The Irrefutable Flame⎪✓

❨17❩

♂︎

Slamming the shirt roughly onto the ground I tug at the roots of my hair. That beautiful woman knows absolutely shit of all the things that has happened, she is so blissfully unknowing because I chose to keep her out of it. She wanted and asked to be there for me, she came to my apartment that day and I destroyed everything we had going. I fucking ruined my only chance to redeem myself with her! 

Pulling on a black t-shirt and a simple pair of grey sweatpants, I get my breathing under control with a slight distraction. She never left my mind, always there, under the surface. Her pained eyes when she walked away that day, how she declared it to be my fault. She was right, I did this to us. I'm the reason behind her hostility and how she has found another man. 

Those couple of days were the worst days of my life, I had to watch Tilly go through some of the most damaging things, I had to watch them force her away from me, I had to watch how the system failed her repeatedly. Her sullen eyes every time I visited her grew darker for each time. She gave up on hope and spent her time in the foster home crying. None of them helped her get through the trauma of being raped. None of them helped her!

The framed picture on the kitchen island tugs at my heart painfully, my grandpa passed away three months after Dakota left. He fell asleep and never woke up again, it was enough to pull me from the reality of everything. Papa Black has always been the best grandpa to us. Which is why I take great pride in knowing how I'm carrying on the firefighter in both of us. He didn't live to see the damage that happened in my life, he never witnessed what occurred and for some reason I'm relieved at that fact. He wouldn't have handled it well. 

A knock at the door interrupts me from my destroying train of thoughts, reaching the piece of wood I open it and my eyes spot the wild sight of an apprehensive Dakota standing in front of me. Her beautiful body in that black dress does wonders for her and I didn't know how to keep my hands off her today, the mere sight of her made me nervous with jitters like a fucking school kid. Observing her in the dim light of the moon right now pains me, I want her to be mine. 

"Are you okay, love?" I ask her without knowing why, something about her eyes makes me nervous and I wonder if she truly is okay. She nods her head and my body relaxes immediately, opening the door wider for her, "Do you want to come inside?"

She steps into my home and her eyes search every corner, exactly as she did at my apartment in Barnsley. Her heels make her taller and I tear my eyes away from her body, she is so painfully attractive and has no fucking clue either. The innocence shining in her grey eyes makes me weak and she gestures to a piece of paper stuck onto my fridge, "You kept my recipe for the sweet and sour sauce?"

Nodding my head I look at the handwritten recipe she gave me, I haven't even attempted to make it because it would bring me to shame. She is better at it and I wanted her to make it again. I don't even know why I kept it, "Yeah, haven't dared to try it though."

"I told you it was all in the stir," She laughs and I spot the familiar crinkle to her eyes. My heart screams out to her and I decide right now that I need to be a part of her life. No part of me functions without her. It's too shallow. "I have some made in my fridge at home, you are more than welcome to join me for dinner and eat some with me."

"You didn't have it when I ate Wok at your house last?" I question honestly and she shakes her head.

"No, I don't really have the time, but having you over reminded me of how much I actually love that sauce. I made it a week ago or so," The modest shrug to her shoulders makes my eyes zone in on her delicate neck, the scent of her is so insanely familiar and I miss it. I miss having her close. 

"I still remember how I ate every single drop of that sauce, I would say a few days after you left. It was difficult that you left after I healed from the accident, you were my own little and perfect Wok chef, you know? Who wouldn't want a partner who knows how to make their favorite meal?" The joking tone to my voice makes her laugh, the lovely sound eases me and my raging thoughts immediately. 

"You are something else entirely. Don't expect me to be cooking all of your food now, neighbor. I can teach you some tricks though," The offer feels too simple and I realize how easily the two of us return to the old ways of being by and with each other. 

"Yeah, because the last time you tried teaching me how to cook was absolutely amazing, right?" I laugh loudly at the memory of me almost burning down the kitchen and her reddened cheeks as she tried to undo my damage. She promised from that day forward to monitor my every movement in the kitchen. 

She gently leans against the counter behind her and looks at me from under her long eyelashes, "I've missed you, Lij."

The honesty to her words awakens a part of me that has been shut down for too long, she awakens that one side of me that requires affection. "Love," I whisper and take a few steps closer to her, my fingers burn to touch her delicate skin. "I missed you, too."

Taking that last step my body is pressed against her smaller frame, her big eyes are staring up at me and I can visibly see her erratic heartbeat. She is too fucking tempting for me, "God, I wish you didn't have a boyfriend."

She shakes her head instantly and her lips part, "I don't."

The sound of that makes me smirk, I can't stop myself when I lift her body onto the countertop and place myself between her delicious legs. Her hands tangle themselves into my hair and suddenly her lips crash on mine. She fights for dominance and my tongue retaliates, licking her upper lip she parts them completely and I have control of the kiss.