#yeah I’m not done with the ly sy sets yet

[cordiallyfuturedwight]

happy yoongi after jin chose 'seesaw' as his favorite performance (cr. 0613data)

[mrsevans90]

Puppy Love

Captain Syverson x OFC Emma Miller Part 9

Summary: Austin Syverson has returned to Texas after retiring from the military and starts his own contracting business. Syverson is used to being alone and thinks he prefers it that way. While at work he stumbles upon an injured and abused puppy. When he meets the new veterinarian in town, Emma Miller, he is immediately smitten with her. It turns out Emma has some baggage of her own. Will they be able to make it work? Or is it just a case of fleeting puppy love?

Pairing: Henry Cavill as Captain Austin Syverson x OFC Emma Miller 

Warnings: Smut, Sy overthinking, PTSD, talk of period, threats to punch someone, language.

MINORS DNI! Must be 18+

I do not authorize any copying/pasting, stealing of my work, or using my words as your own. 

This story is not beta’d. All mistakes are my own.

A/N: I am an imperfect person who makes mistakes. All that I ask is to please be kind and if you enjoy it then please comment and REPOST! I appreciate any love, comments, and reposts more than you could know. Thank you for reading! 

Part 8

The work week feels as though it’s going terribly slow. Monday night I made plans with Walter to meet up for dinner and a beer. I wanted to thank him for getting to my girl so quickly last weekend and asked him to keep a close eye on the situation. He informed me that Colin bonded out Monday morning but that he was beyond pissed about being locked up for the weekend. The jail doesn’t do releases on Sunday so he ultimately had to sit and wait until someone could bail him out Monday morning which probably enraged him more than just initially being brought back in. I updated Walt on the security measures taken at Emma’s house and then let him know she was having a professional security system installed on Tuesday. I made sure to text Emma throughout the day when I could and called her every night before bed but I found myself really missing her. By Monday night, our texts started getting flirtier and Tuesday we found ourselves straight up sexting. I felt like a teenager telling her all the things that I wanted to do to her and even sent her a picture of me shirtless after a workout before getting into the shower. After my shower, I saw that she replied with a daring picture of her in lingerie laying in her bed and I swear I thought I had a stroke from how long I stood there staring at her picture. Her hair was curled and laid out over her shoulders, she had her bottom lip tucked in between her teeth and was wearing a deep purple lace lingerie set that instantly had me sweating. Without thinking, I immediately video called her even though we hadn’t done that yet. I was surprised with how quickly she answered the phone.

“I was wondering if you either died or just didn’t like my picture.” Emma says as she answers the phone. She was still lying in bed but had the covers pulled up under her arms. 

“Sugar, I think I just about had a stroke when I got out of the shower and saw what you had sent me. Sweet Jesus babygirl, you are beautiful.” 

“Thank you. I definitely looked at your picture for longer than I care to admit.” She smiles shyly.

“Oh yeah? Like Ol’ Sy all sweaty from a work out?” 

“Mmhmm.. reminds me of when I get you sweaty from other workouts with me. Cardio specifically.” 

“You naughty little minx. How about now that I’m all cleaned up?” I pan my phone down to show my raging hard on not concealed by anything since I didn’t bother with boxers once I got dried off, too distracted by Emma’s selfie.”

“Jesus Sy! Looks like you might be missing me a little bit.” She says cheekily.

“Just a bit. I’d be willing to bet that you might be missing me too?” 

“Mmm, the little wet spot on my panties says yes.” 

“Fuck, darlin! Let me see, please.” 

Emma throws the covers off of her and spreads her legs to show me and I growl through the phone. She surprises me when she slides her thong to the side and shows me her petals glistening with her want. She arches her back and unclasps her bra to show me her perfect tits, begging to be sucked on.

“Oh, babygirl. I need you to touch that sweet little peach for me. Would you want to do that?” She nods and I start slowly stroking my cock.

“Pretend it’s me baby, put two of your fingers in that tight little pussy and curl ‘em up just like I do.” She breathily agrees and follows my instruction. I place my phone where she can see me stroking myself and I hear her moan. 

“My fingers are too small. Yours fill me up better.” She whines.

“Oh, but I’m picturing those little hands wrapped around me before you spread your mouth and put your gorgeous lips on my cock.”

“Yeah? Mmm keep going baby.” She mutters as she continues to work herself towards her high.

My voice gets deeper as I’m thrusting into my fist, “Oh I’d be spinning you around so I could get my tongue on your tasty little peach while you choked on my cock baby. I’d have your sexy ass cheeks spread above my face while I shoved two fingers in you and make you squirt all over my tongue while you swallowed my cum.”

“Ah, Austin! I’m cumming!” She cries out and I fuck my fist harder until my release spurts all over my chest and abs. Damn, I’ll need to shower again. I hate cum on my chest hair.

“Damn, darlin’!” I say as I lay back and look at Emma through the screen. She looks back at me shyly and fixes her panties before leaning forward and tugging a t-shirt over her. I am immediately jealous that it’s not my t-shirt and think I should give her one to sleep in so that maybe she’ll dream about me. 

“Don’t get all shy on me now, Sugar. We’ve done much dirtier stuff than that.” I laugh as I use my towel to wipe my spend off of myself before tossing it in the hamper and listen to her giggle.

“It just feels different not being able to snuggle up to you right after and feel you.” She murmurs. 

“I know, angel. How about we have dinner tomorrow night so I can at least see you, if you’re free.”

“That’d be nice. Want to come to mine and we can just order take out? Maybe from Gia’s?” 

“Sounds perfect, Babygirl. Everything go okay with the alarm system install today?”

“It did. The guy taught me how to use everything and I got all of the accompanying glass break sensors as well as the fire alarm and carbon monoxide connections too. It’s fully armed and already feel more relaxed knowing that the whole place is being monitored by the alarm company. Maybe that’s why I sent that spicy picture to you.”

“Well, that definitely makes me so happy and relieved. Plus, you got me acting like a teenager practically cumming on myself the second I saw you. You always look so beautiful, Sugar. Even now you’re stunning in just a t-shirt, although I wish it was my t-shirt you were wearing.” Her cheeks blush into a bright pink at the compliment I give her and I make it a new goal to get her blushing like that every time I talk to her. 

“If I had one of yours, I would sleep in it.” She says with a yawn.

“Guess I better get one to you then.” She nods enthusiastically and I can tell she’s getting sleepy. 

“I’m going to let you go and get some rest now, beautiful. I’ll talk to you tomorrow, alright?”

“Mkay, goodnight Austin. Sweet dreams.

“You too, Darlin’. Night.” I tell her before hanging up. I decide to not bother with rinsing off again since I’ll shower after my run in the morning and brush my teeth so I can turn in for the night.

I jolt upright from a nightmare and feel the sweat trickle down my chest. Fuck. I brush my hands over my face and look at my phone as I try to catch my breath. 1:56 am. Aika whines at me and slowly patters over to the bed in the moonlit room. 

“I’ll be alright girl. Just the usual shit. Sorry I woke you up.” I gruffly tell her and point for her to get back in her bed. At least someone should get some sleep. To my surprise, Mills is still unconscious on his side in his little dog bed. Normally, my yelling or grunting during nightmares has Aika, whose hearing abilities have started to fade in her old age, up and by the bed in a matter of minutes in an attempt to comfort me. I stretch my bones and head to the restroom to relieve myself and cool off with some cold water on my face and head. I stare at my reflection in the mirror. What am I doing? I can’t get involved with Emma. She deserves the perfect guy and a picket fence lifestyle. I’m fucked up and can’t even sleep for more than three hours some nights. What if she had been here tonight and saw this? I could hurt her in my sleep. I got lucky the two nights that she stayed here, but I also don’t think I’ve ever slept so well. That could be because she wore me out with her sex abilities. God, I wish I could just turn it all off. All of the trauma and the nightmares. I would give anything not to see the blood, smell the gunshot smoke, or hear the sounds of assault rifles firing around me. She’s beautiful and delicate and already scared enough from the loser she used to date. The last thing I would ever want is for her to be afraid of me. I toss some more cold water in my face before I head to the fridge and get a bottle of water. I try to lay back down knowing it’s hit or miss if I’ll fall back asleep. If I do, I’ll either pick up right where the nightmare left off, or I’ll be so exhausted that I’ll sleep without any dreams at all. That’s what I’m praying for. I close my eyes and try to think of nothing other than Emma’s smile. Emma’s happiness as she loves on the dogs, and her peaceful face while fully relaxed in sleep.

 My alarm startles me awake at 5:30 and unlike most days I don’t want to get up. I was lucky that I was eventually able to fall into a dreamless sleep. I toss some shorts on and brush my teeth while the dogs do their business out back. After feeding them, I grab my earbuds and my phone, tie my tennis shoes and head out for my run. Pounding the pavement with Led Zeppelin blaring in my ears helps me clear out my head. Some people run to think through their problems. I do the opposite, I run to empty my head of anything and everything. Choosing to focus instead on the nature around me and the difficulty of the path I have chosen. Inhaling and exhaling is my focus. Everything else gets pushed away for another day.

Luckily the day moved on a bit quicker, probably since I was so tired. After listening to my Nana rave about Emma again and ask for updates, which I had none to give, I was able to get on to work and push my focus onto the project at hand. After work, I went home to shower and put on some clean clothes before loading up the pups and heading out. I even remembered to grab an old faded green army t-shirt to give Emma before I left. I was on my way to Emma’s house for dinner and was still feeling a bit conflicted about our relationship. It’s obviously all my own bullshit, but I can’t help but feel like Emma doesn’t know what she’s truly getting herself involved with because I haven’t shown her that side of me. I know nothing has been made official, and that’s my own doing but I don’t know how far I should let this go. I absolutely wanted to see her and spend time with her, that wasn’t a lie. I just worry about getting attached or involving her in my problems, more than she already knows of at least. I decide not to allow my self-loathing to ruin the night, so I talk myself out of that headspace before pulling into Emma’s driveway.

            She answered the door and immediately loved on the dogs. Mills still has limited manners so I had to reprimand him a bit for jumping on her. Didn’t need him scratching up her gorgeous legs in those tiny little shorts. After the dogs made it inside, Emma wrapped her arms around my neck and stood on her tip toes to give me a kiss. It wasn’t overly passionate, but it was definitely more than a peck. It reminded me of our kiss that day on my back patio. 

“Hi.”

“Hey, Babygirl. You doing okay?” 

“Mmhmm. Is it lame to say that I missed you?”

“Nah, not if that’s how you’re feelin’. I missed you too, Sugar.” I say as I tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. There’s that blush that I’m always aiming to see. I smirk at her.

“As always, you’re looking delicious.”

“Delicious? Like something edible?”

“You know I’m a man of my word and I’d love to eat every inch of you. I could show you if you don’t believe me.” She shakes her head incredulously as I smirk while my hands roam up and down her body. She bites her lip and I groan. She giggles and places a quick kiss against the scruff on my cheek before turning around and walking to the living room.

"I brought you something." I say and hand her the shirt. She beams at me before lightly kissing my lips.

"Thank you!" She inhales and I arch my eyebrow. "It smells like you."

"I hope that's not a bad thing." I chuckle.

"It's a very good thing." Wow, this is some real boyfriend shit, Sy.

We sit on the couch and I pull her legs across my lap, so that I can run my hands up and down them. 

“I’ve already got my food order in the cart, what do you want to eat? I’m starving!”

“Hmm… I guess I’ll do some fettucine alfredo, and get some of those garlic knots please.”

“Mkay! Do you want a salad too?”

“I guess I ought too.” I say patting my belly. She rolls her eyes dramatically.

“Yeah, you’re almost at risk of losing one of your several abs. Can’t be too careful.” She says in her little southern sarcastic drawl.  I arch my eyebrow at her. “Was that sass, lil’ miss? I’ll have you know, my abs aren’t going anywhere unless you start cooking for me every day. I’m still dreamin’ about those biscuits.” I tickle her sides and she attempts to fight me off. 

“Okay, okay. I give up! No more tickles. Please, I can’t take it.” She says breathlessly and clutching her stomach almost in pain. Maybe I was too rough with her. She’s so small compared to me, I guess I need to be gentler. 

“I’m sorry, Darlin’. Was I too rough?”

“Nope, just got a stitch in my side.” She replies.

After placing the order for our food, she shows me the alarm system that was installed so she can get my opinion on it. We head back to the couch and are involved in quite a heavy make-out session with Emma sitting in my lap. I start to unbutton her shorts so that I can slide my fingers into her warm, wet destination and am surprised that she shakes her head while pushing my hand away and says “not tonight.” I’m fine with it if she doesn’t want to do anything, I’ve never had an issue with being told no, but now I’m just curious as to if I’ve done something wrong. She’s acting just a little bit off towards me. I’m about to ask as the doorbell rings with our food order. After Emma receives the food, we sit down and start eating.

“You alright?” I ask her.

“Mmhmm.” She smiles over her glass of sweet tea but it doesn’t reach her eyes.

“How’s work been so far this week?” She asks.

“Usual, busy with projects coming up but I’m not complainin’ about job security.” I tell her. “What about for you?”

“It’s been busy, I feel like I barely get a chance to sit down but good. I have two surgeries scheduled tomorrow, just regular neuters, but who knows what else may come up. Did you know there is a man in town who has a 28-year-old tortoise named Fred?”

“Yeah, that’s the young family that moved here a few years back. Jonathan Turner.”

“Yes! Fred was so sweet. I haven’t gotten to care for a tortoise since I was in vet school and even then, I mostly was just observing. He was healthy though, which is good. It took three of us to get him in and out of the owner’s car, but I got Janet to take a picture of me feeding him lettuce today.” She says while showing me the picture on her phone with a smile. There she is smiling widely while holding lettuce to a giant turtle. I love how passionate she is about her job.

“Well ain’t that the cutest. Send it to me.”

“I meant to send it to you earlier, but just got swamped with charting and forgot.” She tells me as she sends the photo to my phone. We’d been sending each other random candid pictures throughout the past couple of days.

“You never told me how your dad reacted to the whole Colin thing?” Maybe that’s what’s bothering her.

“Oh, it was essentially a two-hour conversation where he listed all of the reasons I should come back home to live with them, and then all of the reasons I’m not safe here. He feels like I’m ‘not hearing him’ or I’m ‘taking unnecessary risks in the name of independence.’”

“Why does he think you aren’t safe here?”

“Mainly because I’m alone, I don’t have friends or family close by, and Colin now knows my address and place of work.”

“He knows where you work?”

“Yeah. At work on Monday, Janet informed me that a man had called last Saturday and asked if I would be working that weekend. She explained that I wasn’t on call and for the weekend but that if there was an emergency, she could recommend an emergency veterinarian. He didn’t give her his name, but it had to be him.” 

“Fuck.”

“Yup, that’s probably what he attempted first. I mean, it’s not hard to google my name as a veterinarian and find what clinic I’m associated with. That’s likely how he found out I was here in town.”

“Well, what’s the plan if he shows up at work?”

“I’ve given Janet his name and description. If he shows up, she is supposed to discreetly notify me and call the police. That’s really all I can do. I’m sure the entire town will know by the end of the week because she seems to be quite the gossip.” Emma says embarrassed. 

“Baby, you’ve done nothing wrong and everyone will see that. You have nothing to be embarrassed about.” 

“It’s just that I was loving the fact that nobody here knew about my past. I wasn’t judged or pitied immediately. I was starting to get to know people and being viewed for my job and personality rather than some crazy sob story that everyone talks about. I’m just frustrated that it’s over now.”

“I can have a talk with her if”

“No, no. I appreciate it but I just don’t want to bring it up anymore.” She interrupts.

“Alright, how’d you leave things with your parents?”

“Well, Dad wanted to come out immediately but I still don’t have anywhere for him to stay. I'm not going to let them waste money on a hotel. I’ve convinced them to wait until the weekend after next to come and visit. So, I have to get all of the furniture for the guest bedroom figured out this weekend.”

“I’m happy to help if you’d like.” 

“I might take you up on that offer because otherwise I planned to hire someone to help me get a bed inside.”

“Nah, sweetness. Sy’s gotchu.”

“Yes, he does.” She grins. 

“I’m ready for dessert.” She says while I’m cleaning up the plates from our dinner.

“Whatcha got in mind?” I ask because I’m thinking it’s not the same as what I had in mind originally.

“Ice cream!” She opens the freezer door and pulls out a large gallon of blue bell vanilla ice cream. That brand is about the closest to homemade that you can buy. That’ll do.

She brings it to the counter and reaches on her tiptoes to bring down two bowls from the cabinet.

She hands me the scoop and I get started scooping some out for us as she scopes out some chocolate syrup. 

“I need chocolate.” She smiles. We take our bowls to the living room and pile up on the couch but she leaves a little bit of space between us which feels unusual. 

“Something I did to bother ya, Sugar?”

“No, not at all! Why do you say that?”

“You just seem a little off tonight. I’m not saying anything’s wrong, I just wanted to make sure I didn’t piss ya off without realizing.” 

“God no. It’s not you. It’s me, I’m just not feeling great.”

“Coming down with something?” I ask.

“Not necessarily. It’s… sorry, it’s awkward to say, but it’s that time of the month. Started around lunchtime today and the cramps can be pretty painful.” She whispers with pink tinted cheeks.

Duh. The chocolate, not wanting my hands in her pants, holding her tummy after I tickled her. 

“Babygirl, I’m a grown man. Nothing to be shy or embarrassed about. I ain’t afraid of a little blood. You coulda told me and I would’ve brought you some medicine or sweets. It’s natural, Sugar.” She fidgets with her fingers while I’m speaking.

“Sorry, Colin was always weirded out if I said anything about it. Heaven forbid he saw me buying tampons. He acted like I was disgusting and I guess, old habits die hard.”

“He’s a pussy.” I say and she laughs at my response.

“He is. One time, I bled on the bed when I got my period in the middle of the night and he was so freaked out. I apologized but he threw the sheets away. He wouldn’t let me wash them. Just threw them away and told me to buy some new ones. He made it more embarrassing than it already was. It was right after we moved in together so I just assumed he wasn’t used to living with a woman but he never got comfortable with ‘feminine things.’”

I sigh. Poor thing. “I’m not like that. Periods are natural and I don’t have a problem with any of it. I’ll even buy you tampons if you need me too. Even rub your little tummy.” I say with a grin and she smiles back. “You don’t have to be worried about telling me. In fact, next time, please tell me so I can come prepared to make you feel better.” 

“I just didn’t want to gross you out. We still haven’t been seeing each other that long and I guess I was just embarrassed.”

“I swear if that douchebag ever shows back up, I’m not showing restraint again. I’m going to punch that asshole straight in the face for ever making you feel bad.” I tell her as I set the bowl on the coffee table.

“I appreciate the sentiment but you don’t have to do that. Hopefully we’ll never see him again. Maybe he got the point last time.”

“Come ‘ere.” I tell her as I pat my lap.

She climbs up on my lap and I shift us so I'm spooning her on the couch with my arm under her head. I reach under her the edge of her shirt to gently place my hand across the width of her little abdomen. She sighs and snuggles her face into my arm. 

“Thank you.” Her muffled voice says against my skin.

“Don’t have to thank me for a thing. In fact, thank you for telling me what was going on. I was worried I made you mad somehow.”

“How would you have made me mad? You’re perfect. You literally never do or say anything wrong.”

“Sugar, I do a lot wrong, not intentionally of course. I’m a typical man so I can sometimes be an idiot. I might say or do something wrong and not even realize.” I chuckle and so does she.  “Just promise me you’ll tell me if I fuck up and don’t realize?”

“I promise.” She says. We sit there in silence just cuddling a bit before she speaks.

“Would you tell me about your mom?” It catches me off guard.

 “What do you want to know?”

“What was she like? Did she look like you? What do you miss the most about her.”

“She was the most incredible mother I could imagine having. Very loving, not very subtle when she didn’t like something I did, but she loved me anyway. She had long dark curly hair like mine before the chemo made it fall out. She was a great cook; got that from Nana, and she loved gardening. She always had the prettiest yard with all kinds of different flowers. She was a teacher when I was growing up, taught first grade at the elementary school. She loved reading and made sure I had hundreds of books to read. I guess I miss just talking to her the most. She always had a way of calming me down. She was extremely wise and would listen patiently before dropping the most prophetic advice you could imagine.” I smile at the thought but then images of her sick and weak from the chemo pop into my brain and I stop.

“I’m so sorry she got sick and you lost her. She sounds incredible.” 

“She really was. I miss her a lot. She died and I guess I lost all sense of direction for a while. Decided to focus on the military and let it harden me a bit.”

“It was how you chose to grieve. I certainly don’t know what I would’ve done in your position… Do you regret serving in the army?”

“Not at all. Serving my country gave me purpose when I didn't have any. It definitely kept me from going buck-wild and down a dark road. I shouldn’t even be alive, but I am so I have to make the most of the life I was given when others weren’t so lucky.”

“What do you mean?”

“I just…I just got lucky. Good men died out there in front of me. Under my leadership. It’s hard to go on from that and act like life is normal when you’ve seen some of the things that I have.”

“You could tell me about it… you know, if you wanted too. You don’t have to carry that alone.” She turns in my arms to face me.

“I can’t.” I tell her, my voice almost cracking. She looks at me and nods.

“I’m here if you ever want too.” 

“Thanks, Sugar. Don’t worry about me. I’m alright.” I rub the scruff on my head.

We lay there just cuddling and watching tv before she yawns and I know I need to head on home. We both have work tomorrow.

After several goodbye kisses and the promise of Friday lingering in our minds, I load up the dogs and head on home.

Part 10

Author's Note: Just a heads up friends, I am still in the first trimester of my pregnancy and the morning sickness (ALL DAY SICKNESS) is making it so hard to write when I want too. The doc put me on meds to help, but they make me super sleepy. I also have other littles that require a lot of time and attention. Just to let y'all know, updates may be slow but I will be working on it when I have time/feel well enough. Thank you for your patience with me and THANK YOU for following along on Sy and Emma's journey!

Taglist: @shellyshellshell, @henryownsme, @caramariehurst, @beck07990, @mollymal, @kingliam2019, @syversonswife, @identity2212, @starfirewildheart, @hannah9921, @wa-ni, @kneelforloki, @cutedoxie, @enchantedbytomandhenry, @foxyjwls007, @geralts-yenn, @courtlynwriter, @corrie1013, @squeezyvalkyrie, @summersong69, @livisss, @mayloma, @uunotheangel, @warriormirkwood

[hopeishappinessff]

Chapter 55

After sleeping what felt like half the day away, we were both finally up and Chris seemed to be in a much better shape than he’d been earlier in the morning. He was still weak and queasy, but his headache had disappeared along with most of his dizziness. As he continued to rest in the bed watching early afternoon cartoons, I made my way to the bathroom to get ready for the day. It took me maybe twenty minutes to shower and wash my hair, and before I knew it I was dressed in an all-white strapless romper with my hair pulled up into a sleek top knot at the top of my head. By the time I walked back into the room, Chris was still lounging on his side of the bed staring at the television. “Are we just gonna sit in this room on our last day in Florida or what?” I asked with a smirk and one hand on my hip. He turned his gaze from the TV to me and slowly allowed his eyes to roam from my face down to my feet then shamelessly back up again “Nah, I was just waiting for you to finish.” “Well I’m done… you can go ahead.” He stared at me for a while, then finally sat up and eased off the side of the bed. I giggled as I watched him rid himself of his t-shirt and whip me on the back of my thighs with it on his way past me to the bathroom. While I waited for him to shower, I headed over to my suitcase to pull out my accessory bag. I plucked the silver watch he’d given me for Christmas and the matching linked heart necklace. Once all my accessories were on, I pulled out a bottle of my favorite body spray and doused myself with it. A short while later, Chris emerged from the bathroom with only a towel wrapped loosely around his midsection. I silently stared at him as he moved past me to his suitcase on the opposite side of the room. He plucked it from the ground and dropped it on his side of the bed, immediately pulling out an entire outfit for the day. My stare shifted down to his waist just as he unraveled the towel and dropped it. I couldn’t contain my smile as he stood there, naked and proud. Just as he turned to face my gawking self, I whipped my head around to focus on putting my jewelry bag away. “What?” He asked amusedly. I shook my head, refusing to turn back to face him “Nothing.” “You know, you can look if you want to. Not like you’ve never seen it before.” He chuckled. With a scoff and a playful roll of my eyes, I giggled and stood from where I sat on the floor. “Whatever… I’m gonna go wait downstairs. Can you please hurry up?” “Perhaps.” He said, smiling as he watched me walk out of the room. I’d completely forgotten about the plan the girls and I had discussed earlier this morning and was surprised when I walked downstairs and realized everyone was gone. I moved into the living room and plopped down on the largest couch directly across from the television. Scooping up the remote to the theater style television, I turned it on and began to flip aimlessly through the channels. I grew bored of channel surfing and just as I set my mind to head to the bottom of the stairs to call for Chris, I could hear the sound of his footsteps skipping down the stairs. I turned to face him and immediately bit into my bottom lip with a smirk at the sight of him in his outfit. I shut the TV off just as he walked into the room and plopped down beside me, giving me a full waft of his delicious aroma “What we getting into today?” “Well, I figured we could take it easy and go down to International Drive... something simple, you know.” I suggested. He stared at the blank screen of the TV for a moment then slowly nodded and stood up from the couch “Where everybody else at?” “Um… I don’t know. I guess they all decided to go somewhere else.” I fibbed, staring at his back as he moved away from me. He didn't respond as he continued to make his way toward the door and for that, I was thankful. I quickly slipped my feet into a pair of white and silver sandals then grabbed my cross-body bag before trailing along behind him. -- My eyes scanned excitedly over the scenery around us. The sun was starting to set and Chris and I had had been roaming around the bustling streets of Orlando for most of the day. We’d been to just about every store on the strip and we had even gone to the Wonderworks Museum and played a few serious rounds of laser tag. I was prepared to spend a nice, quiet afternoon out with him, but the moment we got into that museum that whole plan went right out the window. The museum offered six different “Wonder Zones”, a glow in the dark rope course, and a 4D Motion Theater and of course, Chris made sure to drag me around to each of the attractions like the big kid that he was. The time was nearing eight o’clock and we were now sitting in the outside patio of Bahama Breeze, a beautifully Caribbean themed restaurant in the heart of International Drive. I sat across from Chris at a table for two and enjoyed the live island tunes as a band played off in the corner of the patio. The warm wind tickled at my face and I fought the urge to stand up from my seat and jam out to the music. “You ready to go back to Richmond?” Chris asked, snatching my attention away from the music. “Honestly… not really.” I confessed with a sigh. He chuckled softly and licked his lips, reminding me in only a second of the accessory in his mouth “Why?” “Well, because. I mean… look at this place,” I said, gazing all around us, “It’s beautiful. You know, I love home… but this place is just perfect to me.” He gazed at me for a moment, nodding his head as he fiddled with the droplets of perspiration forming along the base of his cup on the table. He turned to stare out at the bustling strip just across the way from the restaurant and released a deep sigh. “Can I ask you something?” He asked suddenly. “Yeah…” I muttered. With yet another sigh, he dropped his gaze down to the ground and licked his lips once more “Besides the whole Trey bullshit, have you ever had feelings for anyone other than me?” What?” I blurted, brows furrowed to match the confusion in my tone. “Have you ever had feelings for any other nigga?” He asked with raised brows as his eyes remained glued to the ground. “No,” I answered confidently, shaking my head to emphasize my response, “I haven’t.” “What about Shad?” He asked quietly, cutting his eyes at me. My head jerked back in surprise and I stared at him as if he’d just slapped me, hoping he would burst into laughter and tell me that he was only joking… but after several seconds of silence, that laughter never came… “What about him?” “Have you ever had feelings for him? Or even thought about him like, more than a friend” “No Chris, what…” “Don’t lie to me Sy, if you have just tell me.” He blurted. “I’m not lying, at all… where are you getting this from?” He didn’t bother to respond… he only twisted his lips to one side with an attentive expression before turning his body to face me and crossing his arms down on top of the table. “If you ever broke up with me, would you stay single or just hook up with someone else… like Rashad?” “This is ridiculous Chris, I don’t plan on breaking up with you anytime soon… why are you asking me these weird questions? What’s going on?” “Did you know that nigga been feeling you for a while now?” He asked quietly. I froze in my seat and stared at him utterly dumbfounded. I couldn’t bring myself to respond to him… I could barely even bring myself to form a logical thought to make what he’d just said make sense. “Who?” I spoke just as hushed. “Shad…” “Is… is that what last night was about?” Nodding slowly, he tore his gaze away from me and slouched against the back of his seat “Yeah. He uh… he said he fucked Gabby too.” It felt like the wind had just been knocked right out of me in that exact moment. My mouth hung open with shock and I blinked slowly as I digested his confession. I knew there had to be a valid reason for him to fight his best friend, but I would have certainly never imagined this to be it. “He was just drunk you know… we all were. But Shad was so fucked up and the nigga just started going real fucking left. He looked me right in my eyes and told me he fucked that girl while I was still with her. That’s not even what had me so fucked up though… like if I woulda found out about that while we were still together, that woulda just been more of a reason for me to break up with her ass.” He chuckled humorlessly and shook his head as he stared down at those perspiring water droplets on his cup again “He was just popping off so fucking much. I knew I shoulda knocked him out. I was too soft on him… the bitch don’t even deserve to be walking around breathing right now. Talking about ‘Breezy, you stay getting them bad bitches man. The fuck your lame ass do to get a bitch as fine as Gabby? And…” He hesitated and shook his head more furiously as his jaw clenched repeatedly and his right knee began to tremble “And he said you were the baddest bitch I’ve bagged yet… and he couldn’t wait for the day when you got fed up with my crazy ass so he can ‘fuck you how you deserve to be fucked.’ My mouth flew open and I gasped harder than I intended to, nearly choking over my own breath as I stared at him, utterly stunned by what he’d just said. I barely remembered to blink as I hopped up from my chair and raced around the table to sit directly beside him. “Chris,” I started, pausing briefly to gather my thoughts, “Chris, listen… I don’t care what Rashad or anyone else says… the only people who have the power to tear this relationship apart are the two people sitting right here. You told me the night of my birthday party that you’ve been waiting to make this happen for years… well it’s here now and we cannot allow anyone to come between us. No one has the ability to make me turn my back on you, especially not Rashad. I have never been interested in him and I never will be… I promise you that. And just like I told you the other night, as long as you’re willing to give me your all then so am I… I’m not going anywhere.” His saddened eyes danced around my face, from my eyes down to my chin… he gazed at me like this was his first time ever seeing me then finally lifted his hands to place them on either side of my neck “You’re so good to me… you’re amazing.” With a smirk, I brought my hands up to clutch onto his wrists and allowed him to pull me closer and mesh his forehead against mine “I know I was drunk off my ass last night… I was completely fucked up. But I know what I said to you and I swear I’ve never said it to anyone other than my mama..." he paused to lick his lips and smirked handsomely, "… I love you.” I shut my eyes and focused on containing my sudden brewing emotions. While I sat there, eyes still shut, he leaned forward and planted his lips against mine in the sweetest way. I clung to him tightly, because I knew I never wanted this moment to end. Our kiss only lasted a few seconds longer and it was so simply perfect, I didn’t want him to pull away… but he did… and I stared him right in his beautiful eyes and beamed… “I love you too.” -- We’d been home for nearly a week and the drama between Chris and Rashad had yet to subside. It’d even went as far as an unanticipated conversation between Chris and Gabby, which eventually led to the argument of who exactly was the father of her son? Though she attempted to deny all allegations that she had anything to do with Rashad, Chris explained to her that a paternity test would be done whether she liked it or not. So when Wednesday morning arrived, I quietly climbed into the truck with Chris and rather than heading off to school, we made our way to ArcPoint Labs for the scheduled DNA test. We argued just the night before about how I had nothing to do with the entire process. I felt it both inappropriate and unnecessary for me to be there and I just knew the moment I set foot in that office, it would instantly become awkward for everyone. Chris on the other hand could care less what anyone else thought and insisted that I be there by his side. As we rode in complete silence, I could see subtle signs of his anxiety. I held onto his right hand and noticed that it was clammy to the touch. Every so often he would even inadvertently squeeze my hand and he strummed the tips of his fingers along the top of the steering wheel as he steered the truck with his left hand. “Chris.” I called out, finally breaking the silence between us. “Hmm.” He hummed, never taking his eyes off the road. “Are you okay?” I asked. I watched him as he stared out through the windshield intently with furrowed brows “Yeah… I’m good.” I continued to stare at him, but never uttered another word and soon we were pulling into the parking lot of the lab. After hopping out of the truck, we moseyed into the building and Chris immediately signed in at the front desk. I followed his lead as he turned to move into the waiting area to await the arrival of the remaining members of this party to arrive. I knew he was nervous… I had already sensed that on the way here. But as soon as I plopped down in the seat beside him, I couldn’t help but believe that perhaps my nerves were more on end than his. Though I maintained a calm and collected demeanor all morning, internally my emotions were raging out of control. It was easy to sit around and speculate all the possibilities of who could be the father of Gabby’s child. It was even easier to assume that Chris was definitely not a candidate, since the girl had been with so many other guys through the duration of their relationship it seemed nearly impossible for him to be a runner up. But just sitting there in the clinic preparing to find out the truth once and for all made the situation entirely too surreal. I breathed in a long and slow gust of air, hoping that would help with calming my nerves, but when that only ended up making me nauseous, I released a deep sigh and leaned my head over onto Chris’s shoulder. “You alright babe?” He asked quietly as he wrapped an arm around my shoulder and pressed his lips against the top of my head. I nodded but kept quiet as I shut my eyes, reciting a silent prayer that this child was not his.