The Kings IV II

10

Henry

I knocked on Cordelia's door, holding her bouquet of flowers close to me so they wouldn't get drenched by the rain, as I was.

The door flew open and there she stood- her long, dark hair tied up into a low ponytail. She'd obviously been painting.

I held out her flowers, tilting my head over. "I'm sorry."

She pulled me inside, letting out a sigh as she raked her messy hands through her hair. "I-I don't know what happened yesterday."

I wrapped an arm around her neck, pressing a kiss to her temple. "I was in the wrong."

"No, you-"

"No, I was," I said, stepping away from her, "I-I was thinking with my penis. Not my brain."

She smiled a small smile, grabbing her flowers. "Well, I freaked out on you. And I'm sorry for that."

"All good," I said, shrugging out of my jacket.

She hung it up and placed the flowers on the counter, grabbing my hand to lead me upstairs to her room. She opened her door and stepped inside, closing it behind me.

"I'm sorry for saying I didn't want that from you," she said, leaning against her door.

"I'm sorry for making you think that's all I want from you," I said, brushing my wet hair away from my face.

"No, Henry," she said, wrapping her arms around my neck, "I know that's not all you want."

I wrapped my arms around her waist, pressing a kiss to her shoulder.

"And I don't care that we've been together a year," I said, "if you don't want something, you don't want it. Simple as that. And I'm not the guy to push you into it. I don't know what's gotten into me."

She looked up at me, smiling. "You're a good guy, Henny."

"You think so?" I muttered as she pressed her lips against mine.

She nodded, melting into my arms. I trailed my hands down her sides, pulling her closer.

"I love you," I said, pulling away from her.

"And I love you," she said, pressing a kiss to the tip of my nose.

I sat on the edge of her bed, looking up at her. "I think we need to establish our goals."

She nodded, sitting next to me. "Sure."

"Okay, I'm going to tell you how I feel," I said, looking over at her, "about sex. Is that okay?"

She nodded, biting down on her lip. "Yeah. Go for it."

"It's not even physical, Cordelia," I said, "well, some of it is. I'd be lying if I said it wasn't. But I just want to get to know you better. I feel like we haven't even connected on that intimately of a level."

Holy shit, is communicating emasculating you?

"Who told you to say that?" She giggled out, shaking her head.

"I-I took some tips from Josie," I quietly answered, "but these are all my feelings. Promise."

I held out my pinkie and she smiled, pushing my hand away. "I know, Henry. I'm just... not ready."

"Okay," I said, nodding.

"And you pushing it so hard didn't really help that," she truthfully admitted, her eyes meeting mine.

I braced my elbows on my thighs, fisting my hands in front of my mouth. "Yeah."

She rubbed my back, pressing a kiss to my shoulder. "You can understand that, right?"