"What?" I sit up sleepily, rubbing my eyes, trying to get my brain to focus.
"We broke up" there's more sniffling as she presumably rubs her eyes. "I went to visit him in the hospital every day and....and.... It's over."
"Why would he break up with you?" I ask, thinking that he found out about the cheating.
"He didn't break up with me, I broke up with him."
"Why would you do that? I thought you really liked him?"
"I do. I made a mistake at the beginning of our relationship but we talked through it and moved on from it."
"You mean cheating on him, right?"
"How did you know about that?" The sorrow is gone from her voice and replaced with surprise.
"You cheat on half the guys you're with." I state. It's not meant to be cruel, it's just a statement of a fact.
"That's besides the point. We talked about it, and we agreed to move past it." She sighs "but I know our relationship won't go anywhere"
"Did you talk to him about it?" I'm not really sure what I'm trying to do here. Part of me is glad that they're not together anymore, but, as her friend, I guess I want to comfort her and make sure she's okay. Even if we haven't been friendly lately, I still do care about Ella.
"We won't be able to progress as long as you're in the picture."
"What?"
"I know you two fucked. He told me."
"Oh."
"That's all you have to say about it?"
"What do you want me to say? Sorry? I'm not." I stand and start pacing, trying to keep my tempter contained. "It was before you two started dating, and since you cheated on him, I don't think you have a right to be mad that he slept with ANYone."
"That's not the point I'm trying to get at" I'm slightly annoyed that she didn't deny sleeping with him. Of course they would have after dating for so long. He slept with me on our first 'date' so I know he isn't one of those guys that waits for marriage or anything like that. Not that there's anything wrong with waiting.
"Then what is it?" I ask, letting a little of my temper bleed into my voice.
"I can't stay with a man when I know he'll be thinking about you."
"What?"
"Don't play dumb. You know he hasn't gotten over you"
"There's nothing to get over!" I'm very confused and think I need coffee to clear out the remaining fogginess from the early morning hour.
"Don't be stupid." She spits, clearly angry "he told me. He's very honest, as you know. He told me that he thinks of you often and once while we were.... Together he stopped in the middle because he told me all he could picture was your face."
I don't have words. I appreciate honesty, but for a partner to say that to anyone during such an intimate moment would be too cruel.
"I don't even know why I called you of all people." She sighs, releasing all her anger. "I guess I needed you to know that he was never mine and that when you saved his life the other day, you made sure that he would never forget you."
She hangs up without giving me a chance to reply. I stand in the middle of my small apartment, phone still to my ear as I think about what I just learned.
What she said doesn't seem plausible. I pace in my apartment for far longer than I care to admit and finally decide that this is getting me nowhere. Spiraling thoughts won't help me and the only option I have is to talk to him. The problem is I don't have his number.
But I do know where he lives...
Before I can even process what I'm doing, I'm walking out the door and heading toward his place.
Halfway there, I start to panic and second guess myself. I start to backtrack to my apartment when I pass a continence store and spot an item that would give me an excuse to go see him. I purchase it, skip a bag and rush all the way to his house before I can change my mind again.
My heart is pounding as I knock on his door, hearing the dead bolt slide free the moment my knuckles touch the door. My heartbeat is so hard that I can feel it pulsing in my ears and my fingers grip the can in my grasp even harder.
I can't tell if the wait for Tenya to open the door was five seconds or five decades but when the doorknob turns and a slightly bruised hero is standing in front of me, the world stops.
He's wearing a matching pajamas set tailor made to fit around his exhaust pipes and complete with slippers that I thought were exclusively sold to grandpas. His hair is disheveled like he just rolled out of bed and he's not wearing his glasses as he blearily rubs his eyes. It is still pretty early in the morning and he's standing there, looking at me with equal confusion and shock.
"Kagi? What are you doing here? How did you know I lived here?" He asks, stepping aside to let me in like a courteous person he is. I don't step inside.
"I heard you were having trouble getting up and going, so I brought you this" I pass him the item I bought. He takes it without question, getting it close to his face to read the label.
"Kagi. This is WD-40." He states and I nod "I am not a robot."
"Tell that to your calves"
His face softens and he smiles at me. "Come in." I step over the threshold and take off my shoes when he passes me a set of house slippers to wear. "Have you had breakfast? I have some items I can scramble up something."
"I'm fine" I stand in the middle of a tastefully decorated living room. There are throw pillows and plush blankets neatly placed along the couches in the large room. It's all tones of brown that compliment each other and goes with the red carpet, red drapes and occasional red accent.
"Have a seat" he gestures to one of the couches facing the tv that's set into huge bookcases that extend the length of one wall. The bookcases are stuffed to the gills with books, not a single bookend or decoration to be found on them with all the literature crammed in there. It seems like there's a wide variety of texts even though some look like boring nonfiction.
I sit on the edge of one of the couches that meets the other at a capital L. He sits on the other couch close enough to me so our knees touch. He puts the can of WD-40 on the coffee table.
"So, I guess I should fess up that I kind of stalked you one night and followed you home." I admit before he can ask again how I know where he lives again.
"I should be freaked out by that" is all he says.
"Probably." An awkward silence follows and I shift uncomfortably, my knee rubbing against his. "How are you feeling?"
"Like I got tied up and beaten." His eyes bore into mine, searching for something. I don't know if he finds it.
"Ella called me." He stiffens. "What did you even tell her?"
"Why do you care? You did not even stick around to see if I made it out safely." He shoots back, pulling his knee away from mine. That action hurts more than his implication.
"Because me showing up to save your ass wasn't enough." I snip, immediately regretting it. "Sorry I didn't mean it like that. I did wait. I was in the crowd. I wouldn't take off until I knew you were okay." He takes a breath like he's going to say something "alright. 'Okay' might be a bit of a stretch."
He lets out the breath, sighing heavily as he leans back on the couch, placing his hands in his lap.
"This whole thing is such a mess." I continue "We meet, I kidnap you, we have a dinner date, great sex, agree that we shouldn't continue our... entanglement, you show up at my place but don't arrest me, I follow you to your place, commit more crimes. It's a mess."
"You did what?"
"Not the point"
"I suppose not. I lose all sense of judgment when it comes to you." He leans forward, resting his elbows on his knees and maintaining eye contact.
"I don't know what you're talking about"
"I covered for you, I lied for you. I would have never done that for anyone else" his words make my heart race but also send conflicted pangs through me. I don't want him to compromise who is for me.
"You just didn't say anything"
"Lying by omission is still lying." He states with such conviction that I know he believes it. He stands up and starts pacing. I stand and grab his arms to keep him focused on my face.
"Then why did you do it? I'm a villian. You're a hero. Why do anything for me?" I ask, really needing to hear the answer.
He grabs my face and kisses me quickly. "I don't know. I don't know anything when it comes to you, Kagi."
"Y/n" I say, dazed from his kiss.
"What?"
"My name. It's y/n. So now you know something when it comes to me"
The smile that breaks across his face could very easily be used to illuminate a cave.
"It's like hearing the answer to an unanswered question" he breathes, resting his forehead against mine.
"That's very cheesy" I whisper, bring my eyes up from looking at his mouth. I find him staring at mine.
"I would very much like to kiss you like I mean it right now" he says, rubbing his thumbs along the sides of my face.
I stifle my smile and get on my tip toes to gently press my lips to his. We both sigh into it, releasing any of the remaining tension we had since I showed up on his doorstep.
I back him up until the back of his legs hit one of the couches and I push him to sit on it, breaking our kiss. I stare down at him and he looks up at me, running his hands though his hair to get the shaggy mess off his face.
When I straddle him, his hands go to my hips and the tips of his fingers slip into my waistband. Our lips meet again, but this time it's more desperate. Like we both need this but neither of us were willing to say how much.
"I don't want to be presumptuous here, but are you feeling up to this?" I ask, practically panting as we break apart. I don't know how long we were kissing but it was long enough to get some serious tangles in his hair and for his hands to find their way up to undoing my bra.
"I am perfectly fine" he smiles and presses his lips back to mine as he stands with me, his hands holding onto my ass as he lifts. "Just ill prepared in this room"
Our lips don't part again until he's tossing me onto his unmade bed. The trip was so smooth and I was so distracted I don't even know if he climbed the stairs or if we're still on the first floor.
I take a quick look around, not really taking in the decor. I'm way more interested in the man stripping at the end of his bed. Well, he's taking off his shirt, unbuttoning it slowly.
"I'm surprised your bed isn't made" I tease, eyes watching his hands on his shirt and then watching the fabric slide off his muscular, yellow bruised shoulders.
"It normally is, but someone woke me up by knocking on my door. I did not exactly have time to tidy up" he smiles as he crawls onto the bed, up my body, caging me in.
His hands explore under my shirt as he kisses and nips along my neck and collar. I pull the ties on his pajama pants and push them down with my feet, slipping my hand into the waistband of his underwear.
He grabs my wrist and pulls it away from him "not so fast. I want to enjoy you more this time"
"Enjoy later" I breathe, desperate and clawing at his underwear again.
"Impatient" he smirks, pulling off all my clothes efficiently. "It is good that I am more than happy to oblige"
He reaches to a bedside table and pulls a condom out of the drawer. While he's off balance, I get him on his back and straddle him, taking the condom from him and rolling it onto his hard cock.
I hover my hips over him and wait until he grips my side, guiding me down onto him. I keep the pace slow, tormenting the both of us. When his fingers dig into my skin, I move a little faster, reaching down rub my clit to get myself off. One of his hands leaves my side and pulls my hand away, replacing it with his.
It takes a few moments for him to find the perfect spot that makes me double over, bracing myself on his shoulders. His pace picks up and so does mine. I dig my fingers into his skin and shatter around him, collapsing against him. He hasn't cum yet so I keep moving my hips but he doesn't take his hand away. I'm so sensitive but it feels so good that the noises I make are gasps and moans as I cum again.
"Tenya" I whimper in his ear, resting my forehead on the side of his head.
"Y/n" His fingers dig into my hip as he releases with a heated grunt.
I raise up enough so he can pull the condom off before he tucks me into his side, his arms around me . I kiss the side of his face on one of the bruises that is almost healed.
He's lightly snoring before I can even try to roll away. I relax into his hold and follow him into sleep.