Scarlet Springs (Ari Levinson) AU - 18+

14

Ari

I don't know what the hell possessed me to just casually kiss Margot goodbye, but I did. Then, like the chump that I was, I was about to tell her she was safe, but instead the way she looked just standing there? It knocked me for six, like I'd just been winded by a force like nothing I'd felt before.

This wasn't supposed to go this way.

I wasn't supposed to feel anything but ice. No remorse, no guilt or regret for when I'd hand her back to her boyfriend? But that ice has melted and sparked a raging fire that wants to wrap itself around her and burn whoever tries to take her from me into ashes.

I got the paint. I got the groceries. I was gone longer than I wanted to be for her sake, but for mine, I needed that time to think. I had to stay away just in case she questioned what had happened between us.

When I get back I unlock the door and walk in, then trying the apartment and finding that she's thankfully locked it from the inside. My fist knocks gently on the wood. "Margot? I'm back".

Muffled footsteps from behind the door signal her coming towards it, and the sound of the lock being turned allows me to finally lay eyes on her again as it opens.

Fuck.

I'm in way deeper than I anticipated- all because of that nightmare of her fucking ex and feeling like the angry territorial bastard that I've come to be.

As far as I'm concerned. Margot isn't the target anymore. She's mine to keep.

"Here, let me take those". She takes the grocery bags from me. "Did you get the paint?"

"In the truck, I'll go grab it in a minute". I tell her as I note her now unpacking and putting away the stuff. "Mar...I can..."

She interrupts me. "It's fine, I need something to do before I go insane from the trashy tv shows that I've been watching". She smiles and notes my expression. "You take care of me and I take care of you, right?"

I swallow. "If anything it's me who should be the one keeping you safe".

"And you are - so let me return the kindness not just through the blow jobs and so on. Let me actually earn my keep properly, if not with the guests, then with you".

I just stare at her and then nod like a dumbass. "I'm, er...I'm gonna go get that paint". Mumbling before heading back outside. I light a cigarette just because I need one to get my head together enough to walk back in there.

By the time I'm done and get the paint inside, she's already preparing something to eat and just smiles at me. "Did you give the horny honeymoon couple the towels before you went?"

"I left them outside the door, knocked and then left". I smirk as I grab a beer from the fridge and sit down. "You been ok while I was gone?" 

She nods with a small 'mhmm' as she boils some water on the stove. "Like I said, only so much trashy TV that I can take - I'm making spaghetti if that's ok with you?" 

"Margot". I say with a small smile. "You don't have to be in this kind of 'debt' with me. Just the help around the motel is enough - and yes the sex is a bonus". 

There's a laugh from her and she glances back over her shoulder at me. I like watching her - not in a creepy kind of way, but how she moves around, getting ingredients, looking for things. "Let's face it - I'd rather be in your debt than being found by Davy and paying with my life". 

I sigh. "He won't find you. Whether you say he has eyes and ears everywhere or not. 

She pauses for a brief moment. "You know...You're probably the first man who's looked at me like I'm not an object. Not just for bringing in bills - but like I'm actually human. A somebody. Not a girl who dances with her clothes off". 

I look at her and can see almost see the shame on her face. 

"Margot. You are human. It's not your fault that the person you thought cared couldn't see that. You've got nothing to be ashamed of, because I can tell you are". 

She's silent until she finally speaks. "You're the first man who can read me too...what I'm thinking. Davy never understood me. He didn't really take any notice unless he wanted me to get my tits out for money, or to suck his dick. I was just something to look good on his arm, but other than that? I was irrelevant - him getting his people to hunt me down only confirms that". 

On this I get up and walk over to her, turning her to face me before kissing her hard. "You're relevant to me". 

Yeah,  and in a different way now than you were when you first arrived. And I plan on keeping it that way.