Requested by Capybara. I hope it is variation enough from every other one of the 'flatmate to lovers' stories out there for you :)
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Cohabitation
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Maybe they should have exchanged a bit more information before she moved in. Her nickname that she gave him was androgynous. And they had been talking a lot about sports as they did their back and forth through text and email. The screen shot she'd sent him of her credit rating had listed her as G. Weasley, and her account she'd used to send him first and last had her listed as Nev Weasley.
It hadn't occurred to her that he might not have stalked her on Facebook or looked up her up on some other search. Although, on Facebook she wasn't listed as G. Weasley or as Nev Weasley either, she was G-Weeze. It was unlikely that he would have found her page without a Friend Request from her.
It had been two weeks they'd been texting back and forth and emailing and it simply hadn't occurred to her to disclose her gender.
The day she was set to move into the spare room in his flat he'd been busy at a conference or something, just told where the key was and to make 'yourself' at home.
She'd looked him up before agreeing to move in here and found that he had several friends, a busy work and social life, or at least that was how it appeared in her searches, and he usually looked put together enough that she assumed he knew how to do his own laundry.
It was just a room that she was renting after all, not the man. And they'd agreed on a four-month trial basis before they were going to decide if it would be extended to a year-to-year rental, that's what it said in the contract she signed anyhow.
She'd gotten the key and started moving her things in with the help of her friend Colin, then Colin left and now she'd started familiarizing herself with the layout of the kitchen before she planning to go back to sorting out her room.
And then she heard the front door opened and shut.
She'd mentally prepared herself for the first face to face introduction, but as Harry came into sight from around the corner, she realized that right then he probably didn't give two shits about her introduction; His mouth was too occupied with the woman that was attached to it.
The way they were feverishly pawing at each other made Ginny wonder if she should pour herself a glass of wine and enjoy the show. The both of them were attractive people from what she could see of them, it had been a while since she'd had a shag and this was essentially porn.
The woman pulled Harry's shirt off and her own was quick to follow. Ginny bit her lip to fight back the laugh at how crazy this was. And how nice Harry's back was, she could tell he worked out. Thankfully, he hadn't had any of those bragging 'gym shot' photos on his social media pages.
The woman he was with had short black hair, she looked to be at least half Asian from what Ginny could tell from her hair, nice chest on her too. Ginny tilted her head and wondered if she was wearing one of those push up water bra things. Then she looked down at her own chest, pulling out her ratty t-shirt to do a bit of a comparison.
No, she didn't need one of those water bras, her boobs filled out her sports bra just fine.
Not completely sure what the best move was for her, she leaned back against the wall and crossed her arms, waiting for them to either realize that they had an audience or move it on to his bedroom.
Harry hoisted his date up and pinned her back against the wall.
Oh, Ginny thought with a pout, she missed sex. Not the 'first meeting you' sex, but the 'we've done this several times, let's try something different' sex that came with familiarity.
The way they were pawing at each other, it looked like this was the 'first meeting you' kind.
Harry latched onto his date and turned around, nearly toppling both of them over when his foot hit one of Ginny's boxes that were still on the floor against the wall.
"Sorry!" he called out, managing to right his date, her legs still wrapped around his waist. "I don't normally… wait, is it Saturday?"
"Yeah, it is," Ginny chimed in.
The woman gave a squeak of surprise and quickly untangled herself from him. "Is this your girlfriend?!" she accused Harry.
"No!" both Ginny and Harry assured her at the same time.
"You said you weren't married!" The short woman followed that up with a smack to his shoulder.
"I'm not! I don't… who are you?" he rounded on Ginny. "Are you here with George?"
"George?" Ginny asked him.
"Yeah, George Weasley? My new flatmate."
Ginny's jaw dropped open. So, Harry had looked her up, he just got her mixed up with her brother George! "Oh shit!" she laughed and covered her mouth. "You thought it was… oh shit!" she kept laughing. And kept laughing. She couldn't stop. This whole time he'd thought she was her brother!
"Who are you?" Harry asked her again.
"Sorry!" she tried to reign it in. "I'm," another laugh escaped her, "Ginny. Ginevra Weasley. You know, G. Weasley, Nev. You looked up the wrong Weasley. It's understandable, there are a lot of us."
Harry blinked at her, dumbfounded, and the woman at his side kept looking between Ginny and Harry, her expression growing more impatient by the second.
Ginny decided to be the one to break the silence. "Er, I'll just let you two… erm, carry on and I'll go get things nice and sorted in my new room."
Harry kept staring at her as she grabbed a bag of crisps and a glass in one hand and a bottle of wine in the other and moved around them. She had to step over a box in order to get to the other side of the stretch of hallway that led to the bedroom because Harry and his date were both frozen where they were. "I'll have that cleared away in the morning," she assured him. "Have fun, er… erm, I mean. No," she conceded, "have fun."
Once she was on the other side of her new bedroom door she cringed and felt obligated to tip-toe to her bed, which had yet to be made, as though somehow by her being as silent as possible meant that Harry and his date should feel comfortable to go back to how they had been when they'd stumbled into the flat.
"Your flatmate is a female?!" the woman asked Harry loud enough to hear through the door.
Maybe headphones, Ginny thought to herself and started searching around her room for her purse where she'd left her earbuds and phone. They were hanging off the back of her office chair. She grabbed them and set her Spotify playlist to start blasting in her ears to drown out the low rumble of Harry's voice offering the woman his reasoning.
She then started scrolling through hers and Harry's texting history from the top down and realized that no, she had never given herself a pronoun and she'd called her ex a psychotic purse, which was autocorrected from 'prick'.
"Thank you, Autocorrect," Ginny grumbled and unscrewed the cap from her wine bottle and poured out a glass of white for herself.
After two mouthfuls of wine had settled nicely down into her belly, she looked around her room full of boxes and decided to ignore what was going on in the sitting room, she and Harry could talk about that in the morning. She'd signed the lease after all, and she didn't care that he was a guy, she was raised around lifted toilet seats and kitchen cabinets that never managed to get closed all the way. If he had a problem with it, then he could tell her to her face.
Although…
Maybe she shouldn't damage the boxes though. If he's too weirded out about it, then there is a chance that she'll have to pack up again.
Either way, she started at her closet; putting up her hanging drawer she'd gotten from IKEA and found her boxes that had her hangers and clothes, then after that was done she started in on her desk. She was working a flexible arrangement so she was at home two days a week; Mondays and Fridays, with the other three days in the office.
Her clothes and computer things were what had taken up the bulk of the boxes, the rest were just trinkets to be placed on the shelves and deep headboard. There wasn't much art to go up on the walls, but there were two paintings that she wanted to get put up and had the 3M hooks to do it with.
The whole time she was getting her bedroom sorted she was dancing around to the music in her ears and grabbing a crisp every time she passed the bag. By the time she was down to the last box that held linens and towels, her playlist was between songs and she heard a knock at the bedroom door.
Her fitted sheet was in her hand and she had a buzz going from her wine. She looked between the door and the fitted sheet, wondering which issue she wanted to deal with first. She could pretend that she hadn't heard him knocking because of her music, but that wasn't the best way to start off their… flatmate-ship.
Ginny set the linen down and pulled one of her earbuds out on her way to the door.
Harry was standing there, looking a bit awkward.
"Sorry if you were knocking for a bit, I couldn't hear you." She held up the earbuds as evidence.
"It's fine."
She leaned over to look around him. "Where's your date gone off to?"
"She left."
"Oh… because of me?"
"Er… kind of."
She averted her eyes, finding a sudden interest in all that there was on display in the sitting room that separated their bedrooms. "So…," beating around the bush wasn't going to solve anything, "you thought I was my brother then?"
He was holding himself so stiffly. He nodded and the rest of him held perfectly still, like a bobble head.
"Common mistake," she tried brushing off.
"It's Ginevra then, is it?"
"Nev is fine, but I more commonly go by Ginny. 'Hey You' also works." The joke fell flat.
He finally moved, leaning against the door frame and his hand going to the back of his hair to scratch there. "So, look. I guess we probably should have met up before you wound up moving in."
A weight settled in her stomach. He was going to ask her to move out. She hadn't even been there a day and he was going to leave her homeless.
"I just… I don't really think I'm in a good place to be sharing a space with a girl."
"Because I'd scare away your trysts?"
"What? No, that was… I mean, yeah, you did sort of scare her off, but I'm not that bothered about her. She was eager enough, but it wasn't like it was going to turn out to be-. Listen, I just, I don't really feel like sharing my flat with a girl is the right call for me."
"Have you ever tried it?" Ginny challenged.
"Well… no."
"And what happened to your last flatmate?"
"He got a girlfriend and moved out of the city."
"And the one before that?"
"Er, same thing basically."
"Well, see, I'd never do that. I don't fancy girls."
That at least brought a smile to his face. He opened his mouth to continue his excuses though and Ginny didn't give him a chance.
"Look, we got on just fine via text and email. Clearly there was a bit of miscommunication, but I'm here now, I'm somewhat settled, and I don't give a shit if you bring women back her for one-night stands or whatever kinky fuckery you're into, just so long as it doesn't happen on my bed, and you clean up any stains on the sofa."
"The sofa?"
She suppressed the eyebrow wiggle she was tempted to give him at his incredulousness at that suggested shagging spot. "Just… don't kick me out because I'm female. And, please let that be the last time you call me a 'girl', woman or female work just fine," she added. "I grew up in a house full of testosterone, I've been subjected to the worst of the stenches and stains, I clean up after myself, I won't eat your food, and now that you know I am who I am, just text me that you're bringing some chick back here so I can pop on my headphones and watch a movie on my laptop or something. This doesn't have to be a deal breaker. I just need a place to live."
She wasn't sure at what point her little speech turned into begging, but by the end of it that was definitely what it sounded like.
()()()
He still wasn't sure about this.
Living with a woman wasn't something that he had in his life plan. Not yet anyhow. His school friends were all pairing up and starting in on the 'settling down' thing, but he just wasn't there.
Harry thought that he'd been thorough; he'd found George Weasley's Facebook page and all the details lined up; Westham Football, grew up in Devon, large family, recently changed his status to single, living in London.
She'd texted him like a guy, she'd emailed him everything he'd asked for, he'd found a transfer into his account yesterday morning when she'd gotten the spare key and he'd immediately sent her the alarm code to turn off the security alarm when she got into the flat.
The only thing he hadn't asked was why 'George' was texting from a number that showed the caller ID as 'Nev' Weasley. He'd just assumed it was a nickname, or maybe an abbreviation, like it stood for 'Not Enough Variety' and he might have been a bit of a player.
Harry could work with having a flatmate that was a player, they could trade tips on picking up women.
This though.
He was sitting at the bar stool on the other side of the kitchen and watching her cooking up an omelet at the stove wearing pajama bottoms that were shorts and a running top with a racer back that had one of those soft fabric built-in bra things that showed off when a woman's nipples were hard.
She was cute too.
That could be a problem.
If he'd seen her at a bar then she was the kind of cute that would have him hitting on her after a drink or two. She had this nice long red hair that was pulled up into a messy bun on her head. She could cook too; granted, all she'd done thus far was fry up some garlic in a pan and add some bacon, but it smelled incredible. She'd added a French press coffee maker and a coffee bean grinder to the items kept out on the counter. They were simple items, but they seemed a bit fancy to him.
"Do you want some of this?" Ginny asked him.
"Oh, uh, sure," he nodded.
Ginny was the name he decided to call her. Nev didn't sound right, and Ginevra was too… old English sounding.
He just sat there, staring at her moving about in his kitchen, watching her starting to butter toast and divide up her breakfast to share with him, still not knowing whether this was a good idea.
"Coffee?" she asked.
"I like cream in mine and I haven't-"
"Got it," she cut him off, pulling out a flavored creamer from the fridge that she must have added yesterday when she moved in. "There, how's that?" she'd asked after showing him how much she'd added.
"Yeah, great."
She set the coffee and plate of food down in front of him and brought hers around so she could sit on the other stool beside him. "Don't expect this service every day, I'm just trying to make a good impression so that you don't rethink wanting to kick me out."
It was nice that she was shooting from the hip about this so he didn't have to be the one to bring it up again. "You don't find it odd? Living with a guy?"
Ginny shrugged. "I'm the youngest of seven kids and the only girl, I went to uni and shared a room with a girl and it was disgusting; hair everywhere, make-up all over the place, the stench of nail polish. After that first year I got a cheap flat with two of my friends, both guys, then moved in with a boyfriend, we lived together for a year and half, then I caught him cheating on me, then I was back with my flatmates from uni again and crashing on their couch. Now, here I am!" She waved her hand in the air before her as though completing a magic trick. "I have no problem sharing a flat with you, and I am begging you, please don't make me box up my belongings again so I can do another two to four weeks of back and forth texting with some strangers in order to find another place I can afford."
"And you really don't care if I bring women back here?" he asked skeptically.
Ginny rolled her eyes, "sure, you call them 'women', but your go to with me was to call me a girl. You know, I had a few inches on Panda Express there from last night. How old was she anyway?"
He gave a snort at the term she'd used. "Her name was Cho, at least, that's what she told me anyhow. And she's legal age, that's all I needed to know."
"Well, she bolted out of here pretty fast. And no, I don't care. You're a single guy, it's in your nature to spread your seed. In fact, maybe you can help me out on that front. I need to get back out on the dating scene myself and need to separate the douche bags from the prospects."
"The forever prospects? I thought you said you weren't going to ditch me for the suburban life?"
"For a girl," she corrected. "I'm strictly dicktly."
He laughed at that.
"And no, not for the 'forever prospect' kind of guys, just the 'not going to disappoint you in the bedroom' prospects. I've never played the field before, always had boyfriends. I feel like I should get out there and see what the big deal is."
"You want me to help you get laid?"
She gave him a fake smile and batted her eyelashes in a teasing fashion at him. "Come on, it could be like a bonding thing. We could even have a thing that lets the other know when there might be a guest in the morning. Like… I don't know, leaving a bag of crisps on the counter here."
"A bag of crisps?" he laughed.
"Yeah, Lays brand."
That made him laugh harder. "And when we're indulging in recreational drugs with them it'll have to be Baked Lays."
She grinned at him. "See! We'll get on just fine."
Harry rolled his eyes then. "Alright, look. I like you just fine, but this will take some adjustment, okay? How about we give it a go, then if at the three month mark it isn't working for me, I let you know. That'll give you another month before the trial period is up and you can start looking for another place, yeah?"
"Sounds fair enough to me," she held out her hand and he shook it. "A gentleman's agreement," she announced, as though that sealed it.
He was still skeptical, but as he dug into his omelet and tried the coffee he thought it wouldn't be too bad of a four month stint, considering her culinary skills thus far.
()()()
She could tell that he'd come around to liking her there, it wasn't hard to notice the surprise and appreciation on his face. Being a bit OCD was an advantage when trying to win over your flatmate; every time she got frustrated about something, she would clean. And lately, there had been a fair bit of frustration; work, family, random depressing thoughts that had her hand twitching with need to do something.
One day, Harry had come back from work and she'd been standing on the kitchen counter and cleaning the tops of the cabinets because her mum had found out she was living with him and making certain comments; so she'd started cleaning the kitchen before the call was over. Another day it was like anything that could have gone wrong at work, did, and it was one of the days where she worked from home; so she'd done a deep clean of the bathroom.
Ginny will say this, of all the guys that she'd lived with before, Harry was the most minimalistic of them all. He had exactly one of all the basic necessities, which included an all in one shampoo/conditioner/body wash that could probably quadruple as shaving cream too.
His side of the fridge was sparse, they'd divided up the shelves and all of his were full of Tupperware containers with left over take away food. He barely had any spices in the spice rack and the pantry cupboards were pretty sparse as well. He had exactly four plates, bowls and utensil pairings also.
It was just enough for bachelor living.
In the two weeks of her being there she'd cleaned the entire flat, save for Harry's room, from top to bottom.
"You don't have to act as a maid, you know?" Harry commented while she was cleaning the windows and he was just sitting down on the sofa after work.
"I know, I'm just angry and I need to take out my anger in a productive way."
"Work suck?"
"Facebook sucks," she corrected. "Who thought people's relationship status' needed to be announced to the world? It's self-serving, like every time you have to change it it's because you want sympathy or congratulations. And how much does it suck that it needs to get changed when you break-up with someone? The stupid thing should just carry on flashing pictures of people's food and cat videos." She finished with the window and straightened out the curtain before turning around to see Harry giving her this look; like he wasn't sure whether to offer sympathy or start laughing.
Ginny sighed. "My ex changed his status to 'in a relationship' and my friends have been texting me all day to check in. Now I'm throwing myself a pity party."
"You know it's Friday, right?"
"So?"
"So, remember this time two weeks ago when you said that you wanted to start getting out there and trying the single-life thing, no strings attached?"
She did remember that, but now that she was being reminded of it she felt a ball of anxiety forming in her stomach as she looked at him. He was no stranger to going out and picking up women, but she was, for men that is. The difference between their approaches when it came to that though, was that she was a woman and he was a man. He goes out to a bar and has to try; she goes out to a bar and has to pick.
Picking was not her strong suit, not when looking for someone to hook up with. She was alright at picking someone to start a relationship with but she didn't want a relationship, she wanted a fling that would be flung by morning.
And the thought of bringing someone back here tonight and having that 'farewell, hope to never see you again' moment was tying her stomach in knots.
"I think I need your help," she told Harry outright.
He looked surprised and then grinned at the challenge she was presenting him with. "I think you need a drink first."
"Yes, alcohol, that is exactly what I need." She headed straight for the kitchen and poured herself a glass of wine. "You want one?"
"Beer." And he opened the fridge and sat at the stools on the other side of the counter. "Why do you need my help with this exactly?"
"I've never had a hook-up. Hook-up's mean I'm going for the douchiest guy in the place and I tend to avoid them."
"I think you may have just insulted me," he chuckled.
"Well, what is your approach?"
"Usually I just get her a drink and start talking."
"About what?"
"Er… her, usually."
"Like, what specifically?"
He shifted uncomfortably in his chair. "You've really never had a one-off?"
"No, it's always led to a relationship. And it isn't because I have a 'no shagging until the third date' rule. I mean, one time I didn't even know the guys name until after the bar lights came on and we'd been snogging for the better part of an hour on the dance floor, but that turned into a year long relationship."
Harry's eyes opened wide in surprise. "And had you been looking to simply hook up that time?"
"I was going through a phase," she dismissed. "I'd broken up with someone and was going out dancing with my friends nearly every night and snogging quite a few blokes, but hadn't been looking to bring them home with me, just… having fun."
"Well, just emulate that and the guys will be grateful for it."
She knew that bit, it was the not wanting to get trapped in another relationship bit she was wanting to strive for.
"I should probably just mention outright that I'm looking to hook up and never see him again, right?"
"No," he shook his head aggressively. "That will lead to him calling you and thinking you could be his booty call. I know it sounds like you're being straight forward, but all he'll hear is 'ding, ding, this is the one to call after you've struck out'."
"Oh," her shoulders slumped down. She didn't want to be anyone's second choice. "So… how do you think I should play it?"
"You could try being super annoying and then scaring him away after a shag," he shrugged.
Ginny stared at him dead-eyed. "There has got to be a middle ground." She was no good at pretending to be something that she wasn't. Her drama teacher at school had given her a passing mark out of pity and because she helped as stage crew on the school play. Putting on a fake persona and trying to keep it up all night was not going to be an option. "Unless you think I'm already super annoying," she added, her brow now creased in concern.
Harry gave a laugh. "No, you are certainly not annoying. I've been very surprised at how well we've functioned these past weeks. You, er, you clean a lot."
"It's what I do to calm down," she rolled her eyes. "Gives me a sense of control when I'm feeling out of control. I get worked up and need to see that I've accomplished something."
"And the cooking?"
She shrugged, "I like food. Not all of us can afford to live on take away." She punctuated that by gesturing to the fridge with her glass, then took another sip. "Speaking of, how about you tell me some of your great escapades and I'll whip us up a chicken-y, cheesy pasta dish?"
()()()
Harry thought it was a bit counter productive to be walking into a bar with a pretty woman at his side. She'd spent an hour after they'd eaten getting ready to go out. He'd had no idea what had been involved in the process; twenty minutes in the shower, twenty minutes on her hair, ten minutes on her face and the last ten minutes putting together the 'right' outfit.
She looked great, but what was with all the extra effort?
He'd had a shave and put on a pair of dress jeans and a collared shirt and had two drinks while he waited for her.
Thus far the most uncomfortable part about living with her, aside from that first night when his date for the evening had stormed off, had been having that conversation about how he picked up women while she was making dinner.
A really delicious dinner too.
Man, she was good in the kitchen. And he didn't think the flat had been as clean as it was now since he'd first seen it done up on the initial viewing. He'd cleaning it regularly, but just surface cleaning, she on the other hand, was very thorough.
The bar was already busy with the after work crowd that had stayed into the evening.
"Alright," Ginny started. "Thanks for the pep talk. Probably best we branch off now and I'll go situate myself on a bar stool."
"Good luck."
He watched her walk off and his eyes immediately moved down to watch her bum as she walked away.
Considering he had been actively trying not to think about her in any sexual manner since she moved in, he didn't expect she would have any trouble finding someone to take home tonight.
He'd told her he was surprised at how well they'd functioned since they met, but finding her bent over and scrubbing the floors, or reaching up to grab something from a tall shelf and having her shirt move up so he could see a strip of skin at her waist, and particularly when she would wander into the kitchen braless first thing in the morning to get a cup of coffee, it had been a challenge for him to not think about her that way.
And now, even while he was trying to see about finding himself some evening entertainment, he couldn't stop himself from keeping one eye out for her.
It would be like shooting fish in a barrel for her, and it amazed him how she didn't know that.
Sure enough, up came douche number one. He had gel in his hair and a peacocking dress shirt. Harry smirked to himself when Ginny quickly turned the guy away.
As the night drew on Ginny had turned away seven men and was now chatting with number eight and had been for a while. She was laughing with him and leaning over to speak into his ear, and the guy's eyes went straight down to her cleavage every time she did.
Harry kept trying to be inconspicuous about watching them and by the time he finished his third drink he'd seen enough and went off to join the mass of dancing bodies on the other side of the bar where it was louder and he couldn't see her anymore.
After several songs on the dancefloor he found someone that was attractive and willing to keep moving closer and dancing with him, they wound up lip-locked, then a few songs later he asked her back to his and they left. Harry gave a cursory glance around the bar to see if Ginny was still there and talking to the same guy, but he couldn't spot her, so they left.
The next morning Harry woke up in his bed with a brunette that he couldn't remember the name of, or if they'd even exchanged names. She was still asleep and he was in need of some Tylenol, so he slipped out of bed and pulled on his boxers and a shirt and carefully closed the bedroom door then turned around and saw Ginny doing the same thing.
"Hey," he whispered.
"Hey," she blushed.
"I need to get into the medicine cabinet."
"And I need a wee, so I call dibs," she grinned and bolted for the loo, which she was closer to.
He chuckled at her and went to the kitchen to get the electric kettle going and fill up the French Press the way Ginny showed him.
He heard the loo flush and the sink run before the door opened again. They traded spots so he could take his turn and when he got back into the kitchen she had started frying up some bacon.
"You'll make him think that he's invited to stay for breakfast," he warned her.
"I'm making just enough for you and I," she pointed out, giving him a saucy look.
He grinned at her and took up on his seat at the counter. "How was it then?"
Some of the amusement left her then and she gave a shrug and went 'meh'.
"Meh?" he questioned.
"Yeah, just… meh. I mean, we shagged, so I guess that's mission accomplished. It wasn't great sex though. It was just… it was sex. He was an alright snog."
"That is your description of your first one-off?"
Ginny offered a shrug. "I'm used to it either meaning more or being more comfortable with my partner to, you know, try stuff."
"Stuff?" That was met with intrigue. What could 'stuff' entail? Toys? Kama Sutra?
"Yeah. It was just… are we here yet?" she asked him. "Do you really want to hear about my sex life?"
Kind of, he thought to himself. "If it helps," he nodded to his closed bedroom door, "we just did missionary and some girl on top."
"Yeah, that's what we did too," she admitted. She made it sound like it was equivalent to getting her taxes done.
That was what hook-ups were though. At least, it's what they were for him. He thought that's what they were for everyone. Wasn't that enough? It still got the job done. Then again, so did a wank.
"I think if you're looking for more than that, one-off's aren't going to be your thing."
"Yeah," she sighed. "I don't want a relationship right now though."
"Does it have to be all or nothing?"
"I guess a friends with benefits thing might work. I'd need the right friend for that though."
He immediately reminded himself that they were flatmates and he could not be that friend for her. He'd always been intrigued by the idea though. "How would one go about finding the right friend for that exactly?" He asked more because of her mentioning about the possibility of adventure in the bedroom with less effort in the before.
"If you find out, let me know." She handed him a cup of coffee and set the plate of bacon down on the counter before taking up the seat beside him.
They were just taking their first sips of coffee when they heard movement in one of the bedrooms.
"Do me a favor?" Ginny asked him. "I don't entirely remember his name, so if you could introduce yourself before I get a chance to speak, that would be great."
"You don't remember his name?" he grinned.
"It was loud in the bar and it's something generic, like Brian or Brendan or something," she said in a hurried whisper. "What about your girl in there? Do you remember her name?"
"Uh, we, we didn't exactly exchange names."
"Then it looks like I win," she told him smugly.
Harry shook his head and took another sip of his coffee, then her bedroom door opened and he recognized lucky contestant number eight. "Alright?" he greeted him.
"Uh, yeah, alright," number eight nodded, looking confused.
"Names Reggie," Harry lied.
"Brandon."
"I was close," Ginny whispered to him. "Hey Brandon," she turned around on her stool. "So… thanks for last night."
"Oh, yeah. It was fun. So, look, can I get your number?"
Harry was interested in seeing how she handled this.
"I don't have one," she flat out lied. "No social media either. I'm also moving tomorrow and should probably start packing up, so… best of luck with your future endeavors."
Brandon's mouth fell open with surprise. "Seriously? I thought we had a good time?"
"We did! But that was then and this is now. So… bye."
Brandon rolled his eyes and gave a huff before glaring at her, and then at him, and stomping out of the flat, slamming the door shut.
"And where exactly did you pull those exit lines from?" Harry asked her.
"It did the job, didn't it?" she turned back to her coffee and then they heard movement from his bedroom. "Now it's my turn to see how the experienced hand has a run at it."
"I think I'll take a feather out of your cap for this one," he smirked.
His bedroom door opened and the brunette emerged. Her makeup was smeared and her hair in a bit of disarray, but she still looked fairly attractive. "Loo?" she asked him and he gestured to it with his thumb.
She rushed across the room and the bathroom door closed; he and Ginny waited, each with their elbows on the counter and sipping their coffee. As the clock ticked on they exchanged a look and both turned to the bathroom door, waiting for it to open again.
"Well, she isn't taking a shower. Maybe she's destroying the toilet," Ginny commented.
"Or primping," Harry argued. "It took you ages to get ready to go out last night."
"Excuse you. Not all of us can just throw on a shirt and some aftershave."
"I did actually shave!"
"Well, your shaving only involves your face, add legs, pits and nether regions to that and see how long it takes you."
"Really? Nether regions you say? And just how involved does that process get?" he teased. He really was interested in finding out just how thorough her process was.
"Somewhere between 70's bush and Barbie," she told him in a way that made it clear she was not up for answering any more questions about it.
"Yeah, I knew I liked you," he grinned at her.
Finally, they heard the sink running and the brunette emerged again. "Er, hi there," she said to Ginny.
"Hi," Ginny said back coolly.
"Sorry, I didn't catch your name last night," Harry told her straight.
She blushed, "oh, it's Megan. And, who's this?" she nodded at Ginny.
"My girlfriend." It was his turn to lie, and he had to give credit to Ginny for not looking surprised. "We're in an open relationship though, so she's cool with me wetting my whistle with someone else every now and again."
Megan's mouth fell open. "Wetting your whistle?! Are you freaking kidding me?"
"What's the problem?" Ginny asked her. "Did you not enjoy it? I'll admit, sometimes he can be a bit… lazy."
Megan scoffed and rushed back to his room to collect her things.
"Lazy?" he asked Ginny.
"Missionary and some girl on top, sounds lazy to me," she shrugged.
They were both chuckling as Megan stormed out of the flat.
"That was a very effective way of getting rid of them!" Harry stated happily as he took the empty plate around the counter to put in the sink, then topped up their coffee mugs. "What are your plans for the day?"
"There's a football game on this afternoon, but right now I could do with a shower and a laze on the sofa while I eat carbs. What about you?"
"Sounds perfect to me."
That's how they spent the day, with her scrolling through her Facebook friends and trying to find a potential 'friend' and showing him the pictures of candidates, mostly guys from uni that she didn't know all that well and alternating between eating nibbles, garlic bread and bruschetta, both of which she made.
()()()
"Why have you got a bag by the laundry that is full of used dryer sheets?" Harry asked her.
"I use them for dusting."
"What?"
"Dusting. You know, top of frames and cabinets, the television, computer monitors. They catch all the dust, this way we don't need to have Swiffer sheets."
"But there are a bunch of them in there, how have we accumulated so many so fast? You've only been here for a month."
"You know that thing I do? What's it called again… oh yeah, cleaning. Well, it involves washing towels and bed sheets and clothes which go into the washing machine, followed by the dryer."
"Towels aren't a one use, then wash, item," he pointed out.
"No, but once a week is a good idea, same for the bed sheets and pillow cases. Plus, you never get to the dryer to pull out your clothes before I do, so I take the dryer sheet from that also."
"Well, when was the last time you dusted?"
"When was the last time you dusted?" she countered.
They weren't arguing, they were bickering. He knew she preferred to be the one cleaning the common area, and she knew that he knew that, and that he only did the basic tidying up after himself because of it. And he couldn't possibly be that bothered by the bag that was on the back of the laundry room door that held all the dryer sheets.
They'd found a nice rhythm between them. She liked making food for him and he now liked buying the groceries to stock in the fridge for the dishes that were his favorite and staring at her with puppy-dog eyes as he asked her to make it again.
They hadn't gone out to the bar together again though. She didn't need someone to warm her bed all that often, and the one-night stand had really felt like a one-off event for her. She still wasn't ready for a new relationship, but between Harry and her vibrator, she felt pretty content with her situation. Content enough that her friends-with-benefits idea had fallen to the wayside.
"Year ago maybe?" he answered.
"And see, I just did it two weeks ago."
"Do you have to keep every dryer sheet though?"
"You won't be complaining when winter is coming up and I've taken care of the radiators so that there isn't that cooked lint smell in the air."
He shook his head, "I don't know how I lived before you came along."
"You're welcome," she teased and bumped his hip with her own.
"You coming out tonight?"
"No. I've got some binge watching to get done on Netflix and I can't do it during the day tomorrow or Sunday because I'll be too busy with family things."
"Alright."
She watched him head off into his bedroom and close the door and wondered if he'd wind up bringing a girl back tonight. She'd run into one other woman since their first Saturday morning together, which had occurred the following weekend, but no one since. He didn't seem as eager to get out on the weekends as she expected him to either, which was nice because she really liked hanging out with him.
They got on really well, and she wasn't blind, he was attractive. He was also funny and sweet to her. Every now and then she would catch herself watching him out of the corner of her eye and need to force herself to look away.
They hadn't done much discussing previous relationships. She'd divulged that she'd had a few boyfriends in the past, but all she knew about him was that he'd had a few trysts and it led her to believe that there might have been at least one woman in particular that had done emotional damage to him.
Later that evening she waved goodbye to him and then turned back to the television with a pout.
Maybe she did want to be in another relationship.
She stared at the television and started wondering how Harry behaved with the women he brought back to his room. Was he suave? Did he have a few key lines that he used on them that did the trick of getting them to spread their legs for him? Was he a good kisser? And the big question, was he any good in bed?
One girl after another, that doesn't make it the easiest for him to be able to hone his skills between the sheets.
So, that meant that he might have had more bed partners, but it was likely that she'd had more sex, and be able to teach him a thing or two.
Her pout grew more defined then, because she wouldn't ever be teaching him a thing or two, because then it would be weird between them; she was a boyfriend person, he was a passing interest person.
It was late when he came back. She'd fallen into a doze on the sofa and gave a jolt when she heard the door, then tried to cover herself quickly with the blanket in case there was someone with him.
"Ginny? What are you doing?"
"Being inconspicuous."
"Okay," he laughed. "Why?"
She poked her head out from under the blanket and saw he was alone, then sat up. "I didn't know if there was going to be someone with you."
"No, no one really sparked my interest." He came around the sofa and sat on the cushion behind her. "What are we watching?"
"I fell asleep. Not really sure what's on."
"Then you don't mind if I just," he plucked the remote off the coffee table and started sifting through her account to find something to settle with and put on a time-travel movie before resting back.
Then he did something she hadn't expected, and gently tugged on her shoulder so that she would lean back against him.
It didn't bother her that they would be cuddling on the sofa, so if he wasn't bothered by it either, then she didn't see the harm.
The next morning, she saw the harm.
They had both wound up laying down on the sofa and he was spooning her with his arm around her waist to stop her from potentially falling off the sofa and onto the floor.
And it felt so nice to be held like that again.
He was warm and cuddly and was holding her so close.
She was facing away from him with her eyes opened and staring at the blank screen on the other side of the coffee table that had shut off after so long of neither of them choosing a new option of show to watch. This situation was only awkward to her because she knew that it should feel awkward.
But it didn't.
It felt so incredibly comfortable.
He'd made it obvious when she moved in that he thought there was going to be issues between them because of their interest in the other gender and how he'd assumed that they wouldn't mesh well. But they had.
Now, with the odd sensation curling around in her stomach that was making its way up her throat, she was worried that they were meshing too well together.
Harry is an attractive man. One who didn't find anyone out at the bar last night to spend time with, and he'd likely given up his search because he knew that she was back at their flat getting comfortable and eating snacks. Either he was concerned that he'd bring home a girl again that would be put off by the fact that he has a female flatmate, or the idea of coming home early and joining her on the sofa was more appealing than the prospect of continuing to look for a hook-up.
They were friends now though.
He was her friend.
She repeated that in her head a few times and tried to resist the urge to scooch back towards him just a tiny bit and give her bum a bit of a wiggle so she could see what his reaction to that was going to be.
Ginny bit her lip and thought through her options right now. Having his arm around her and the position that they were in was getting her a bit hot under the collar, and she could do with a release. But that release couldn't come from Harry. They had too good a thing going; she liked this flat and she liked being able to joke and bicker with him, if sex was thrown into that then it would make them something more or completely blow this whole deal up and she'd need to find another flat to live in.
She couldn't risk it.
So, gently as possible, she extracted herself from his arm and slid to the floor; watching as he readjusted and stretched out on the sofa to get himself comfortable once more.
God, he is such an attractive man.
As she went to her room, she was cursing herself for giving in and thinking about him that way, what she didn't see was that he had one eye open, following her until her bedroom door was shut. Then he rolled onto his back and stared up at the ceiling, wearing the same expression that she had on her own face.
()()()
They'd been tiptoeing around each other for a week and he wasn't sure if it was him or her that was doing the bulk of the avoidance.
They'd simply fallen asleep on the sofa together, that was it. It wasn't like he'd had morningwood, thank God, and that was the reason they couldn't seem to look each other in the eye. He wasn't sure exactly what it was.
He just knew that was one of the best sleeps he'd had in a while.
He didn't like feeling the tension in the flat though. Home was where he came to decompress, the last seven days though he'd been taking a few deep breaths before opening the door to the flat when he was coming home from work.
Now it was Saturday morning again and he couldn't take it anymore. He'd walked into the sitting room and saw that Ginny was quickly finishing up in the kitchen and about to slip back into her room.
"Wait!" he called out, and she stilled and turned to him. "Can you stop running away from me?"
"I'm not running away from you," she told him, and sounded much too innocent to be believable.
"Cut the crap. We've both been avoiding each other since we woke up on the sofa together."
Ginny blinked at him for a moment. "Both?"
"Yeah. Both. I wasn't asleep when you got up and went to your room."
Her brow furrowed and she went to the stool to set her mug and breakfast down on the counter. "Why did you pretend to be asleep then?"
"I'm assuming that it's the same reason that you tried to sneak away before I 'woke up'." He went around into the kitchen to grab himself a cup of coffee.
"Because it was an awkward situation."
"Because it felt nice to be waking up with someone like that," he corrected.
Harry knew he was right when her face took on that cute blush of hers. He was used to waking up and trying to figure out the quickest way to get a woman out of his bed without her thinking there was going to be anything serious between them. Ginny wasn't just some woman though; she was his flatmate and his friend.
"Look, I was incredibly comfortable on the sofa with you and I'm man enough to admit that I wouldn't mind falling asleep like that again."
"And… you don't worry that might lead to something else?" she asked him.
The question gave him pause and he stared at her. Ginny asking him a question like that meant that she worried that it might lead to something else.
Which equaled complications.
He hated complications.
"Doesn't have to if we set some boundaries."
"Boundaries."
"Yeah, like, don't start thinking of me as a boyfriend or something."
She tilted her head at him, looking confused and curious. "Are you saying you want to be 'snuggle buddies'?"
It was his turn to stare and blink at her for a bit. Because he now realized that that was exactly what he was saying.
Harry shook his head to attempt and release any stray thoughts that had sprung up from assessing the name she'd given to it. "Look, this was the reason I was wary of having a female flatmate. Women are all smooth and smelling good. On top of that you like and understand football and like cleaning the flat and cooking. I'm usually standoffish about doing the 'romantic'," he used his fingers for air quotes, "thing with the women I hook up with because I'm not looking for anything serious. However, as it turns out, I do enjoy that bit. So, yeah, that leaves me with wanting to be… snuggle buddies with you." He couldn't help cringing as he used her term for it. It sounded so juvenile.
"Wow. You've got issues."
Harry rolled his eyes at her. "Yeah, I've been told. But you also admitted that you enjoyed our sleep on the sofa and the cuddles, and you also aren't looking for anything serious or otherwise right now. So… how about we just stop tip toeing around each other and just come to an understanding that we can carry on as we had been and just… not be shy about sharing the sofa."
He could see she was processing this; there was something about the way she looked at him sometimes, like she could see into his soul in a way that no one else in his life had been able to before.
"I guess." She didn't sound at all convinced. "I mean, yeah, we have been tip toeing around each other this last week and I would like that to stop because we had a good thing going before that night."
"Great." He was quick to finalize it, because he didn't want to analyze it and knew that was where she was about to head with the conversation. "Then let's just stop avoiding each other and go back to how it was before. So… tell me what happened at work this week."
Over the next four weeks things did relax between them, and bit by bit they did move closer to each other on the sofa when they were watching the television together until finally Ginny was the one to rest against his side and pull his arm around her when they were watching a scary movie.
It was a moment that had him grinning at her while she was oblivious and staring at the screen.
After that night the tension in the flat had nearly evaporated. Each of them had gotten comfortable patting the other on the arm, she would give him a smack on his arse to get out of the kitchen when he was about to destroy a meal, he would hold the remote over his head so she couldn't change the channel and she'd struggle to climb up him to get it.
It was the perfect platonic friendship.
At least, that was what he kept telling himself.
Until it happened again.
They wound up on the sofa together and had fallen asleep with him spooning her.
When Harry woke in the morning with his nose buried in her hair and her warm body pressed right up against him he couldn't lie to himself again and mentally repeat that they were platonic. He was a man and she was a woman, one that he had grown to like well more than any other woman he'd gotten to know.
Every relationship he'd ever had with a woman had wound up turning to complete shit though, it was why he had sworn off relationships. He didn't want to do something stupid here and start letting himself fall for Ginny when they had such a good thing going. It would be inevitable that they would start off complicated, then maybe establish some kind of rhythm between intimate and friendly, then something would happen that would tear them apart and he'd be back in a hole of depression when she moved out for a month or so before proclaiming that he was only going to be finding women for shagging and never see them again.
It was what he did to deal with heartbreak. Except this time would be even worse because she'd turned into a really good friend as well.
She shifted slightly in her sleep and her bum moved against him, his hand slipping lower to secure around her waist more, and it felt undeniably good.
Then he tensed, because his mind and body were saying completely opposite things, and his body was winning; his mind was yelling no, and his body was reacting to the sensation of a woman wrapped in his arms the way any man's body would. It had been a while since he'd gone out and found a woman to come home with him and his hand just didn't allow for the same kind of satisfaction.
Harry pulled his head back and squeezed his eyes closed in an attempt to will his erection away.
Then he felt Ginny come out of her sleep and realized that he had gripped her shirt in his fist as he had tensed up.
"Harry?" came her sleepy voice.
"Sorry," he nearly whimpered and tried to move back from her, but he was already as far back as the sofa would allow.
Her responding chuckle had his heart calming down.
"Good morning to you too." He could feel her vibrating with humor. Then she did something that had his eyes rolling, she wiggled her bum against it, and he let out a groan. "Did someone wake up before us?"
"Ginny," he whined, "I'm trying to make it go away, don't encourage him."
"Relax, it's not the first time I've woken up because I was getting poked. And I have enough understanding of male anatomy to know that you don't always have control over this." She then removed his arm and rolled away onto the floor where she started stretching.
And he missed her body heat immediately.
He grabbed a pillow and sat up on the sofa while she kept doing stretches on the floor. Stretches that involved her raising her arms up over her head and showcasing her chest.
If she kept doing this in front of him then he wasn't ever going to lose wood.
"I'm going to take a shower," he announced.
"Just remember," she called out as he went towards the loo, "we share that shower."
Another whimpering groan escaped his mouth. "Can you not say anything about us sharing a shower right now? You're just giving him ideas."
Once he was in the loo with the door closed he went straight for the shower and turned it on so it would get hot while he took his clothes off.
'Probably shouldn't have said that last bit out loud,' he scolded himself. 'Now she'll know for sure what I'm getting up to in the shower and what I'll be thinking about.'
Five minutes later he was feeling refreshed and shameful as he wiped up the mess he made around the sink after shaving. His shower wank had been filled with mental images of Ginny giving him the ride of his life on the sofa and what expression she would have on her face as she took him reverse cowgirl and looked back over her shoulder at him with a smirk that said she liked having that much control over him.
()()()
Ginny wasn't looking with great determination through the listings before her. It was just out of curiosity more than anything else. Only because it was a month to the end of her trial period and she needed a contingency plan.
Yeah, that was it.
Harry and she had been getting along great, but there was a chance that he would walk out of his room today and announce that she had a month to find a place and move out.
Her looking at flat listings only had to do with that.
It wasn't at all because she wanted nothing more than to simply wait outside his bedroom door and then grab him and snog him when he did appear, then push him back towards his bed.
This situation they had going, it was perfect, save for all the internal longing and whatnot.
Him telling her she was giving his hard-on 'ideas' the other day hadn't helped matters.
She'd been trying to make light of the situation; wanting to see if they could joke around in that manner. All it had done though was give her a few ideas that fueled a session or two with her vibrator before bed.
She was so caught up in her head that she didn't hear Harry exiting his bedroom and coming up behind her, with a clear view of her laptop.
"What are you doing?!"
Ginny jumped and spun around in her chair. "What do you mean?"
He pointed at her computer screen and she looked back at it, it was open to all the listings currently posted on Kijiji in their area.
"Oh."
"You're moving out?!"
"No!"
"But you're thinking about it?!"
She was having trouble finding words to string together as she looked at his incredulous and hurt expression. "I-I just, I needed to know, in case you. I mean, in case I, er. It's, you know, th-three months, and you said…"
His expression relented to let the incredulousness dissipate, but the hurt was still there. "What have I done to make you think I want you to leave?"
"Nothing," she assured him. "But I'm not a mind reader. You said you'd let me know at the three month point whether I would have a month to find another place and clear out, and we're at the three month point now so I had to check because I was getting in my head about it. I've had the rug pulled out from under me before, Harry, this time I wanted to have a small amount of cushioning."
"Well, there isn't going to be a 'this time'," he said and reached around her to close her laptop himself.
He went to stand up straight again, but he was already so close to her and it made her get emotional hearing him respond that way, so she threw her arms around him and hugged him tight.
Harry struggled to find his proper footing from her attack hug, but once he had he was hugging her back just as hard.
"I don't want you to leave me," he assured her.
"I don't want to leave you either," she replied into his shoulder.
There was still the lingering problem that they needed to deal with though. And if she didn't talk about it now then it would just continue to fester.
She put her hand on his chest between them and gave him a small push so he would take a step back. "Here's the thing though." Her voice was shaky. "Harry, I'm…" she couldn't look him in the eye right then, so she stared at her hand on his chest, "I'm a-a-attracted… to… you."
Mentally she gave a wipe of her forehead in relief at getting that out, physically she was trying to stop herself from throwing up at how nauseous admitting that was making her.
Her hand was still on his chest and she could feel his heart thundering against it.
Ginny continued to stare at her hand as though she was mesmerized by her new nail polish.
"You're attracted to me," he repeated.
"Yeah," she let out in a breath. "And I'm trying not to be, I promise. I just… maybe we shouldn't be, erm, 'snuggle buddies' for a while."
His shoulders sagged and she closed her eyes.
"Sounds like we're in the same boat then."
Her eyes shot open and made contact with his.
"I'm also trying not to be interested in you, you know, like that." He frowned as though he was upset about admitting it. Then he moved around the counter and into the kitchen. "I really like having you as a flatmate, and this was one of the reasons I initially wanted you to move out the day you moved in and I realized you were Ginny, not George."
She let out an involuntary giggle. It was good to know they were on the same page about this, a relief.
"I'm so glad this isn't just one sided."
He gave her a crooked smile. "I was sure you caught that it wasn't after I so blatantly went into the loo last weekend and had a wank in the shower after you made that comment about us showering together."
"Well, wanting to shag me because I'm female and here is different than being attracted to me. One of them is simply wanting a warm body, the other is wanting to keep that warm body around introduce them to your parents."
His frown was back. "Which is which?"
"What?"
"Which of those two is the right description for your attraction?"
It was her turn to frown at him. "I don't know," she admitted.
"You think you might just want to shag me? It's been a few weeks for you again."
"That's true." She thought back over all the scenarios she'd thought up about them over the last few weeks and they'd always ended with her having an orgasm.
"I'm not really sure which is which for me either." He said this in awe as he continued staring at her.
There was an obvious solution to this question.
Now the question was, which one of them was going to cave first and suggest it.
Harry caved first, his eyes drifted over to his bedroom, from the angle he was looking at it, he would have been able to see his bed.
Ginny got out of her seat and stood up. It felt like her body was being operated by a marionette, because her movements didn't truly feel like her own as she started walking backwards.
"You know, I've never seen your room," she stated awkwardly.
"Yeah, er, let me show you." He came around the counter again and they both headed into his room together.
"Huh," she nodded. "So, like mine, but… bigger."
"Well, you know, it being my name on the flat and all."
"Oh, I don't really care about," she swallowed, "size."
It was a bit dark in the room, and warm. It had a real 'lived in' quality about it. His comforter looked soft, and it was all rumpled because he hadn't straightened it up after getting out of bed. Which made it look even more inviting.
Slowly they turned to face each other. Then with out any more pretext they came together; lips and hands all over each other, tugging on hair and clothes, running softly over skin. Ginny turned off the analytical side of her brain and simply lost herself in him. She was kissing him with the abandon she'd always held for a seasoned relationship, biting him gently on his lip, letting his tongue into her mouth and giving it a suck, kissing her way along his jaw and up to his earlobe to bite gently there and give a tug on that as well.
The last one set him off. His hands went to her bare arse immediately and he hoisted her up so she would wrap her legs around him and together they fell back onto his bed. It felt so much better to have him on top of her like this, his hands wandering up her body so he could grasp and knead her breast while the weight of him was holding her down, pushing her further into the mattress while his pelvis was rhythmically moving against her own.
With the skill of a seasoned hand she felt him steady himself as he reached into his bedside cabinet and she heard the crinkle of a wrapper before he reached between them, the whole time his lips had remained completely occupied with her own.
A moment later she let out a groan as she felt him push inside her, stretching her out, her groan going louder the further in he went until he was fully sheathed. Their lips connected again as he started thrusting.
It was so much better than using her vibrator.
She missed real sex. Her little one-night stand with what's-his-name could hardly have counted. It certainly hadn't felt as good as this did right now.
Her hands went up to his headboard and she used that to meet his thrusts, relishing in the sounds of appreciation he made for that movement. Her legs locked around his thighs and she ground herself against him. His kisses started moving southward until he was at her breast and still somehow completely sheathed inside of her.
At that moment she was incredibly grateful to have such a long torso, because him sucking her nipple into his mouth accompanied by all the sensations going on in her downstairs had her arching back as her orgasm tore through her.
But then he slowed down, like he was letting her savor it.
She didn't want him to slow down though! They were supposed to be getting their want for shagging each other out of their system. "Don't slow down! Just take me!" she growled at him.
He stilled for a moment. She didn't know why, her eyes were closed because she was still occupied with the aftershock of her orgasm.
She wanted another though.
Unhooking her one leg she pushed off the bed so they would roll over and she sat up and opened her eyes. He was staring at her with shock and wonder, then she started riding him and those gorgeous eyes of his drifted closed and sounds of appreciation came pouring out of his mouth. Ginny bit her lip and closed her own eyes, trying to adjust and come to an angle that felt right, but it didn't. So, she got up and turned around then sat astride him once more and took him back inside her.
There, this felt much better.
From the loud groan Harry gave then, he thought so too.
It was deeper at this angle; she was able to bear her weight back on her heels for leverage. And, added bonus, she had the ability to bear her weight on one of her heels and bring the other hand to her clit, which was extra sensitive now.
Harry gripped her hips and started thrusting upwards to meet her movements as she frigged herself, now desperate to get her second. Her head lolled back as she put all her effort into stimulating her clit now that Harry had taken over the thrusting.
Ginny felt him swelling inside her just as her second orgasm took grasp of her and she let out a cry that was quickly followed by his own.
She fell back against the mattress then and fumbled around to get the pillow from the other side of the bed so it would be under her head.
"That was," pant, "really good," Harry gasped.
"Yeah," she said in a daze. "I'm going to need a minute before I can move.
"Me too."
She felt him moving around a bit though, then heard the sound of something hitting something else and assumed he'd just disposed of the condom.
She needed water, the kitchen was so far away however, and that would require she get out of bed and pull her clothes back on, and that just seemed like a lot of effort.
The crack of a can of soda being opened had her eyes popping open. It turned out that Harry's other night stand was actually a mini-fridge and he'd pulled out a ginger ale. He pulled a few gulps from it before offering it to her.
The cool liquid felt like heaven on her throat.
She handed it back and sank back down onto the mattress, feeling less tired now, just relaxed.
But also confused still.
"What exactly do you reckon we just learned from this?" she asked him, not sure she had the answer.
"That we make excellent bed fellows?" he offered.
"That's about all I figured out from it too."
He rolled over onto his side with his head propped up on his hand. "I'm still attracted to you. Certainly enough to give that another go."
"I don't like to share though," she admitted. "I know it's been a bit since you brought a woman back."
He cut her off before she could continue. "I won't," he assured her. "At least, not until we've got this sorted."
Sorted.
She had no idea how to get this sorted, she could infer what he meant from that, however...
"So, you want to be shag buddies as well as snuggle buddies."
His brow was knit together. "All I know is that I don't want you to move you, and I'd really like to do that again. I also know that I've a history of relationships that end in scorched earth and I don't want that to happen with us."
That was essentially where she was at as well.
Ginny nodded in agreement. But, she was going to keep checking on listings, just in case.
()()()
He didn't feel like there was much about their lives that had changed now versus before they started having sex with each other. There seemed to be this unspoken rule between them though; shagging on someone's bed was fine, falling asleep on someone's bed was not. So, they kept their overnight snuggles restricted to the sofa because it was more of a neutral zone.
One month they'd been carrying on like this.
Which meant it was the end of her trial period and as of tomorrow she would officially be at his place for another eight months before they revisited her rental agreement.
It surprised him how content he was with this.
There was one issue though; he had a few holiday events coming up that he would be expected to bring a date to, and they had agreed they wouldn't be 'sharing'. He wanted to invite Ginny to come to the events with him, but then his coworkers and friends would be asking about their relationship and their relationship left a lot open for interpretation. He hadn't even told his best friends about their arrangement. Although, his best friends lived on the other side of the country, so it wasn't like they popped around for game night and saw the way he and Ginny interacted with each other.
Hell, the last game night on television Ginny had come in wearing a Westham Football jersey and nothing else.
They got so much accomplished during commercial breaks.
Harry turned the key and entered the flat. Ginny was home and he could hear her talking on the phone in her room. He went into the kitchen and put down his shopping bags to start putting everything away while he thought over how he would invite her to the first party.
"Yeah, but if it's anything less that a thousand pounds per month then you know it will be crap or well too far away from Central London," Ginny was saying. "No, I like it. It's clearly several floors up, but it comes with the view and Croyden isn't too far away."
Harry stood still with one hand in the pantry still holding onto a box of rice and the other in the bag on a jar of pasta sauce.
"It is a big change, but, you know, it's time. Complete independence and a clean break. Things are just going to get out of hand if they carry on as they have been. It's just too strange the way the relationship is going, it's going to get too toxic sooner than later."
His heart started beating faster.
She wanted to leave? Had she indicated that at all to him? They weren't getting out of hand! WHY HADN'T SHE SAID ANYTHING TO HIM?
He left the rest of his groceries where they were and headed straight for her room, pushing her door open without knocking and seeing on her computer screen what he'd feared; the listing for a flat in Croyden.
"You're leaving?!"
Ginny jumped and spun around in her office chair, over judging the amount of propulsion she needed to turn around and wound up spinning twice before he came over hand caught the arm of her chair to stop her.
"What?" Her expression was startled, her eyes wide. "I'll call you back later," she said into her phone and ended the call.
"Why the fuck are you talking to someone else about leasing a flat all to yourself without bothering to mention it to me?!" He pulled her chair closer to him. "If you've got an issue with what we've been doing then say something, don't just run off on me."
"That was about my brother!" she shouted at him. "He's the one escaping from a deranged relationship."
The silence in the room then was deafening, not enough that he couldn't hear the blood still pumping furiously through his veins, which sounded very loud in his ears.
"Oh."
"But, since you brought it up." Ginny stood up and forced him to take a step back. "What is this? You charging in here like a mad bull."
"I thought you were making arrangements to leave," he stated simply, confused by why she would need to ask him that question. "I just heard you saying things like how 'it's time' and 'clean break' and 'toxic relationship'. I guess I just panicked."
Ginny stared at him and then crossed her arms in front of her, a clear sign to him that she was trying to protect her feelings as though her crossed arms were her shield. "I never said it was our toxic relationship. Is, is that what you think we have?"
"No! I just… Look, we're more than friends and flatmates, but you're essentially the only non-toxic relationship I've ever had with a woman, and I had a momentary freak-out that you were regretting it. That's all."
She didn't look at all relieved to be given this information. Instead she looked regretful and sad. "Look, Harry," she started.
"No!" He took a step back, suddenly full of fear. He had heard the 'look, Harry' speech before and he knew that nothing good would come of it. "Don't end this! Don't end us! I can… I want more."
He blurted it out without thinking.
He had wondered about it, about whether them becoming serious would change things at all. The only difference he could think of was that she might wind up spending the night in his room then, and vice versa.
And he did.
Want more, that is.
Her startled reaction to his blurting that out was understandable though. He wasn't the 'settle down and get serious' type. He'd now told her about the only two serious relationships he'd had. In each of them he'd fallen hard and he'd fallen fast and it had all blown up in his face. For the first one he'd been eighteen and had a whirlwind romance, at the time he'd thought he knew everything there was to know and bought her a ring, then she signed up for Habitat for Humanity and ran off to another country. The second one he'd taken more time with but he'd still thought he was head over heels for her and that they would end up married, then he found out she'd been cheating on him all along.
Those two women were the reason he tried not to let his gullible heart get involved in relationships.
"I know you, don't I?" he asked her rhetorically. "You and I don't share, you clean obsessively when you're angry and hoard well more drier sheets than you'll ever use for dusting. You like to cook and aren't afraid to criticize me for my horrible attempts at it. And, fuck, do we ever work well in the bedroom department. So," he gave a swallow, "please, just don't give me some 'look, Harry' conversation about how we would never work, because we do work, and I think we should give a proper label to this."
Her eyes were glassy and he couldn't tell if she was close to shedding tears of regret or tears of joy.
Then a smile came to her face.
"Yeah?" he asked, the weight in his chest lightening at her expression.
"You're willing to try?"
"Yes," he told her with all the determination he could muster.
"That means my mum will want to meet you," Ginny warned him. "And all my brothers."
"I'm not scared of them," he said unconvincingly. He'd seen a few pictures of them and most of them looked like they could do some serious damage to him.
Ginny chuckled.
Harry stepped closer to her and wrapped his arms around her waist. "So, you'll be my girlfriend then?"
"Yes."
"Great!" he grinned. Right now he felt like blurting that all out to her was the best impulse decision he'd ever had. Added bonus, it took care of the issue he'd been dealing with when he came into the flat. "I've got a few parties coming up where we can test drive the 'how did you meet' story before we tell your mum that we're already living together."
There was a passing look of terror that came over her face. "Oh, fuck! She's never going to let me live this down! After my first argument with her about me moving in with a guy I've been lying to her and telling her I lived with a gay guy named Harold! I've even shown her pictures of a guy from my work that dresses a bit too well, claiming it was you."
Harry's jaw dropped.
She hadn't told him that before!
"Maybe we leave out the 'living together' bit for now. I could be someone Harold introduced you to."
()()()