A Reason for Being

34. Is that alright?

He could hear her heart pumping as his ear presses on her chest. His weakened body immediately fell on hers. Her body was warm underneath his, breathing matched his, uneven as their sweaty bodies stuck together.

Reaching above, he unties her bound hands from her bed. "I'll get off of you. Just give me a second. I'm exhausted." He lies. He could have easily rolled off of her. But instead, he continues to lay on her chest, listening to the beating of her heart. He could see why Y/N enjoyed listening to his heartbeat after they slept together. It was soothing as the intense pounding slowly beings to fade back to normal.

"It's alright." she whispers, "I'm exhausted too." Removing his sweaty strands of hair from his face, leaving a single peck on his forehead. She engulfs him in her arms, shifting their bodies into a proper cuddling position. "We can stay like this for a while."

It was true, Y/N was exhausted, but above all else, she didn't want to run away anymore.

"How did you get this scar?" His fingers roam her thigh that was draped over his abs.

"I don't remember. My grandmother told me I fell off a tree." She laughs. Y/n has always been a cautious person. Even as a child, she never did anything reckless. So the story of her falling off a tree was something she never knew if her grandmother was telling the truth or not. Either way, the scar panned out quite far, from her inner thigh to the top of her knee.

Most people laser remove scar tissue. Her prominent scar, multiple people have tried to convince her to remove it. But Y/N never cared if she was flawed. Her scar was a part of her.

"The real question is how the hell did I get all these bruises." She giggles. Tooru definitely left his mark on her. She sees the hickeys left by him on her skin.

"Sorry about that." He looks up at her and winks. Because they both know he was not sorry whatsoever.

They share a moment in silence as she runs her fingers through his hair. There were so many firsts she experienced with Tooru. Such trivial things any person should have done by now. Cuddling a man, having his body in between her arms, was something she never thought she needed to experience until now. How such a muscular and large stature can feel so strong and rigid yet so fragile all at the same time, as he rested on her chest, made her stomach flutter.

She doesn't fight with whatever she feels at this moment. Caressing her fingers on Tooru's cheek, she inches to find his lips with hers, sharing a tender kiss before enveloping him in a hug again.

"I should take a shower." She whispers. Tooru could have fallen asleep in her arms if she didn't say a word.

"Oh, right. I-I'll get going then." He fights with his body, which doesn't want to let go of her. She could hear it, the sadness in his tone. The hurt she created because she abandoned him the last time they slept together.

"If it's not too much trouble, can you help me to the bathroom?" She smiles at him. "I'm still a little sore." Which was true. But she was more than capable of getting up herself.

"I like my showers burning hot. I hope that's okay." She says as he sets her down on her bathroom rug. She walks to turn on the facet before looking at Tooru's puzzled face, still unaware of what Y/N was actually trying to tell him.

"You coming in or what?" She smiles.

He steps into her glass shower without hesitation, showering with Y/N he will most definitely never refuse.

"Shit, you weren't kidding. The water is fucking hot."

His remark caused her to giggle. Y/N was in a good mood, so she turned the water colder for him.