Reputation: Book One

Qrow

You Make Me Wanna... - Usher

I Write Sins Not Tragedies- Panic! At The Disco

Rockstar- Post Malone, 21 Savage

After I got out of the car, I felt amazing. I'd gotten over myself for being mad at Tripp and finally gathered the courage to be the one to make the move. Ha. I'm so proud of myself.

As I climbed the stairs, I overheard Talitha and the girls having a conversation in her bedroom. I quietly crept down the hall and pressed my ear against her door to eavesdrop.

"Are you ever gonna go fight with Mom and Dad and Tripp and Qrow?" I hear Courtanney ask.

"I might, but I have this really rare... thing... that goes on inside my body," Talitha starts. "When I get excited or mad or sad, it's like my body glitches, almost."

"Does it hurt?" Jhordyn asks in a worried tone.

"Mmm, not really," Talitha responds. "It scares me more than it hurts."

"So you kinda have powers?" Cori asks.

"Yes," Talitha whispers, and the girls gasp softly. "But you can't tell anyone, okay? It's a big secret."

There was giggling and then Talitha sighing. "Well, your mom just texted me saying something came up at work and she has to stay overnight with your dad, so Qrow will be staying with us tonight."

My eyes widen. I whipped out my phone from my back pocket to text Tripp. I was going to ask if I could go home with him before he left, but I remembered I had kids to take care of, so I resisted.

Jhordyn and Cori both whine. "So we have to go to bed?" They ask.

"Yes," Talitha says, and I can hear her smile. "Your dad will be here any minute, so get into bed. It's past your bedtimes and you have school tomorrow morning."

There was scuffling around and then the creak of the beds as the girls crawled into them. I softly smiled, pressing my palm to the door as I began to back away.

"Good night, Talitha," The younger girls both call in unison.

"Good night girls."

Suddenly, the door swung open and Talitha screamed when she saw me standing there. Without warning, she reflexively raised her arm and struck me right in the face, so hard I think I saw stars. I stumble backwards, hissing and touching my cheek where she had just backhanded me.

"Oh my God, Qrow, I am so sorry," She says, covering her mouth.

"No, no, no, it's my fault," I grunt, wincing as I touched my cheek.

"Are you alright?" She asks, her voice softening. I nod. "Yes, I'm fine, I was just texti-"

"Daddy! Are you okay?" I hear Jhordyn shriek from inside the room. I tuck my lips against my gums, taking in a patient breath. "No, sweetie, it's okay-"

"Oh come on Jho, it's not like you can do anything," Cori sneers. I narrow my eyes, pointing a finger at her. "Hey, don't talk to your sister like that young lady," I warn.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Talitha presses as she turns off their ceiling light. "Because I can go get some ice-"

"I'm used to it," I tell her, trying to fumble my phone out of my pocket as it vibrated against my butt. I couldn't count how many times I've been backhanded by a female. I tend to be a filter-less asshole and sneaky as hell, so I've got it coming. I pulled my phone out of my pocket and quickly read the name. Tripp.

I swiped the ANSWER button and lifted it to my face, taking in a calming breath. "Hello?"

"Hey, I just got your text and it says, 'hey Autumn said you were' and then just a bunch of letters; just wanna make sure that was an accidental typo," Tripp says.

"Oh yeah, that was meant to be 'supposed to stay', but Talitha ended up slapping me and I might have hit send on accident. But I think it's fine now that I'm home," I reassure him.
"Shit, I am supposed to be there?" He asks.

"No, not anymore, no," I tell him.
"Well, what if I wanna still come over so I can see you?" He asks. I smile to myself.

"You're sleeping on the floor," I tease.
He chuckles, taking in a breath. "No, I'm sleeping in your room, in your bed, right next to you."

I bite my lip, butterflies swelling in my stomach. "Fine by me. See you soon."

*             *              *

"So, do you enjoy being a young father?" Tripp asks, examining the family portraits sitting in silver frames on the top of my dresser.

"It varies from moment to moment," I start, smiling as he picks up the one of Jhordyn and I, studying it carefully. It's only half a lie.

"Like, I love them and all, but it's a lot of responsibility. I hate drinking now because I don't want my kids to see me in that kind of state, which is good because it could probably kill me, but, if I want to spend time with you, I have to find a babysitter because they're not old enough to take care of themselves. Like, good thing we have Talitha otherwise we would all be screwed as a team," I explain.

He slowly nods. "So if you didn't have a daughter, I'd get to see you more often?" He smiles, running his fingers down my bicep and around my waist. Goosebumps rose on my skin, trailing his touch. I turn and look up at him, grinning. "There's a slight possibility."

He chuckles and pulls me into him by my forearm, kissing the top of my forehead. I close my eyes and smirk to myself, the warmth of his lips still lingering on my skin.

"You tired?" He whispers, his hand slipping down the backside of my jeans. My stomach does a flip-flop as his touch sends a shiver up my spine and I shake my head. "No, not at all."

I raise my hand and grab his head, pulling it down to mine and slowly brushing my lips against his. Tripp smiles, letting go of me and pushing me toward the bed. My stomach lurches as I fall backwards so quickly and with such force. And as terrified as I was, I was so turned on when he tossed me around.

He quickly pulls his shirt off and I follow, spider-crawling back and scooting up to my pillows. He slowly creeps up onto the bed and I feel intimidated under his gaze, Tripp's eyes sweeping over me as he slids both his hands higher and higher up each side of my body. His lips found mine and he hungrily nipped at them, my hands fumbling for a grip on his large, muscular shoulders. I felt so tiny under him... it made me feel so weird.

He pulled my head up off my pillow with one hand, his other holding tightly to the small of my back as his lips trailed down from my lips to my neck, across my chest and then gently biting down on my skin. He suddenly rose up on his knees and slammed my head back into the pillow, giving me a small heart attack. I knew that if he pressed hard enough on my tiny skull, he could crush it like an aluminum beer can.

I raised my hands up to his large, thick wrist and grabbed onto it tightly, giving him a smirk. 

"If you pull one of your 'I refuse to talk to you for a week' cards after this, I promise I will not forgive you this time," He tells me, smiling.

"Okay, okay," I laugh. "now just shut up and kiss me."