IN YOUR MIND. fezco

xix. tender

xix. TENDER

Lulu and Lexi helped me crack the Jules and Nate case but I didn't see them for a week. Even after going at Fez's during one of my manic phases, I tried going at Lulu's right after but Zahia told me she was away for work.
She was out of town for three days and when she came back, critics had given wonderful reviews on Godly. She cried as she saw her face on a huge wall for the first time.
She tried calling me a few times and left a bunch of voicemails.
I never picked up the phone.

Lulu had tried focusing on her homework, really she tried. But she gave up after an hour and walked out of her house with a simple goal in mind. To chill. She considered going over at Rue's at first but decided against it since she hadn't heard from her ever since she literally spent hours helping her understand what was going on with Jules.

And her second option was just next door.

She was quick to knock on the metal door and it was swiftly opened a few seconds later by Ashtray who unlocked the metal door.

"Yo, Ash, you good?"

"Lulu, I feel like I didn't see ya for weeks," Ashtray said as he let her come inside and closed the doors.

Lulu shrugged, "I was just gone for three days, you know."

"Yeah, I know," Ashtray replied, "You can chill on the couch, Fez takin' care of grandma."

Lulu nodded and made herself comfortable, laying her legs on the cushions, lighting a cigarette and checking her phone as she realized she didn't have any notifications. She started scrolling through instagram and liked some posts about the movie when she heard some footsteps getting closer. Fezco walked in and they made eye contact.

They hadn't seen each other ever since the night they spent together. It had been less than a week but none of them knew exactly how to act with one another. A part of them wanted to kiss —a big part actually, and another one simply wanted to behave like always since they didn't really know what they truly meant to one another now.

Ashtray rolled his eyes, "You guys are fuckin' weird, I'm out, I have stuff to do."

And the kid left the house quickly, slamming the door shut, causing the two to jump up at the loud noise.

It's obvious Ash had nothing to do. He just wanted to give them some privacy. The kid can be a cutie sometimes.

"Hey," Lulu said, "So... what's up?"

Fezco scratched the back of his neck, "Yo Lulu, not much, the usual ya know."

Lulu chuckled at his visible awkwardness and moved her legs away, patting the spot next to her, "Stop acting all shy, come on."

Fezco sat down next to her, pulling a blunt out of his pocket before placing it between his lips. Lulu couldn't help but glance at his lips when he exhaled the white smoke, making him look at her, "What got you staring like that?"

Lulu rolled her eyes, "Shut the fuck up."

"What?" he asked with a smile, "I mean, Ion know, could have somethin' on my face and you there makin' fun of me—"

Lulu interrupted him by gently putting a hand on his face and making him turn to softly press her lips on his'. Fezco reacted immediately and kissed her back with such tenderness that she felt like melting against his touch.

When they pulled away, Fezco had his eyes opened a little wider than usual, unable to look away as Lulu had to gulp.

No one had ever looked at her this way before, "I guess that's why I was staring like that."

"I'm okay wit' that," he said.

Lulu decided to play some music and her playlist randomly landed on an Isaac Delusion song as she bit her lip and sat back next to him, trying not to pay attention to the lyrics for too long.

"Their songs are real dope," Fezco confessed.

"Yeah? I mean, they're one of my fav ever."

"Yeah, it's all soft and shit," Fezco said, "I like that."

"Aw, Fez being all cute," Lulu said in a mocking tone.

He nudged her shoulder, "Shut up, I ain't."

"Oh yeah?" Lulu said with a smirk, "How 'bout when you came over last time, uh?"

Lulu was referring to that night where everything had shifted between the two of them. She could clearly remember him being as passionate as her but she would never forget it was the first time someone was that delicate and caring during sex. Thinking about it awakened something in her and she had to refrain her thoughts not to straddle him right now.

Fezco fluttered his eyelashes, "Uh... yeah, Ion know," and coughed in embarrassment.

Lulu softened, "I... oh god, I'm so embarrassing. I'm sorry."

"Nah, nah! It's all good, ma."

They made eye contact, once more, and they knew it wasn't necessary to talk about that one night right away. It felt like they both wanted to take things slow without necessarily having to put words on what was currently happening.

But Fezco had something in mind, "Uh... Wanna go out like... Ion know when you ain't busy wit' Hollywood stuff?"

Lulu raised her eyebrows, "Like... like a date?"

"Yeah..." Fezco said, "But if you too busy like we can forget about it."

"What? No... I-I mean, yeah I'm down," Lulu replied quickly, "I'd love that."

And Fezco couldn't contain the huge smile popping onto his lips as Lulu did the same, stealing the blunt to take a few hits, "So... you go out on dates, uh? Mmh... I would've never guessed."

Her face was dangerously close from his' and Fezco unconsciously licked his lips as he watched her put the blunt in her mouth. Lulu noticed and let out a soft laugh as she gave him the blunt before sitting back where she originally was.

"I thought you'd tell me to stop looking at you like that," Lulu said playfully, "You know, like you always said before."

Fezco breathed out, "Nah, fuck, you know I love it."

And they stayed together until sunset, listening to music and talking for hours, sometimes enjoying each other's company in a soothing silence, as if they found the key to inner peace. They didn't want to say that they completed each other but, in a way, they did and, even though it could be scary to see this relationship like that, they didn't feel an ounce of fear. It was quite the opposite actually.

And, sometimes, Fezco would feel bold enough to kiss her, sometimes asking for the permission out loud and other times scouting so close that Lulu was the one to initiate the burning and passionate physical contact.

They didn't know what they were becoming but they were loving every second of it.