He Who Wants A Rose, Must Respect The Thorn

My place

The taxi ride back to my apartment was a silent one. It wasn't awkward or anything, we just sat in the back of the car, me resting against his chest, his arm around me as he looked out of the window at the world around him.

When we reached my place, I paid the driver and then I led him inside and to my door. It was a fairly decent size for a place round here; I had a large master bedroom, an ensuite as well as a main bathroom, and my kitchen was off the main living area as well as the balcony which was favourite of all.

"cool place" he said once I'd let us inside. I smiled, proud of what I'd got, but nowhere near the size of his place I imagined. "thank you. Make yourself at home." I said after closing the door. I pulled my heels off and dropped them on the welcome mat. "want anything to drink?" I offered, looking over to him. "no thank you" he replied smiling softly at me, standing at the window.

"beautiful outlook you got here" he said once I'd joined him. "yeah, I love this place" I answered as I bent down to light my candles. It was so cosy here at night. "how long have you lived here?" he asked watching me set down the matches. "about five years now" I nodded. "cool. Did you live with your parents before that?" he asked, following me to sit on the couch. I shook my head, grabbing the blanket and curling up underneath it. "I lived with a guy for a couple years before I got this place, but before that yeah I lived with my mum" I told him. "what happened? With the guy I mean" he asked, a little nervous to ask I assumed. "if you're cool with telling me" he added. I half smiled and nodded. "I was with him since school. We were so close. Went through uni together, got engaged, then I got this job and worked, and worked and worked. He got fed up of me being in the lab all the time. So he found a hobby. That happened to be the girl in his gym." I shrugged.  "What a douche move" he looked at me disgusted. "I know I got so caught up in work, and didn't manage my priorities too well, but he broke my heart." I told him, looking away from his sympathetic gaze as I began picking at a loose thread on my blanket. "he didn't deserve you" he said softly, making me raise my eyes up to meet his. "so what you were working a lot. My job makes me do the same, be away for some time too. But if you're with the right person that shouldn't matter. They should understand, and you can make time for each other." he said which I agree with. "exactly." I smiled a little, and we just looked at each other, holding our gaze until one of us spoke.

"you know I didn't do anything that night right?" he said, addressing those photos I'd seen of him the night I left. I shrugged, "I swear I didn't. I went out with Danny to have some drinks at the after party." he began. "I was so cut up that you'd left, and I didn't know when I'd see you again. That's all I cared about. I wasn't interested in anything, or anyone else" he told me, I had no reason not to believe him, I couldn't carry on accusing every guy I met for cheating on me. And all I could hear was Amelia's voice in my head telling me he wouldn't come all this way if he was playing games. "but why me?" I said, thinking aloud, which I hadn't realised until I heard him chuckle.

I looked up into his eyes as he slumped back into the comfy sofa. His eyes raked over me and he licked his lips, a smirk forming on his gorgeous face. I'd not seen naughty Julian too often, I think he was keeping him in check. "c'mere" his gruff voice told me. I felt my whole body blush as he looked at me. "c'mere" he said again, beckoning me with his hand. I smiled shyly and stood up from my seat at the other end of the couch and walked over to him. Not missing his eyes move over me again.

"just look at you" he started, taking my hand and pulling me to sit on his lap. I blushed badly and wanted so much to cover my face but he grabbed my other hand before I had chance. So I kept my head down, not able to look at him. I knew he was smiling at my shyness, I'd discovered that he enjoyed making me blush. My reserved personality was the mirror opposite of his, yet we complimented each other well.

"you're beautiful." he said, "inside and out" I finally looked up at him. "you don't realise just how much" he shook his head. I chewed on my lip as I felt much discomfort, I was never good at taking compliments, especially from the likes of him. "baby," he whispered, I finally looked up to meet his eyes, "you're a special little something. I know that. And I aren't likely to give you up so soon." he admitted. That made my heart flutter, but my head spin with confused thoughts. "you're amazing baby. And I ain't coming all the way here just for anyone" he whispered softly, gently pulling on my hand, moving me closer to him.

My heart skipped a beat or two as he pulled me against his hard chest, I was practically layed on him as he wrapped his big arms around my waist, pinning me to him. I rested my hands on his toned chest and looked up at him, feeling his breath fan across my face. "kiss me baby, I ain't had enough" he grinned, making me giggle. And this time I didn't need telling twice, and I pushed my lips against his.

.........

Naturally things got heated quite quickly. I moved to straddle him, aware that my dress was getting higher and higher up my thighs. But he didn't seem to notice, or he was being sly about it. His hands sat low on my hips as our upper bodies were glued to each other, my hands caressed his jaw, ran through his hair, and settled on his chest. I ran my tongue along his bottom lip, warranting a growl from him, which made me giggle a little. He grinned against my mouth and we parted, resting our foreheads together. "please don't give up on Boston" he said softly, not moving an inch from me. I felt a huge pang of guilt. I'd not even contemplated moving over there since I'd left. I kind of had it in my head that it wasn't going to work with him. But now, now he was here, in my home, telling me to reconsider, I just couldn't dismiss the idea, I owed him that at least. I sighed, moving to look into his eyes, "I'll think about it" I nodded, making him smile. "awesome" he purred at me, I giggled at his expression, then yawned. "okay sweetie, I think it's time you went to sleep" he grinned at me. I smiled back at him and nodded. "what about you?" I asked, sitting up straight, looking down at him. "I'm gonna stay here, this couch is just too snuggly to even move" he said, wriggling further into it. I burst out laughing. "okay," I nodded, then leaning back down to him, I pressed a kiss to his lips. "goodnight J" I said softly, he beamed a huge smile at me, "goodnight baby" he winked at me, finally easing his grip on me so I could move off his lap.

.........

I changed out of my dress and underwear, taking my make up off and changing into my bed clothes. Just as I was about ready to climb under the duvet, I realised I'd left my phone in the kitchen. I paused for a moment, wondering if I should put some pants on, but I figured he'd probably be asleep by now, so I snuck out of my room and headed the few steps to my kitchen.

I grabbed my phone off the counter and decided to grab a bottle of water out the fridge. I was as quiet as could be, but as the light from the fridge illuminated me I heard an "oh my" coming from the darkness of the living area. I froze, cringing as I faced the fridge, my back toward where that voice was coming from. I looked round, instantly blushing at his smirk he was sending my way. And that was kind of expected, seeing as though I was wearing his Edelman shirt and not much else....

"You want it back?" I asked flirtily, obviously he enjoyed seeing me in it. Yeah of course I'd kept it, and yes I did sleep in it. He grinned widely, his white teeth illuminated by the light inside the fridge, and he let's out a rather animalistic groan in answer to my question.

I laughed and shook my head, turning to walk back to my room. "I love seeing you in my jersey" he told me, making me turn back to him and smile, "I'd happily watch you in it all night." he added. I didn't respond to his statement, but instead of closing my door, I left it wide open, hoping he took the hint.

........

I climbed into bed finally, setting my water and my phone on the table beside my bed. I gladly rested my head on my fluffy pillow about to close my eyes. I wasn't sure if I was upset or not that he'd chosen to stay on the couch, but before I had anymore time to think, I heard the door creak and then close.

He climbed into the bed, moving right up behind me. I smiled and closed my eyes. Little did I know he did lay and watch me most of the night.