Jily Oneshots (pt2)

The Waiting Game

She smiled, briefly biting her lower lip. "That was a fun night," she agreed.

"Well, anyway, given we don't have a time machine," he shook his head ruefully, "I was thinking—the wedding is three weeks away. We could just…not have sex from now until the wedding night, instead."

"Sort of an abstinence-lite?" she wondered. "Trying to get the sex genie back in the abstinence bottle?"

She had always had a way with words. Just one of the many things he loved about her. "I suppose so," he nodded. "What do you think?"

She took her time answering—of course she did—while she tipped the mushrooms into the pan, pausing to add chopped tomatoes. "What difference do you think it'll make, at this point?"

He added the onions to the pot, then leaned against the counter to watch her at work. She always got the sweetest, focused look on her face when she cooked: probably a hangover from when they first were dating and she managed to burn every course of a three-course meal she made him. She'd vowed never to let it happen again. "It'll make the wedding night that much more fun," he said. "A good challenge. They say that going without sex can clear the mind."

"Who is 'they'?" she asked, shooting him a teasing smile. "People who don't have sexy fiancés to fuck?"

He sighed, unable to resist leaning into press a soft kiss to the curve of her neck. "You know I love it when you say fuck like that," he said. "Stop trying to distract me."

"Baby, I don't need to try," she reminded him, her hand drifting to his hair for a few moments. "And anyway—what makes you think you could last three weeks?"

He pulled back, an indignant expression ready and waiting on his face. "How dare you—"

"I was away for one night a few weeks ago and you shagged me against the front door the minute I got home!"

"But—look, that was—" He shook his head. "That's not the point. I would last, because I know it would be worth it. Because it would mean something."

"What would it mean, though?" she asked. "Other than you'll be so pent up by our wedding day that our first dance could end up being extremely inappropriate."

He couldn't fight a grin at that thought, but considered her question carefully nonetheless. "It feels…reverential, in a way," he said. She couldn't have looked much more dubious if she had tried. "You know, respecting the sanctity of marriage. A nod to the traditions of our ancestors."

"I'm fairly confident your parents have told us stories of their time in school that made it sound like they were shagging well before marriage," Lily reached past him for the salt and pepper.

"Okay, so not my ancestors," he admitted. "But we can be better than those horny idiots, can't we?"

"I'm telling Euphemia you said that," she smirked.

"Thanks," he rolled his eyes. "Your mum said how it helped them strengthen their bond, increased their sense of intimacy—"

"And thank you for reminding me of that discussion," she sighed. "I thought I'd successfully repressed it."

He reached out to skate his finger down her arm, an act that probably didn't show his ability to abstain, but something he couldn't resist doing anyway. "Obviously, if you don't want to, we don't have to do it," he said. "I just thought…it's something that could be meaningful. That's all."

"I'm not saying I don't want to do it. I'm just…surprised." She gave the sauce a stir, before turning to him again, wooden spoon wielded like a weapon. "But just so we're clear, no sex means no sexual contact of any kind. So you can't think you'll get round things by slipping your hand into my knickers."