For the Love of Super Soldiers

Admission

So there is school and my job and yes, I'm tired, and yes, I suck. But that's okay. Chapter 10 is here. I love any of you that have opened this page. Enjoy. Do what you like my babies. :) I was gone for months, BUT I AM RETURNED!

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Chapter 10: Admission

My feet felt more like anchors as I trudged toward Aaron's suite. What was I supposed to say? Sorry, I think I'm extremely attracted to you, but I refuse to admit it because I'm a socially inept imbecile? NO.

You could start by apologizing, my mind said. Usually, women who get kissed don't pretend they're irritated by said kiss; let alone panic over the amount of time they've known the guy they're ridiculously attracted to. I mean, you've killed zombies with the man! How much more intimacy do you need?!

Right. Because I fall into the category of "usual women." I thought back.

If my subconscious thought that killing human experiments was a form of intimacy, that meant I thought it was a form of intimacy. And that meant I had a lot more problems than I thought I did.

I was standing in front of Aaron's door now, and I raised my hand to knock.

"Idiot! Why on earth did you kiss her? She probably hates you now!"

My ears perked up at the yelling behind the closed door.

"Granted, she's reserved, sarcastic, rude, cynical, absolutely infuriating..." he trailed off.

Am I really that bad? I asked internally. There had to be something good in me somewhere...right? I felt my determined mindset begin to fade into something else.

I realized then what had been my problem from the beginning, before Victorian chewed my head off for it. My apprehension with Aaron had nothing to do with the time we had known each other and everything to do with the truth I knew about myself. There wasn't something good within me. I didn't have an ounce of anything that didn't include anger or discontent living inside of me, and, while I knew it, I loathed the idea of Aaron knowing it too.

The door flew open and I saw Aaron, standing in his doorway, again shirtless. His eyes were slightly widened as he looked down at me.

Was I not supposed to be here? Did he not want me here? Those types of thoughts that ran around my head not only puzzled me, but angered me. My hand inelegantly fell from the air as I poised myself to speak.

"I'm sorry," we both blurted.

"What?" we said again.

"I'm sorry," I tried one last time, but his voice was pushing out the exact same words as mine.

Aaron's small smirk gave me cause to roll my eyes, and he made a "come in" gesture. As I moved into the room, I eyed his bed. The scattered sheets made me visualize him laying in it. Relaxing. Sleeping.

Naked? my brain finished.

I'm not even going to argue this time. You're being ridiculous.

Oh no, Scarlett, remember that I'm you, and you were heading in that direction. Which means you're ridiculous. And, quite honestly, I think it's okay to imagine seeing his butt, or his chest, or his-

"Are you just gonna stand there, Miss Lieutenant?"

"Are you going to put on a shirt?" I retorted, irritated by the fact that I actually did want to see his butt.

He held his palms face up in a calming gesture and nodded. My eyes traced the indents of muscle across his back as he grabbed his tee, pulling it over his head in record time. He made a "better?" motion and I nodded quickly.

"So what are you sorry for?" He had this smirk tugging at the left side of his mouth that I wanted to claw off. No matter how handsome it made him.

I sighed. "I, uh. The...we." An eyebrow raise from him made me stare at my feet. "Look, the kiss, I'm sorry."

"You're sorry...for the kiss?" I glanced up at his tone and saw the slight hurt in his face. And my terrible expression reading skills made me see confusion.

"Not that it was bad! I mean, I didn't like it! I mean, I did. I didn't. You kiss well." A grin now. "I just...I am absolutely terrible at this, and I have no idea how to speak to you because you're a human who's not trying to attack me every time you see me. My conscience keeps telling me to apologize because I was an oaf. Yeah, an oaf. Sorry. For my oafness."

"Oafness." The grin grew into a full-length smile; Aaron's white teeth teasing me along with his eyes.

"Yes."

A silent 30 seconds passed before he chuckled. "Do you want to sit or something?" he asked. "Maybe...talk more?"

"No, I don't." I said, turning around. And my hand was nearly wrapped around the door handle when he spoke again.

"You know, you have a tendency to stop things when I don't want you to." I faced him and stayed silent. "I mean, granted, you've only done it twice, but I have a feeling that you do it to shut me out. Right?"

I scoffed. "Aaron, you're not inside in the first place to be shut out."

"Then why apologize?"

Damn. He had me there. "Victorian had said-"

"Fish and chips?" Aaron rolled his eyes.

Oh, yeah, my brain said. I think we can officially say that Aaron hates Victorian.

"Yes, he was saying that-"

"Let me guess...you should just not talk to me? Ignore me?"

"Aaron, he's my best friend, not my governess." For some reason, I felt the need to reassure him about Victorian.

"..."

"Attitude advisor," I said, shrugging. "Brother by military branch at the most."

"So talk to me," he said.

You apologized, Scarlett! If you did that, normal conversation with him should be a walk through a horde! Plus, he's not upset! You're good!, my brain encouraged.

But it wasn't enough.

"I...everyone agreed that we should tour the hotel." My eyes focused on the few steps he took, closing the distance between us.

"Let them look around; we'll catch up."

"Since when are you so keen on splitting the numbers?"

"Since when are you so keen on group participation?"

All he was doing was sending my words back at me, and, while amusing, he was going to give me a migraine. And through the small headache, my awareness didn't slip enough to miss his arms rising, finding spots for themselves centimeters away from my ears, leaving Aaron's chest nearly touching mine.

"...with me."

I had missed what he said in my attempts to stand statue-still between his arms, and I mumbled a quick, "Reiterate, please?"

He leaned forward and the warmth of his breath tickled my ear a second time. "I want you to stay. Here. In my room. With me. Right now." Now, he leaned back and looked into my eyes, waiting for an answer.

"Aaron..."

"To talk. That's all." I knew a look of wariness passed over my face because he took a step back and threw his right hand into the air and said, "Scout's Honor, or, so help me God, may you use your oversized butterknives to carve out my heart."

Trying not to, but failing, I cracked a smile and shook my head at him. "How do you do that?"

"Do what?"

"Smile and joke all while fighting off rabid humans. It doesn't make sense."

"Miss Lieutenant," the nickname came out soft, but I had heard it. "I've kind of learned that life, in general...doesn't usually make sense."

"Well, you're right about that, at least."

"At least! I'm sure I've been right about everything since we've met!"

"Of course. I'll just be in the kitchen cleaning up Slicer/Aaron struggle evidence."

Aaron narrowed his eyes and I caught the corners of his mouth tipping up as his body turned completely toward mine.

"Aaron, no."

He stepped.

"I'm serious. No."

"I'm not doing anything."

Step, step.

"Seriously, don't. No-"

He lunged and, though I'll never give him credit for it, within four seconds-hell, maybe three-he had me up in a fireman's carry, flying through the air, and then scrambling to get my bearings on his bed.

"You-" I stopped talking when he raised his hand up in the air.

"People talk on beds too, Scarlett. With no problem."

I was sure I was scowling because he laughed and sat down in front of me with his legs crossed.

"What are you so worried about?" he asked quietly.

"Seriously? Look at where we are."

"A luxury motel with running water, food, and electricity? Man, we need to run away!"

I punched his shoulder lightly but remained serious. "This doesn't set off any warning bells in your head? At all? Everything else here is just desolate wasteland and we just happen to come across the one building that has everything we need?"

"Of course it does. But you've already said it. Look at where we are. We can relax here, or, at the very least, not brandish weapons all day long. We can sleep. Why bite the hand that feeds you?"

"Because the damn hand is suspicious and obvious as hell, that's why."

There was a pause before he laughed. A loud, booming laugh that dug its way into my chest and made a home for itself there. It was a sound that I decided I wanted to keep hearing, even if I wasn't all that accepting of how I felt towards its owner.

"Either way, we're comfortable, right? I think we could use comfortable," he concluded.

"And what if all this comfortable becomes dangererous?"

"Cross that bridge when we get to it?"

I shook my head vigorously. "No. No, see, I don't operate that way. There needs to be a plan. I need preparation."

"Well, you're not by yourself anymore, so spontaneity won't kill you."

"Yeah, the Hunters will. Or the Truckers. Or the Flunkies. And maybe the Slicers if I'm-hey!"

Aaron was smiling down at me, arms pinned above my head. "Think we could talk about something else?"

"Is something else more important than preventing our deaths?"

"Of course. Our kiss."

I opened my mouth to respond and snapped it right back shut. The jerk.

"Since you've already apologized...I'm sorry. For kissing you. I'm not sorry I did it; I just know that I didn't have your permission, and it just sort of happened. I'm sorry."

"You have my permission now," I suggested quietly.

Aaron's eyebrows waggled before he leaned down and I chuckled. The feeling of his lips on mine again ran through my body like an electric current. His fingers, at first holding my hands tightly, now loosened and intertwined with mine. The current died when he pulled back and stared down at me and opened his mouth to speak.

"All right, Love! That's quite enough bed-shaking! I hope you two are dressed and decent because I'm coming in!" Victorian's already had his body filling the doorway, and his voice just got louder when he saw my position beneath Aaron. "You apologized? Great job, Lieutenant! You see, she likes you, lad. I promise. Anyway, we're ready to tour and explore, you know, when you two are finished!"

Aaron's head came down and he buried his face in the crook of my neck and groaned. Victorian's low chuckle let me know he was being annoying-more annoying than usual-on purpose.

"Five minutes! Come on, then! Clean up here and grab your weapons! We've got a bit to show you lovebirds as well. No time to waste whilst the sun is up! Good job, Love." he finished before winking at me and flying back out of the door.

"That's some best friend you've got there," Aaron said. "Really."

"He's no worse than Jarvis," I reasoned while smiling slightly. "Just British."

Aaron squeezed my fingers and moved from above me, holding a hand out when he was standing straight up. "Shall we?"

I grabbed his offered hand and he had me off of the bed and caught at the waist, our bodies looking like those in a slow dance. The look in his eyes told me "go with it" and "let loose."

Listening to my subconscious for the first time, I nodded. "We shall."

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I've returned! I've literally had the least inspiration to write for MONTHS, but I'm back now. I hope everyone enjoys because I'm trying to get my mojo back...Critique and comments are welcome! Until chapter 11, Lovelies!

Love,

SwaggerwithWords ♥