The Walter Boys Assistant

Chapter 37: Aftercare

~Third POV~

They lay in each other's arms panting and smiling, cheeks flushed. Neither spoke for a few heartbeats.

He was still coming down from the high, attempting to regain, not only his breath, but his thoughts as well.

Just having her this close was intoxicating, the air between them was charged. It made Alex's mind go hazy. How could he explain what he himself had only just come to understand?

Alex turns to her, love and lust glazing his eyes. He offers her a coy smile, "So, you really count my freckles?"

(Y/n), a moment of rarity, was at a loss for words. There's a brief pause in which he sees her cheeks tint red and she begins to pull away from his arms.

"Hey, it's okay," Alex reaches out and gets her to stop, his thumb tracing the curve of her jawline. "It's probably the sweetest thing anyone has ever said to me."

Her blush grows, a shade of rosy red now washing over her whole face.

Alex stares at her for a split second before drawing her in closer and lays a delicate kiss atop her lips. The gesture was somehow far more intimate than anything they had just done within the past hour.

When he finally pulls away, he rests his forehead against hers, whispering softly, "what are you thinking right now?"

He waits, craving her words like a man stranded in the desert craves water.

She ponders on his question before responding, "Do you think our younger-selves would have believed where we are now?"

Alex barks out a laugh. (Y/n) smiles, feeling the laugh within his chest.

"Which version of our younger-selves? We've known each other since kindergarten."

"Fair." She giggles.

"How long have you liked me?"

She shies away again. He starts, "You have nothing to be embarrassed about, I just want to know how long I've been a dumbass."

(Y/n) considers before answering, "You've been a dumbass for approximately two years, seven months, and five days."

"Really??"

"I don't know," she laughs. "It's been around two years."

Alex chuckles once again, searching her eyes with his own. God, how he could get lost in those eyes...

He shifts, adjusting to get more comfortable in the bundle of pillows and blankets surrounding them.

"If we told younger us from just two years ago where we were right now...? I think they would lose their shit."

It's (Y/n)'s turn to let out a laugh. He soaked up the sensation of her laughter against his bare chest.

"Especially little Alex," she teases with a crooked smile.

"Oh, god... He would be so confused." Alex confirms happily, beginning to trace idle circles atop her arm.

A brief silence rules over them, the only sound being that of their mingling breaths.

"You know, it's kind of cool that we were each other's firsts." She speaks.

Alex's hand pauses, muscles tensing up. It was subtle... but not unnoticed.

(Y/n) sits up, looking back at him.

"...Right...?" She pushes.

Alex doesn't meet her gaze. Only, his eyes fall and he begins to pick at a loose string on the grey blanket across his lap.