Spy School Goes North (fanfiction)

Chapter 5: The Chat

June 12th

7:30 pm/1930 hours

Ben's POV:

After I finished my pizza, which had been delivered silently while I was using the bathroom. I cautiously opened the door to my very nice temporary bathroom. The floors were made of large marble tiles and everything was quite bright, there was a sink on my right, toilet on my left and a shower bath combo against the back wall.

I removed all my clothing and stepped into the shower which someone had stocked with plenty of hygiene products.

I turned on the water and after I discovered that the shower had excellent water pressure which was great, I removed that shampoo bottle from the shelf and sniffed it. The shampoo smelled slightly woodsy and citrusy, but mostly it was a 'fresh out of the shower' scent. It reminded me of a more expensive, stronger version of my usual Irish Spring Soap.

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After I finished my shower I was feeling quite good about myself, the conditioner and body wash had the same scent as the shampoo which meant that I now smelled exactly like it. I sincerely hope the scent is enough to mask the fear that Erica said I always smell like.

I opened the closet door and thankfully someone had put an assortment of clothes that were my size in the closet, including pajamas, shirts, pants, 2 jackets, a new tailored spy outfit, my utility belt, and even underwear.

I grabbed one of the pajama pants and a soft, loose white t-shirt.

Once I had put the clothing on, I gently knocked on Erica's door.

It swung open and closed automatically after I walked it. Her room was vastly different from mine.

The walls and floors were the same but that was where the similarities ended. Erica's room was much larger than mine and with a king sized bed covered in a purple flower patterned comforter and pillowcases. I also saw double doors at the very back of the room going out to a balcony and instead of there being a couple feet between her TV bed, Erica a large sofa up on a 1 inch platform 5.013 feet from end of the bed she had a large sofa with extra large cushions for putting your feet up, like it couldn't decide between being a couch and a bed. The entire place smelled overwhelmingly of lilacs with a hint of gunpowder.

Erica was sitting on the couch and seemed more relaxed than I had even seen her.

For the first time, outside of a disguise, Erica was dressed in something other than her spy suit. She had chosen a pair of dark sweatpants and a lilac colored loose tank top, her hair was out of it's usual tight ponytail and cascaded down her back like Astra's, still slightly damp from the shower. Erica was sitting underneath a thick blank and I could feel my heart threatening to beat out of my chest as she smiled, it was still faint, but it was at me, and because of me, which changed everything.

She gestured to the spot next to her, and we were silent for a few seconds until the question that I had been wanting to ask since the kiss on the Emperor of the Seas happened, "Erica what are we?" She met my gaze nervously and shrugged slightly, but did not answer, "Like can I call you my girlfriend? Do you want that?"

Erica nodded slowly, "I... I do want that, yes"

I felt a wide smile creep up my cheeks and I could feel my body shifting closer to hers of its own accord. Erica mirrored my actions. My hand slowly reached out and tucked a piece of hair behind her ear, her hand reached out wrapped around the back of my neck. I could feel my heart beeting faster and faster as her scent engulfed me completely. I gently rested one hand on her cheek and one on her waist, as her other hand joined the first one behind my neck. Our eyes fluttering shut at the same time.

Erica Hale kissed me, and I kissed back.

Her hand trailed down my neck, resting on my chest, and my hand cupped her cheek more firmly, our breaths mingling. My hand tightening around the sharp indent of her waist where a small amount of skin was peeking out. Her other hand moved to rest on my cheek as our lips met over and over in soft, gentle kisses. Erica pulled back after a bit, gazing up at me through her lashes, making my stomach explode in yet another round of fierce butterflies. We stared into each other's eyes for a moment before Erica's hand abruptly left my chest, both of her arms locking around my neck, hugging me tightly. My hands wrapped all the way around either side of her very slim waist , as I ended up almost lying down on the sofa, if not for its arm, with her on top of me, the blanket on top of us both. "Thank you," Erica whispered breathily to me, "Thank you so much for being here for me." My grin was so wide that it hurt. Erica buried her face in my neck allowing me to copy her, and even though I couldn't see her face I could still feel her warm smile against my neck.