May 2014
It hurt. Josie had not thought it would hurt this badly. Marcela had told her it would be painful, but if it felt like this, why did her sister have multiple? The three massive flowers down her back must have been absolutely horrible to tattoo. The simple fact that Marcela had so many, was reason enough for Josie to keep her shit together while she was sat in that tattoo chair, her hand in the tattoo artist's while he tattooed a M in the crook between her thumb and index finger. Marcela had gone first, grinning down at the letter that was permanently drawn into the same part of her body as Josie was getting hers right now.
Josie's 16th birthday had been amazing so far. Her father and Marcela had come up to her room with a black coffee and some pancakes with cream and strawberry, singing Parabéns a Você to her. Lottie had already gone to work and would come home early to make Josie's favourite thing in the entire world - Pão de queijo – and then celebrate the rest of the day with her daughter. However, so far Marcela had taken her shopping and bought her another coffee at Costa before the two of them went to their first ever tattoo appointment together.
She looked down at the ink that was being drawn onto her hand and found it so fascinating that she was being permanently inked. The M that was being drawn onto her hand would never go away, it would always be a part of her and there was something so incredibly wonderful about that. Even though it fucking hurt. The tattoo artist finally pulled away and Josie felt like she could breathe again.
"Done," he said, giving Josie a smile.
Marcela squealed and took Josie's hand after the tattoo artist had cleaned and putting some cling film over Josie's hand. She smiled down at Josie's hand and out the two next to one another, her smile growing even wider.
"That looks so good on you," Marcela said, not able to take her eyes off of her sister's firs tattoo.
"You like it?" Josie asked and though it had been her sister's idea to get this tattoo, it had still been Josie who had pushed for her to do the tattoo with her on Josie's birthday. Her sister's approval meant the entire world to her.
"Well," Marcela chuckled. "It's the first letter in my name, and I have yours on my hand, so I can with certainty say that I love it."
Josie giggled and looked down at their hands again, cocking her head to the side as she studied the sight. It did not feel quite real to her yet that she was tattooed. She had a tattoo. The black ink on her hand was her first one, and she knew she would get more, even though it hurt right now. She could tell by the excited twitches that went through her sister that she was just as happy about this sight as Josie was.
"I thought I recognised you."
Both of the sisters looked up at that, but the tattoo artist was looking at Marcela while cleaning his hands off. Marcela blinked at him a few times as if she was trying to think if she'd ever met him before, and Josie could tell by the pause that she was coming up blank.
"Oh?" she simply said, clearly wanting for him to tell her where he recognised her from.
"You're Kit's girlfriend, aren't you?"
Josie felt her throat contract at the sound of that name and she stared at her sister to catch her reaction. It even took two seconds before Marcela answered shortly. "Yes."
"I'm a mate of his," the tattoo artist went on. "Shame he's in prison for simply liking drugs, innit?"
Marcela narrowed her eyes a little at that, tilting her head to the side. "No matter how 'in control' he says he is when he's high, it's still illegal in the UK. He broke the law, so there's nothing he can do about it until he's done his part and stayed in there for nine months."
That seemed to shock the tattoo artist and he was left staring open-mouthed at Marcela for a few seconds. "You think he deserves it then?"
Marcela squeezed Josie's hand. "Something like that."
The tattoo artist raised his eyebrows.
"If he's stupid enough to get caught, I think it's his fault." Marcela shrugged. "Easy as that."
She pulled Josie off the tattoo chair and got both of their purses before she walked the two of them out. Marcela walked over to the till to pay the last bit of the tattoo, and Josie was left staring in the direction of the room they had just been in, for some reason scared that the tattoo artist would follow after them and hurt Marcela for speaking back to him like that.
Marcela was done paying before that happened, though, and she made Josie walk in front of her out of the tattoo shop. It was a nice day for May, and though Josie hated the sun, it wasn't too hot and she actually managed to walk without breaking a sweat. She hated to sweat and hated that her birthday was in May when it was always starting to heat back up again, but today had been a fairly good day.
Finian stood waiting for them, leaning against his red car in the car park with a cigarette between his fingers and eyes following the women walking past. As soon as he heard their footsteps, he looked over at Josie and Marcela. Since Kit was in prison, Finian had to be their driver, and as uncomfortable as that made Josie, she understood that there was no other way when their papai was also working all day.
"Let me see, then," Finian said, throwing his cig to the ground and stepping on it. He smiled over at Josie, holding a hand out so he could get a good look at her very first tattoo. Marcela was right beside her and Josie knew nothing would happen if her sister was there.
Finian's smile grew into a grin. "Well nice. You like it?"
Josie nodded as Marcela got into the passenger seat.
"Reckon it's your first of many?"
She nodded again.
"Ace. Tattoos are a good investment," he said, meeting her eyes. He reached for the door and let go of Josie's hand so she could sit down in the backseat just behind her sister. Josie gave him a small smile and got in as quickly as possible, feeling Finian's eyes on her the whole time. He closed the door after she was seated, and Marcela gave her her purse from the front seat. Josie reached for it, and Marcela's hand skimmed Josie's reassuringly just as Finian got back into the car.
"Saw that," she said, voice sounding venomous. Josie had no idea what Marcela was walking about.
Finian halted. "What?"
"Don't act like you didn't do something just now," she simply said, and Josie could see Finian's pale cheeks grow a pink colour that had never been there before. He got his seatbelt on quickly and almost aggressively started the engine. Until this day, Josie could still not quite understand why Marcela was still hanging out with Finian even after Kit was put in prison. It did not make sense to her.
Year 2, semester 2
Friday, 15 March 2019
The bottom of the windows inside the Costa on Essex Road was adorned in early morning condensation. A drop slowly slid down and onto the window ledge where it joined others in a pool of their own making, waiting for the sun to start properly shining so they could all disappear once again and repeat the same cycle tomorrow. There was barely a cloud on the sky outside, which was a nice contrast to the rain that had been almost non-stop since the beginning of March two weeks ago. The street beyond the window wasn't busy, but one could tell that people were rushing off to work and others weren't too bothered about making it on time.
A bus stopped by the Cross Street bus stop, and three people walked out, one which Josie could recognise anywhere she went. She grinned at the sight of Isla's bushy hair all just barely tangled into a plaid down her back, and watched as her friend walked into the café and started looking around for Josie.
"Mate," Mason said, sitting down opposite Josie and putting a coffee mug down beside her laptop. "I don't understand how you enjoy that stuff."
"Enjoy what?"
"Black coffee," he answered, scrunching up his nose. "I can't stand it."
"It's so nice! I've been drinking it since I was, like, seven."
"Yeah, but my Jamaican dad has never made any coffee except the instant one, and English mum only drinks tea. I've only ever seen dad drink peppermint or ginger tea 'cause that's what he was served when he was little, and so he influenced me to drink it as well." Mason sipped his tea. "I can only drink latte or, like, a mocha."
"Those are good as well, I suppose, but black coffee's just superior."
"Nah, that's where you're wrong-"
"-I just ordered myself some black coffee and a raspberry muffin," Isla said as she put her rucksack down on the free seat by their table. "I'll be back in a sec."
"Oh, you like black coffee?" Mason asked, looking up at Isla, eyes big as he followed her movements taking off her jacket.
"Yeah," she smiled, looking down to his covered up to-go cup. "Is that what you're having as well?"
"Yeah, yeah," Mason said instantly and Josie wanted to howl with laughter. "Yeah, can't live without it."
Isla smiled and walked back over to the counter to get her order when it was ready. Mason followed her over there, sipping his ginger tea as a small sigh left his nose. The second his eyes met Josie's, he rolled his own. Josie laughed.
"Take the bloody piss all you want right now, but quit it when she's back, yeah?"
Josie chuckled. "Fine, I'm done."
Isla came back not long after and the three of them quietly started doing their work separately. Only sometimes, Isla or Josie would interrupt one another to talk about what they were doing and to get another person's opinion, but other than that, the trio stayed mostly silent. That was why they had decided to go out and work someplace that wasn't uni, the library, or their own places. Mason had been to this exact Costa a few times after walking Harry to work at Asgard, and since they needed new places to study so they could concentrate more, Mason had suggested this place and they had gone here. Besides, Mase and Josie had just walked Harry to work anyway, so Josie texted Isla to come to that Costa. She asked who would be there, if it would be just the two of them, and when Josie said Mason was there as well, it had taken Isla a minute to answer before she messaged Josie back, 'Leaving now xxx' to which Josie had chuckled.
"How's the dissertation coming along?" Isla asked Mason after a little while.
"Alright, yeah," he answered, letting a breathy chortle leave his lips. "It's doing my head in, but at least I'm writing it, you know."
"It's going to be so challenging to write one," Isla sighed.
"But you're going to write quite a few if you're doing a masters after this and a PHD," Josie said.
"You wanna do a PHD?" Mason asked.
Isla blushed. "Yeah."
"That's proper sick, that is."
Isla looked over at Mason who was already looking at her and her already blushing cheeks grew redder, and though Josie felt like she was witnessing something she shouldn't, she could simply not look away. The moment was too pure.
"What're you two doing for your dissertation, then?" Mason asked, clearing his throat a little as he looked away from Isla, clearly just figuring out how he had acted in front of Josie.
"Something about children's literature," Isla said. "Dunno in what sense yet, I'm gonna take the summer to figure it out."
"But what about the dissertation proposal that we're supposed to hand in next week?" Josie asked. "You know, the one where we tell them what we're writing about and they assign us a supervisor? They need to know what you're specifically writing about."
Isla stopped for a few seconds. "Now I'm stressed."
"Yeah, so am I."
"What're you doing, then, Josie?" Mason asked.
Josie reached into her tote bag and pulled out the book she had brought with her. "Jane Eyre and something to do with the theme of 'the mad woman' in gothic and Victorian literature."
"I'm sure that's interesting," Mason said.
Josie raised her eyebrows. "You're sure... that's interesting?"
"Yeah, I don't find it interesting, but someone does."
"Yeah. Me."
Mason chuckled, sipping his tea before he looked to Isla. "What interests you about children's lit?"
Isla smiled, shrugging her shoulders a little. "Dunno, think it just had a huge impact on me when I was little and it's just been a massive part of my life since."
"Which was your favourite book when you were younger?"
Though Josie wanted to listen in and see what was going on, she knew that they probably did not want her to be part of the conversation, no matter how much they would try and convince her otherwise. Instead, she opened the copy of Jane Eyre she had brought with her and started scrolling through the pages as if she was looking for something when it was rather obvious that she was not. The other two continued on with their conversation while Josie pretended to busy herself with the book in her hands.
Suddenly, she happened upon the very first page of the book where Marcela's phone number stood. It was in Marcela's own handwriting, and Josie's mind instantly went back to everything that had gone down just a few weeks back. How she had seen her mother's handwriting and instantly remembered it from all those other places and notes before. At least this was Marcela's. 'If lost, call Marcela Montes at...' and then the phone number. Which... upon further inspection... did not look like a phone number at all. Josie furrowed her brows and took a closer look, bringing the book closer to her face. No, that did not look like a phone number. It was too long. Four digits too long, in fact. 52859718 1839446. It was too long, too odd, to be a UK mobile number.
From previous experience and because she simply had a feeling about it, Josie instantly turned to her laptop and got Google up on her web browser. Making sure that she was typing every number in exactly where they should be, Josie had completely zoned out of the conversation and forgotten completely where she was. Because of the slow WiFi at that particular Costa, it took a minute or two before Google Maps actually showed any sort of images. Josie sat there shaking her leg, looking at the number in the book and then at the screen to make sure she had gotten it right.
Finally, it came up, and Josie almost lunged for her laptop. She was sure Isla and Mason must have noticed, but she did not hear them say anything, and maybe that was because she was too caught up in what she was seeing, but she did not care. On the screen in front of her was a very familiar name. It took her a few seconds before a picture came to mind. A picture she had stored in a drawer back home in Nottingham. A picture that she would never have found if she had not found this exact book. A picture she had found in the attic at home of Kit in the same place, the same village, that was right in front of her on her laptop screen.
Tinker's Lane, Gorsty Hill. A village not too far away from Nottingham, but far enough for Josie to never have heard of it before. It was closer to Stoke-on-Trent than Notts. The coordinates led her to a place on the road surrounded by woods. There was nothing on either side of the small road but trees and grass.
Interested in knowing more about this random town, she went to Google and typed in the name of it. Nothing came up, not even a Wikipedia page of sorts. Next to no one lived there, it seemed the only thing the village was really known for was the Marchington Woodlands St John Church, that was it. Another thing that came up in the news section was two articles from five years ago, articles from the local newspapers in Uttoxeter and Stafford. They were both about the same thing. 'A dog ran over by a car in Gorsty Hill and left to die by the side of the road'. Could it... Could it maybe be the dog Finian had adopted for Marcela? But since he and Kit had already killed her and they didn't need the dog any longer, they killed it and sped off and away from the small village?
"Josie?" Mason suddenly said, making Josie jump a little in her seat.
"Hm?"
"You alright?" he asked. "You want a refill? I'll get you something to eat if you want."
Josie's heart was hammering fast still at what she had just found out, but she managed to give Mason a smile as he got up from his seat to walk to the counter. Her head was spinning and she had no idea what this all meant, but she knew she had to get to Gorsty Hill. She had to check out why those exact coordinates were put in that book. If they were the exact place the dog had died or if those coordinates had something else to hide.
"Yes, please, Mase," Josie said, hoping that neither of her friends could detect the silent tremor in her voice. "I'll have another black coffee."
Thursday, 21 March 2019
"No," Isla said, pursing her lips while narrowing her eyes at the knitted jumper she was holding. "It looked good from the side like that, but I don't like the V-neck."
Josie came up behind Isla and looked at the jumper her best friend was holding up. "Yeah, that's not it."
"I want it to just be a normal collar around the neck, but no," Isla said, putting the jumper back on the rack in front of her. "I thought Primark would be kinda normal when it came to all of that."
Josie chuckled. "They're really not. They have loads of stupid shit, like how all their knickers are so uncomfortable."
"Oh, I cannot wear them."
"I just remember being younger and always having the most horrible day at school 'cause the Primark knickers I wore just rode all the way up into my arsehole."
Isla laughed, taking another knitted jumper off the rack in front of her to look at it. "See, this one's kinda normal, and then it's got these metal spikes on the shoulders."
"That's proper 2013-2014."
"I used to wear those then," Isla whispered as if embarrassed.
"Me too!" Josie exclaimed, making both of them laugh before Isla put the jumper back and the two walked out of the Primark empty handed.
"I thought maybe going on a shopping trip would be a nice thing to do since we just handed in that Nineteenth-Century Romanticism essay, but how are we supposed to shop for anything when all everyone's got looks rank?" Isla asked, sighing heavily as she wrapped her scarf around her neck. Her bushy hair stood up from inside it and it made her look like a small mushroom.
"Typical, innit," Josie said. "We'll just have to buy something off of ASOS or summat. I think I'll do that when I get home."
"I hate online shopping 'cause I dunno how it'll look on me when I actually get it and I'm too lazy to send everything back for a smaller or bigger size," Isla complained, falling into step behind Josie as a loud group of teenage boys walked by them.
"True," Josie agreed. "But it's easier for me with a bigger body to actually find stuff online rather than in stores 'cause many stores don't bother selling clothes my size, and if they do they're always so bloody ugly."
Isla smiled as she came up beside Josie again. "Is it hard shopping in the plus size section?"
Before, Josie would have found this question uncomfortable. She wouldn't have known how to answer it, where to even start and what words would fit how she was feeling. But now, after reading countless of articles and books about body image, fat justice, and everything to do with body positivity, Josie felt quite comfortable answering Isla. It wasn't a question that was supposed to make Josie feel bad about herself, Isla was simply asking her if she found it hard to go shopping for clothes and to find her size, which was a valid question. Upon realising how little the question affected her, Josie almost wanted to cry. She had come such a long way.
"Yeah," Josie answered. "I can't find any nice clothes unless I shop online, and even most of what's on ASOS is baggy and not that cute."
"You should, like, start a clothing store."
Josie laughed. "I should."
"You've got amazing sense in style, I say you do it. Bless Earth."
Josie grinned and looked down at the outfit under her khaki coat. Her white and black tartan skirt looked amazing on her and her white fitted crop top made her tits look bigger than they actually were, but Josie did not care. She wore an open oversized shirt over that and her khaki jacket on top, some make up, and a fair of black faux leather sock boots with a sexy chunky sole that she had purchased the other day. She thought she looked rather good herself, and it was nice to hear Isla agreeing.
"If it weren't for the fact that I'm set on working in a publishing house, I would do it," Josie said.
"I love the fact that we both know what we're gonna do when we're done with uni."
"You're getting a proper degree and I'm gonna work in the marketing department in a publishing house," Josie grinned, linking her arm with Isla's. "We're gonna be unstoppable."
Isla laughed.
Suddenly, Josie felt her phone vibrate in her purse. She reached into it just as Isla stopped the two of them to wait for the signal to cross the busy street ahead. Josie saw that Nathan had sent a message in the flat groupchat, so she clicked it to see what he was complaining about this time, only to feel something inside her chest ache a little.
Nathan
Right lads!!!!!!!!! I've been thinking that we should all start checking out the flat and make a list of bits and bops that were ruined or spots on the walls or ruined mattresses (Mase) that were there before we moved in so our fuck tart of a landlord can't pull more out of our deposit than he's already planning on doing!!!!!!! When we move out of the flat in a few weeks, we should all make sure that the flat's in its best condition and we should, like, cover up things we've done ect!!!!!!!! Thoughts????? ily
Josie sighed a little and put the groupchat on mute as Harry answered Nathan. She put her phone away as they crossed the street and willed herself to start thinking about something else.
"What's going on?" Isla asked.
"Well," Josie chuckled, though nothing about this was particularly funny. "We're moving out of the flat and since the boys are graduating this year, I've got nowhere to really live next year. I've been so busy with tons of other things that the thought of living arrangements for next year didn't cross my mind. I've kinda always been set, you know? But now they're bloody leaving me."
Isla glanced at Josie for a few seconds, a concerned look on her face. "What's gonna happen if you don't find a place to live?"
Josie shrugged her shoulders. "Dunno. I guess I'll have to look for something this summer, though I'm leaving for Brazil with my family in the middle of July."
Isla sighed. "Oh, Josie."
"Yeah, I know."
"What about us moving in together?"
Josie's heart leaped.
"Would it be easier looking for a two-bedroom flat?"
Josie looked at Isla, suddenly stopping completely and making Isla awkwardly walk on a few more steps before she turned around and looked at Josie. "You... You would move out of your parents' place?"
Isla thought about it for a few seconds. "Yeah, if it meant living in a place with you."
Processing Isla's words, Josie slowly felt her face light up before she threw herself against Isla, throwing her arms around her best friend's neck. She squealed as Isla laughed, the both of them simply hugging one another as images of a life they could live together started forming in their heads.
"Are you sure?" Josie asked as they let go of one another. "You don't have to if you don't want to. I'll manage to find someplace."
"No, I want to," Isla assured Josie. "I really do. I think it'll be good for me to get out of my parents' place, it made you grow, didn't it? Moving out?"
"Yeah, one of the best things I've done."
Isla nodded.
"You'll have to move out eventually, so I promise I'll make it a seamless experience," Josie smiled, taking Isla's hands.
Isla smiled back at Josie. "I don't know what I'd do without you."
Josie shrugged. "You'd be in a ditch probs."
Isla laughed, dragging Josie along as the two continued on down the street until they found a café where they sat down and booked multiple viewings for two-bedroom flats in Hackney.
Friday, 12 April 2018
Come to my room. Now. X
That's what Harry's note had said. Josie had been just about to get ready for bed when she had heard the familiar sound of a note being shoved under her door. She was trying on some new clothes she had gotten off of ASOS, now wearing a cute dress, when Harry had interrupted her. His writing was off, as if he had hurried to write that note and put it under her door as quickly as possible. She was still wearing her contact lenses, which was a good thing as she had no idea what Harry wanted when he asked her to come into his room. Mason was out with Isla and Nathan was at the LGBT Society's end of term dinner, his last one ever, which meant that no one else was in the flat but Harry and Josie.
She put her note away and walked out of her room, listening intently for any sounds downstairs that she might have missed earlier. However, the flat was completely silent save for the soft music coming from Harry's room. She knocked on his door and Harry opened in the middle of her third one. The abrupt way in which he opened his door made Josie halt a bit, almost feeling herself jump a bit at the suddenness of it all. When Harry saw Josie, he stopped as well, standing as still as a statue and allowing his eyes to scan her body before he allowed himself to breathe.
"You got dressed up for this?"
She scoffed. "No, I was trying on clothes I just bought."
He nodded, eyes looking her over again, lingering a tad bit too long on her exposed thighs and her cleavage. He had never been very subtle.
"It's a tiered mini sundress," she explained, running a hand down from the slim straps, down over the tight chest and to the flowy skirt. "I really liked the yellow colour."
"It's a sundress?"
She looked up at him again. "Yes."
"God..." he mumbled. "They got it in different colours, then?"
"Yes."
"Thank fuck," he said, taking her hand and dragging her into his room so he could close the door behind her. "'Cause I might just buy you every single fucking pair of them."
She giggled and let him pull her closer, trying to ignore a voice in her head screaming at their closeness and the thousands of butterflies that came to life all over her body. Despite the many times the two of them had sex, it still took Josie by surprise when she felt that kind of reaction inside her at the simple act of Harry touching her. Many times before, he had done exactly this, and it had not affected her, at least not like this, which scared her.
"Hi," Harry said, smiling at her as he let his other hand travel upward from her naked thigh and over her clothed body.
"Hi," she smiled back.
"I want to show you something."
She raised her eyebrows. "Oh?"
"I went to the store today."
She nodded, motioning for him to continue.
"And..." He hesitated, cheeks slowly growing redder by the second. "And I bought something."
She just looked at him for a second before saying, "That's usually what you do at the shop."
"Well, this time I didn't just buy anything," he said, walking over to a plastic bag on the side of his bed. "I bought something that I thought... well, it would be a lot of fun."
Josie did not know what she had been expecting. She knew how, if he had consulted any other person or if he had lived someplace else, the sight inside Harry's plastic bag would have had most people gasp in a scandalous sort of way. However, Josie found herself staring for a little while, trying to find her words before meeting Harry's eyes.
"A strap," he explained, as if Josie had not gathered that herself yet. "I know we haven't really talked about this, or ever really talked about my sex life prior to our arrangement-"
The choice in words made Josie's heart drop a little and she had to look away from Harry and down into the bag.
"-But... well, when Rob and I were dating, I was usually the bottom."
She raised her eyebrows, still not meeting his eyes. "Wouldn't have guessed."
Harry chuckled. "Really?"
"I can tell you love being a bottom, is all."
"Anyway," he said, clearing his throat a little. "If you're comfortable with it, I thought it would be fun to... try it out. It's completely fine if you don't wanna, I just thought it could be something we'd try out like we did with that vibrator."
Josie reached into the bag and pulled the strap-on out of the bag, turning this way and that to get a good look at it. She had never thought to top someone like this, even though she very much liked being the one with all the control in the bedroom. Though it made her very happy that Harry wanted to try things and make her consider other things in the bedroom, this was simply something she had never thought of before.
"How's it work?" she asked. "What way do I put it on?"
"Oh," Harry put the bag away and walked over to her, taking it out of her hands. "These two are resting on top of your hips. So, around here." He placed a hand at the dip of her hips. "And then one goes down between your legs and around your arse for better leverage, I think."
"Yeah, okay," she said. "That makes more sense."
"Does it sound like something you'd be up for?" he asked, voice a little small as if he had not caught up on the vibes Josie was sending him. She finally looked up at him again, and though her eyes would usually stray to his right away, they actually caught onto the grey streak in his hair instead. It shone like silver, way more prominent now than it had ever been before, Josie did not think she had ever seen it this clearly before. Harry's hand instantly came up to his head and he ran a hand through his hair, chuckling a little as he tried to angle his face in a way that would make the grey disappear from view.
"It's much more visible now," she said.
"Don't point it out, though," he hissed, raising his eyebrows. "It's not as if I rejoice at the thought of having grey hair at the age of 21."
She giggled. "It's hot."
He paused a little, eyes scanning every facet of her face to see if she was being truthful. "You think?"
"Harry, I've told you this before."
"Yeah, but... well, I don't like it."
She smiled. "I can assure you; you look amazing. It really suits you."
Harry held her gaze for a few seconds, a smile slowly beginning to form over his lips as the moment stretched out between them. Josie could feel her heart picking up speed at this and quickly looked away, glancing down at the strap between them. It was bad enough that she was starting to catch feelings for Harry, but when he looked at her like that, it was hard for her to get over him in any way. She swallowed thickly and nodded towards his bed.
"Do you have lube?"
"Yeah," he answered.
"We might need that, or else... well-"
"-You're gonna tear me in two."
She laughed and Harry joined in, grinning over at her as she came down from it. "Yeah, wouldn't want you to die on a strap."
Harry laughed. "Would be a good way to die."
The two chuckled while simply looking at one another, and Josie quickly looked away when it became too much. "Okay," she said. "I'll just-" She put the strap away down on the bed and took a grip of Harry's shirt, bringing him to her. The suddenness of it had Harry inhale rather quickly, eyes instantly falling to Josie's lips. She cocked her head a little to the side, ignoring the way her whole being seemed to buzz with the butterflies inside her, and pushed Harry down onto bed.
He laid down, only using his elbows to sit up a tiny bit and get a better look at Josie as she climbed on top of him.
"Jesus fuck, Josie," he hissed. "You're so fucking hot."
She couldn't help her little smile, but quickly tried to cover it up by dragging Harry up into a sitting position. Taking his head in her hands, she brought his lips to hers, and the two of them sighed in relief at the very same time. It seemed that the both of them had needed this more than they thought they did. Harry's hands rested on her hips, squeezing her a little as her tongue slowly stroked against his, making goosebumps appear on his arms where Josie was resting her hands. It felt so good to simply be with Harry like this again, it felt like such a long time ago since they had simply had sex, though they did have two, maybe three, rounds last week. However, this was something else entirely, and the prospect of trying something new with Harry and focusing solely on him this time and his pleasure was exciting.
She brought one of her hands up to his neck, slowly grazing her fingernails of his skin there, and creating a rumble of noises to bubble up from somewhere in Harry's throat. It made everything in Josie sing with desire, and she wanted nothing more than to simply be closer to him already. Just hearing the noises Harry made, had her core aching and the rest of her body begging for more. Knowing he was enjoying this as much as her.
She grinded against him, and felt his erection harden against her core, making her throb even more for him. He instantly made her move over him again, the both of them moaning against one another at the spike of pleasure it sent through them. He pushed her dress up over her arse, squeezing her hard as he detached her lips from hers so he could kiss and lick and nipple and suck along her tits. It always seemed to be something Harry wanted to do during foreplay, he just had to touch and kiss her tits in some way. Josie did not complain, she loved it when he paid attention to her breasts, it made her feel absolutely incredible.
She reached down between them and ran her hands over his cock, the fabric of his shorts so thin that he could probably feel most of her movements. Gasping, Harry looked up at her again, trying to kiss her, but she moved again.
"Are you going to touch yourself when I fuck you?" she asked.
Harry whimpered. "Yes."
"And you'll tell me how good I make you feel?"
"Yes."
"Good."
"But, oh-" Harry stopped as Josie pushed her hands into his shorts, making Harry groan and squeeze her bum tighter. "Fucking hell."
She grinned at him.
"You need to put the vibrator in."
She halted a bit, but slowly stroked her hand over his head as he swallowed thickly and cursed under his breath. "You want me to?"
"Baby, I can't come without knowing you're going to or have as well," he said. "I want you to come as well."
His hand slowly travelled over her thigh and then up under her dress. Every part of her nerves focused on the spot where his hand touched her, which made the feeling of his fingers travelling under the hem of her knickers feel heavenly. Teasingly, he traced a finger over her folds, careful not to feel out her wetness, but she could tell he wanted to. She gasped, her grip in his cock tightening only a little bit, which in turn made him moan. The reaction in itself made Harry's hand dip lower, and his middle finger came to rest just above her hole. She bit her bottom lip, her cunt aching for him in such a way that it made the prospect of one of their flatmates coming home seem meaningless. She simply did not care about anything but making Harry orgasm and him making her climax in turn.
"It's in my nightstand drawer," he said, eyes falling to her lips for a quick second. "Along with the lube."
She got up from the bed, taking her knickers off as Harry threw tee shirt and joggers to the floor.
"And keep the sundress on," he begged. "You look so fucking good in that."
She giggled, and opened his nightstand, bringing the vibrator out and throwing the lube onto the bed. Harry reached forward and took the vibrator out of her hands, then taking her hand and bringing her to him.
"Let me," he said in such a deep and husky voice that it sent vibrations through Josie's entire being.
With Harry sat on the edge of the bed, she put her left leg on the bed just beside him and watched as he slowly pushed her dress further up so he could get a good look at her. He kept his eyes trained on her core as he slowly reached the vibrator forward and pushed it in. When she gasped, he looked up at her, eyes wide with lust. Leaning forward, he placed a kiss to the very top of her cunt, making sure that his tongue trailed along her skin.
"That feel good, baby?"
"Yes," she gasped.
"Good." Harry pulled away. "Now make me feel good."
Josie had never been this turned on before. She simply watched Harry get his phone and open the vibrator app, and a thrill like no other went through her. It was insane how Harry did not have to do anything elaborate, he just simply turned her on in a much deeper, much more meaningful way than any sort of sexual encounter or connection before. He turned around on the bed and revealed his arse to her as she got the strap on, and, once again, she felt like nothing else but this mattered. Climbing onto bed, she settled herself in front of him, the strap bumping against him.
"Oh!" she exclaimed. "Sorry. Not used to having something poking out of me like this."
Harry laughed, and she couldn't help but join in as well while tracing her fingers trace over his bum. She reached for the lube and put a few drops on her dildo to lubricate it properly. Harry watched her over his shoulder, the vibrator app open on his phone.
"Ready?" Josie asked and Harry nodded, biting his bottom lip.
With one hand on the strap and the other on Harry's bum, Josie slowly entered him. Harry gasped, gripping onto the bedsheets under him until his knuckles turned white. She watched him in the mirror on the opposite side of the bed, his eyes shut tightly as he adjusted to the dildo. He took deep breaths as she settled into him, letting him just feel it there for a few seconds before Josie moved out and then slowly in again.
"Oh, fuck," he moaned. "That's incredible."
"You like being fucked like this?"
"Yes," Harry said, opening his eyes and looking at Josie in the mirror in front of him as she thrust twice rather quickly but gently. "Yes, yes, yes."
Josie ran her hands over his back as she slowly pumped into him a few times, scratching her nails over him ever so tenderly and watching him arch his back in response. His muscles relaxed under her, the sensation of everything making him calm down completely and giving himself away to her. She suddenly felt a low hub at her core, and looking down on the bed, she saw that Harry had clicked on something on the app. Biting her bottom lip, she became one with the sensation. Though she loved the vibrator and this idea of Harry's, she also wished she could be the one giving this to Harry and feeling him the entire time. Feeling him stretch around her and how good he probably felt, just like he could with her.
"Harder," Harry begged, and Josie, who just wanted to see him surrendering himself completely to her, did as he asked.
She fucked harder into him, dragging one of her thrusts out, the most delicious noise leaving Harry's lips as she did. The vibration on her clit intensified, and in the haze of wanting to make and watch Harry come, she realised her own orgasm wasn't far away.
"Touch yourself for me," she told him, and Harry reached for his cock instantly.
"Bleeding Christ," he groaned, meeting her eyes in the mirror as he stroked himself. "You're so fucking... Fuck, Josie."
The vibrator moved faster over her now, and Josie felt herself begin to move closer to Harry's hips, to grip onto them harder until her nails dug into him. Her thrusts became more desperate, quicker, and she now moved his hips to meet hers, making the most wonderful noise of skin slapping against skin echo throughout Harry's room. Harry's bisexual flag shone beside them and she was aware that he had probably not thought of the fact that he would come all over his dark bedsheets, but she did not bother telling him that now because he probably knew.
A strangled moan left Harry's lips just as the vibrations on Josie's clit grew. She moaned loudly, barely able to keep herself up on her knees.
"I'm gonna- I... I'm- I... I'm so fucking close," Harry said, sounding out of breath and high on the friction they were creating between them. "I'm gonna come."
Everything inside Josie's core began to coil, she felt her own release not being too far away either. The two worked together as Harry's growing moans drowned out Josie's. She saw the muscles in his neck cord as he wanted to thrust into his own hand and move back down onto the dildo to get it all inside him as his orgasm grew closer. Josie wanted to help him come more, she wanted to stroke his cock, but she also loved the sight of him touching himself in the mirror in front of them. So much so that it felt almost impossible to fight her orgasm when it came ever so closer.
Harry came harder than Josie had ever seen him before, sweat prickling as his forehead and neck and face red with pleasure. No sound came out of his mouth at first, he only seemed to be shaking, and then the loud moan came so suddenly she almost jumped. His release sprayed out of his bedsheets, hips still moving into Josie's as he worked through his orgasm. She was so caught up in this that, once again, she did not notice how close she was to her own climax until it was almost there. A loud and long moan left Josie's lips, and Harry's face was suddenly right in front of hers.
She was on her back before she knew it, looking into Harry's eyes as he turned up the intensity further. Gripping onto his arms, Josie gasped as every single feeling in her body came to concentrate on that one spot in her core.
"That's it," he mumbled, hand moving over her neck and tits as he crawled down her body, leaving kisses every here and there as Josie squirmed under him, gasping and moaning and begging for her release. She didn't even realise the strap was off until she felt Harry's soft kisses along the inside of her thighs.
"You look so fucking good like this," he said, fingers moving over the part of the vibrator that he could see. He leaned forward, and though she could not feel it, she saw him kiss and lick the vibrator, making her wonder what it would feel like when he finally got to bury his face between her legs and do that to her cunt. Suddenly, the intensity of the vibrator got too much as he turned it up further, and it only took seconds for Josie to come. Arching her back as stars appeared everywhere and her entire being went up in flames. Moaning, and gripping Harry's wet hair until she was sure she had ripped it right off his skull.
Harry was over her when she opened her eyes again, looking right into her eyes and he pulled the vibrator out of her. She squirmed, still very sensitive from the intense orgasm she just had. Harry smiled a little at that and Josie chuckled, feeling her cheeks heat up for no apparent reason other than the fact that Harry would not look away from her. He slowly leaned down and kissed her, a kiss so tender and gentle, completely unlike everything that had just happened, that it knocked the wind out of her. His tongue slowly slid against hers, and, within seconds, he was undressing her.
The sundress fell onto the floor as the kisses grew more and more intense, though they never changed the pace. She had no idea how long they were kissing for, but she slowly felt Harry harden against her again, and when he slid his cock against her cunt, she wasn't too sensitive for another round. He put a condom on, and Josie, put a pillow under her lower back, making Harry's leverage a bit better. Never before had they gone more than once. This was the very first time where they had actually managed to have enough energy for a second round. Though, judging by the slow pace, and the way neither of them were in a hurry to feel any sort of release. Josie just wanted to be close to him, and she had no idea what Harry wanted. Maybe he just simply wanted another orgasm, maybe he just wanted to let the time fly a little, she did not know.
With hands entwined at the top of Josie's head, Harry's face buried into Josie's neck, and Josie's eyes open and looking right into Harry's curly hair, the two slowly worked their way towards a second release. Josie almost felt like they were in mutual love. She almost felt like they were a couple and just simply making love because they wanted to, because they loved one another, but that was not the case. Harry was not in love with her, though she was starting to fall in love with him. But if this was the only way she could have Harry, then she would take it. Josie closed her eyes so she wouldn't cry.
The both of them were panting and sweating hard when they broke away from one another for the second time that night. Harry only took his condom off before he threw it into the bin by his desk. He laid back down and the two just stayed there in silence. Josie was unsure if the world outside Harry's bedroom was still spinning, or if it had simply stopped. Maybe everything had stopped just now and the only thing truly alive in this entire universe was the intense feeling of adoration Josie had for Harry that was flowing through her entire body. She closed her eyes again, not letting her mind travel there. She could simply not allow herself to think of any of it.
The both of them jumped as Harry's phone started vibrating against his nightstand. The exhaustion had really kicked in after two rounds, and Josie could tell that it took everything in Harry to sit up and reach for his ringing phone. He groaned, wiping sweat off his forehead before he picked up his telephone to look at who was calling him. It took a second for him to register who was calling him before Josie saw him raise his eyebrows and slide his thumb over the bottom of his screen.
"Emma, hiya," Harry said. "You alright?"
It took Josie a second to place who Emma was, but she quickly remembered that she was Kai's new girlfriend and Harry had given the dog bowl for her to look at since she worked in a lab with her mother, a forensic scientist.
"Hold on a sec, Em, I'm gonna put you on speaker." Harry removed his phone from his ear and clicked on the button on his screen. He laid down on his stomach next to Josie who was still laid on her back. "You're on."
"Hello, Josie, babe," Emma said.
"Hiya."
"So," Emma began, and they could hear her rustling through paper on the other end. "I want to say thank you for trusting me with this, I don't think anyone's trusted me as fully as this before with anything like this."
"Don't mention it, honestly," Josie said. "We wouldn't know the first place to even begin, it's I that should be thanking you."
"Oh, stop it!"
"No, really!"
"Did you find anything?" Harry asked, interrupting the two girls with an eyeroll from Josie who only received a pinch back from Harry.
"Barely," Emma went on. "Basically, what I did was that I did the precipitin test, you know what that is?"
"No," they answered in unison.
"A precipitin reaction typically involved adding soluble antigens to a test tube containing a solution of antibodies. Each antibody has two arms each of which can bind to an epitope. When an antibody binds to two antigens, the two antigens become bound together by the antibody."
Harry and Josie only looked at one another, both as confused as the other.
"Simplified, it's a serological test using a precipitin reaction to detect the presence of a specific antigen. It's used to determine the human or other source of a bloodstain."
"Oh," they said.
"Yeah, and I found something."
They both stopped.
"But since it's a dog bowl, I suspected it was dog blood or any other animal. So, I did another test to differentiate between the next to nothing I found. Keep in mind, I just barely managed to find something. It's an old bowl, it's been down there in a very humid environment for a long time."
"What'd you find?" Harry asked.
"Well... blood."
Quiet.
"Human blood."
Harry and Josie looked at one another. Josie felt like her heart had never beaten that quickly before.
"I dunno what to do next. Like, should we notify the police? 'Cause I dunno how to look into DNA and all that yet, I'm just-"
"-Don't notify the police, Emma," Harry said.
Josie was so dizzy all of a sudden that she felt like throwing up.
"The police won't do shit. They were useless in finding any sort of clues about Marcela's murder, we'll do it ourselves."
"You... you think that's a good idea?"
"Thank you so much for your help, Emma," Harry said, Josie could feel him looking at her. Josie was unsure of what to do next. She was afraid if her legs would give out from under her if she got out of bed. "We appreciate this."
"Will you come pick up the bowl at some point, Harry? I don't want it near me."
"Yeah," Harry said, getting out of bed. "I'll come by now."
"Nice, see ya."
And Emma hung up, but Josie still felt numb. Something deep inside her felt wrong. She didn't know what she was feeling, just that everything felt at once much clearer and more hopeless. Slowly, she sat up in bed, but for some reason, her eyes had started watering. Tears were slowly rolling down her cheeks.
"Josie." Harry sat down on the floor in front of his bed, taking Josie's hands in his. "Listen to me."
She barely registered him kissing her hands, barely felt a swarm of butterflies fall into the pit of her stomach.
"You'll be alright, yeah?"
She just looked at him, the world around them collapsing.
"This doesn't mean what you think it does, we don't know that. We have no idea of knowing whose blood is on that bowl."
Her hands starts shaking more and Harry brought them both up to his lips again. If she had not been on the verge of a panic attack, she would have appreciated this moment more. Harry on his knees in front of her, kissing her hands ever so tenderly to show her how much he cared, that he was there for her.
"We'll figure it out," he said against her hands. "I promise."
Josie had no idea how he could say something like that when they had absolutely no idea if they would actually figure it out. She didn't get to tell him that, though, because he was out the door within seconds.