"And we'll fly with them and their biiiiig wings?"
"Yep."
She sighed happily. "I love you, Jamie."
He stiffened. "What?"
He was answered by a soft snore; Cathy had finally fallen back asleep.
Had she really meant what she'd just said? She'd been talking nonsense before, so maybe it wasn't true. But he couldn't help but hold out hope that maybe, just maybe…
She groaned softly and grabbed onto the front of the dressing gown, her knuckles touching his bare chest. He felt himself blush at the contact. It was almost funny how something as simple as that could render him so vulnerable.
He brought his arms around her, holding her closer. He thought back to what Stuart had demanded of him earlier.
"Do you love her?"
It was a question that scared him, a question he wasn't sure he could answer. He knew he was in love with Cathy. But somehow he knew that being in love with someone and loving someone were two different things.
He'd been in love numerous times. He'd been in love with Amy, and with Debbie, and with Mel. It was easy for him to do that, to fall in love. He didn't even have to try.
But there was something different with Cathy. He couldn't explain quite what it was, but he knew this wasn't like before. There was something else present, something stronger than mere infatuation or lust.
Whatever it was, he knew it was making him nutty. He'd never resolved to not talk to a girl before, only to go back on that promise and date her. Making that promise had been painful in the first place, and acting like he didn't care had been even worse.
He'd never admit it out loud to anyone, but seeing her in tears tonight had broken his heart. Walking out to the lobby to the sight of her on the floor, trying to hold herself together, just because of something he did…his stomach had twisted uncomfortably, and he'd had to bite the inside of his mouth to keep calm.
She sighed, snuggling closer into his side. It was nothing short of a miracle that she'd forgiven him, and he wasn't going to screw it up. He'd make sure to keep her this time around, before he had the chance to lose her.
Feeling his eyelids begin to droop and Cathy still within his embrace, he exhaled and finally gave into sleep.
Bright light filtered through the curtains, waking him. He tried to fall back asleep when he heard her.
"What the fuck?"
He opened his eyes. Cathy was sitting up, a look of pure terror on her face.
"Jamie, what the hell are you doing?"
"Trying to sleep." He gave her a wry smile. "You should let me get back to it."
"Aren't you supposed to be at the hotel? With…Debbie?" She bristled a bit at saying her name.
He shrugged, pushing himself up to sit. "I decided to head out early. I tried out the pool."
Her cheeks turned pink. "So I noticed."
He looked down; the dressing gown had come undone during the night, leaving his bare chest and boxers exposed. He laughed. "Sorry about that."
She pursed her lips together. "You didn't…I mean, we…I didn't agree to…" Her cheeks steadily got darker as she spoke. "We didn't do anything, did we?"
"No. But you talk when you're haf-asleep."
She winced. "Oh, my God. I do that all the time when someone wakes me up in the middle of the night." She blew air out of her mouth. "What did I say this time?"
"You wanted me to sleep in the bed with you."
She narrowed her eyes.
"I'm serious! You did! You wanted me to take you to see the swans, and you said I looked like an angel." He laughed again, retying the knot on the dressing gown. "You wanted to fly with the swans and their big wings. And you actually tried to get me into bed and ended up falling out."
She covered her face with her hands. "Oh, gosh. I remember that a little. I must have looked like such a dork." She frowned. "I don't remember getting back into bed, though. I remember being on the floor, but…"
Jamie smirked at her, standing up and walking over to her side. "I had to lift you back in. Like this." He took her into his arms, ignoring her protests to "Put me down, Jamie!"
"What? You don't like being held this way? I'm just telling you what happened."
She punched him lightly in the chest. "Please put me down. I really don't appreciate this."
"So you want me to put you down right now?"
"Yes."
"Right now?"
"YES!"
"Alright." He let his grip loosen, and she felt a split-second sensation of falling to the ground. She yelped as he caught her, his smirk wider.
"Jamie, you're an ass!"
"I know."
"Could you please put me down? Exactly how you did last night, bed and all?"
He rolled his eyes. "Whatever the lady commands," he answered.
Jamie gently laid her on the bed, joking manner gone. He brushed a loose strand of blond hair off of her forehead before going back to his side and climbing in.
"Was that better?"
She nodded, unable to look at him. "Did…did I say anything else?"
His breath hitched in his throat. He wasn't sure how she'd take hearing what she'd said. She'd probably think he was kidding, at best. But on the slight chance she believed him…what then? Was he expected to say it in return? Even if he wasn't sure if he felt the same way? Even if he was almost positive that he did, but still needed time to figure it out?
He finally said, "Only that you wanted me to make sweet, passionate love to you all night long."
"That's not even funny."
"Hey, you're the one who said it." He arched an eyebrow. "You still want to take me up on that?"
"Shut up!" She shoved him in the shoulder, biting back her laughter.
"Okay, fine. Maybe you didn't say that." He moved closer. "But you did sleep right next to me."
"I know. I woke up with an arm draped over your chest." She reached out to touch his jaw, lightly skimming her fingers over the stubble.
"You're…you're still alright with us being together?" He didn't know why he had to ask this, but some part of him needed her confirmation.
She gave him a radiant smile. "Of course I am. I wouldn't invite just anyone to sleep with me."
He moved forward to kiss her softly, smiling into her lips the whole time.