Gavin sat at the table in silence. His breath was caught in his throat and he struggled to swallow past the lump. Heat crept up his neck, burning his ears as the words he'd held in for years finally hung between them.
Words he never imagined saying.
Erza sat there; her breath caught in her throat. A million things ran through her mind. It was wrong. It was impractical. It was unbelievable. She watched him grow up from the age of ten. She was a part of every major event in his life. Games. Heart breaks. Success and failures. At what point did he become more than just the person she babysat?
It's like something keeps drawing me to him. When she was around him, everything else; the noise, the doubt, the world itself, went quiet.
Memories of the past floated through her mind. When her ex broke her heart, Gavin brought her flowers and offered to be her date to senior prom, so she didn't have to go alone and see the jerk with his new bimbo at the dance. That was one of her best nights of high school. He was always there being her knight in shining armor and she just didn't realize it.
I've practically been dating Gavin in all but formality since my senior prom. Always around each other, always in constant communication. She turned to face him, her smile wide and eyes glinting.
Screw it. No more running.
She squeezed his hands in return, while she offered him a shy smile. "You know, I realized something during your hour-long confession," she teased.
"It dawned on me that you've been at every major life event I've had. You went to my graduation and cheered even louder than my parents and brother when I walked across the stage," she took a nervous breath and a slight blush crept over her cheeks. "It was so embarrassing." She felt his pulse race in her hands.
He tried to speak but she shushed him.
"You were always there to help me study. You even made me study guides when I was drowning in history," she gave a soft chuckle and continued. "You bought me flowers when my douche of an ex broke up with me two days before prom for some skank. You then offered to take me to prom, so I wouldn't have to waste the money on the dress I bought." She paused for a moment.
A wide smile lit up her features when she continued, with mirth in her voice. "In fact, I still remember what you adamantly said." A smile tugged at her lips. "You spent so much on that dress, you deserve to look like the most beautiful lady at the dance."
She turned fully to face him; the chairs brushed right up against each other. She reached up to gently stroke his cheek with her finger, her touch feather light. "For three years, I've been single. Unless you count one persistent pain in my ass who never leaves me alone," she whispered, and looked into his eyes. She felt the tips of her ears burn slightly at the admission.
Gavin's eyes raised; his brow furrowed. "What do you mean? What is it you're saying, Erza?" He asked her quietly; breath caught in his throat and made it almost impossible to swallow. Can I really let myself have some hope?
She smiled softly, a glint of joy in her warm amber eyes that glowed yellow. "I'm saying, you dense dunce," her voice dipped to a whisper, "that I think I feel the same way about you."
His fork dropped to the plate with a clatter. It couldn't be. His girl of his dreams. His best friend and partner just admitted to feeling the same way he did.
Erza blushed even harder at his silence. She fidgeted on the chair and twirled a small strand of hair between her fingers. Surely, he should be happy, right? I just said that I liked him too. But is he not happy? She wondered.
Without warning, he leaned over and wrapped his arms around her tight. He pulled her close and held her for a moment. His scent washed over her senses and soothed her racing heartbeat.
"You can stop that inner monologue. I just wasn't expecting you to feel that way as well." His breath tickled her ear as he whispered.
Erza hesitated and hugged him back, a bright blush spread across her cheeks. "You think you know me so well, don't you?" she shot back with a huff, one brow arching. She tried to sound stern, but ended up giving in and chuckled.
"I do. I doubt just about anyone else knows the real you. I bet your inner demon was going on thinking you were wrong and shouldn't have said anything back," he paused for effect, a cocky grin on his face. "Am I close?" His sudden confidence caught her off guard.
Erza reached up and pinched his nose. "Oh, you hush, smart ass." She whispered as she held him for a moment. "Now that we have got all that mushy stuff out of the way, we need to eat our food before it gets cold," she chastised him before she stole a bite of his waffles and ignored his protests as he tried to pull his plate out of her reach.
"So, not to shoot myself in the foot… but what does this conversation mean…" he asked and trailed off, pointing between the two of them.
She sat there for a moment and thought of how to answer him in the best way. "Does this answer your question?" she asked.
Before he could respond, she leaned in to steal a quick kiss from his lips.
The moment her lips touched his, everything went quiet.
Heat and hunger raced through her, sharp and sudden, like something deep inside her had just woken up. Mana flared around them without thought. Soft hues of brown and gold wrapping around them like a living, breathing cocoon.
The cat within her purred in satisfaction.
She leaned in, deepening the kiss, her fingers sliding into his coarse hair and pulling him closer. She growled low from the back of her throat, the sound escaping her control.
This felt… right.
Primal.
Her eyes widened when she opened them and pulled back from the kiss. She hadn't realized her mana reacted to her emotions, and focused on her inner mana flow to end the display of power.
She smiled down at her boy. I think I broke him. She poked his nose softly as he finally opened his eyes.
Gavin's mind went completely blank. This can't be happening. Did she just… did we just…? He gently touched his lips with his fingertips and looked at her before he grinned.
"You still with me?" Her voice was playful and she returned his grin.
"I'm gonna need you to confirm that again," he said, completely serious. "For… scientific reasons. You understand, I'm sure."
She laughed before she shook her head at him. "Nice try, but we still have a proper night of celebrations to go through after our early dinner, you know."
Neither of them said it out loud, but, neither of them cared where they went anymore. As long as it was together.
He nodded at her response and finished eating his home-made waffles and took his plate to the sink. While he washed his dishes, he noticed Erza as she finished her food. She hummed happily as she sauntered to the sink, her hips swaying from side to side
"Okay, so dinner is done," he lifted one finger on his right hand. "Had the best kiss of my life," another finger. "and finals are over," a third finger. "So far, today's been a fantastic day," Gavin commented as he leaned back against the counter.
She shook her head, amused by him. She pulled him into her arms and held him close, her arms wrapped softly around him. "Whatever you want to do, handsome," she whispered, content to just explore what might happen between them.
Gavin relaxed in her embrace. He looked at her and asked, "Well, what all did you have planned for tonight?" He loosely wrapped his arms around her waist and hugged her back.
She thought for a moment before she responded, "Well, there is a new B-level sci-fi horror flick at the theater downtown. I figured you'd want to go see some creature-type movie," she thought out loud.
He perked up at the mention of his biggest guilty pleasure. He loved bad horror movies. The worse they were, the happier he got. He couldn't get enough of the groan-inducing bad acting movies. He grinned widely at her and asked, "Lagoon Monster from Outer Space 3?"
"That's it! That's the one!" She answered with mirth in her voice. "You want to go?"
"Hell yeah!" he answered as one of the dogs, a great golden retriever, walked into the kitchen at that moment and chomped its jaws at them.
Erza laughed and said "Okay, okay Duke. Finish the dishes, Gavin, while I go tend to the dog, and we can leave to make the 8 o'clock show," she told him as she walked away. Duke barked happily as he followed her outside to go to the bathroom.
Gavin nodded and washed the plates and pans while she disappeared out the back door of the house. He stood at the sink and he couldn't help but have a giant smile on his face, the shock still registering on how things changed so quickly that night. He was drying the dishes with a towel when she came back in, and Duke ran past heading to his bed for a much-needed puppy nap.
She picked up her keys, "Ready to go?" she asked walking towards the door.
"Yeah, I just gotta send my parents a quick text that you're kidnapping me," he said jokingly.
"Oh, they already know you won't be home tonight" she responded dismissively, waving a hand over her shoulder as she led him out the door.
"Wait. What??" He asked, stunned at what she hinted at.
"Yeah, I sent them a text about my plans for you tonight. When I let Duke out, they said give you their love, and they would see you tomorrow. I told them you're going to help me dog sit tonight and be home on Sunday. So, you are all mine this weekend," she winked at him. He didn't notice the glint in her yellow eyes that promised something wicked planned for them. They quickly finished cleaning the kitchen and headed to Erzas' vehicle. They both climbed in, excited to get on the road to the movie theater. Erza noticed that Gavin's face was still red from finding out his parents knew he was spending the weekend with her. He's so adorable when I tease him. He gets flustered way to easily. Erza smiled to herself as they drove through traffic. Maybe I can figure out something more private for us to do in celebration, or to treat this as our first date night.
As they drove through town to the theater, her phone went off. She answered it when she noticed the ID. "Hey Aria, what's up?" she listened on the phone while one of her best friends was freaking out over the phone.
"And the client wants an update on the project status by morning and have it sent over," Aria said in a panicked voice.
"Hold on a sec," Erza replied and put the phone on mute before she asked Gavin. "Hey, the girls need help getting part of the music project done by morning. I'm so sorry, but do you mind if we ran over there really quick, so I can save the day? Maybe we can go see a later show or something else?"
Of all days for them to call me in. Not only is it my day off, but they knew I wanted to spend time with him. This better not be some damn prank or I swear I'm going to declaw them. Erza fumed internally while she waited for his response.
"Sure, I don't mind." He responded.
"I just want to spend time with you, so I don't care what we do," he finished bashfully with a cheesy smile.
She smiled and turned the speaker back on. "Yeah, we're heading that way now," she told Aria.
"Oh my god. You are a lifesaver!" She replied before hanging up.
Erza changed lanes to turn around and head back in the opposite direction they were traveling. "I hope it won't take long so we can enjoy our date night," she said without thinking.
Gavin's heart soared at that comment. "When did this turn into a date night?" He teased.
"When you confessed," she said simply, with a hint of mirth in her voice. She reached over and held his hand while she drove and listened to bad pop music on the radio.
"So, what is this project anyway?" He asked her as they pulled into the studio parking lot.
Erza sighed tiredly "Some big-name band asked us to do an animated music video mashing some of their biggest songs into one elaborate video. It's been a pain in our butts though," she said as she got out and locked the doors before heading towards the building, hand in hand with Gavin.
"I warn you though, I know you've met both Aria and Lyla before, but when they are in work mode… they can be a bit… much," she trailed off as they walked through the door and up the stairs to their studio floor.
Erza opened the door and led Gavin inside the suite. Gavin could hear the sound of equipment and monitors going off, soft music in the background, and different songs going at the same time. Gavin looked to the right and noticed a small kitchen and dining area that had a hallway connected to it. Maybe that leads to their rooms?
Aria and Lyla turned around with panic but happy smiles on their faces when they heard Erza enter, which quickly turned to confusion and stunned looks as they noticed the hand holding.
For a second no one said anything, then Lyla burst out laughing and smacked Aria on the shoulder. "Ha! You owe me twenty credits," she said with glee.
Aria grumbled and fished the credits from her bag on the floor, her brown hair falling in loose waves around her face. "No fair," she muttered and dropped her purse back on the ground with a clunk.
Both of Gavin's brows furrowed as he looked around the room. He awkwardly let Erza's hand go before he asked, "What just happened?"
Lyla grinned like a kid on holiday before she responded. "We had a bet on how long it'd take you two to finally get together," Lyla laughed as she put away the credits in her pocket before she looked at the annoyed expression on Erza's face. "I had end of finals. She said two weeks."
"Oh, come on sis, we all suspected how he felt about you, and you yourself haven't dated since he swept you off your feet the night of prom," Lyla teased her best friend. She was unperturbed by the expression on Erza's face.
"Oh, shut up," Erza snapped in annoyance, her eyes narrowed slightly. "Now, explain what was so important that you had to bother me on my night off, before I decide to leave you to your struggles."
Gavin understood Erza's annoyance, and sighed. "My friends had a similar bet. Tessa bet on the end of the week, others apparently by the end of summer." He stood there with his hands in his pockets.
"What??" Erza spun around to face him and the room erupted in laughter.
"See everyone knew about you two and expected you to get together," Lyla had tears falling down her face as her shoulders rocked with laughter.
Aria looked between the two of them, shook her head with a sigh, then said, "The band wants a rough edit of the video by morning so they can make suggestions and request changes. They said there is an extra ten percent bonus if we can deliver it by eight am, but the problem is that we are only about seventy percent done analyzing and connecting parts of the videos and synchronizing them up with the animation and music." She took a deep breath and continued.
"So, we really need a third hand to help connect everything and animate it." Aria placed her two tanned hands together in a begging gesture. "Please, won't you save our asses and help us get a nice fat bonus. You can use your part to spoil your new boo," she teased lightheartedly.
Erza's eyes flashed in annoyance, but she perked up at the mention of a bonus paid out the next day. "Fine. I'll help so long as it doesn't take all night," she gave in before she looked at Gavin,.
"I'm sorry, but do you mind?" she asked him.
"You can chill here, or I can run you home or to a friend's house or something," she asked her new boyfriend. Yeah boyfriend. It's weird that I'm still getting used to that idea now.
Gavin thought for a minute. "If it's cool, I'll just chill here. I can watch you guys' work, though stay out of your way. " He looked around and didn't see much of anything for him to do.
"If anything, do you have a TV in the room, I can binge some shows?" He responded as he reached out to give Erza's hand a gentle squeeze. "It's no biggie," he reassured her.
Lyla spoke up, "There's a main room down the hallway with a VR set hooked up, and a TV to watch shows on." Without another word Lyla spun back around and started adjusted images on the holoscreen in front of her.
As Erza sighed her shoulders slumped, she took off her jacket and tossed it over a chair. She then took a seat in-between the two females. "Okay, where are we at?" She immediately got to work, looking over the current progress and took notes over what was left to accomplish in about fifteen hours.
Gavin smiled, watching Erza get to work; all thoughts of play and fun pushed aside when her team needed her most. He slipped from the main room and went down the hall. The lights automatically turned on as they sensed his motion so it was easy to find the room Lyla mentioned.
Gavin was happy it had a comfy-looking red couch and decided to plop down before he grabbed the remote to find something halfway decent to watch. As he sat down, exhaustion hit him like a freight train; the days and days of running on only a few hours of sleep and cramming everything he could into his memory for the exams; the stress of worrying about whether he would pass or fail.
He yawned, settled on the couch and stretched out fully. He placed a cushion under his head and just let his body fully relax.
Erza typed furiously on the computers, uploading software and live video, programming the AI code to take the information and digitized it. Everything from the backgrounds, to their movements, facial expressions, clothes, and the vocals into digital information and uploading it into the algorithm to easily, in theory, transform everything into an animated form of whatever style was chosen. The entire process took several more hours to complete.
About halfway through, she stood up, and massaged her aching shoulders, then looked around to find Gavin. "He must have gone to the TV room," she said, as she excused herself to go check on her boyfriend.
"Puppy whipped," she heard one of the girls mutter as Erza disappeared down the hallway, only to find Gavin passed out asleep on the couch. She stopped and stared at him for a moment and looked over his handsome features. He really came into his own this last year. A strong jawline, gorgeous black hair, beautiful blue eyes, his body was athletic and toned without being super muscular.
She let out a short sigh, then walked over to the cabinet and pulled out a soft blanket and wrapped it over him as she lowered the TV volume. She brushed a lock of hair behind her ear as she leaned down and placed a soft tender kiss on his lips before she left the room. She glanced at the time at her phone.
It was ten-thirty pm.
"Damn it," she muttered. So much for just a couple hours. I didn't mean to get so caught up on the project tonight. She tsked angrily, her amber eyes glowed faint in the dimly lit room.
She walked back into the kitchen and Aria asked, "How is your boo?" She turned around in her chair to look at Erza while she took a short break and stood up to stretch her arms. She stretched them up high over her head as she groaned from muscle cramps.
Erza narrowed her eyes and her tone held an icy cold tone. "He's passed out on the couch. With everything going on, he hasn't been able to sleep much." she told her girls, before she sighed. "This is probably the first moment of no stress, anxiety or worry he's had in weeks." Her features softened and her shoulders relaxed slightly.
"Oh, don't worry Sis, I'm sure he will be full of energy and life in the morning," Lyla said, as she came over to hug her friend tight around the waist, her head only reaching Erza's chest. Lyla might be loud and proud, but she was a full head shorter than Erza.
Aria snorted before she responded as well, "Yeah, maybe he will have too much energy for you to handle?" Aria winked and giggled softly.
Erza blushed, caught their meaning, and shook her head. "It's not like that. We haven't gotten anywhere near that. What we have is so brand new and shiny that I want to take our time exploring and learning it," she said wistfully, a smile sliding over her face.
"Well, I have a feeling when you guys finally do it, you're going to break a bed or two," Aria said teasingly, before she walked to the fridge and grabbed a couple of cans of energy drinks and brought over one for each of them to help push through and finish the project before they caught any sleep.
Erza grumbled something and ignored the comment as she cracked open the top and downed half the drink at one shot. She went and sat down back at her station before going over what was completed one last time and the final edits for that section.
They finally agreed it was done and sent it off around six am the following morning. Barely shuffling their feet, they each found a spot to pass out and get some much-deserved sleep.
Erza walked back to where Gavin was asleep. As she shuffled into the room an idea popped inside her head. No, I shouldn't. But it might prove hilarious. She grinned, her mind made up and she reached behind her, undoing the clasp of her bra and tossed it aside on the table.
She sighed and raised her arms over her shoulder, stretching the tight muscles in her back. She carefully climbed behind Gavin on the couch and grinned when he unconsciously rolled in his sleep to face her.
She pulled another blanket over her and laid her head down, her eyes barely open as she wrapped her body around him and quickly passed out, the long day soon a distant memory in her dreams.