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"In life, you always have a choice. Sometimes it's easier to think that you don't."
-Guinevere Pendragon, Merlin
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Chapter 29 | A slice of heaven.
I just thought it'd be funny if I let Hunter be with me during study time. He usually has stuff to do aligned with my schedule but he's in no mood for any of that today.
I don't really mind cause I have somehow roped him into organizing my bookshelves. If we're not going to do book work, we could room work. I'm beat from the dance class I taught earlier today. He didn't seem to mind it much doing it in colour coded alphabetical order. He's planned on us watching the soccer game later so it was a win win situation. I've been studying up.
He's paying great attention to how he's putting the books on the shelves. I'd told him not to remove all the books at once and to move shelf by shelf but did he listen? No. In any case, he seems content doing such a trivial task.
"What's this?" Immediately I whip my head in his direction. He's holding one of my old diaries, specifically the one from forth form. I get to him once he's already opened a page and noticed my handwriting. "Is this a diary, Bow?" He chuckles moving it out of my reach.
"Yes and give it here."
"I've got to read this," he gives me a devlish smirk. There's really nothing mind blowing in the diary but just like my room, I consider it a peek into my psyche. He's currently in my room and a peek at the diary would be a clearer peek into my mind. "Hold on, hold on, hold on. Can we calm down?" He holds me gently, moving me to sit on my bed, actually giving me a little boost. It's an old diary, so my fight isn't all that hard. He pulls the stool closer to the bed and sits on it.
There's a story that Eames shared with me about Hunter's father. As sovereign, he believes that everyone is below him and everything should be as such. If he were to attend a dinner, he sits at the head of the table. If he were to address his people, he would do so at his throne. Always reminding everyone that he was King. No one was even allowed to walk beside him because to him, they were not equals. The story Eames had passed on included the punishing of a guard for walking ahead of the King.
Hunter treats me like his equal and sometimes, just like now, he puts me above himself physically. He rests his elbow on one of my thighs supporting his head whilst he lazily reads through the pages. This position could never be assumed by his father. I'm certain he knows what it means so I don't interrogate him about it. I monitor the pages he's browsing through from above, cringing at some of the contents.
"Such an odd diary," he states with a chuckle looking up at me. I shrug. "Escape routes?" He raises one curious eyebrow at me with amusement dancing in his eyes. I had floor plans of buildings drawn in with at least 3 routes plotted out.
"I can't help it. I was learning it at the time but it's always good to know the best escape routes out of any building." He nods at me making a face. It truly is a priceless skill. He's obviously making fun of me and I try grab the diary from him halfheartedly.
"I thought they'd be more boy related stuff in here," he voices still going through the pages. I scoff. It's not that it was lacking in the boy details, it was just scarce. He finishes and places the book beside me on the bed. "That was fun," he breathes.
"I doubt it," I smile down at him. His silence is answer enough as he gets up from the stool, catching my lips in a kiss. His touch does something to my nervous system. I realize now that he'd been trailing patterns on my thigh just moments ago.
Physical contact is definitely a must with him. I reciprocate the kiss, chuckling a little when he grabs hold of my waist. He's grown a small scruffle beard which was quite fitting for him but I'm very ticklish and he knows this. To be honest, I will never get tired of touching him. He's extremely responsive to every little movement of my hands.
"I love it when you do that," he drops his head into the crook of my neck.
"I know you do," I take a very discreet whiff of his hair as I continue to run my fingers through his scalp. He looks completely relaxed and groans when I do it to the top of his head. He trails kisses up my jaw and back to my lips. He holds this kiss for long, enjoying the exposed skin at my torso. It seems he didn't get tired of touching me either. It is one of my favourite things about him. I realized a few weeks prior that his fondness for touch played a big part in how he got through all of my walls.
He suddenly does something that he's never done before, he runs his hand down my thigh to my knee, only to hook my leg over his back. I don't hate it, It's just new so I quickly attempt to adjust to this new development and relax. He laughs into the kiss when I slide my hand under his shirt, putting each ridge into memory. I'm finally touching his abs and I sure as hell am not going to waste this opportunity. I'm grateful for all blessing, whether big or small.
Bringing his hand back, he stops at my ass which causes me to laugh this time. My ass is a new fascination of his. New to me at least.
I like kissing him like this. We've both learnt a lot about each other and we just laugh together in this comfortable bubble. We both start chuckling as Hunter rests his head back in the crook of my neck, exhaling deeply.
We stay like this for a moment or two before Hunter starts being heavy. "Okay, time to get off me and back to work," I state.
"I was almost done. Just the diaries then you're all set," he mumbles into my neck.
"Almost doesn't cut it," I tug gently at his hair.
"5 more minutes," this position couldn't have been comfortable for him. He's holding most of his body weight up. He proves my thought by scooping me up and having me lay on top of him. "Just 5 more minutes."
Making myself comfortable, I take his previous position with my head now laying atop his chest breathing in his intoxicating scent.
His 5 minutes quickly turn into 10 then eventually 20 minutes but as soon as he's done, he stops rubbing patterns up and down my spine.
We make quick work of finishing off my organizing before his match starts. As soon as he's done, I preoccupy him with the task of finding a new spot for my bathroom chair whilst I quickly changed into his surprise.
I quickly change in the closet into the red shirt that was basically a dress on me that I'd somehow managed to sneak out of his room without being caught. I had done it via the window but the infamous stories I've heard about this shirt, I would've thought he'd noticed it was missing by now.
"Bow, this chair looks just fine exactly where it's at," he complains from the bathroom.
I knew that. "Leave it where it is then," I shout back opening the closet door. I can hear his sigh of exasperation and smile.
"I swear, Bow...," he trails off as I pose for him with a giant smile on my face. "Yasue, Bow," he stops in his tracks.
"What do you think?" I continue making random poses which cause the both of us to chuckle at my antics.
He moves forward and scoops me up into his arms with my knees wrapped around his waist. I giggle as he plants an elephantine kiss to my jaw. "Bow, I swear you're going to be the death of me." Definitely the reaction I was hoping for.
"Can we put me down now?" This position is fun but it elicits feelings within me that I'm not quite ready to explore yet.
"I kinda like this position," he admits adjusting me just a little. I give him a look, running my fingers down the side of his neck. He groans, "Okay Bow, you're definitely trying to kill me. Your assassination attempts never seize to amaze," he grips my thighs a little too tight and closes his eyes.
"Then why are you still carrying me?" I am deceivingly heavy. He enjoys self torture this man.
"I just really like this position." I could easily get out of this position but it's nice to know I'm not the only one who is affected by our close proximity.
He wraps one hand at my waist, letting my legs drift down to the floor. He plants another kiss to my jaw as I stand back on the ground. See? He's deceivingly strong which is a blessing for the both of us.
Grabbing both our phones and my hand, he drags me downstairs to watch the match.
I'd spent part of the night studying up on the game, the team he loved, his favourite player and lastly, how to make his favourite drink; passion fruit and lemonade.
When I sit the drink in front of him, his eyes widen with absolute joy. "Ohhhhhh Bow, you're a girl after my own heart." He leans forward, mixing up the creation and slurping up half of it in one go. "Where did you even get this?" He pulls me down next to him on the couch, giving me a peck on the lips.
"I have my connections." I give him a sly look.
You'd think he was watching something else entirely from his reactions. Everything that happened on the screen got something out of him, especially when it came to his player: Mo Salah.
I did my best to throw in bits and pieces of all the information I'd stored in my brain throughout the almost gruesome 90 minutes excluding some talking that happened during half time. Hunter explained, rather animatedly, most of what was happening to me and without a doubt in my mind, it could only be defined as mansplaining but it was adorable how invested he was in the game. Over 100 minutes of soccer, of Liverpool, of M. Salah and passion fruit and lemonade. He was impressed by some of the things that I'd sprinkle out hoping it fit into what he was describing, which he praised periodically during his mansplain, rewarding me with a kiss to my cheek. This in turn, made me blush with pride. I figured, since he's always doing nice things for me. The least I could do was show interest.
The game ends with Liverpool winning 5 - 2 and he scooped me up into his lap in celebration.
"I think you're my lucky charm," he states into my ear.
I scoff. "Don't say that. I might not know a lot but I know how to read and listen and those talking man and the screen behind them spoke differently. They're good without me."
"Okay. You have a point but you're my lucky charm in everything else."
"You won't give this up, will you?"
"Nope." I sigh and lean on his chest.
We stay in this position til Hunters phone rings. Glancing at it quickly, he answers and puts it to his ear.
"Helloooo," he rolls his eyes immediately.
"Yes, I know. No need to chastise me."
"Really?" I could only hear his side of the conversation but I could easily tell it was Eames.
"Okay, I'm at Bows," he sighs into the phone. Eames speaks for a minute or two while Hunter absentmindedly plays with strands of my hair.
I could tell he wasn't really paying attention and Eames could too by Hunters laid back response of, "Of course I'm paying attention." He honestly wasn't.
I slap his chest in warning.
He smiles down at me and actually starts to pay attention. He actually starts to give some proper answers. "No. I don't plan on wanting to go back there,"he states his precisely worded statement firmly. Well hello there, Prince Siad.
"Okay. I'll let you know if Wes gives me any updates that may be of concern." This piques my interest.
"Really? Mason too?," I can detect the shift in conversation because he smiles, not a dimple smile but a smile that means he's happier.
He moves to stand up, letting a dimpled smile loose for me, planting a kiss to my cheek and reigning them in as he hangs up the phone.
When he leads me upstairs, I scrunch my eyebrows in confusion. "Are we leaving?" I ask tentatively.
"Yeah. The guys invited us out." It shocks me that my immediate reaction isn't the phrase, 'Absolutely not.' I instead I slow him down to pull out my phone to let my mother know I was leaving the house. He waits patiently as I change out of his football shirt and back into my own. Obviously, I knew I wouldn't get very far with his shirt but it was funny to watch as he reacted to me pretending to pull at the threads.
He admitted I looked sinfully sexy in it but I could not wear it out at the prospect of ruining it with my trademark clumsiness. He didn't say it out loud but we both knew why and more.
Loading into the car, I start to play the playlist we'd specifically created for our car rides. It is clear to see that we've been spending way too much time together, clearly not doing any studying. However, what is considered too much time if we truly enjoy each other's company.
I really want to pry and ask him what the beginning of his conversation with Eames was about but I like to choose my battles wisely.
Pulling into the parking lot of a little diner, I unbuckle myself with a sigh. He was back at shooting random names at me. I honestly thought he'd dropped this until he called me Salah. He's moved from the basic English names and somehow realized there's multiple languages on the planet.
He moves to join me on my side of the car whispering, "To be continued," wrapping his arm around me.
"It shouldn't," I whisper back holding onto him tight when I realize he's trying to lift me off the ground.
"But it shall," he insists, pulling me to walk with him to the entrance.
A chime welcomes us into the warmth of the diner where I quickly zero in on our friends chatting amongst themselves almost hidden in a corner booth.
We approach and the picture that greets us immediately brings a smile to my face. Brie is tucked under Masons arm as she let's the small corner of the world they're currently occupying how much stress she's under from school and all her extracurriculars but that's how we all felt. This isn't unusual for my special banana though. She'll complain but she'll never quit.
At almost a 45 degree angle from them, Dré is sitting between Eames' legs, resting her head on his chest, each one of their legs up on the booth chair. Dré looks like she's on cloud 9 and I do not blame her for a smidgen of a second. I love watching her on that cloud.
Hunter and I take the last available seat with Hunter pulling me onto his lap. I usually don't allow this sort of outward affection but I don't shriek, instead I make myself comfortable in my current position.
"You two look great," I compliment the girls, my eyes swiveling between the two. "You're basically glowing." I give both boys sly smiles in greeting, making sure to wink at Eames. Dré was literally bursting at the seams a few days ago when she was retelling the story of how they made it official. I had never gotten into a taxi and bullied the driver into driving faster but I did it at the mere glimpse of the SOS. To be honest, it was 110% worth it by the smile on her face.
Eames had let me know he was going to fo it during our run that morning but it was beautiful to witness the Dré Emmons glowing with happiness.
His news, whether purposefully or not, brought me happiness because it meant they wouldn't be abruptly uprooted from their current placement. He was planting roots. It meant Hunter was safe here.
"Good dick does that to a girl," Dré snides pointedly looking at Brie and Mason. The aforementioned basically almost choke on their own spit and oxygen itself while Hunter and I stare at them in utter and complete disbelief. This cannot be true. She's got to be joking.
"I don't think that's appropriate table talk," Mason finally says, running a hand through his hair. We've always been making so many jokes about the couple's bedroom relationship but never something like this.
Dré is about to respond and I can feel the sass she's brewing. Eames pokes at her side to which she responds with the fakest innocent, "What?"
He only just gives her a pointed look before she sighs out quite reluctantly, "Fine." Would you look at that. Match made in heaven. She proceeds to shock both Brie and I by adding, "I'm sorry." Brie and I audibly gasp at the statement.
"I approve," Brie immediately says to Eames
I nod in agreement, continuing to nod well after it is appropriate, reeling from what just happened.
I discreetly ask Brie to confirm or deny Dré's statement. She giggles at something Eames says, pulling down her skirt. At the gesture, I mentally sigh in relief.
"What are we having?" Eames asks, picking up a menu.
I notice Dré attempt to discreetly nod at something with a cheeky smile. She would never be a intelligence agent. It wasn't built for her. Not long after, we hear a camera flash.
The flash is so sudden and unexpected that it pulls protective actions from all the boys. She uses this action as a moment to click her button again and yet another flash is seen.
Without missing a beat, "I apologize, it was for an extremely good cause."
I give her a quick glacial glare then move to order myself a chicken salad when the waitress comes over to hand Dré her trusty camera. "You're paying," I let her know, adding a slice of blackforest cake to my order.
"Fair enough." I had allowed pictures to be taken for her 'catch the perfect moment' obsession. No one wanted a repeat of last incidents events and I didn't mind the pictures much.
When our food arrives, we rejoice but that joy is short-lived for Hunter as he immediately begins to whine when I start to devour my cake.
"Every single time, Hunter," I start when he makes puppy dog eyes at me. "Why don't you just order a slice for yourself?" I place a piece in my mouth.
"I wouldn't want it then," he protests.
"You want it now because...," I trail off to let him finish my sentence.
"Because... well because...," he struggles to come up with a reason.
"Mmm-hmm?" I fork another chunk into my mouth.
"Slow down, Bow, you need to give me more than a moment to think," he glances down at the half empty plate.
I can hear Mason chuckle but I don't look at him. "I know the answer," he breathes which causes Hunter to briefly send Mason a warning glare.
"Watch how you're moving brother." Hunter warns. I can always rely on Mason to pull his leg.
I usually give in, we both know it. Picking up my fork again, I move the very last piece towards my mouth and I'm rewarded with the expected whine of, "Bow!" Before I put it in my mouth, I move the fork in front of him. He wastes no time in gobbling it up. "So delicious," he comments. "Thank you, Bow." He just enjoys disturbing me during my healthy choice deserts.
Before we leave, the girls drag me to the bathroom to 'freshen up.' I would've much preferred to stay behind.
"Can you believe it?" Brie asks with a wide smile on her face, fixing her hair. I feel obligated to fix something as well so I adjust my shirt to not show too much abdominal skin.
"I can. We've always had it in us," Dré answers, reapplying a fresh layer of lip stain.
The thought had crossed my mind too sometime when the food arrived. I was on that imagined triple date from the café. I was here.
"It's kinda surreal." I brush hair away from my face. "Like a dream." Both girls hum their agreement.
Sweet dreams are made of this. Who am I to disagree?
When we get back to the boys, the hairs at the back of my neck stand alert and the pit in my stomach worsens at the body language being exhibited.
Something was definitely wrong. A dream turned nightmare.
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SJ talking
First update of the new year. 🙏 Exchange the bad for the good. It's been a long road but we keep moving and doing what we do.
xoxo SJ signing off