"Are you sure you never met him before the incident at the club? Like maybe in New Zealand?" Stacey asked me, sipping on her coffee.
"No, why?" I asked. I just told her and Jason about what happened on Monday. I'm just happy today is Friday and I didn't have to work as long as on the rest of the week, since the classes that I had today were only until noon. Right now Jason, Stacey and I are sitting in our favourite cafe.
"No reason." She shrugged before glancing at Jason. I looked between the two of them and sighed.
"What is it? You think this relationship is going too fast, don't you? I thought so too, but I just feel so safe around him." I said.
Elijah spent the last few days with me. We fell asleep together and woke up together as well. It just feels right even though we met only a few weeks ago. I could honestly imagine my future with him. Which also scared me. Were we moving too fast?
"No, we just- I mean he is acting a little shady. He still hasn't told you the reason why he didn't let you in that night and he's acting like the world depends on that. As if he'd die if you knew." Jason said and I sighed. I knew I shouldn't have told them about that.
"Opening up isn't his strongest quality. And I decided I'd rather have him tell me the truth than lie to me. And if the truth is that he doesn't want to tell me yet, then I should accept that. Besides, it's not that important anyway. I let go of that, why can't you?" I groaned.
"We just think you should be careful." Stacey said softly and I sighed. I haven't seen her in days, because she was always somewhere doing God knows what and now she acts like a best friend? Now when I'm actually starting to really like someone?
"Whatever." I took a sip of my green tea and scrunched up my nose. Nope, not a green tea fan either.
"Lilah, I'm just looking out for you." Jason sighed and I looked back at him.
"We both are." Stacey piped in.
"I know guys and I'm thankful for that. But you don't even know how good he makes me feel. He is so amazing, he cooks, cuddles with me, massages my feet after a long day at work. The list goes on and on. It just feels so right. And simply because he may have had a troubled past doesn't mean this relationship can't work." I told my two best friends, who nodded at me.
"If he makes you happy, I'm happy." Jason said, throwing an arm around my shoulder. I looked at Stacey, who still didn't look convinced, but she smiled anyways.
"I'm glad you're happy." She put her hand on top of mine and I smiled at her.
"Enough of that. When are you going to make that dinner we've all been waiting for? I'd like to get to meet your boyfriend and your new neighbours properly." Jason said and I remembered that I still had to invite them over due to the fact that last Sunday wasn't going to happen.
"This Sunday. And I'm not sure if I should invite Elijah." I said.
"Why not? He's a part of your life now, isn't he?" Stacey asked.
"Yeah, but I'm not sure if he'll feel comfortable." I admitted, knowing they would just add that fact to their 'why Elijah is shady af'- list.
"Oh." Stacey raised an eyebrow.
"You know what, I'll just ask him. He can still say no. But maybe he'll even want to come and I just misread the signs." I said to her, because her tone didn't sit well with me. So judgmental. Old Stacey was slowly coming back, I had a feeling. And I sure as heck didn't like it one bit.
»»»
I smiled as soon as I heard my front door open. I already knew who it was, since this was part of our daily routine. I would come home and make myself some food a.k.a I cooked for the both of us, even though he always says that he's not hungry.
Then he'd come to spend the night. And he would drop me off at work the next day, before working out and what not. Then the whole process would repeat, hence our daily routine.
"Hey." I said when I caught side of him. I stood up from my seat on the couch and pecked him on the lips. He let me take his hand and lead us back towards the couch.
"How was your day?" Elijah asked me and sat down right next to me. He hardly wasted a second before pulling my legs over his lap, so I was in a more comfortable position.
"It was alright. How was yours?" I asked.
"Exhausting. My manager introduced a new work out method, which consisted of basically just doing my normal routing, only five times harder." He groaned as he rolled his shoulder.
"Aw, baby." I ran my fingers through his hair and he closed his eyes.
"I know." He sighed. He looked really exhausted and tired. I watched him for a few more minutes, before standing up.
"Where are you going?" His eyes opened lazily when I pulled on his hand. He stood away without me giving him an answer. I led him into my bedroom.
"Lay down." I ordered and he took off his shirt before sighing and laying on his back.
"If we're really doing this, you'll have to be on top again, because I can't really move." He said in all seriousness and I blushed.
"We're not doing that." I said and he pouted.
"Aw."
"Yes 'aw'. Now roll over." He lifted an eyebrow at my next command, but rolled on his stomach anyways. I gently straddled his bottom and started tracing his back. He shuddered underneath me.
"If this is supposed to be a massage, you might have to look up the meaning." He commented.
"Aren't you all fun and jokes tonight? I could also be a bad girlfriend and not even try. Besides I was just starting." I informed him.
"I like it when you call yourself my girlfriend." He said and even though I tried hard to stay mad at him, I smiled.
"Whatever." I said before starting to massage. His moans and groans in pleasure were the only noise heard in the room for the next few minutes.
"My brother said that after each win you get a new tattoo." I randomly said.
"Your brother's right." He answered.
"So they don't have a special meaning other than the fact that you won?" I asked.
"Some have more meanings some less. Describe the tattoo and I can tell you what it means." He offered and I gladly picked out the one that attracted my interest the very first moment I saw it.
"The skull." I said and he visibly tensed up. I had a feeling this one was special.
"Death. See how it's smiling? As if laughing at you, mocking you. I had a couple of issues back then when I was younger and I thought about bad things. I was in a really dark place. But thankfully I regained my mental health and turned my negative experience into motivation. I started working out, concentrating on myself and my future. The skull you see was the very first tattoo I got." My eyes widened at that and my heart went out for the younger Elijah that had to suffer.
"How long did it take you?" I asked him, amazed by the new information about my boyfriend.
"I didn't complete it in a day, but it took a while. The black eyes alone took days to fill out." He said. Sounded painful, I cringed.
"Do you want to talk about-"
"No, it's in the past. I don't linger on things that are in the past. I like to move on, make new and better mistakes and so on." He said and I completely understood. Who know Elijah Dion Clark had a past like that.
"I like that. And I'm proud of you and glad you made it this far." I leaned down to kiss his back, the forehead of the skull.
"Thank you." He turned and sent me flying onto the bed next to him, giggling at how unexpected that was.
He chuckled, before making himself comfortable on his back again. Then he spread out his arms.
"Come here." He didn't have to tell me twice. I went into his arms and he kissed my mouth passionately.
"I missed you all day." He murmured against my lips. I pulled away, almost forgetting about the dinner on Sunday. I sat up and looked down at him while tracing his chest.
"Speaking of all day. I met up with Jason and Stacey today. And you know how I was planning to invite them over for dinner? Well, you don't since I didn't tell you. But I was planning to invite them over for dinner this Sunday and they'd really like to meet you. I said I would ask you and-"
"Sheesh, babe. Take a breath." He placed his finger over my mouth, shushing me.
"I'm sorry." I blushed and finally looked into his beautiful eyes. He shook his head in amusement before pulling me down by my neck so he could kiss me again.
"Your friends are the only ones coming?" He asked once we pulled away and I nodded.
"I was planning on inviting the new neighbours, but I would rather have a smaller dinner with my three favourite people." I said and he raised an eyebrow.
"I'm one of your favourite people?" He asked surprised.
"Of course. You're my boyfriend." I scoffed. Duh.
"Then you're one of my favourite people too." He smiled.
"Gee, thanks." I lied down next to him again and looked up towards the ceiling.
"What is it?" He asked and I sighed before turning to look at him.
"You're changing the subject. It's obvious you don't want to come." I said and he sighed.
"Lilah, I don't like your friends." He stated and I frowned.
"You haven't even met them properly." I scoffed.
"I don't have to. From the little amount of time that I got to actually interact with them, I can tell what type of people they are." His words angered me and I turned away from him. He doesn't even know them, yet he judges.
"Whatever. Have fun judging people from afar." I murmured before hearing him groan behind me.
"Lilah. I've met them. I don't-"
"I get it. You don't have to meet them again. Because meeting your girlfriend's friends is not important at all." Silence greeted me after I spat those words. I already missed his voice, but I was angry and didn't even want to hear another excuse.
Then I felt his big hand on my hip and his hot breath hit my ear.
"Lilah?" He whispered, testing if I was still awake. I didn't answer and he sighed.
"I know you're awake." He continued and I let out a breath.
"If this is so important to you." He sighed whilst letting his hand travel upwards. Oh God. Was he-
"I'll come. But-" He gave me a stern look when I turned to meet his eyes.
"Don't expect, you'll only get disappointed." He finished and I decided to ignore that and focus on his previous words.
"So you're coming?" I smiled, making him smile back before nodding in answer. I kissed him eagerly and he chuckled against my lips.
"I'm doing this for you only. If Stacey acts like a bitch, I'm out." He warned and I nodded before kissing him again.
I was so happy that I didn't even realize that he seemed to know Stacey's personality already. But maybe I just mentioned her way too often.