"Beau!" I scold as I flail my hands out blindly in search of his.
He keeps my thighs pinned down on the bed with a sturdy grip between his legs. His hands, that were once tickling the living shit out of me, were now nowhere to be found. Now I've found myself in this predicament. My upper half hanging off the side of the bed in a rigorous attempt to get away from his sneaky fingers and my legs still trapped by his knees on either side of him.
I hate it when his lanky limbs get the upper hand. From there on, I'm practically no match for him. Before I was a decent size. Not really tall or short. But when I met this skyscraper of a man, suddenly I became one of the ants on the ground.
Yet, did that ever stop me from picking playfights with him? Absolutely not.
"Morning," I chirped as I purposely rolled over on top of him. Laying my dead weight completely on him jolted him alert.
Out of sorts from having barely woken up, he mumbled in that deep morning voice I love so much, "What the‒ Oh hey, baby." I rolled around some more, making myself comfortable until my body fit directly on his. His body became my mattress. His chest, my pillow.
I grabbed both of his hands and tossed them over my stomach, flat on my sides. "I ought to fucking kill you for last night, y'know that?" I giggled. It'd brought me to reminisce about all the things we did...coming back to my house, kissing all the way up the stairs...feverishly going at each other...riding his thigh with my heels on like he asked...my hands cuffed to my bed. It was heaven and pure sin all at once. How could that possibly be, I still couldn't grasp it even after a night's passing.
He leaned his head into the crook of my neck and kissed my skin softly. "Thought you liked it that way, Jo? Rough and painful?" He'd taken one of my wrists in his grasp and brought it up for the both of us to look at. It just had to have been the one with the most damage inflicted on it. We scanned the deep purple ring around my small wrist. A bracelet to match the necklace of fingerprints around my throat.
Some fine pieces of jewelry I've collected.
Gently, he set my hand back down, not wanting to inflict even more pain on it. Still, that doesn't distract from the sudden pressure digging into my ass. "Are you..." I'd asked with a sneaky gleam in my eyes, "Are my bruises turning you on?" Flipping myself off him, I come to recognize that, indeed, this dirty motherfucker had a hard on.
My eyes widen, even though I've seen it countless times. Bare, even. At least this time he was wearing basketball shorts but it still didn't cover all that much. He reached his hand out to lift my chin, thus taking my analyzing stare away from his groin and into his eyes.
And fuck do those eyes say a ton about him. When we first started this whole fresh start thing, it was like looking into a brick wall. Giving me nothing to read. Ever since then, that blockade has been coming down little by little, but after last night, I could see right into the depths of him. Not completely, but it was something. Way more than what I'd gotten in the past few days. He was open to me again.
His other pesky hand slides past the hem of my shirt, well...his technically, to come in contact with the black cotton panties I put on last night in a hurry after I was done cleaning myself up. His fingers swipe across my core, feeling for the wet spot over my panties. My eyes widen even more when he applies even the tiniest bit of pressure to my clit.
I know we went a couple rounds last night, but god, I didn't expect to still be sensitive in the morning.
"You're no saint either," he chuckled lowly to himself, "You were staring at those bruises earlier, weren't you?" I took my bottom lip between my teeth and flickered my eyes away to the stuffed teddy bear in the corner of my room staring right at us. I wanted to get up and move it to face elsewhere, but my legs were currently putty so there's that.
My refusal to look him in the eye and give a proper answer gives him the obvious yes to a question he didn't even have to ask. There's just something about him leaving traces of himself on me that had me feeling a certain type of way. Not only was it the pain that the masochist in me took pleasure out of. It was the knowledge that if he choked me or slapped me or spanked me hard enough, there'd be marks to showcase that.
And I loved it. Way too fucking much.
It was nothing to be ashamed of. At least not to him. And Beau's the only opinion that mattered when it came to what I liked and didn't like in bed. He'd be the only one to experience it after all. I snickered to myself, lifting my eyes to him, "You know I love the way you claim me." I leaned down to his level again. My lips took his earlobe between my teeth, nibbling on it softly to ensue a low groan from the back of his throat. I continued my trail down his bare torso, mumbling against his skin with every slow, lazy kiss I peppered onto him, "Your marks on my body and your marks alone. Letting everyone know who was fucking me real good." My lungs let warm air push against his cold skin, the contrast sent goosebumps littering his body while I left red soon-to-be deep purple hickeys down the length of his torso.
"I'm gonna claim your throat next, pretty girl," he rasped, desperately fisting the roots of my hair to make me groan out at the familiar sensation of pain, "Want me to fuck that dirty fucking mouth of yours raw?" My fingers had already been one step ahead. With my head nearly reaching his groin, I peered up at him as my fingers began to tug his shorts down. To help me out, he lifted his hips and allowed his pair of black briefs to come down as well.
I shoved his clothing completely off the bed by shuffling my feet around and got comfortable in my position before taking his tip into mouth. I spat onto his cock to be able to pump him faster with my hand. His hands remained in my hair as he groaned into the air, mumbling all these sweet praises that made my thighs clenched. We had to be quiet, there was no telling who was still home to hear our antics and I didn't want to find out.
Still on that spur of marking my territory, I gripped his thigh and dug my fingers into his skin. He responded eagerly with tugging harder on my hair. I took him deeper into my mouth, inch by inch until my nose brushed against his groin. I knew he could feel his sensitive tip curling at the back of my throat. My eyes stung with tears, but it was worth it to see his face twist in consuming pleasure.
Like he promised, he fucked himself into my mouth. By then, I was pooling between my thighs, craving relief. But I wanted this to be all about him, solely focused on his pleasure. He'd taken care of me so well last night...I had to repay him somehow. I'd dug my nails into him enough to draw blood. It was quite the sight to take in, drops of crimson sliding down his skin all while knowing those scars would last him a good week.
Enough time had gone by where he just couldn't hold back anymore. I could tell that by the way his legs were becoming restless and his hands guiding my up-and-down movements were getting more and more faster, he was nearing his end. "Fuck," he said shakily into the air, "Keep going, just like that. You're doing so good, love. Such a good girl." I looked up at him from my lashes to see him staring right back down at me. Our eye contact severed when he came undone. I swallowed every last drop of hot spurts that came shooting down my throat.
I let him slip out of my mouth before he got soft and laid beside him as he caught his breath. The best part about it is he didn't feel disgusted to kiss me after my lips were on his dick, in fact he was the first to initiate the comforting pecks. "You're fucking incredible, Jo," he murmured tiredly before he pushed his lips onto mine, "I love you so fucking much." He kissed me again, but not for long because his breaths were already running short.
When he came back down from his high, he went to reciprocate between my thighs, but I gently pushed him away. "I'm okay," I smile sedately, as if I were the one that just came down from a mindblowing orgasm, "It was just for you, love."
He quirked a brow. "You sure? I have no problem cleaning up after you," he winked, emphasizing the 'no problem'.
I giggled nervously at his choice of words, "I'm all good. Promise." I held out my pinky for him to wrap his pinky around and kiss our thumbs, signifying a promise.
We moved into the restroom from there to brush our teeth and do our unruly hair. Out of lack of time to do anything else, I braided my hair into two sections with Beau's help. His side obviously turned out better than mine, which caused the play fight ending with me trapped on my bed.
"Always have to one up me, don't you?" I scoffed playfully, landing a firm punch to his chest. I was perched on my knees on the bathroom counter, giving me the height advantage for once.
Rolling his eyes at my playful antics, he took both ends of my braids and flicked them in my face. "Oh come on, they both look fine." Of course he'd say some shit like that, only because it was his side that came out cleaner and more laid down against my head. Whereas the side I did felt loose and looked messy at the back.
"Liar." I landed another playful jab at his side, this one a little harder than the last.
In return, he flicked my forehead. Not hard, but enough to rile me up a bit. "Think you're funny, huh?" I challenged. My fist raised to level with his chest, I landed another soft punch there and another down at his side. Neither one of them was hard enough to do any real damage, yet he still curled away with a mock grimace on his face. Pussy.
"I'm hilarious by the way," he hisses, mistakenly presuming that I wouldn't hear the retort. I hopped off the counter, taking that height advantage away but at the same time brought us closer. My fists make contact with whatever area of his body that isn't covered by his hands. Eventually, I went to punch him lower and he yanked me over his shoulder before I could do so. "Not the dick, baby," he chuckled into the side of my hip.
He acted as if flinging me over his shoulder is the golden way to stop me from doing what he doesn't want me to do. He should've learned from the last time he had me this way, but apparently not. As he padded into my bedroom, I reach my hands down to put random pinches all over his ass. The first time I did it, he yelped. Progressively, he got more and more underwhelmed.
"That's it," he said shortly before throwing me onto the bed and tickling my sides. I knew I was done from there. The moment he had me pinned under him, laughing out tirelessly and kicking my feet into the air, I forfeited.
But by then, half my body was off the bed and the only things keeping me from flying backward onto the floor were his legs holding me down.
"Ceasefire!" I yell out to him, still trying to find something to grasp onto to hoist myself up.
"Tell me I have the biggest dick you've ever seen," he teases, occasionally poking at my sides to make me flinch.
I shake my head. "Can't do that, sir. Yours is the only dick I've ever seen." I try to fling myself forward, hoping that enough momentum will get me out of this position, but I only get up halfway before falling back down. I do not have the core strength for this shit.
He groans in defeat before finally giving in and pulling me up. "You are st‒ Shit, I know your face could get red, but damn," he laughs at my expense.
I narrow my eyes at him. "Yeah that's what happens when you're upside down for so long, jerk." I stick my tongue out at him like a child. Releasing one of my hands from his, I flip him off.
"Come here," he nods subtly. Climbing off my lap, he gives me enough room to wiggle out from underneath him. From there I hop onto his lap and wrap my arms around his neck. I love feeling this closeness with him. We're a very physical couple. Aside from sex which is the obvious satisfaction to our mutual love language, we can do with just holding each other close. Not speaking for long periods of time when we're in each other's embrace. It's a moment of silence. A temporary second of bliss from our minds, which are always running on empty.
We're tired. Exhausted even. The only thing that can bring us back is each other. Everything else we've tried to cope with has nothing on these sweet seconds of silence. It's more than we could ask for. Our remedy being each other is as much a coincidence as it is pure luck. Without him, I have no clue where I'd be right now or how far down my mind would be.
His hands snake down to my hips after a few minutes. Sighing into my neck, he says with a smile apparent in his voice, "I want to take you somewhere today."
"You want to leave the house?" I over exaggerate purposefully. Holding the back of my hand up to his forehead, I furrow my brows confusedly, "Are you feeling okay? Are you running a temperature?"
"Oh shut up," he laughs, making my concerned front break into a fit of laughs. "I figured since you got to take me out last night, I want to do something for you today. That okay with you?"
I nod, loving the sincerity in his voice and the dimples that poke out as he speaks. "Sure, where're we going?"
He smirks in response. I just know this is going to be one of those damned surprise things from the sneaky gleam dancing in his fluorescent eyes. Holding a finger up to his lips, he 'whispers' discreetly, "It's a secret."
I fall to the side, allowing my body to crash onto the bed with a loud complaining groan escaping my parted lips. "Yay!" I exclaim sarcastically, "I just love surprises. No, but seriously, tell me where we're going? Are we going to be indoors? Outdoors? You know damn well it's hot as Satan's asshole out there and I am not about to walk outside in pants."
Following suit shortly after me, he lays beside me. Propped on his side, he caresses my upper arm while I remain flat on my back. Staring up at him in complete awe, I still can't believe this is mine. This wonderfully kind boy in front of me, who is fairly easy on the eyes. Just an added bonus to the sweet person he is. He's so fucking beautiful, it's staggering. I could get lost in him forever.
With his finger subtly tracing my skin, the butterflies in my stomach quicken. When his gentle voice pushes into the air between us from those tender lips of his, that feeling grows so much more. "I promise you'll love where we're going. When have I ever disappointed you?"
I smile crookedly, running my fingers through his vanilla-scented brown locks. "Never," I say sweetly.
Or at least not half as many times as I've been the one to disappoint him.
My flaws make his seem practically nonexistent at this rate. I wouldn't bring up the time that he disappointed me by lying to me in the beginning stages of our relationship, or the push-and-pull game he played with my mind for almost half the time we've known one another. All the times he's fallen short without provocation from me is all in the past. My mistakes are the most recent, making it unfair if I were to point out the times he's disappointed me.
At least his mistakes were few. And very far between.
The greens of his eyes disappear into his eyelids as he exaggeratedly rolls his eyes at me. "We both know that's a load of bullshit, but thank you for feeding my massive ego," he nods curtly. Leaving my view to bury his nose into the side of my neck, the wispy hairs on the back of my neck prickle up as I feel him inhaling my scent. As if he hadn't memorized it already.
I can't lie, I find myself doing the same thing to his shirts on the off-chance that he's not around. Holding his shirt up to my nose and intaking his familiar scent is the only thing that keeps me sane when he's not around. It reminds me so much of him that on some occasions when my mind is running and he's not here to calm it down, I'll pull one of his shirts from my closet and fall asleep with it in my clutch.
I laugh softly into his broad shoulder, "That's not the only thing that's massive," I joke, immediately feeling my face flush bright red with embarrassment. Even Beau pulls his face out of my shoulder to witness this rare occasion. It's not often I blurt out vulgar things like that. If anything, that's more his turf.
It's no surprise that he's rubbed off on me after this long. Smirking amusedly down at me, his eyes flicker with humor as he playfully scolds, "Jordyn, have some manners." His hand drops from my shoulder to pinch my side.
"Not this again!" I yelp, quickly swatting his hand away and holding it down between my hip and his lower abdomen.
"Not what?" He swings one of his legs over my lap, straddling my thighs. He uses his new free hand to make a single finger jab at my opposite side. "This?" he smiles at the same time. I jerk beneath him but it's no use when half my body is currently rendered immobile.
"If you keep at it, I'll knee you in the dick, I swear to go‒" Interrupting me with another particularly harsh jab to my side, I burst into a fit of loud laughs. His fingers dance up and down my sides, pinpointing my most ticklish spots like magnets. My legs kick the air behind him while my upper half tries repeatedly to move away from those damn fingers.
When I finally get him to stop, I'm out of breath and my hair is back to being the unruly mess it once was. "I'm gonna go fix whatever rat's nest this is," I point to the frizz ball that his become my hair from thrashing all around my bed, "And you are going to pick an outfit for me since you know where we're going."
He stands up by the side of my bed and hauls me up to my feet. "Yikes, no pressure," he retorts.
"None at all," I chirp. Hopping up to my tiptoes for a small peck, he casts one down on me eagerly. "You know what I like," I mumble against his lips before skipping away to deal with this mess.
Luckily, my hair isn't so frizzy that it can't be salvaged. There'll be days where no amount of product in the word can help save me. Bad hair days are inevitable for every girl, they're one giant inconvenience though when I want to get somewhere fast. Like now. So I quickly take down the braids to my dismay and tie my hair up in a high ponytail. Can't go wrong with that can I?
I skip out of the bathroom to find Beau laying on my bed in an exhausted starfish position. It looks almost comical seeing as the entirety of his limbs take up most, if not all of my bed. Upon hearing the door creak open, he lifts his head to meet my gaze for a second and plops it back down with a heavy sigh.
"What is it now?" I query in a stern tone, like a mother talking to her difficult toddler. I walk over to my vanity where he set out a pair of dark blue straight-legged jeans for me and a black tank top to go with it. Of course.
"You're closet is a fucking nightmare," he pants, wiping nonexistent sweat of his forehead.
"Hey! It's organized." If he thinks how it appears now is bad, he should have seen it when we were on our 'break'. I didn't even change my outfit all that often and it was still a horrendous mess. Kind of like when I clean my room and it's dirty again within the next few days, how that happens I simply have no clue.
He flips his head to face me at the same time as I hold up the red laced panties he picked out to go with the outfit. Wherever we're going, I'm almost positive it doesn't revolve around having sex, but well, it's always good to be prepared I guess. "There's still a shit ton of crap in there." He starts off with eyes widened with shock, but then sees me holding up the pair of underwear and that expression immediately falls into a smug grin. Asshole.
"My clothes are not crap," I enunciate, holding my hand to my chest in offense, "Then again, I like your clothes better when they're on my floor so..." I trail off. Turning around, I keep my gaze locked on his as I saunter away, wanting to memorize the surprised look on his face. Did he slip something in the water he gave me this morning? Or have I just been hanging out with him too much?
There's no such thing as hanging out with him too much in my perspective, so I'll just assume it's something in the water.
"Oh wait!" he calls after me just as I step into the doorway of my bathroom. I whip my head around to face him as he reaches over the opposite side of the bed that is covered from my view.
When he comes up, a big stuffed animal comes up with him. A bubblegum pink pig comes into view.
It doesn't take all that long from that first glance for my body to go rigid. Meanwhile he remains clueless, babbling to me as he holds the stuffed animal, "I found this at the back of your closet when I was looking for your jeans. I was wondering why it wasn't out with the rest of them." He gestures to the other, smaller animals in the corner of my room perched on a little table near my window bench.
It'd do no good lying to him about where that thing came from. I want to prove that I'm done being dishonest? I have to disclose this fully. I just hate that it's such a sensitive topic to us both right now. That figment of my past had to come up. Like we weren't currently dealing with our present. I didn't even know I still had that thing to be completely honest. That weekend with Jake was so long ago and the remains of it got buried underneath everything that came afterward. Winter formal...Big Bear...New Years, that stuffed animal quite literally got shoved to the back of my mind, or the back of my closet in this case and was forgotten about. Its emotional tie to go with it.
The only thing I hate doing is bringing up that god-awful reason for why things nearly ended between Beau and I. But it knew it wasn't the only reason. It was the final straw to a web of lies I tangled us into and something had to give. In this case it was Jake fucking Amherst.
"First of all it wouldn't fix on my little stand," I laugh, clearly stalling but he doesn't catch on quite yet. I set my clothes down on the counter before walking over to him. He scoots over, making room for me to snuggle beside him.
"Remember the deal?" I say quietly. Of course he does, how could he not? It was the thing that finally pulled us together. If it weren't for that godforsaken deal, we'd never have the things we have with each other. Just as I expected he nods but goes tense under my careful arm. Taking a shaky breath, I confess, "The weekend I...I didn't tell you where I was going and I went to the beach house with...Jake." I can feel his heart beating rapidly under my hand, making the panic in me reside even deeper. I try my best to keep it short, for his sake. I know how much this hurts him. "We went to the pier, played a few games, and he bought that for me. After that though, when I found out about his motives and me and you started getting to know each other, I guess this thing kind of got shoved away and forgotten about."
He chuckles weakly, holding the stuffed pig up in front of us. "Yeah I can tell." Referring to the light layer of dust collected on the pig's pink fur, showcasing how neglected and 'forgotten about' this thing has been.
"Well it happened so long ago," he exhales, tossing the toy onto the floor and shifting onto his side to look at me, "And if you really cared about it, it wouldn't have collected dust after all these months."
I nod, "There's so much more that you've given me that I'd rather treasure." My absent minded fondling of my dainty necklaces comes in handy when I hold them up a bit to show them to him. "You know how happy I am to have these, right? When I threw them off, I was being impulsive, I wasn't thinking about what it might do to you and‒"
"Shh," he coos softly, leaning forward to brush our noses together affectionately. "You don't need to explain yourself to me about that, baby. We were both acting out of rage and we were both hurt. If you're allowed to tell me that it's okay and to just let it go, then I'm allowed to tell you the same thing. It doesn't matter what you did during that fight as long as you're not reverting back to those patterns. Same goes with me."
I shake my head in disbelief. I reach up to him, hooking my arms around his neck to mesh our bodies closer. "I don't deserve you, Beau," I profess into the solid wall of his chest.
His knuckles caress the center of my spine as he presses a soft kiss to my forehead. "You do, pretty baby." His gentle voice inclines me to lift my gaze to meet his. A sense of warmth fills my body as I wholly allow him past my eyes and into my soul. My apprehensive walls haven't been there since we got back together. Never once did he give me a reason to play a single doubt in him so there was no reason to build a defense mechanism against him. He may have broken my heart that day but he wouldn't have done that if I hadn't done it to him first.
He taps my hip twice, saying, "We need to get going. I'm really excited to see your face light up when you see this."
Laughing airily, I tease, "So confident." Using one arm propped underneath me, I push myself up and tread to the bathroom with light steps. When honesty doesn't come back to bite me in the ass, it feels pretty good. Now if that stuffed animal would have been the cause of another fight, I wouldn't be encouraging truth telling behaviors. But sincerely, I'm glad that I was able to talk to him. Share the truth with him now instead of waiting months or even years down the line.
"In the meantime," he shouts out from the other side of the now-closed bathroom door, "I'll go burn this shit." I know he's talking about the pig, so I hit my fist against the door, stopping him but not for the reason he initially might think.
"Not without me!" I warn, "And while we're at it, we ought to do a clean sweep of your room. Make sure Serenity didn't give you any shit I don't know about."
I can hear his laugh coming from my room. "All that girl gave me was a pain in my ass," he remarks.
I know that's not the only thing she gave him. God that's gross. Thinking about him with anyone else sends a mix of bile to the back of my throat and a boiling sensation rushing through my veins. I may be taken for the calmer one between the two of us, but our level of possessiveness is the same. We just have our own ways of showing it. Beau, with violence and threats. Me, with a passive-aggressive attitude. Take the bitch from last night for example, I'm sure she got the message quite nicely. As with every other girl that's tried slithering her way between me and Beau.
Not gonna fucking happen.
Once I'm fully dressed, I yank open the door for effect and pause in the doorway, allowing him to scan the outfit with a sense of approval. I'll have to admit, for my boyfriend, he's got a damn good eye. For clothes, I mean. Expectedly, he leaned more towards darker colors, but that's what most of my closet consists of anyway. I can't be trusted with light colors. The second I leave the house, there's a stain that takes forever to get rid of, if it ever comes out that is.
"You look beautiful, love," he compliments while I take a few steps closer to him. As soon as I'm within his proximity, he wraps his arm around my lower back to pull me in for a kiss. "As always," he says shortly before pressing his lips against mine.
"Can you give me a hint at where we're going? Please," I beg. My feet lightly stomp on the floor like a child while my hands fold beneath my chin. I peer up at him with my infamous puppy-dog eyes he simply cannot resist.
He huffs dramatically, grabbing my hand to lead me out of my bedroom. "It's sort of a gift for my mum. You'll figure out what it is as soon as we reach the place."
"Ooh now I'm quite intrigued," I say with a giddy smile. I wonder what it could possibly be. I doubt he'd want to be caught dead in the middle aged women's section of Macy's or shopping for heels at DSW. That's more Sophie's forte. Maybe he's looking to buy her a piece of jewelry? I know she follows a workout regimen like she'd drop dead if she didn't so maybe he wants to get her one of those smart watch things that'll track her steps. I have no fucking clue honestly.
At the bottom of my stairs, we start hearing rustling from the living room. We jerk our heads to the side to see my mom on the couch reading, or rather, rereading A Walk To Remember for god knows what time. She really doesn't have the time to get invested into a new book so she rereads what she has on her shelves. Of all the books she chooses that one. Gotta be a fucking masochist to consider reading that book more than once.
"Hey Mom," I chirp with a gleeful smile. She looks up at us and waves slightly. The look of worry that flashes on her face is unmistakable. "What's up?"
"Oh nothing," she brushes off her doubt. I just had to get it from somewhere. "Hi Beau, how've you been?" She's quick to get off-topic.
Beau, wanting to be polite, answers with hesitation or question as to why she was so quick to switch up. "I'm doing great, Ally. How about you?" Okay maybe Beau isn't as oblivious to her behavior as I thought. He deals with me after all, how could he be?
"Mom," I drawl in a warning tone. I settle down on the armrest just to the right of her, still keeping Beau's hand intertwined with my own. "What's going on?" I query.
She sighs, lifting her hand to her temple and rubbing softly. "I think something may be going on with your sister," she murmurs, as though Kat were standing beside us. Last she told me, she'd be out with Grant today doing...whatever it is that they do.
Seriously though, what do they do together? What dates do they go on? Do they even take each other out from time to time? She used to tell me these things all the time, not just with Grant but with every other guy that came before him. As of late, she's been really cryptic. We haven't had a chance to sit down and properly catch up ever since...
Ever since Beau and I began dating.
Fuck, what a terrible sister I've been.
"Mom," I saw with my voice even more dire, "Is Kat okay?"
She shakes her head subtly, "I have no clue, hon. I heard her and Grant bickering over the phone this morning, and well, they've been out there in the backyard talking for the past hour now, so I have absolutely no idea." I know how much this kills her, not knowing what's going on in our lives. There's been times where she's considered dropping the amount of hours she works and stop being so lenient in covering shifts for her other coworkers. Yes, it'd be nice to have my parents around more often, but I also know that they love what they do. I don't want to take that away from them or be a burden to either one of them. So every time my mom considered such a thing I reassured her that everything would be fine back here at home and Kat and I proved it well by keeping everything tidied up nicely and making certain we got dinner on the table for the two of us. I don't know about Kat, but I know I wouldn't want my issues to cause my mom to fret in any way. She has more important things on her mind like bills that have to be met and patients she has to help. I need to be the least of her worries.
I need to be the last thing she worries about.
"They'll be fine," I hope. Extending my tender hand out to meet her shoulder, I rub soothing circles over her. "Couples fight, it's normal. I'm pretty sure by the end of the day, they'll be in the living room watching their forensics stuff and calling out predictions like always." Well at least I know something.
"I hope so," Mom sighs and turns around slightly to face both me and Beau. "You two are doing okay right?"
She needs solace right now. She needs to know that both her girls are okay. If one of them isn't, it's better to have only one than both. My mom has yet to know about what led to our break up. The mistakes that dragged us to that point. Even today, we're still working through the repercussions of that. I don't need to weigh her down with all that information. So I just nod and smile. "We're doing great, we were actually about to head out if that's okay."
She smiles softly, her tense shoulders relaxing a bit. It was only last week that I was at my lowest point. I guess she's just glad that I'm smiling again. I couldn't do that before. "It's fine with me, baby, just text me where you'll be staying tonight." I nod, give her a quick hug, hold in my excited squealing as Beau does the same, and finally we walk out the door. Hand in hand.
Beau's car is parked on the curb. Since he's the one that apparently knows where he's going, he drives. I slide into the passenger seat and immediately pull my seat forward. His long legs make riding in cars difficult so all the necessary adjustments he makes are almost always too drastic for me. He spends a good five minutes adjusting his seat to his liking, teasing me the whole time about how I'm 'too short to be driving his car'. While he does this, I connect my phone to the radio and start blasting Ferrari at full volume.
"Jesus!" he shrieks at the abrupt beginning as it cuts off the complete silence in the car. He moves to turn the dial down by a lot to hear himself speak. I cackle in my seat, covering my mouth as if that was gonna hide the fact. "Well, if Kat and Grant's bickering didn't wake the city, that sure fucking did it," he retorts.
"Like they've got anything on our arguments," I purposely laugh dryly. That isn't something we should be particularly proud of, but it is the truth. We argue significantly louder than anybody else we know. One would think there were multiple people involved rather than just us two.
If there's one thing we're both mutual experts in, it's the art of yelling. We do that like fucking pros. Beau lightly taps the gas pedal to veer the car out of the parallel parking position so we can get going to wherever it is we need to be. "'Arguments'," he scoffs lowly, "if World Wars three, four, and five are what you call arguments, I'd hate to be around you when there's a real catastrophe."
"But seriously," I say, my voice dropping an octave, "What is going on with them?"
"Like I'd know, neither of them would talk to me about it." True.
"Maybe they've just run their course," he adds, glancing at me for a second to catch a glimpse of my reaction. My face remains as it was before he pointed that out, for it's not an observation I haven't heard before.
Quirking my lips in thought, I could understand why someone would think that. Take Sophie for example, she thought their relationship was too two-dimensional to hold any substance. I thought that was complete bullshit because I was so sure they had their own problems and today further proved that. I'm not quite sure why Beau's saying this but it could be for the same reason. They appear too good to be true. Like they were pulled right out of a fairytale ending. Skipping over the conflicts and all.
They're more like friends if anything. Friends who've slept together multiple times, but friends nonetheless.
"You really think so?" I ask doubtfully. "She'd tell me if that were the case, no? I mean I'm her sister."
"But you're also in a relationship," he points out, "I mean we have our ups and downs, but they all made it abundantly clear that they knew we were going to get back together. Meaning there's something about us that just always works out in the end. Maybe she sees that and doesn't think you'll be able to relate to being truly over someone."
I huff sadly. "I don't have to be able to relate to her in order for her to talk to me about these things. And maybe she loves Grant. Maybe it'll be harder for her to get over him than we all think."
The car crawls up to a stop light. When Beau makes a complete stop, he tilts his head to look at me with a lifted brow. "Or maybe, she's over him, maybe they're over each other and they're breaking up as we speak."
Reaching my hand across the center console, I swat him on the shoulder. Not hard, but not jokingly either. "Shut up," I chastise, "This is my sister we're talking about. Would you talk so openly about Sophie breaking up with someone she was really into?"
He nods without hesitation, stepping on the gas pedal in the process. So much for trying to gain an ounce of his sympathy. "Fuck yeah. I don't know what the fuck she's doing with this Liam-kid, but hell yeah, if she were really dating him I'd be waiting for the day they broke things off."
"First off it's Leo," I correct him, earning me a quick glare, "And second, you're her older brother, it's different. Sisters can be more supportive. Whereas you're just overprotective as fuck."
He narrows his eyes, preparing to deliver some sarcastic retort. "I'm sorry, was it not your sister about to bite my head off the day she found out about us?"
Damn, he got me there. "Fine, you win," I admit my defeat, rolling my eyes as I do so, "All I'm saying is to have a little faith in Kat and Grant. Everyone seems to think they're not right for each other but none of us have really seen how he is to her when it's just them two."
"All the more reason to be worried," he counters.
Well, that doesn't help. "I pity Sophie the day you find out she's decided to settle down with someone." Sticking my tongue out at him, he notices the move out of his peripheral vision and at a quick glance, does the same to me.
We quickly get off the topic before any more theories about what's going on with them can be drawn up. It's best to just leave it up to Kat to tell me and inevitably, I'd end up telling Beau only because I know he wouldn't tell anyone else and I'd have to rant to someone I know would be a locked box of secrets. He's my secret keeper and I'm his source of information. It's a win-win.
Only twenty minutes away from my house, he pulls into the parking lot of numerous stores. I perk up at the sight of Target, initially thinking we're going there. "No," he's quick to shut down my excitement without me even having to tell him where I'm looking. He knows my unhealthy obsession with Target. He's made the 'mistake' of coming along with me a few times by taking me seriously when I tell him I'd only be going in there for a few things and as if by magic we end up being there for a good two hours, cart full and only halfway through the school supplies section. Which I don't end up using most of, by the way, I just love stationery items. Home decor and stationery items are my fucking weakness. He knows this and now refuses to take me to Target.
He won't even fall for bribery anymore. That motherfucker is dead set on never stepping foot in that place ever again after I spent an hour fawning over the cutest notebooks I've ever seen.
He makes a sharp right turn, taking us further away from my personal heaven and to the other end of the parking lot. "Believe me," he starts off cockily, "you're gonna enjoy this way more than some fake ass plants."
"Don't come at my faux plants," I say defensively, "Not all of us have gardeners."
"Not all of us have a mini cactus in our bathrooms either," he chuckles.
Narrowing my eyes into the side of his head, I refute back, "Leave Dave out of this. He did nothing but exist." Yes, I did name my cactus Dave. Why? I'm not a hundred percent sure. It just happened to look like a 'Dave'.
He nods slowly, clearly mocking me in his head. He straightens out into a parking spot and shuts off the engine. "Now will you tell me where we're at?" I ask. This area is unfamiliar to me. I recognize passing by this shopping court, but only so that I could make a quick Target run and leave from there. I didn't think about these other smaller buildings.
Climbing out of the car with a snide grin on his face, I rush over to his side before he can take off to avoid answering my simple question. "Where are we?" I whine, pattering my feet on the ground.
With the slight tilt of his head, he inquires, "You really wanna know?"
Haven't I begged enough already? "Yes!" I smile broadly.
He leans forward a bit like he's about to tell me this big secret. It works though, because it prompts me to lean in closer as well. "We're getting a dog," he says, unable to prevent the big ol' smile from creeping onto his face. He's usually feigning indifference to most things, but dogs clearly are not one of those things. He can't contain his excitement and frankly neither can I.
I've never had a dog before. My parents were always too busy with their schedules to keep up with one and they didn't want to leave a dog at home alone for such long hours. Mariella is home all the time, only leaving the house to have lunch with her friends or to her yoga classes and morning runs. Other than that, she lounges around at home which explains why she's such a timid person. Their house is so quiet, so tranquil at times. I could only imagine if they had a library in their house. God, I don't think I'd ever leave.
It'd be good for Mariella to have a dog around to keep her company. Also give her something to look forward to other than her workout routines. Beau mentioned that she's wanted a dog for the longest time, but her excuse was she didn't know the first thing about being a good owner. It was pretty basic honestly. Dogs are the loyalest creatures you could ever come across and as long as you treat them with love, they'll be the most adoring things. So that reason wasn't totally believable. I was skeptical until Beau told me that the real reason they haven't had a dog until now is because Mason is allergic.
Knowing that asshole, he probably lied about that shit to find another way to control his wife. I don't voice it to Beau, but by the scowl on my face, he already knows I'm thinking it.
"Since he's hardly ever around anymore, I figured now would be the best time. That fucker could choke on dog hair for all I care. That dog would be doing us all a favor if anything," he scoffs as we approach the entrance to the shelter.
Tell me about it.
The receptionist at the front checks us in. I let Beau do all the talking in terms of what we're looking for. He knows Mariella a lot better than I do, that's his mum after all. He tells the woman behind the counter that we're looking for puppies preferably, which I already know will make the decision process even harder. How can someone look into the eyes of a puppy and not think it's the cutest thing ever? It's practically fucking impossible. I just know I'll fall in love with every dog I see, so I'll leave it to Beau to make the final decision.
We wait around in the lobby to be taken into the back where all the dogs are. Everytime the door opens either to let someone else pass through or to release a new dog owner with a bright smile on their faces, the sounds of barking echo from the halls. It's hard to tell how many dogs are back there. How many puppies there are at that. The abundance of choices will make finding the perfect little animal even harder nevermind all those options being equally adorable. Hence why I leave Beau to make the final decision and enjoy myself while I'm here. It's not everyday I'm surrounded by heartwarming puppies.
A short woman opens the door and calls out, "Beau." Both of us look up from our interlocked hands to face the woman. She kindly bids us through the doors and starts leading us through corridor upon corridor of dogs. Unlike most facilities I've heard about, these dogs are in cubicles rather than cages. Each cubicle has a window screen in the front with each dog's information on it. There's about two dogs in each room, depending on their size and how well they get along together. The lady tells us that for the most part, they try to get dogs adopted within a week of one another so the dog left behind wouldn't begin to miss its companion for too long, which I think is really sweet.
Beau keeps a protective hand at the small of my back as we make our way to the "puppy area". I try not to make our public displays of affection so obvious when it's only strangers around, but I still crave his touch in some form so I loop my hand around my side to lace our fingers together discreetly behind my back. It's all that I need, that soft sense of touch. No matter how subtle, it satisfies my need to have his skin warming mine. Our bodies are like magnets, I swear.
Behind another door towards the other side of the building, the sounds of barking and cries for attention get more high pitched. I have to hold in my excited squeals. I think this is one of my favorite dates ever.
Beau notices the excited gleam in my eyes, bringing a small smile to his lips. Resulting in one of his dimples poking out, I can't help but to reach up and poke the indent gently. While the woman helping us is turned around, of course.
She lets us step in before her and lingers in the open doorway. "I'll be just around the corner over there. If you both decide on a little one, me or one of my coworkers can grab 'em for you and you can take them home as early as today. Just tell us the name of the dog if you decide on one."
Doing the initial scan, I can hardly picture us walking out of here without a new pup. The very first dog I see is possibly that cutest little Pitbull I've ever laid my eyes on. With his big blue eyes and white triangle at the top of his head. Him and the other pitbull in the room are brothers. God I hope they don't get separated. They're just the most adorable things.
I fucking knew it was gonna be love at first sight.
"Ready, love?" Beau asks. The minute the woman is out of our sight, he leans down to kiss my cheek dotingly.
I tilt my head and allow my hand to fall on my hip. "Do you really have to ask?" I say obviously, "Of course I'm ready! Let's go, let's go, let's go!" Taking his hand in mine, I yank him down the long hallway. We've got a lot of ground to cover. And by that I mean dozens of puppies to fawn over and limited time to do so.
"How come you don't get this excited around me?" he points out with a childish pout. I'm too busy falling in love with a baby Maltese to feel any pity towards my boyfriend.
However, I do acknowledge him with my eyes still on the puppy as it chases around a red ball with his 'roommate'. "I do get excited to see you. But come on, they're puppies," I giggle, motioning to the cubicle. The red ball is too big to fit in their tiny mouths for every long. When one of them gets the ball into their mouth it rolls back out and the other one has the chance to go in and snatch it. They go back and forth like that the entire time, having the time of their lives.
"Look," he points to the papers taped to the other side of the window panel, "Cheese and Cracker," he chuckles at the corny duo.
We move on from those two and scan every little room. He's the only one keeping me from spending ten minutes at each room. Had that been the case, we would be here for hours. "Do you know what kinds of dogs your mom likes?" I questions, glancing at the names of every dog. Button, Rocky, Groot, Chicken and Waffle. Whoever named some of these names knew exactly what they were doing.
He shrugs, "I'm not sure about any breed specifically. I know for sure that she prefers smaller dogs."
"Oh," I point to a caramel-colored Chihuahua in the room beside us, "like that one?"
Immediately he shakes his head firmly, "Fuck no, anything but those shits." I swat his chest in reprimand for his colorful language.
"Hush! There's babies around." Passing by the small Chihuahua, I can't fathom his apparent hatred for it. How can he say no to those little puppy-dog eyes?
He rolls his eyes dramatically. "They're not babies, they're dogs," he corrects me. Like the two are any different. They both do little to nothing. But unlike newborns who wail, some of the time, unnecessarily, puppies whine for attention. Puppies are obviously the better option in my opinion.
"Same difference," I joke.
We continue down the same hallway, noting a few potential pups we can see ourselves taking back to his mother. We come to find out we really don't know much about what kind of dog she wants, if she prefers them timid or with a lot of personality. Whether she wants them low maintenance or high. We're basically relying on inclination to decide for us.
Toward the end of our first run through we stop at the end of the hallway to look over the list of names we put down on my phone. He insists that we make the best, well thought out decision, which is perfectly reasonable. This is a gift for his mom after all. If anything, I think it's cute how badly he wants her to love her new gift.
"Okay so we have Buffy, Milo, Pop, Sadie, and Piglet," I read through the bullet points. I expected to have double, even triple the amount we have by the time we got down to the end of the hallway, but along the way, Beau was the more rational one and took into account the dog's sizes when they'd grow and such. Somehow we managed to narrow it down to where we don't have dogs of the same breed on our list. It wouldn't make much of a difference which one we picked.
"I kind of wanna go back and look at them before we make a decision if that's okay," he requests anxiously, as if I'm to say no to that. His hands are now flipping over each other numerous times. I refrain from telling him how cute he looks when he's nervous. Then he'd make more of an effort to act like he's unfazed like he can even remotely convince me he isn't anxiously awaiting Mariella's reaction.
I love how much thought he puts into these things. He's always indifferent to everything, but when it comes to making someone he loves happy, he's an obvious nervous wreck. Shows even furthermore how much he cares.
Grabbing one of his fidgety hands, I nod whilst caressing the back of his hand in hopes of calming his nerves, "Of course, baby. You know I'd never miss out on a chance to gush over these pups some more." Adding an extra little bit of love in there, I bring his hand up to my lips and kiss the back of it, leaving behind a small trace of my tinted lip balm.
After going back and forth a bit, we eliminate Milo and Sadie because they're both have a mix of German Shepherd in them and there's a chance that they could grow up to be bigger than what we're looking for. That reason ticks off Buffy as well because she's a mix of a Golden Retriever and a Poodle so more than likely she'll be on the taller scale.
That narrows it down to Piglet and Pop. "We should just get both," I huff like a child, "Their names both start with 'P'," I offer, to which he scoffs jokingly.
"We've never had one dog, let alone two."
"Okay, well how about this, I'll take Pop and you'll take Piglet and I'll just hide Pop when my parents are home," I negotiate with a naive smile. Maybe in Beau's house we'd be able to get away with hiding a dog. We could easily let the dog roam free in one of the guest bedrooms and nobody would be none the wiser. Except for maybe the staff. In my house, hiding a pet would be one hell of a task. I have better chances hiding a hamster than I do a hyperactive puppy.
And Beau knows this. Which is why, for the sake of my well-being, he won't encourage this little idea of mine. "Yeah, right. Pop will end up pissing somewhere and then what will you tell your parents? 'Sorry for the accident'?" he chuckles at his own joke.
"You ass." Nudging his side against my hip, the action elicits laughter from both of us. "Guess I'll have to mooch off of you for puppy cuddles," I say in mock disappointment. Any reason to be with him more often.
"Do my cuddles mean nothing to you?" His free hand smacks onto his chest like I'd told him something far worse. A sad frown takes over his pretty face and I shift onto my toes to kiss it away.
"They mean everything to me, baby," I murmur into his neck. Settling back down on my feet, I gesture to Piglet's room just a few doors down. "Let's go spy on the little guy shall we?"
Nodding to the room, he agrees, "Lead the way."
We approached the cubicle for the second time. Piglet is a pure French Bulldog. Surprising, considering he's in a shelter awaiting to be adopted. I assume he hasn't been here all that long. Either that or he's some terrible nightmare that scares potential owners away. His gray fur coat is sleek and a stunning comparison to his matching gray eyes. He's a few months shy of a year old, so he's in that awkward stage where he's not yet fully aware of his size. Specifically his paws. The little pads seem far too big to match the rest of him, so when he walks it looks more like a clumsy waddle. His little profile says he loves rolling around in the grass, his favorite toy is the chew toy filled with treats that spill out on occasion, and he loves people. He seems like a total sweetheart and personally, I'm vouching for him.
When we get a peek into the cubicle, we spot the infamous Piglet lying on his roomie. Belly up, limbs hanging awkwardly in the air, his ears perked up high, and his tongue hanging out the side of his mouth as he tries to catch his breath. I'm sure he is a handful, but he's cute so he gets a pass.
"Look at him," I gush, "A total sweetheart."
"He looks like a fucking crackhead," Beau chuckles, the complete opposite of what I was trying to get at.
Suddenly, Piglet notices us standing there and wastes no time rushing up to the window to get a better look. The other dog, relieved, moved to the corner of the room to try to get some shut eye while Piglet barks his head off at us. Almost like he's talking to us.
A dog with one hell of a personality. Surely Piglet will keep us all on our toes. I can imagine a dull moment never going by with that little guy around.
"You thinking what I'm thinking?" Beau acknowledges, grinning in humor over the sweet thing.
I jerk my head to the side, facing him. "Uh, yeah! Wait...are you fucking with me?" I make certain that he isn't, he better not be as cruel as to get my hopes up over a cute little dog.
To amplify my excitement, he shakes his head, "Not at all." He scoffs down at me on disbelief as I wave my hand at the little one. Piglet does a little twirl for us while his tail wags like crazy. It's like he knows we've picked him.
Conveniently, a store worker checking in on the dogs passes by. Beau calls for her attention and let's her know that we'd like to adopt Piglet. Almost immediately, her face lights up in pure joy at the name. Piglet must be quite notorious around here with a personality like that.
She takes us to the front to sign off on a couple forms while someone else gets Piglet ready to be carried off. I can't help but to clutch onto Beau's arm while he signs off on all the forms, needing that comfort that comes with him by my side.
I'm incredibly ecstatic that we came and did this today. Not only was it a good thing for Mariella; she needs that companion in her midst. Being at home all day essentially by herself, with the exception of the staff, I'm sure can get lonely. She needs something that'll liven up her day to day routine and this puppy will undoubtedly do exactly that. What makes it even better is that if she ends up adoring Piglet, which is practically a given, it'd make Beau happy to make his mother happy. It's not often he doesn't gestures like these for his mom and sister, but as of late, he's seemed to grow more accustomed to doing these things.
A more underlying reason for why I'm glad today worked out like how it did is that it gave me and Beau yet another chance to reconnect again. I think these kinds of outings give us more of a rush than we care to admit. It feels like the beginning stages of our blooming relationship all over again. Our days have this unexplained newness to them. They're special, meant to be treasured in our memories. I'll never forget adopting a dog with Beau. And I have photo evidence from last night to make sure that night lives on. I adore this new 'us'. The version of ourselves that isn't burdened by dishonesty and secrets. This is exactly what we needed. A good day out on the town, doing normal things like going out for dinner and adopting a dog. As much as I love being at home with him, at whoever's house that may be, I love showing him off in public just as much.
We never used to be able to do that sort of thing before.
Returning to sit back down to await Piglet's grand arrival, I put my head on Beau's shoulder and release a soft sigh. Today was great. My love glances down at me with untouched adoration in his green eyes. "You haven't stopped smiling," he observes in a hushed tone, only for the two of us to hear. I feel his head come down to rest on my head. Looking for dogs is definitely tiring.
"I'm happy to be here with you right now," I admit without a trace of reluctance in my voice. "I'm happy we got back together."
He nods in concurrence. "Me too, love. If only we could have seen ourselves like this a week ago." His finger trails aimlessly in my palm, brushing over every intricate line and crease. Subconsciously, he frowns at the crescent-shaped scabs in the palm of my hand. Frustration had gotten the best of me that week we spent apart from one another. I can't lie for his sake and pretend like I didn't blank out a few times. One moment I was totally aware of me and my surroundings. Next thing I knew, a half hour had gone by and my sheets were bloodied by the scars present on my hands. And I couldn't remember a thi no matter how hard I tried.
I told Beau this when we first got back together. It didn't help us to rehash the things that went on during the week we weren't in each other's orbits, but we each knew we had gone through some dire shit. That couldn't simply be brushed under the rug and swept away like nothing.
I flip my hand around so he wouldn't have to see those marks anymore. Instead, I continue on with our conversation, "I was so convinced I'd never have this again," I murmur, "but now that I do, I want us to make the most of it."
Abruptly cutting us off, the woman at the front desk calls for Beau and again, we both look up. My face lights up when I see Piglet at the door, wagging his tail and out of breath from all his excitement.
Beau turns to me for a quick second and mutters, "Me too, pretty baby."
God, I love that nickname.
"Hi!" I say in a chirpy voice reserved for only dogs and babies. They dressed up little Piglet for us in a harness with a little bow tie on his chest. The woman hands Beau a list of the things she recommends grabbing for him on our way back to his place, which means a Target run.
In a voice similar to mine, the lady walking a senseless Piglet out to us chimes in, "You ready to meet your new owners boy? Come on, I know you are." She brings him over to us and hands me the leash. Before she can even do that, he's sniffing mine and Beau's shoes and licking us excitedly.
"Oh my god, he's adorable," I coo. Leaning down more to his level, I get a good look at Piglet. He looks even more cute up close. I keep a firm hold on the leash and use my free hand to pet his tiny head. What's most humorous is that not only do his paws look five times too big for him, but so do his ears. Could he stay like this forever?
I can't take it. I pick him up under his delicate arms and hold him close to my chest. He leans up to reach my chin and gives me a few playful licks.
As we walk out of the shelter, Piglet becomes more curious of Beau. He swears like he won't be holding this dog for shit, but he ends up carrying him like a little baby all the way back to the car.
It's safe to say I'm pretty jealous.
I'm eager to take him back do the rest of the drive to Beau's house. I set him down in my lap and after a while he tires himself out and knocks out on the cushion of my thighs. "He's a crack dog. You got us a crack dog," Beau chuckles, occasionally glancing at Piglet's exhausted little body.
"Shh," I coo, gently soothing my hand over his belly.
Lowering his voice doesn't stop Beau from teasing me any less for treating this dog like it's a child. "He's gonna drive us insane." Beau absentmindedly puts his hand over my knee as he always does when we're in a car together. Piglet stirs in his sleep, opening one eye slightly to see what's taking up space on his personal bed. After shifting around a bit, he sits down right on Beau's hand and makes the rest of his body comfortable on my lap.
Someone's getting a little possessive.
"Did he..." Beau trails off with a light disbelieving laugh. He moves his hand out from under the dog's bum and moves it higher up my thigh where Piglet can't reach. Similarly to last time, the dog stirs once more, opens one eye, turns around and plops down on Beau's hand again. This time with a little irritated huff as he drifts into his sleep.
"Watch it," Beau says in a warning tone, returning his hand to the steering wheel, "she's mine."
"You can share," I giggle at his possessive behavior coming into play over a puppy. I doubt Piglet is even aware of what he's doing.
"Uh, I most certainly cannot," Beau denies stubbornly. He continues to throw glares at the innocent little angel in my lap for the rest of the drive. A rivalry between the two of them, man and dog. I'd like to see where this goes.
By the time we pull into Beau's garage, Piglet is wide awake and anticipating his new home. This is quite the upgrade from the square room he was confined to. While the little guy was lucky enough to not be trapped in a four-by-four cage like most other dogs, he definitely hasn't seen nothing yet. The front bathroom alone is probably bigger than what he's used to.
I shift Piglet off my lap to set him down on the ground before I climb out of the car. He wants no time sniffing around curiously and in turn, yanking on the leash to get me to hurry. "Relax," I laugh, giving him a nice rub on his back and a little leeway on the leash.
"I see I've been replaced," Beau grumbles tersely, pulling my attention back to him.
"Shut up," I giggle, shoving his arm lightly, "you're not replaced, you're just set aside for now."
He makes a pfft sound from his lips. "Oh great, thanks. Nice to know you love me unconditionally." As he says his words animatedly, I close the separation between us to peck his lips in a fleeting kiss.
"I do love you, baby. Unconditionally." His lips brush over mine as I speak my gentle words. Our fingers find each other in his lap, lacing together upon instinct.
A small bark shatters the silence of our tranquil moment. Both of us whip our heads to look at Piglet, whose ears are perked up in curiosity and oversized paws are on the car holding him up. I let go of Beau's hand, which makes him grumble a low complaint as I move to grab Piglet.
"Hi, baby," I coo sweetly. As I'm rubbing the back of his ear, he fixes a dead set stare on Beau. If dogs could speak I'd bet he'd be laughing at Beau's scowl.
Beau doesn't relent his stare at the innocent puppy either. They're both in a viscous stare down...over me. Now that's something I never thought I'd experience. "Let's go take him inside." He leans closer to little Piglet, getting in his face as he enunciates, "I'd like my girl back."
Piglet growls lowly in response.
Beau scoffs, "We should have gotten a cat."
Sometimes he forgets to lock his car, so I grab his keys before we leave. I try handing Piglet's leash off to Beau for a quick second so I can grab the paperwork Beau so carelessly threw in the backseat, but Piglet obviously isn't having it. They're having one of their little jealous disagreements right now apparently. Piglet let out a small bark in protest. He's got that "pretty privilege" thing going for him so I automatically adhere to his wishes and hoist him up into my arms while I grab the paperwork. Much to Beau's annoyance.
I know for a fact Sophie isn't home so it leaves me, Beau, his mom, and the afternoon staff preparing dinner. We're able to keep Piglet a secret to an extent without Sophie creating such an excited fuss.
After a few minutes of searching, we find Mariella in her "study". Which is where she does all her aromatherapy and relieves the absolute headache that is her marriage. I let Beau walk in before me and Piglet, so I remain quietly waiting outside the door.
Definitely not to eavesdrop...
"Hi, Mum," Beau says with an audible smile in his voice.
"Hey, sweet pea, what's going on? You look awfully cheery." I hear Mariella's tender voice. It seems to get softer and kinder when she's talking to her son. It's adorable honestly. Sweet pea...never in a million years would I have thought Beau let himself be called that nickname.
I'm sure the humbleness in Beau's voice isn't just there, it's on the bashful look on his face right at this moment. For someone I thought so arrogant at some point, he gets really anxious about giving gifts to people he cares about. "I was just out for a bit," he shrugs off, attempting to be casual. I know his nerves are going haywire and he's got a good way of hiding them too. From years of practice I think.
Mariella chuckles to herself, "With Jo, I presume?" The smug note in her voice brings both a warmth to my heart and a pit to my stomach. That heavy feeling outweighs the innocent flutters when I remind myself of that unfortunate scene at breakfast the morning after me and Beau went a bit overboard in our hotel room. Even that broad term doesn't cover everything that went down that night.
Or that morning.
Beau laughs shyly, "Yes, Mum, with Jo."
"I'm happy you two are back together again. You've always been so good together," she gushes. Hell, if only his mom knew all the shit it took to get us to this point. All of the things we had to fight through in order to be where we are today. Anyone who didn't know any better would think with the amount of problems me and Beau have overcome together, we'd have been together for years as opposed to mere months. That fact astounds me especially now as we near our 'three month anniversary'. It feels like it's been so much longer. Not in a bad way, just in a sense that life has already tested us with so many things. One would think they would have torn us apart by now, but here we are.
We've weathered our storms and come out stronger in the end.
As much as I would love to erase our tumultuous history, it'd also erase the memories that came about because of it. So while we will always have our dramatic deal and hatred to thank for the love we have today, it's not particularly something we'd like to go in depth to with his mother. In fact, I like that she sees us through rose-colored vision. Someone has to. "Thanks." The nervousness in Beau's voice is even more obvious now after her comment. "Listen, I got you something today."
"What's the occasion?" Mariella asks, intrigued.
"A 'thank you' gift, I guess," Beau responds nonchalantly, "For putting up with so much shit from me all these years."
"I'm your mum, I'm supposed to." A wave of silence passes and I'm assuming she took him into a hug. I take a quick peek around the corner and sure enough, she's taken him into her motherly arms. Luckily, Beau's the one facing the door. He catches my eye and the evident smile crossing his lips grows.
We mouth a quick "Love you," before he and his mom pull away and I jolt back into place. My abrupt flich causes Piglet to whine a little. I run my hand gently on his tiny head to soothe his head back down. His ears stick right up so they brush against the side of my jaw. They're soft, just like the rest of him.
This puppy can do no wrong in my eyes.
Beau calls me in. I wait a bit to make it seem to Mariella like I wasn't eavesdropping, but Beau already knows that I in fact was, which is why he's grinning knowingly at the pause I take before stepping into the room.
Mariella turns away from Beau to face me and a squirming Piglet. I set him down on the ground and unhook his leash. For a puppy, he's damn smart. The second he's released, he dashes off to Matha's side and begins to sniff her legs and paw at her lap. With the brightest of smiles on her face, she takes Piglet into her hands and sets him down on her lap. "Oh!" she laughs in surprise as Piglet hops up on her chest and starts licking her face.
Did I not say there wouldn't be a dull moment whenever Piglet's around?
"Thank you so much," Mariella gushes, pulling her son in for a quick side hug. Piglet snaps his head to the side at the sight of Beau. Beau returns with a subtle glare. I can't even tell if this is a joke anymore or if they're actually newfound enemies.
Mariella doesn't seem to notice, which is good. We don't need her questioning this little rivalry between her son and her new puppy. "What's his name?" she asks me.
"Piglet." Piglet the French Bulldog. Today is just full of surprises.
Beau gets up and circles back to my side. He puts an aimless hand on the small of my back, causing me to glance up at him. "You're the sweetest," I murmur. I kiss the pads of two fingers and press them both against the apple of his cheek. Being that his mother is still very much present in the room, we have to keep our affection to a minimum. Though I know as soon as we're out of sight, I'm kissing the living shit out of those pretty lips.
"We still have to get a few things for him. Food and all that," Beau says, but Mariella couldn't give an absolute fuck. She's currently holding Piglet up on his hind legs and bouncing him on her lap. His tail wags in uttermost happiness. This has got to be a thousand times better than the shelter.
Mariella gives us one last thank you before we leave the room to let her enjoy her new companion. I really hope they take a liking to one another. Mariella needs that constant bubble of energy in her life. What better bubble of energy is there than a loyal puppy. Dogs never disappoint, making them way too good for the insanity and chaos in this world. The least we humans can do to repay them for the messes we've caused is give them our sincere love. That's all a dog needs is love.
Like I mentally promised, I pulled Beau out into the hallways and kissed him, hard. "You did good today, love," I say a small praise into our kiss.
His arms circle around my waist, deepening his lips into mine. He pulls away from me with a small smack passing between us and leans against the wall behind him. "I'm proud of you," I whisper, snaking my hands under the hem of his shirt to touch his bare back. From there I can feel the warmth of his soft skin radiating across my fingertips.
His hand comes up to my face to brush a stray piece of hair behind my ear. "I'm proud of you too, love. Not just for your honesty with me today but for all the progress you've made these past few days." My face shyly falls into the crook of his neck, not wanting him to see how much I'm blushing at his words. "I don't say it much, but I appreciate what you're doing. I appreciate you choosing to love me." His fingers find their way underneath my chin to tilt my head up to gaze at him.
"And I'm incredibly thankful for the chance you've given me to be better for you." I take his hand away from my jaw and lazily hold it in mine, brushing my fingertips in his palm. "I promise I won't ever take that for granted."
We stayed that way for a bit, his arm around my waist and our connected hands tangling together aimlessly. Saying nothing to each other. Just wanting to be around one another, in each other's orbits.
He stands fully upright and encases my frame with both of his arms. "I need cuddles, baby," he pouts.
What he asks he shall happily receive. From there we race up to his room, lock the door behind us, and fuck up his perfectly made bed for some perfectly good snuggles. And the only thing I could think about was how incredibly lucky we were to find this and keep that in our grasp for nearly three whole months.
Three fucking incredible months that I would never take back. Not a single second.
a/n
hey loves!! another Friday, another update for ya. sometimes the simpler chapters are great yk...not having to worry about anything besides the story...nothing getting in the way of these two...these domestic ones are gonna be the death of me 🤧 anywho I put the picture up there in case any confusion arose from Piglet's description ugh! Isnt he so adorable, and believe me y'all are gonna be living for this rivalry between Beau and Piglet.
I'll be back next week for the new update! The thing that was going on that made me sort of distant from my writing is gone now sooo we're back to our regularly schedules programming ☺️