We didn't bring up the day before today.
We just went through breakfast as usual, laying in bed for hours on end but now I was sitting on his lap.
His shirt i'd slept in over me and his sweats on him as I cut his hair, he played with my hair, definitely bored as I cut his hair on the floor, just little bits because I liked that he had a few wavy strands of hair that fell to his eyebrows.
"Are you okay there buddy?" I teased him, kissing his cheek but he only just shrugged. "Im kinda hungry."
I snorted at that, finding it funny that he was like a bored kid right now. "We'll go down to eat after."
"Im not talking about food."
I blush but roll my eyes, "You're a menace, Emrhys." I mumbled and he chuckled as he leaned forward and kissed a path along my jaw which made me smile.
"I think im gonna dye my hair again, don't know what color though."
He nodded, still playing with my hair distractedly and I blinked. "Is that okay?"
"Don't be stupid."
I poked his cheek and he rolled his eyes. "I like that you change your hair a lot, its cute."
"Cute?" I grumbled the word out, as if cute was the opposite of what it actually meant and he smirked. "Yes so cute."
"You're on thin ice Blackburn."
He snorted and I shook my head as I cut the last bit and ran my hands through his hair, messing it up a little before I tilted his head back, intentionally running my hands down from his hair to his jaw as I tilted his head and back up and he rolled his eyes.
I smiled, getting onto my knees to lean over him to get the tubs sprayer attached to the wall just to wash his hair out again but he just lifted my shirt, kissing over my ribs.
"Im gonna get you naked if you don't finish this quickly."
I rolled my eyes but my body grew warm in anticipation, wondering if I should just intentionally be slow. "Uh huh, alright." I hummed out, running my fingers through his hair as he lifted the shirt up even more, kissing below at the curve of my breasts causing a shiver to run up my spine.
With one hand he lifted it just enough to get both nipples out, sucking on one of my pebbled nipples, his tongue tracing over the skin and my center throbbed.
"R-rhys what're you doing?"
He lifted my shirt off my body completely before I could even so much as stop him and I dropped the sprayer into the tub, just about to let my hands dart over my exposed flesh, "Rhys!"
"Shh, just keep going." He told me as he sucked my breast into his mouth, running his hands up my sides before I moaned without meaning to, hips bucking and grinding down on him before his lips found way up my neck, his fingers playing with my nipples, pinching it lightly.
I move my hands out of his hair and to the back of his neck as I got down on his lap again and he kissed the side of my jaw softly, licking over his lips.
"Stop."
He groans and rolls his eyes but stops kissing me immediately which makes me smile, "Are we gonna see your mom today?"
He nodded and I breathed out, playing with the ends of my own hair. "I hope she likes me." I say as I move closer and wrap my arms around him, pressing my cheek to his chest and he ran a hand down my naked back in a reassuring motion, his hand rubbing up and down my spine.
"She will, everyone likes you."
"Maybe, maybe not." I say with a shrug as I leaned back and grabbed the shirt from the floor but he grabbed it at the same time as me and didn't let go.
"Rhys." I scold and he shook his head, leaning down and capturing my lips against his again, I smiled but pulled the shirt harder from him when his grip on it weakened mid kiss.
I stood up, yawning lightly as I got to my feet and put the shirt back on, flicking my hair up in triumph that I'd actually got the shirt out his grip.
"You can shower first, I need to mentally prepare myself for today."
***
"I think im gonna be sick." I murmured as we went over a bump. "Actually I think im gonna throw up, but im hungry so what the hell?"
"You sound pregnant."
I almost choked on air itself. "So sorry to disappoint but my IUD has been working its magic Blackburn."
He hums, "How unfortunate, i'd love to have tinier idiots who are just like you." He says dryly and even if its a joke I glared at him and he rolled his eyes with a small smirk.
"You're way too nervous, drink water or sleep."
"Thanks doc."
He didn't respond and I laid my head on the center console. "I think its funny."
"What is?"
"That im so scared, I meet people everyday, hell I talk to like everyone."
"True and you need to stop doing that." He says, sending me a look of scorning.
"Why would I stop?" I ask him curiously.
"Serial killers exist."
"Oh hush." I mumbled out, playing with my bracelets and he shook his head at me.
"I think im being stupid."
"Yes but no."
I rolled my eyes as the car came to a stop and I screeched with it. "We're here already?"
"No, just gas idiot, stop worrying."
"You called me an idiot, twice." I grumble out and he kissed my cheek, moving my hair out my face before he got out the car.
I laid there and waited for him, but as I did, I thought back to last night and I blinked.
I love you.
Goodness, my cheeks flared and I pressed my thighs together to stop the ache for him. Even if we were dating memories of what we'd done last night brought heat to my body and veins, leaving me breathless, every single time, as if it was the very first time all over again.
Before we fell asleep early in the morning he told me he loved me again, tracing the exact outline of my birth mark without even so much as looking at it, I didn't reply even after he kissed my cheek.
I swallowed hard now, closing my eyes for a few seconds before the car door opened and he dropped a can of strawberry juice on my lap and I smiled at it
I loved anything that had strawberries in it. And he knew it, he told me he knew it.
"Thank you." I love you. I think but don't say it.
He hummed, driving again as I sat up straight in my seat, opening the can and taking a long sip. "How's Adair doing now?" I asked, remembering the proposal.
"He said he wasn't really surprised, I assume he wasn't disappointed either."
I nodded, taking another sip.
"I think Max probably cared more."
I nodded again, "I get that." I would probably care more than Rhys if the same thing had happened to us.
"Yeah, she's always been like that."
I looked to him. "Always?"
He nods a single nod, "My brother dated Max since junior year in high school."
My jaw admittedly dropped. "And they're only getting married now?"
He shrugged, "We saw our father with too many women to count, he didn't want to make the same mistake, bring children into the mess too, and if you're right and she's pregnant maybe its a good thing they did wait."
True.
"Did it bother you?" I ask him, genuinely interested in hearing how he'd felt even if it was long ago.
He seems to think about it for a second before he shakes his head, "Maybe when I was younger, don't tell Ambrose but he really fucking helped." He said with a shake of his head and I smiled at the mention of my brother.
I'd began to miss him.
"How?"
"We all lived together till we were eighteen, so Ambrose and I moved out after high school and we got our own place when we started college, only moving to separate places after we finished, he helped me get away from the shit and eventually I just let it go, even if after a year or two he hated my guts."
I cocked my head to the side, focusing more on the last part of his sentence, "Why?"
He looked to me. "Huh?"
"Why'd he hate you?"
He blinked before looking away to the road, rubbing a hand down his jaw, "He slept with Frankie a few years ago."
My jaw dropped and if I was driving the car I know I would've surely swerved.
"What?"
"They liked one another."
"Oh wow." I was not at all expecting that duo. I knew both of them well and I couldn't even picture them together.
He nodded, "They were gonna date, but shit happened and they didn't and he hated me for sometime till he got over it a few months later, around the time he met Kiana."
I nodded as I looked out the window, "So what happened to make him hate you exactly?"
"I told him he can't date her."
I whipped my head around to look at him, "What!"
"In my defense, no one wants their best friend to be fucking their little sister."
"Oh yeah, you should know." I told him dryly and he rolled his eyes, "This is different."
"How?"
"I love you, he didn't love Frankie, and it wouldn't have worked."
I love you. I think that was my new favorite words.
The I, and the love, also the you.
Such a perfect sentence.
"How do you know?" I ask him, my tone one of prying.
"He loves Kiana now, so?"
I rose a brow. "So what? What if he loved Frankie then?"
"He didn't."
"How do you know, Rhys?"
He looked to me, raising a brow, "Are you angry?"
"A little, because what you did was really wrong." I say with a quirk of my own brow, trying to make him understand why it ticked me off a little.
"I did what was right for Frankie, she was eighteen, she didn't know what she wanted, she was too young."
"She did."
"Calliope, believe me, she didn't."
"She did!" I hiss.
"She did not."
"How do you know!"
"She's lesbian." He told me without so much as flinching and my eyes widened before I shook my head. "Wait what? No, Frankies bisexual."
Like Luxe.
"No she's not, Frankie is lesbian."
I rose a brow at him. "How would you know?"
He sighed before he started talking again, "She told me once when she got cheated on, she couldn't go home cause she was shit faced drunk, so she came to my place and that night she told me, she doesn't remember but she was like around eighteen and it was before they slept together, I have no idea why she had sex with Ambrose, I think she was just confused at the time, but it wasn't love, and she knows now that she doesn't like guys, she just doesn't talk about it, but I know my sister."
I stared at him, a little embarrassed at my outburst but I wanted to know and it was too late to take it back, "Oh."
"Yeah."
"Im really sorry for making you tell me that."
He rolled his eyes but he didn't look angry, parking the car and I almost gasped at the realization that we'd been talking for so long that we were now here. "Its okay Calli, just you know, don't tell anyone."
I nodded, "Okay, promise."
He lifted my chin back up and kissed my lips softly, "And stop worrying beautiful."
I actually had stopped worrying as soon as we started talking about the Frankie and my brother situation.
So maybe this would all be fine.
***
Or not.
"Rhys." I mumbled as I walked up with him beside me, both of us walking to the french country cottage and he nodded, looking over to me.
"Are you okay?" I ask.
He rose a brow but nodded, "Yeah, why?"
I brought my hand into his. "Just making sure." I told him and he tugged me closer, almost making me stumble to the side and fall when he caught me by waist, turning me and kissing me so deeply that I almost fell back on my ass, "Rhys!"
"I really love you."
I smiled against his lips. "Uh huh."
He hummed into my mouth "And I can't wait to take you home and get your clothes off." He said, prying my lips open and I gasped, "We're in front of your mothers house!" I hiss softly.
"Im pretty sure im old enough to kiss my girlfriend."
"On my lawn Em?"
I pushed back at that, just to see an amused woman looking over at us, with yellow gloves over her hands and dirt on her overalls. She rose a brow at him, taking the gloves off.
"Never old enough for that."
He rolled his eyes at her but I could tell he was happy to see his mother, who might I say, was a very beautiful woman.
She looked exactly the same as the pictures, just more mature and you could tell that Frankie, Bolt and Rhys were most definitely her kids with her curly brown hair and blue eyes.
"Im so sorry Mrs-" Was the first words to leave my mouth and she smiled, overall harmless, and completely genuine. "Ms Auclair, but just Beth is fine."
Short for Elizabeth. We were own shortened name basis. Okay, this is good, I can do this.
I nodded. "Im Calliope, or-"
"Dylan." She finished for me as she sent a brief nod over to the inside of her house with a smile and I blinked, nodding slowly at that as we followed her in, his hand still in mine and I think I preferred it that way.
"Yeah... Dylan." I dragged out my own name just as she closed the door behind us and we walked further inside, "I met Ambrose a quite few times honey."
I blushed as I turned around. "Oh." Of course she has.
"Im surprised you're dating Ambrose's sister, you've always enjoyed staying out of trouble."
He scoffed, "Im an adult."
"You Em, you are a moron." She corrected him, her french accent visible as ever as she spoke and I almost snorted at the teasing.
"Took you so damn long to visit me." She says and looks to him over her shoulder.
"I visited you in the beginning of the year." He mumbled as she walked past us, briefly slapping his shoulder and he rolled his eyes making me smile as I walked along with the two.
I kept looking around the house and smiling lightly at the comfort within these walls, the floors were wooden, and the stairs too, there was also a row of pictures on the walls and I felt like bursting when I saw younger Rhys's pictures.
From school pictures to pictures with his brother and sister, to pictures of him and his mom.
All were so damn cute.
It felt warm inside here, even if there was no heater on and it was middle winter, it was the warmth of a comfort only a mothers home could bring.
"This is where you'd raise kids." I say softly as I leaned closer to his side and he looks to me, "Im happy you were here till you were a little older."
He brought my hand to his lips, kissing it softly, no answer but I knew it meant a lot to him from that little gesture, he just had no idea what to say.
That was just him.
"Did you see Bolt and Frankie already?"
She made a sound similar to an 'eh,' as she walks around the kitchen counter before she continued speaking, "Frankie popped in with Lila yesterday, Bolt is coming tomorrow, not surprising that my kids are never in one place." She mumbled off and shot me a playful wink making me smile at her.
"Thats a lie." He said as we sat down on the barstools in the beautiful ranch styled kitchen, I leaned my elbows onto the granite counter top and she shook her head as she got out glasses.
"I haven't seen all three of you in once place since Frankie's graduation."
He scoffed. "And that is excessive."
"I will pinch you boy."
"This is why I visit only twice a year." He mumbled as she brought the glasses with lemonade and I pinched him causing him to flick my hand away. "Thank you Dylan."
I grinned. "No problem, I look for excuses to hurt him."
She burst out laughing at that and the ends of his lips twitched into a smile as my cheeks reddened.
"Does he annoy you?"
"I barely talk, how am I annoying?" He asked dryly, even if he was definitely somewhat defensive.
"That is such a lie." I told him with a narrow of my gaze, my head falling to the side.
"I only talk to you Calli."
"Thats the point boy." Beth said, pushing a glass over to him and he sighed, taking the glass and drinking the contents. "You annoy her."
"I do not." He says, licking over his bottom lip, a cute little habit.
"You've never asked me if you annoy me."
"I'll just leave you here if you prefer my mothers company."
My smile only widens.
"She'd prefer my company anyway."
"True." I said, leaning on the counter.
"Okay im going to Birch."
I rose a brow as I looked away from Rhys and to his mom. "Who's Birch?"
"My dog." She said, "He's in the garden, Em."
Em.
That nickname was so damn cute.
Rhys nodded, kissing my cheek softly before he walked away and I watched him till he was out of sight. I looked back ahead to the woman and she sighed as she took out a pie from the oven.
"Im not sure if you knew i'd come with Rhys actually." I told her honestly and she smiled. "I knew."
I cocked my head to the side, "Oh?"
She nods, "He told me about you, a little but still, you know how Rhys is."
I smiled, I felt a warmth spread from my chest to my cheeks knowing he talked about me. "Yeah, I understand."
She nodded, wiping her hands off with a cloth. "Does Ambrose know yet?"
I blushed for the reason being that he didn't know and shook my head. "Not yet, no."
She smiled reassuringly which was exactly what I needed in that moment. "I get it, don't worry."
I nodded, pushing my hair back from my face and behind my ears, happy she didn't push for more of an explanation, "I think he likes it here more than Miami."
"Really?" She asked me as she came around to sit beside me.
I nodded, "In some way." I told her, "Or maybe its the lack of work related stress."
She nodded at my words, definitely agreeing with that part. "Definitely has to do with that that, but maybe he just likes being here with you."
I smile at that, playing with my bracelets around my wrists.
"I know you own a bakery." She says, pulling the pie over the counter and closer to us, "So I hope you like this, I'm no baker though."
I grin, "It probably tastes good, it looks good."
She grins back, taking a plate and sliding it over to me and I stand up, getting the knife from the knife block as I walk around and cut a piece of the pie.
"Can I ask you something?"
She nods, "Sure."
"Has Rhys ever like, dated anyone before me?" I had no idea and I didn't really know how to slide that into a conversation, after asking him if he was in love and he was so sure he wasn't, it felt like he would be just as vague with the, have you dated anyone else, question.
She shakes her head, "Nope, he wasn't much of a dater his entire life to be honest."
Im not surprised. We were opposites in a lot of our ways.
I was a dater all my life, I liked being in a relationship, having someone to come home to talk to and see everyday. I think that sometimes I just didn't like being alone.
Rhys liked being alone but for some reason he liked being alone with me now. But I liked that too.
"So he has never had girls over?" I ask her, very much not believing that and she snorts, "Oh no that has happened, when he did stay here during summer holidays, I can say it was very, very awkward to find college girls leave your seventeen year olds bedroom at six in the morning."
I can't help but laugh as my eyes widen in realization of what exactly she meant, "Oh my gosh, no!"
"Yes." She nods, "I just ignored it, he was seventeen and bored and he kept his grades up so it didn't really matter as long as none of them came back pregnant, which thank God, none were."
I giggle, shaking my head at the thought. "Was he always blunt though?"
"Yep, from young, I think thats why he didn't date anyone, poor girls would've been leaving my house in tears."
I smile, maybe that was true for long ago, but for now it wasn't. He's so damn sweet to me, but I guess that came after being able to handle just how aloof he could be too.
I nod in understanding, I knew he has always been damned handsome so even if he hadn't been in relationships he definitely had access to the other stuff.
I shake my head. Finishing the piece of my pie with a soft sigh, "It was really amazing."
"You woo me." She says and I giggle softly, pushing back on the chair, "Are there flowers in the back?"
She shakes her head, "Why?"
"Allergic to pollen."
She oh's in realization, "Nope, all in front, do you wanna see Birch?"
I nod and she smiles, sending me a short nod back, "Yeah you can go out the back white door."
I nod, dusting my hands over my pants as I stand up, walking and opening the door and walk outside, looking to see the medium sized dog beside Rhys.
Rhys was on a call, his back to me as he sat on the patio and I sit beside him, kissing his arm softly.
When he looks to me, I look to the dog that comes over to my side instead, nuzzling against my side and I stroke its head softly.
I can hear my brothers voice on the other end of the phone and I lean closer into Rhys, trying to hear what he was saying.
Rhys passes me the phone knowingly and I grin from ear to ear, taking it and putting to my ear.
"Hello!"
"Oh hey, you're with Rhys at his moms?"
I blink, obviously trying not to blurt out a suspicious of course. "Well yeah, I met her, she's really nice."
He hums, "She is, did you meet Birch?"
"He, or she, not sure what Birch is yet, is on my lap as we speak."
He chuckles at that and I smile even if Birch gets up and runs across the lawn at the sound of a passing car, "I'll talk to you later, stop making Rhys work."
He snorts on the other end, "Awfully protective over the one guy you can't seem to see eye to eye with?"
My eyes widen because of course I wanted my boyfriend to just not work for a week away from work, but I couldn't exactly tell my brother that, "Uh-"
He chuckles once again, "Im kidding, have fun, i'll see you tomorrow."
"Tomorrow?"
"Rhys has to come back tomorrow, I assumed you would too."
I frown. I really wanted to be here longer but of course i'd go back with Rhys.
"Okay, yeah well i'll see you tomorrow then."
He hums, ending the call just as I pass the phone back to Rhys and he takes it.
"Your mom is the sweetest person to exist."
"Told you." He says as I lay my head on his arm, watching Birch run around, chasing his, or her own tail.
I look up to Rhys and he kisses my lips softly almost immediately, a smile making its way to me face, kissing him back, my hands moving to his jaw and kissing him harder till I move back a little.
"I love you." I say as soon as our lips are no longer touching and he blinks once.
And I swear, his cheekbones tint red too and I gasp, my hands dropping to his shoulders.
"You're blushing!"
"No, I'm not." He says with a roll of his eyes.
"You are, you blushed!"
He blinks, shaking his head, "You're seeing things." He replies as he presses his palm over my eyes and darkness meets me but I just grab it and kiss his palm.
Leaning closer and kissing his cheeks repeatedly too.
"I love you so so so much Rhys." I say, grabbing his jaw and kissing his mouth again and he pushes my face away with a narrow of his eyes even if his lips twitch upward.
"Shut up."
I giggle, wrapping my arms around the back of his neck and laying my head on his shoulder, "Say it back."
"No."
"Aw come on." I mumble into his neck, kissing him repeatedly there and I feel him pinch my waist making me grin.
"Fine, you were not at all blushing because you love me so damn much."
"You're so annoying." He mumbles, as I move back and prop my chin up on his shoulder, "I am not annoying."
"You really are."
I smile, and he looks down to me, moving my hair away from my face and behind my ears, "You're so touchy today."
"Because I love you." I say softly.
He rolls his eyes, tipping my chin back and kissing my cheek softly making my smile widen, "I love you too Calli."
Ah, there it is, my favorite sentence.