#anyway on a more positive note i'm still gonna try stage door tonight

[lulupen2023]

My very first BellDom Fic 19/23

AWWW thanks a lot for the like, they mean a lot to me. Hope you're still having fun with this super crazy fic :)

Summary:

Do you want to meet a Matthew who sees conspiracy everywhere (oh wait, this is not big news!) and is so fond of his trolley that he treats it like a sort of puppy? Do you want to meet a Dominic in love with… himself (and with Matt, too, of course!)? And do you want to meet a Chris who wants to prove to the world he's the most masculine guy ever… but is unavoidably attracted by every… female hobby? This is what you'll find in this story, among lots of BellDom and… craziness!

Summary of the chapter: Matt and Dom put their plan into action and Chris lends a hand. Chapter XIX A: What If I Told You...

Matthew makes the last notes of his guitar echo, letting them ring, as small flames burst out from the edge of the stage, with some glistening lights, too.

It's the sign that that was really the last song of their show.

"Goodnight, Los Angeles, it was nice to have you here tonight!" Matt exclaims, greeting the crowd.

"Maybe are we gonna see some of you even at tomorrow's show?" Dominic wonders as he gets up from the drum-kit, happy when he hears the positive rumbling from some areas of the Forum.

"Awww, that's so nice from you." the blond grins as he waves his hand, before leaving.

< Too bad that we won't be that nice with you, tonight...> Matthew ponders, as he heads to the dressing room.

After a quick shower and changing of clothes, the trio is ready.

There's no need to tell that Dominic and Matthew have dressed properly for their celebration: the first wears black pants and a white jacket with a T-shirt with white and black straps under, which is an impeccable match; the second wears blue pants with a very particular shirt, not only for the very intricate white drawing on the collar, but mostly because, depending on light it oscillates between blue, black and purple, without making clear which the real colour is.

Dominic could spend hours trying to define it, if only he hadn't another priority, like to take that shirt off him as soon as possible.

Chris stands in a corner, all engrossed in thinking about what to say to their fans who inevitably will question him about their disappearance.

After establishing that they have stared at each other long enough, Matt and Dom think about what to do.

"Let's check if the coast is clear. I'm gonna look at the main exits, very carefully. You'll check the number fifty-seven and then we'll meet again here, ok?" Matt suggests and they part.

After something more than ten minutes Dom comes back and finds Matt who has been waiting for him.

"There you go, finally! So, were there fans at number fifty-seven? Because the main exits are so damn crowded, but lucky for me nobody saw me. Bloody Hell, aren't people supposed to stay here and listen to My Chemical No-Sense?" the brunette snorts.

"It's My Chemical *Romance*!" the blond corrects him, kinda annoyed. "Anyway, just like you supposed, number fifty-seven is deserted..." he informs him.

"So, why the hell did it take you so damn long?" Matt gets nervous.

"Well, on the way back, I found a couple of fans in the corridors and signed their CDs." Dom explains.

"But you weren't supposed to stop to talk with the fans, not even for a few minutes!" Matt scolds him.

"I know... but they said 'Please, Dom, come here, you are beautiful!'. I just had to stop!" the other justifies.

"So? I keep telling you that you're beautiful!" the brunette protests.

"So what? Do you want an autograph, too?" the blond teases him.

"Dom!" Matt snaps.

"Ok, ok, let's go." Dom takes him by the hand, crossing with him the very deserted number fifty-seven exit, totally undisturbed and reaching the taxi that is already waiting for them.

"It was even too easy!" Matt comments as he closes the car door.

"You're right. Let's go back and make things harder!" Dom jokes as he pretends to open the car door again.

"Very funny. Let's just go away from here. Please, driver, take us to the beach!" Matt asks politely, but the taxi-driver turns to him, looking at him puzzled, just like Dom does.

"Matthew, honey, do you have the slightest idea about how many beaches there are in this place?" Dom patiently tries to make him reason out.

"Uh! You're right. Well, I mean the one where we have already set everything up!" Matthew specifies, but the driver stares at him even more puzzled than before.

"Matthew, dear, let me guess. You don't remember the name of the beach anymore, do you?" Dom questions him and Matt goggles as he slowly shakes his head negatively, just like a child.

"What if I told you that I do?" Dom smiles at him.

"Oh, Dommie, what would I do without you?" the brunette murmurs.

"Probably you would get lost everywhere!" the blond chuckles, before giving the proper info to the driver, as he caresses his mate's left leg, taking advantage of the seat that hides them.

*********************************** (In the meantime)

Chris has finally decided to go out and face the crowd. The first groups of fans immediately catch sight of him, calling all the other fans and going towards him.

"Chris, please, Chris, come here!" the fans call him out loud and the bassist can't help pleasing them.

He poses for several pictures, signs CDs, rucksacks, T-shirts, books and every kind of stuff and then gets ready for the unavoidable question the fans are about to ask him.

"Hey, Chris, where are Matt and Dom? Why aren't they here with you?"

The bassist concentrates for some seconds, before answering as planned.

"I'm sorry, people, but Matt and Dom won't be here tonight." he announces, noticing the immediate change of mood in his listeners.

"Why?" some girls wonder. As the news spread, one by one the other fans leave, until only a limited group of girls remains.

"Because, you know, their girlfriends made a surprise to them and came here yesterday, at night. So, as you can imagine, now they want to spend with them as much time as possible. That's why they left earlier than usual." he explains, no matter how he hates telling lies.

"Oh. Well, that's so nice from their girlfriends!" a girl sighs.

"What about tomorrow? Are they gonna stop here after the show?" another girl wonders.

"Sure! Their girlfriends will leave tomorrow in the afternoon. So, Matt and Dom will stop here, after the show, to spend some time with you. This is a promise!" Chris assures.

"So, Chris, aren't you envious, at least a little bit?" a girl asks him.

"Why?" he narrows his eyes.

"I mean, Matt and Dom's girlfriends paid a visit to them. What about your wife? Isn't she here with you?" she questions him.

"Nope, she is at home, with the kids, you know..." he justifies her.

"Well, fresh news, buddy, there are people called baby-sitters!" the girl makes him notice.

"But..."

"Admit it, Chris, it seems that Matt and Dom's partners care about them more than your partner cares about you!" another girl states.

< Oh, c'mon, it's fake. They're not here for real. So, they don't care more than Kelly. So... why am I so unsure now? > the poor Chris wonders, as doubts overwhelm him.

"Excuse me, I'll be right back." he takes leave, coming back to his dressing room.

He dials the number that he uses to dial every single day, even more than once a day, and waits for the answer from the other side.

"Hello?"

"Kelly?" her husband whines.

It's enough to make her figure his mood out.

"C'mon, tell me, what happened this time?" she patiently asks him.

"Do you love me?" he questions her, almost crying.

"Nope, I don't. Truth is that we've been together for all these years just because I find extremely funny having babies from you!" she answers sardonically. "Of course I love you, you, ninny! What bloody kind of question is it?" she snaps immediately after.

"Just like that..." he mumbles.

"Christopher?" his wife questions him.

"What if I told you that Gaia and Jessica are here?"

"Ok, they are there. So?"

"Well, you're not..." he whimpers.

"Chris, do you really think that to be there with you would be the way to show you that I care?" she strikes back.

"N...no?" he answers so uncertainly that it becomes a question.

"Hell nope! It wouldn't prove you anything. I mean, it's nice to follow you on tour, but just once in a while, because I understand that you need some privacy and need to be left on your own, also to spend some time with your fans. So, to keep following you relentlessly as Gaia and Jess do, well... it's way too exaggerate. It's almost as if they didn't trust in their boyfriends, so they keep following them in order to control them constantly. But this can be so frustrating that if the girls keep acting this way... I'm afraid they'll end up losing them." she explains.

< Oh well, that has already happened, a month ago .> Chris thinks, being very careful not to say that out loud.

"Anyway, honey, since they're there, when you see them can you please say hello from me?" his wife adds.

"To whom?" her husband wonders, confused.

"To Jess and Gaia, you, ninny!" Kelly snorts.

"Oh, yeah, sure, of course; but... they're not here." he confesses.

"But you told me they were there!" his wife protests, puzzled.

"No, honey, I said 'What *if I told you* that Gaia and Jessica are here?'" her husband points out.

"So, let me see if I got it straight: you complained to me, even tried to make me feel guilty, for something that actually didn't happen?" she questions him, the volume of her voice increasing as she begins losing her patience.

"Exactly, but... why does it sound so awful described by you?" her husband wavers.

"Christopher Anthony Wolstenholme, you..." his wife roars.

Chris knows very well that whenever she uses his full name is never a good sign, as well as he knows that he can place the mobile on the table and gather all his stuff left in the dressing room, because once he's done he will find Kelly on the phone, still engrossed in insulting him good and proper.

This time not even his famous, providential book will help him make things right.

--------------------------------------------------------

Once they arrive to the beach, not before giving a very generous tip to the taxi driver, mostly to reward him for his patience, Dominic and Matthew wander hand in hand along the isolated beach, lightened only by the moonlight, the stars and some candles on a table.

And just like they have said before, everything is already set up: on the table there are sandwiches, chips, pop-corns and several snacks, a mini-bar with beers, champagne and every kind of alcoholic stuff. And there is a cake, too.

"Is it just my imagination or when we ordered that cake it didn't have all this whipped cream?" Matthew wonders.

"You're right. Let's say that I personally asked to add some more." Dominic confesses as he dips his finger into the whipped cream.

"Why?" the other asks him naively as the blond unbuttons his iridescent shirt, placing the cream along the left side of his neck and licking it off his way, making the frontman moan.

"Here's the answer." Dominic whispers.

"Well, Mattie, are we going to have our toast or what?" he exclaims, walking towards the mini-bar and drawing out the champagne.

As soon as Matthew recovers, he helps him, taking two flute glasses.

Dom opens the bottle and fills the flute glasses with the precision of a maître and then they make them collide lightly.

"To our first month, the first one of a long series." Matthew murmurs as he leans closer to his boyfriend, until his forehead rests against his.

"A very, very, very long series..." the blond moans, crossing the flutes, to make each one drink from the others' flute.

Matthew is about to fill the second glass, but Dom stops him.

"Wait. I can't let the alcohol overwhelm you... at least, not yet!" he explains.

"Why?" the other wonders.

Dominic leaves and then he comes back, holding a deep blue, acoustic guitar.

"As you can see, clothes are not the only stuff I've bought today. This is for you!" he says, giving the guitar to him.

"Oh my, Dommie, it's wonderful, thank you so much. Plus, it matches my shirt, too!" Matt smiles as he analyzes the instrument, minutely.

"Well, that's only a coincidence. Anyway, if you think you're wearing that for long, you're such a poor ingénue, my dear!" Dom 'threatens' him.

"Shut up! You wear more clothes than I do. At least you could take off your jacket!" Matthew incites him and Dom pleases him, taking it off and folding it carefully, placing it on the bench close to the table.

"Now, that's better!" the brunette smiles satisfied, as he checks that all the guitar chords are perfectly tuned. "I like it a lot. How did you know that I would like it?" he asks him.

"It's a guitar. It works. You like it!" the drummer answers telegraphic, making the brunette laughs, but then he become serious again.

"Dominic, why did you buy a guitar for me? It's not that I lack them..." he questions the blond.

"What? Can't I buy a gift for my boyfriend?" the other shrugs, showing indifference.

"Dom?" Matt insists, as he tries not to think about the shiver running down his spine whenever Dom calls him 'his boyfriend '.

"Okay, okay. What if I told you that I want you to sing?" the other confesses.

"Dom, I've already done that not longer than one hour ago..." the guitarist comments, confused.

"Yep, but not for me. You've never sung for me so far. I mean, you even sang for Chris!" the blond protests.

"Don't get jealous now!" the brunette chuckles, placing the guitar on the sand, to get closer to him and caress his face with the back of his hand.

"Do you want me to sing for you, my Dommie?" he whispers as he skims his lips with his own.

"I don't want it. I expect it!" the other strikes back as he annihilates that minimal distance with a kiss that doesn't take long to become more demanding.

"Okay, I'll do it." Matt announces, as he's about to take his guitar, but Dom stops him.

"Not so fast, boy!" he exclaims, dragging him to himself to utterly unbutton his shirt, taking it off.

"Now, that's better!" he quotes Matt's previous sentence on purpose, with a satisfied expression, before folding the shirt with the same care he reserved to his jacket.

Sat on the sand, with is legs crossed, shirtless, holding the guitar on his lap as his sapphire eyes stare at the blond, his face brightened up by the moonlight and the stars.

Matthew has never seemed more beautiful to Dominic.

(End part A)

Since I'm evil, but mostly since the chapter would be really too long, this time I split it in two.

And in the next part you'll see our beloved guys having lots of fun... but not only!

[ofstormsandwolves]

@fadewithfury (won’t have a laptop till tonight and it seems wrong to ignore your message). this morning i get. i’m in the U.K., it’s about 12:30 (so lunch time). but it was happening last night too. I posted about having gone down to the young vic last night in an attempt to meet billie at stage door (she didn’t come out, so i’m trying again this afternoon before i go home but i’m not hugely confident- knowing my luck i won’t meet her at all), and that was half 10/11 here, and when i woke up this morning, i’d expected at least one or two people to have seen it/ maybe commented that they get that i’m frustrated/disappointed, and instead there was nothing.

and as i said in my post (which you replied to), it kinda makes me feel like i’m screaming into the void. yes, it could just be that a lot of people didn’t see it, it got buried in their dash etc. but it’s that /no one/ responded to it at all that just makes me feel like i’m being ignored. and it’s been happening a lot recently, where i want to vent about something frustrating me (aka not meeting billie after trying for four times), or trying to promote my art because i could really do with sales etc. and people seem to ignore me.

And all this is sort of pointless, seeing as you took the time to reply and reassure me that you have just seen my post, but it’s early where you are. but when i was asleep last night, people in the US would have been awake, at least part of the time.

idk, it just constantly feels like i’m being ignored on here at the moment.

[mywritingonlyfans]

A fic about sucking / Smut with Damiano David

warnings: it's what the anon said, it's smut! like just smut!

a/n: i hope you don't mind but i'm taking some stuff you guys send and writing and yeah, i'm back. oh, and it's small, 1,378 words of pure smut

It was similar to sucking his energy to yourself.

He would come off stage all agitated, let you jump into his arms, lifting you and spinning you around. The air would come out of your lungs, because he was irresistible like that, so he would kiss your cheek, your neck, marking the spot with his teeth so that you squirmed in his arms, and as a calling, soon he would be getting rid of the others to be pulled by you to some quieter place. It was always like that after their concert when you were present, no exceptions, and today would be no different.

“Did you like the gig? What did you think?” He asked, knowing the answer well; just wanting to have his ego fueled by you as he closed the door behind his half naked body.

Catching your lower lip between your teeth, you placed your hands on his chest, pressing him against the door, looking straight into his eyes from the tip of your toes. “It was good, I kinda fancy the shirtless man throwing himself at people who made the best facial expressions when singing. Quiet hot I might add.”

“And what are you gonna do about it?” His voice thickened, making you shiver.

He held the collar of your shirt, guiding you closer to him until his mouth was inches away from yours, before thousands of exchange of glances, you got on top of his feet and kissed him.

"Dami,” you whispered into his mouth, letting your breath take him as your fingers delved into his damp hair, pulling some locks for yourself.

“Huh,” he pulled his lip to himself, pulling a quiet moan out of you. When you opened your eyes you had a flushed Damiano, already impatient in front of you.

You sighed between giggles at his restless behavior, rubbing your knee between his thighs to feel how excited he was for you; as expected he was in his half solid state coming from your little touches. “I wanna praise you properly for tonight,” you added strength to his bulge, digging your nails through the hair on his chest and working your way down to the bottom of his shorts. “Can I have a taste of you pretty boy?” Your finger slipped inside the hem of his underwear, causing his stomach to contract and you to smile even more.

“Sure, go ahead, babe,” He didn’t hesitate, holding on to your shoulders for you to kneel before him; you didn’t blame him, in any other circumstance at this time he would be the one pounding into you or diving into your juices because it was always you who didn’t control yourself and needed him to put you in your place.

Doing as he expected, you tucked your hair behind your ear, getting your locks out of sight, and propped yourself up on his thighs, your hands right below Jesus. “Unbutton yourself, babe!” You instructed him, placing a gentle but wet kiss on his tattoo’s nose.

Obeying you, with his eyes still fixed on your face and swollen lips from his previous actions, he pulled his shorts off along with his underwear, revealing what you wanted so badly; your smile was priceless under his gaze. “Do you like what you see, angel?” He sounded softly, both knew it wouldn’t last long until your character dropped. In minutes he would be the one to shut you up by being in charge, not you; it was a fact.

“Yeep,” You said excitedly, holding him in your hands, following for a few pumps, making him let out sighs that filled the room you were in. “Are you excited about it, pretty boy? Imagining when you have my mouth?” With that being said, and his hip thrusted into your hand, you leaned in, watching him look at you intently, and licked his slit, gathering his sweetness for yourself.

“C’mon, angel,” he said already breathless, holding your hair and putting it around his fist, before that you had your lips pressed against him.

“Wait, it was my time to shine!” You whined, not sounding annoyed at all; even because you weren’t.

“You shine when you’re not being a tease, baby doll,” he said simply, guiding his tip between his lips. “Now be good and take what you want, huh?”

You nodded, gathering saliva to accommodate him, opening your mouth wide with your tongue ready for him, letting him fill you. He held on to the back of your neck, making you close your eyes and concentrate on sucking his entire length into your warmth. You went on like this, having him lost in front of such a scene until he realized that he needed more. “Look at me, angel,” he pulled you by the hair so he could pull him out of your mouth, resulting in a pleasant ‘pop’ noise to sound in his ears as he admired your saliva running down the corners of your lips.

“What’s wrong?” You said quietly, wiping yourself off with the back of your hand.

“Nothing angel, I just need more,” he paused, swallowing hard; a simple act, but enough for you to understand what he wanted. You were never one to want to be in control when it came to him anyway. “More of you for myself.”

You smiled enthusiastically, assuring him that it was what you needed. “Yes, babe, please,” you whispered, leaning properly on his thighs, parting your lips again for him.

Silencing you with his weight, he held tight to your hair, guiding you the way he wanted you to be positioned. His eyes roamed over your face, only to receive a nod assuring him that you were okay with that and with your throat appropriately relaxed for taking him. Following the signals, he thrust his hips into you, filling your mouth with him and pulling up to the tip just to fill your throat right after. His movements were repeated until his noises were way too loud inside the small room and your eyes were melting into tears. If there was someone outside, they would clearly know what you were doing.

“God, yes,” he groaned, his raspy voice making you want to touch yourself as he eased into you. “You’re taking me so well, fitting me just right into your mouth, angel. I bet your velvety mouth was made for this, right? Just to take me like that.” He ran his thumb down your cheek, wiping away a tear of black makeup as he violently went at you.

You agreed, feeling drool on your chin as a few drops trickled down your arm. Lost in your senses, you watched him, taking note of his makeup-smudged eye; which was certainly better than yours right now and the veins in his neck that were tight in between his silent moans, within minutes your throat was being filled with his hot liquid as you swallowed every drop of it; or at least tried.

“Fuck,” he lamented, needing to get you out of him because it was becoming too much.

You took a few last licks at him, coughing a little as you felt your throat scratch for the lack of him as you tried to push away your blurred vision with your wrists.

“C’mere here, sweetheart,” his sweet voice welcomed you as he knelt in front of you, grabbing you in your arms and kissing your forehead, wiping your mouth with his hands. His arms tightened around you, pulling your face towards him, showering you with kisses, cheek, nose and then your mouth in an act so gentle that made the previous moment seem banal for both of you. “You’re such a lovely mess right now, love, but you did so great for me, I’m very proud of you.” He pecked your forehead, still trying to clean up more of the mess that was the makeup under your eyes.

“Proud enough that I can be repaid?!” You asked, giving him your best puppy eyes while holding his chin so he could be looking you right in the eye.

He bent over you, leaning your back gently on the icy ground, running his teeth over the sensitive skin of your neck and cheering you up. “Always babe, always.”

------

tagging: @pingpongchamps @oro-e-diamanti @marriedwithmarktuan @its-afucking-mess

[kassandra-lorelei]

"You know when your phone buzzes, it means I'm trying to talk to you, right?" Niles - cc

Here we are, my friend! Again, apologies for all of these prompts taking so long, but my uni film festival is next week and I’ll also be going on holiday so I’ve had things to prepare for. I should hopefully have the ones I have left to do done by then, though! Enjoy!

@missbabcocks1 @holomoriarty

She didn’t know where he’d been, and quite frankly at thatpoint she didn’t care. What she really wanted to know was why Niles had felt itappropriate to apparently leave the house and go off by himself for what could’vebeen hours for all she knew, without leaving her a note of where he was goingand why.

He’d never not done that before, and the longer time wenton that she stayed indoors without any word or sign of his car, the more it had started to gnaw at her. Had he been hurt, and had to go tothe hospital? No, someone would’ve told her if that had happened. She toldherself not to be so ridiculous when her mind gave her an image of such a badaccident that he couldn’t be identified. He didn’t have to pick up the kidsfrom anywhere – she’d made sure the Sheffields were looking after their girlsthat night.

It happened to be a rather important day, the romantic inher had said. She’d spent ages setting it all up, and he was ruining it by notbeing there!

She’d called his cell phone, and he hadn’t picked up. She’dtried again, and still nothing. She’d ended up leaving him five missed callsand at least twice as many messages!

And yet the first she’d heard of him since she’d kissed himgoodbye that morning was as he made his sorry way up from the driveway, ontothe path up towards the front door, where she was leaning with her arms folded.

Part of her was relieved, but the rest of her was angry.

“You know when your phone buzzes, it means I’m trying totalk to you, right?” she demanded as he got close. “I’ve been trying to getthrough to you, where’ve you been?!”

“I was driving, Babs!” he answered back, coming to a halt infront of her. “The roads were packed but it kept moving so much, I didn’t havetime to reach over and answer your message. Now, what was so important that Ishould have disregarded the law, and potentially crashed and totalled the car?”

“What was so important”! Apart from knowing whether or nothe was alive, she’d show him what was so important!

Taking him by the wrist to pull him into the house, she slammedthe door behind him and pulled him through into the kitchen and dining area.

She’d never done it by herself in her entire life, but she’dmanaged to set the table correctly – all the knives and forks were in theirright places, she’d dimmed the overhead lighting and lit their intimate mealfor two with a single candle. She’d even made sure it was scented!

And then there were the two covered plates, underneath ofwhich their two meals sat waiting to be eaten.

She gestured at the scene in frustration.

“There. Happyanniversary!” she shouted. “On this day, thirty years ago, I took thesecretarial position at Maxwell B. Sheffield Productions. I walked up thosesteps, rung the bell, and the door was opened by the biggest irritation my lifehas known ever since. The same irritation who can’t even pull over to answerthe phone when it’s clear that his wife wants to talk to him!”

She expected him to say something after that, but when shelooked at him, he was just staring with his mouth hanging open.

“Sweetheart, I…I don’t know quite what to say…!”

He was clearly more than surprised by it all. Maybe he’dforgotten it was even today? They hadn’t made a big thing out of it before(other occasions, like birthdays and marriage anniversaries, had always rankedhigher) but knowing each other for thirty years deserved remembering, in hermind.

Maybe it didn’t really matter, and she was making too muchof a fuss. It was probably becoming a bigger deal in her head because she’d beenso worried about where he was.

Well, that and she’d made an effort for nothing.

She turned away towards the table, letting go of his wrist.She didn’t feel angry anymore, just disappointed and a little sad.

“You don’t have to say anything, Niles,” she shook her headsoftly, and ran a finger over the edge of her cutlery. “It’s not really an anniversary,I just thought it might be nice to commemorate it, that’s all. But you got homelate, I was wondering where you were, starting to panic a little bit, and now…”

Now, he’d gotten home late, she’d yelled at him, and thewhole evening was spoiled. It had to be, didn’t it?

Niles didn’t say anything to fill the silence, but C.C.heard the rustling of the fabric of his jacket.

She peered over her shoulder, to see him taking a little boxout of the inside pocket.

A box designed for jewellery.

“What’s that?” she asked quietly, turning more so that shewas properly looking.

“It’s the reason I’m later than I thought I’d be,” Nilescame up behind her. “You’re not the only one who considers this a specialoccasion, Babs.”

He held out the box to press it gently into her hands.

“Happy anniversary, C.C..”

C.C. felt a shaky smile coming and tears starting to form asa warmth spread in her chest, “You remembered?”

“Of course I remembered, sweetheart!” Niles seemed almostoffended that she thought he’d forgotten. He held her upper arms, squeezingthem as he began to smile as well. “I know we haven’t made much of it before,but you didn’t honestly think I was going to let our thirty-year milestone passus by, did you?”

“No, I…I guess not…!” she actually couldn’t believe she’dbeen that much of an idiot to think he’d forget, but she wasn’t about to argue overthat.

Her husband rubbed his hands up and down her arms, “Why don’tyou open your gift?”

C.C. did so eagerly, gasping in surprise and delight at thedelicate necklace inside. The chain was white gold, and the pendant was a single,cream-coloured pearl – the traditional symbol of thirty years together.

“Niles…! It’s beautiful!” she nearly cried, turning aroundto face him properly. “Where did you get it?!”

“I’d ordered it from a place downtown, but there’d been anissue and it had accidentally been sent elsewhere,” Niles explained. “I’dintended on being back before you got home from work, but I had to make a quicktrip to Long Beach in order to rectify the mistake.”

All the way to Long Beach?! At that time of day, the traffichad probably been terrible down that end of the metropolis. No wonder he’d beengone so long! And if it had really been the fault of the jewellers, sending hergift off somewhere else, then he’d had no choice but to go after it!

“Some mistake…!” she chuckled. She then reached up to cuphis cheek in one hand. “I love you.”

Niles responded by pulling her into his arms and huggingher.

“I love you, too,” he murmured, kissing a patch of skin closeto her ear. “I’m sorry for not leaving a note, telling you that I was goingout.”

C.C. wound her arms around his neck, “And I’m sorry forgiving you the third degree when you got back.”

“You’re more than forgiven,” she could hear the smile in hisvoice as he spoke, and they held each other for a few more seconds before he pulledaway. “Now, let’s get this on you. I’d ask if the gold was so shiny you couldsee your face in it, but then I remembered that you don’t have a reflection.”

C.C. raised an eyebrow, but turned around anyway and lifted upher hair.

“Careful, Butler Boy. Sex was almost off the table oncetonight,” she warned him playfully.

Niles slipped the necklace onto her, and clipped it togetherat the back.

“Apologies, my dearest darling wife,” he kissed her cheek, andthen walked around in front of her to admire the view. “It looks as wonderfulon you as I imagined it would.”

She smirked back at him, “That’s more like it.”

She leaned into him to peck him on the lips, and when theypulled away Niles glanced at the table.

“What have youordered for dinner?”

C.C. blinked at him, “Why’d you say ‘ordered’? I might’vecooked it myself!”

There was a pause at that, during which Niles gave her aquestioning look. It made her crumble before she could keep up the pretence.

“Alright, even I didn’t believe that one,” she said,starting to smile again. “It’s from the little Italian place that we like.”

“Oh,” Niles sounded interested, and he took her hands inhis. “Do you need me to open up the wine?”

“Already uncorked and breathing. It’s on the counter,” sheindicated to the bottle and two glasses with her head.

Niles let go of her hands, and staged a small bow, “I willbring it over presently.”

With a low laugh, she patted him on the behind as he went inthat direction, “Atta boy – let those serving instincts kick in, Hazel.”

He raised an eyebrow at her in return as he walked by, “Careful,Babs – you’re not the only one who gets to decide if sex is off the tabletonight.”

C.C. rolled her eyes, seating herself at the table, “Oh,please; the only time the words “sex” and “off the table” have been in the samesentence for you is that one time we started on top of a table and fell off!”

“You’re worth every bump and bruise that it caused,” he croonedover his shoulder at her.

“Sap,” she leaned against her chair, biting back a grin. “Getthe wine – if you’re gonna be like this during dinner, I’m gonna need alcohol.”

“Right away, dear,” Niles blew her a kiss. “And in a littlewhile, perhaps we can see just how “off the table” we can get…?”

She knew that a dirty laugh was the only reply he needed. Afterthirty years of knowing each other, ten years of marriage, and three children, sometimeswordless replies were enough.

They’d certainly be so later, when they’d show each otherjust how much each decade had meant, and how much they were looking forward tothe ones still to come.