IN
IN
IN
Sora unlocked her door and then stepped aside, letting Leon go in first.
He looked about her place, seeing a bright blue metal kettle on the small stove top and some mythical animal figurine with wings on the coffee table in the sitting area. While he was looking around, she was berating herself for not being tough enough.
Maybe it was just that everything had happened one thing after another, maybe she was just the odd ball for feeling this way, but she couldn't help it. He was in two potentially fatal situations: the first with the street and almost getting hit; and then his fall. She wasn't downplaying his broken bones but that second accident could have been worse. Both of those situations had shaken her foundation so much until her past hesitations and concerns regarding him as a partner and love interest seemed so small now.
When she was near him, she wanted to touch him, kiss him, talk to him, anything really.
She often wondered who fell harder that day when he saved her...
But she did not forget her mistake; her great folly during the Circus Festival still hung over her. My performing the Angel's Maneuver with Yuri and then my selfishness that night we were together…I still need to make amends for those before I can consider myself worthy of him.
He has done so much for her and yet she has done so little…how could she dare to think about intimacy when she hasn't achieved her goal? She inwardly sighed. I probably shouldn't have brought him here.
But it was done and he was here now.
"You can shower while I fix us some food," she threw over her shoulder as she padded over to the linen closet.
He placed his duffle bag down.
She pulled out a clean maroon towel and turned around only to nearly drop the item upon seeing Leon close to her. He leaned forward to grab the towel but with his eyes locked onto hers.
She could not pull out of his gaze this time.
Their fingers brushed and she knew that he could see the longing in her eyes.
He did see the yearning as well as noticed her shiver from the brief contact. I don't think she's afraid of contact. Nor did he think that she was afraid of agitating any lingering injuries of his. She was aware of his healing progress, having been at the hospital while he recuperated.
He leaned down for a kiss, but her hand on his chest halted him. Very curious.
"Why did you stop me?"
Their proximity made her mouth dry. She knew if she started to touch him, she'd want more. Already, her hand on his chest was tempted to move around.
"I don't—I'm not," she took in a breath, hoping that an explanation would help him understand. "I haven't redeemed myself yet—from the festival and my selfishness. I, I don't deserve this," she vaguely gestured in the air, flustered that she wasn't very articulate. "I—After all you've done, I have yet to do anything."
Her eyes had been staring at her hand on him. For this last sentence, she looked up into his grey eyes, the enchanting color taking a hold of her.
"I don't deserve you."
He was silent for a while, but then she felt the rumble coming out from him. His chuckles were followed by the shaking of his head and then a hand to his forehead. He glanced at her and then he laughed, stepping slightly away from her in order to compose himself.
She wasn't sure whether to feel a little insulted by his humor or not.
"I didn't think it was funny," she clipped.
She was walking around him when he lightly grabbed her arm.
"Do not go," he murmured with some lingering humor in his voice. "I do not laugh at you," he shook his head again in disbelief, "I simply cannot believe that you would say you felt undeserving of me."
His hand cradled her face. Her eyes widened at the rare softening of his eyes.
"You haven't done anything?" His forehead rested on hers. "I'd say you've done more between the two of us."
"That's not tru—"
He interrupted her with a bumping of his nose against hers. "You practiced."
"Yes," she said with some confusion in her voice at the change of topics.
A faint smile appeared on his face. "You will need a shower as well."
"…Yes," she managed to get out with her heart stuck in her throat "So don't use all the hot water."
The corners of his eyes crinkled in amusement. His hand on her cheek tilted her chin up. "I might forget," he rumbled out, and then placed a kiss on her cheek. "And then there will be none left for you."
He placed another kiss on her other cheek. She did not respond to his playful words.
"What do you want?" he asked her, face to face, "And do not say you have no right to ask. I say you do, so there is nothing holding you back on that account. I am here of my own will."
He waited a little for her to pull away, avert her gaze, or tell him to get out. She did none of those, though her hand did brush against his even though he already had the towel. The touch sent a jolt up his arm; he kissed her cheek again.
Her head turned so that she met his lips when he leaned forward a third time. The short kiss was followed by another and the next one not quite as fleeting. Their lips met again and she could not bear to break it off like the last ones.
She threw her arms around his neck, transforming it into a deep kiss.
She mewled as she pressed herself against him, savoring the wonderful feeling of kissing him and feeling his silky hair between her fingers. He reveled in the taste of her fruity chapstick, followed by the sultry feeling of her tongue touching his with unmasked desire.
He pressed her against the door of the closet, but allowed her control of the kiss. When she buried her fingers in his hair and pushed his head down to hers, he complied. When she wanted to suck on his lower lip, he relented, allowing her to nibble on it and pull it into her mouth.
"You," she breathlessly answered as she kissed his face. "I want you."
She captured his mouth again.
They were deeply kissing one moment and then he broke it off so suddenly, she fell back against the cabinet door. Was that too soon to say? Her lips parted to ask where he was going when he looked back at her, his grey eyes smothering and flickering with so much heat, she didn't feel the need to ask.
He went into the bathroom. She noted that there was no click of the lock.
A short pause occurred and then she heard the water turn on. She swallowed, still feeling the burn from earlier running in her veins. She grabbed another towel from the closet and then walked over to where Leon disappeared into.
The bathroom door opened and then closed.
IN
The lukewarm water rained upon them, but she could barely feel it.
With the cool tiles along her back and his heated body in constant contact with hers, she was not completely aware of herself, let alone her senses. All she knew were the electricity flooding her, the hot brushes of his tongue soothing the love bites along her body—he was warmer than the water that was falling on their hair and streaking down their forms—and then the friction, the marvelous mystery of lovemaking that she did not want to know from any other than him.
She was clinging onto him for balance and in the trust that he would not let her fall. He had more than proved himself as reliable; she did not think she could ever forget that.
She bit her lower lip in an attempt to keep her moan in, but the sound simply came out very throaty. I don't know how thin the walls are. She may not be concerned about people knowing that she was involved with him, but she would be embarrassed if they could hear them.
He heard her low moan with an approving ear.
He repeated the action with a little more force, causing her slight sound to suddenly deepen and echo against the tiled walls. He groaned in appreciation, his hands along her thighs readjusting their grip as the water made her skin slippery.
She was what he wanted—no exceptions to that statement or adjustments 'needed.'
I will be her partner, he vowed to himself as he looked at her closed eyes, her slightly parted lips and her dark, wet hair plastered on her face and neck. That's why he was pushing himself so hard in his training. It was vital for him to be in shape before Kalos called in someone else.
And he didn't want someone replacing him, especially not romantically.
He wanted her in so many ways; he hadn't known it was possible for one being to hold so much importance to him. Her legs tightened around his waist as they continued making love. When he moved against her with more force, she buried her face along his shoulder in an attempt to muffle her moans.
"Do not mask yourself from me," he roughly voiced out above the splatters of water drops from the shower.
Her cheeks flushed from his statement, not that it was visible at the moment. He was bold, she already knew of this. It was an attractive trait of his though she sometimes wondered when his boldness will permanently cause her cheeks to stay red.
Her head stayed along his shoulder but she compromised his request with her wish to not be heard next door by putting her face more along his neck and towards his ear. The sound was partly muffled, but he could hear her pleasure in it.
"Better," he huskily approved.
IN
He stayed the night despite the fact that her bed was not exactly meant for two.
They simply spooned with her back to his chest and their legs partly entwined. His hand drifted along her arm for a while and then found its way under her sleep shirt to brush his fingers along her ribs and stomach. She squirmed a little when he touched her upper ribs.
"Go to bed," she murmured.
"I am in bed."
He felt her stomach expand as she sighed. "Smart aleck."
He chuckled, the vibrations filtering into her back. Her eyes closed, enjoying the fact that he felt comfortable enough to laugh with her around.
Her bedroom was quiet again.
IN
In the morning, Ken walked over to the dorms.
Marion's statements about Sora and Leon ran over and over again in his head. "They've kissed and everything." He frowned. What did 'everything' mean?
Was it just kissing and touching?
Or did it mean something further than that?
Ken's face grew red at the thought of Sora doing something other than kissing. Heck, just kissing alone was enough to make him flustered. He was too embarrassed to ask Sora directly, so he planned to ask Mia about it.
Maybe they misunderstood what they saw. That was a possibility.
Right?
He took the stairs to Mia's floor, but then he paused, wondering if this was actually a moment for him to show the initiative instead of going to someone else.
He took a breath in and then went up some more for Sora's floor.
He quickly combed his hair with his fingers and smoothed his shirt over. The dorms were quiet except for his footsteps. Since the next production has not been chosen, the performers were sleeping in and pushed practices for a later time instead of early in the morning. Ken was about four doors away when he heard a door open ahead of him.
His eyes widened upon seeing Leon come out.
That…well, maybe that's not her room. He nodded to himself in that weak reassurance, though it did not last for long.
Sora was half out with a duffle bag in her hands. She said something to Leon as she held it out to him. The tall man said something back as he grabbed it, though he tugged it a little upon seeing that she still had a hand on the strap. She squeaked as she pitched forward and into him. He chuckled and then tilted her head up.
They kissed.
Ken rubbed his eyes and then looked again. He gaped, the simple kiss having changed in the short time he took to rub his eyes. He could not look away as Leon's hand slipped under her shirt while her own hands slipped under Leon's collar to touch his skin.
There was no way to mistaken this.
IN
Her nails scratched the nape of his neck.
He gave one last brush of his tongue against hers and then pulled away.
"Until tonight," he murmured.
She gave a smile. "See you then."
He picked up the forgotten bag and then went off to the side stairwell. She stayed by the door as she watched his silver hair swish as he walked, but some sound from the other direction caught her ear. She turned to see if one of her friends had awoken early and wanted to grab some breakfast.
Ken stood a few doors away. She stiffened.
Did he see us?
She had planned to tell her friends about her and Leon sometime, especially now that they were together again. Ideally, this was not the way she wanted Ken to have found out, but she couldn't do anything about it now.
"Good morning," she called out.
The young man stirred with that greeting. He started to say something, but then closed his mouth. He ran a hand through his hair in frustration.
"Morning," he weakly responded.
Then, he turned around and walked back down the stairs.
IN
Ken thought about what he would say, what he could ask.
How long have you been seeing each other?
When did it start?
Other things like that. But in the middle of thinking about what to say, he realized that, in the end, it didn't matter when the two had started.
The main point was that they were currently together.
He saw that. So there was really no explanations needed. Any other information would just make it harder for him to accept it or move passed it. He missed his chance. Now, there might not be another opportunity.
I think I'll head over to the beach.
A walk sounded really good right now.
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AN: Ok, so there will be one last chapter as a sort of epilogue and then this story will be finished. :)
I enjoyed writing this and seeing people's reactions to it! Thank you for the support! :D