He Who Wants A Rose, Must Respect The Thorn

Normality

A month or so had passed since the Super bowl, and besides work and the odd event Julian had to attend (with or without me) we had been stuck to each other like glue. And it was perfect. I stayed at his a few nights of the week depending on his schedule, and he had stayed over at mine too. Tonight was another one of those nights.

We'd originally planned on going out to dinner tonight, but I'd been bogged down with so much work, and I was exhausted, so I had text him at work and told him to come to my apartment as planned but I'd cook instead. He'd happily agreed, I got the feeling he liked the small cosiness of my place and it felt like a world away from his life in a way. The only condition was that he told me what to cook, so I didn't totally mess up his meal plans, even if they didn't have any games. He sent me a text with whatever he could eat, so before I headed home, I stopped by my local grocery store to pick up a thing or two.

........

I got back to my place around an hour later, huffing as I lugged my groceries up the stairs. I always ended up buying more than I expected to. Anyway, I juggled bags and keys as I unlocked my door, shouldering it open as I hurried inside. I kicked the door shut with my heel and proceeded to dump everything onto the kitchen counter. It was already 7.30pm and I needed to take a shower before J got here. So I put away my bottle of milk and yoghurts in the fridge and headed to the bathroom to freshen up.

.......

JULIAN'S POV

I was a little early, but I was eager to get to her place. I parked my car in the garage below her building, and ran up the stairs to her door. I gave a quick tap on the door and automatically went to open it up. The place was empty. I frowned closing the door behind me. I glanced around and saw the groceries on the kitchen counter and as I walked further into the room I heard the shower running. So thinking nothing of it, I began to put away her produce and fired up the stove.

PENNY'S POV

I shut off the water and pushed open the shower cubicle door. I felt heaps better from getting a shower, washing off the smell of the lab off my skin. I wrapped my new fluffy white towel around my body, grabbing a second to towel off my hair when I heard a noise outside the door. I paused; hearing it again. "what the fuck?" I whispered to myself. I glanced around the room and spotted just the thing by the door, grabbing it before opening the door and rushing outside...

"What the fuck you gonna do with that?!" Julian laughed once he'd spun around from the cooker and seen me rush out with my metal baseball bat in my hand. I huffed out a relieved sigh and dropped my arm down so the bat swung low to the floor. "I thought you were a fucking burglar" I snapped a little. "A Ham-burglar" he smirked, holding up the pack of burger patty's I bought earlier. I rolled my eyes at him and rested the bat up against the counter.

"you're too cute" he smirked at me as I walked over to him. I gave him an unimpressed stare as he moved to press a kiss to my head. "you smell good" I sighed, breathing in his scent. He chuckled, before pulling me against him for a cuddle. "I hope you don't mind that I cleaned up" he said, as I pulled away, I glanced to the counter seeing it clear of my groceries. "oh not at all" I smiled, "but I probably haven't put everything in the right place" he said, scratching his cheek. I laughed and shook my head, "you know I was meant to be cooking right?" I smiled at him, seeing he had already started prepping the food. "yeah well, I figured I'd make a start, it is burgers after all" he shrugged, making me roll my eyes again, "but I gotta say, I don't know how good they'll be cookin on this" he said, turning round, pointing at my cooker. "I'm sorry burger guru but we don't all have the means to cook up whatever you can at your place..." I said, turning away to head to my bedroom, hearing him chuckle at me.

........

It was late by the time we sat down on my couch after dinner and doing the dishes together. But it felt good doing something normal, especially after the previous weekend. I carried our two glasses over to the couch, where J was sitting with the half empty wine bottle we'd sampled with dinner. Curling up next to him on my couch was just bliss. Seeing his well built frame sitting on my couch made the thing look miniscule. But I loved it. I smiled, tucking my legs up under my bum and wrapping my arm across his chest as we watched a season of 24 on the tv. I let out a contented sigh, which must have disturbed him as he turned his head to kiss the top of mine. "I love you" I sighed, snuggling into him a little more. "I love you too" 

A few more episodes were through and I was really flagging. "c'mon bubs, let's head to bed" He said, poking me in the side with his finger. "do you have to be so rude, I was napping" I mumbled into his chest. "you were snoring" he chuckled. "was not" I scoffed at him, "was too" he replied childishly, "you always snore. You sound like a little piglet" he said, as I sat bolt up right, gasping at his insult. "I SO do not!!" I said, looking at him wide eyed. He laughed loudly and jumped up off the couch, spinning round, he stared at me and gave the biggest loudest snort. "JULIAN FRANCIS!" I yelled, grabbing a cushion to throw at him as he scampered away. 

I clambered off the couch and charged through the apartment, to my bedroom where he sought refuge. I got there quicker than he'd anticipated and tackled him onto the bed. He laughed at me loudly as I began tickling his sides. "that's not fair! Unfair advantage!" He yelled through girlish giggles as I straddled him. I couldn't hold back my laughter either and carried on my attack as he writhed around under my body.

"I give! I give!" he cried. "hahaha!" I laughed, triumphant in my victory. He grabbed my hands, linking fingers together, smiling up at me. "what?" I blushed as I looked down at him. "nothing Bubs" he said shaking his head slightly. "I just love how normal we are right now" he smiled. I giggled at him, "me too" I said, leaning down to peck his lips. "promise me this won't change" he said once I sat back up. I frowned a little, "no matter how crazy my life gets, always be my anchor" he said, "what? Weighing you down?!" I smirked, making him roll his eyes at me. "I promise. I'll always be there to keep you grounded" I said, "cool. You can start by being there at the ring ceremony with me a week Friday..."
"what?!"