City of Smoke // Brian 'Otis' Zvonecek ✔️

23 || MORNING

Waking up the next morning to the sun shining faintly through the curtains felt better for Rory than it had done in a long time and that was simply because she wasn't alone. She could feel Otis's presence next to her and when her sleepy eyes fluttered open, meeting his already awake ones, she soon found herself blushing like an idiot in love.

"How long have you been watching me sleep?" She asked shyly, a gentle smile rising on her face as Otis's hand came to land on it, feeling the faint heat from her blush beneath his touch.

"Not long." He whispered, leaning in to kiss her softly. "And besides, I couldn't help myself, not when you're this beautiful."

Rory blushed harder, pulling the covers up to hide her now scarlet face, making Otis chuckle as his fingers gripped the edge of the thick material, pulling it away from Rory as he wanted to be able to see how flustered she got when he complimented her. Something he'd be doing every single chance he got.

"Don't act so shy now." He chuckled, tracing his fingers lightly across her cheek, making their way down her neck and trailing over her body, coming to land on her waist as he never once tore his eyes away from her. "I'm just telling the truth... Something I should have done ages ago instead of acting the way I did."

"Don't." Rory whispered, bringing her thumb to land atop his lips whilst shuffling closer to him. "Let's not talk about that." She added, hearing and feeling the faint sigh that escaped through Otis almost closed lips.

"I'm sorry." He said against her thumb, causing her to move it aside but still keep it on his face. "Sometimes I can't help it."

"I know." Rory nodded, extending the rest of her fingers out to cup his face. "And I get it, trust me, I do... But I think it's better that we just start over. That we put all that behind us and start fresh, otherwise... I'm scared things will go back to the way they were before."

"Hey." Otis said seriously, sitting up and propping his back against the headboard, motioning for Rory to sit on his lap, which she happily obliged to, his hands landing on her hips the second her legs settled on either side of him. "That won't ever happen... I promise you... I had a chance at this a long time ago and I should have taken it, but now... Now that we're here." He continued, taking her hand and kissing it gently. "I'm not letting you go again."

"And I don't want you to." Rory whispered, leaning forward to kiss him as his hand fell from hers, joining the other that currently trailed up her back. "But I also don't want to talk about all that again... At least, not the bad stuff. You've already said you were sorry... And showed me just how much last night... So I think it's time we put it to rest."

"Okay, we won't talk about it anymore." Otis said with a gentle nod of his head, his hand moving slowly up her back to cradle the side of her neck. "But I do have just one question... One last thing I need to know so that I know just what else I need to do to make things up to you."

"What is it?" Rory asked hesitantly, her stomach knotting as she had a slight suspicion about what he was going to ask her.

"That day... The day you came to work all bruised up..." He said softly, brushing his thumb across her jawline, where a nasty looking bruise had once situated. "What happened? What happened that night after you left Molly's? After I made you leave?"

"Brian..." Rory began, her voice wavering a little as she didn't want to tell him. She knew how he'd react and if she had to watch him walk out that door she didn't think she'd ever recover. "I don't..."

"Please." Otis interrupted, his eyes silently begging her. "I need to know."

"But I don't want you to leave again." Rory's quiet voice replied, her head falling a little before he lifted it back up.