Yes, Sir

4.0

•- Laine Bennett -•

Christmas flew by as quickly as it came. It was a day full of happiness and family. I could never have asked for anything better.

I'd stayed up till one to finish cleaning up from our mess. I was prepping my bed so I could finally go to sleep, but my phone began ringing on the end table beside my bed.

I didn't bother to look at the caller ID as I lift the device to my ear as I arrange my pillow.

"Hello?" I ask as I flip my comforter up my bed while pressing my shoulder against the device to hold it in place.

"Lainey."

My eyes bug out of my face as I stand frozen. Maybe I should have read the caller ID after all.

"Austin," I say dumbfounded, "What are you doing awake at this hour?" I whisper for no reason seeing as my room was the farthest away from Thea and my Gram's.

"I wanted to hear your voice. I don't want to be rude but can you please come open the door?"

I clear my throat and find myself mentally running through the layout of my apartment to make sure it was suitable for his eyes. Not that he hasn't seen it when it wasn't so thoroughly clean, but I don't want him to step into some weird black hole and be sucked into the void. That's just not cool.

I hang up my phone and toss it carelessly on my bed before running my hands through my hair until the mess that it was, was up in a shitty bun. Anything to give me some time before I open that door.

As I walk through the apartment I check to make sure Thea and Gram's bedroom doors were closed just for the benefit of my will to live. You know, the normal.

The compacted apartment was thankfully cleaned to it's full potential and I'd never been so happy with myself for actually cleaning when I was told to.

I'm holding off on opening the barrier between Austin and I. Having casual sex was not in my coding. There were feelings that always got involved. The one time I tried to have it I was overly embarrassed by my decision to be easy for one night that I never looked at the guy again even when he tried to talk to me as a friend.

I unlock the door and carefully pull it open.

He looked disheveled. His hair was even more messier than usual, his clothes were hanging against his body like he'd been trying to pull the fabric off but failed, and his eyes were filled with some unreadable emotion that I'd never seen in him before.

He opens his mouth to speak but I lift my finger to his mouth instead. I watch his eyebrow furrow before I pull away and point towards my room.

He nods as he slowly steps inside carefully so the floorboards underneath wouldn't creak my family awake.

I close the door and lock it before leading Austin into my room. This would be third time he's stepped foot in my room. Not that I was counting.

I close my bedroom door and flip the lock before turning to face him as he pulls his jacket off of his shoulders and places the expensive fabric on his lap.

"Graham and Clover made you presents," he says, his voice was strained, almost as if he hadn't spoken in hours. Which is hard to imagine for someone so talkative.

I push off the door and walk over to my end table where I had shoved his present hopefully to have forgotten about it until after my employment when I could then just blame myself for procrastination and sell it. But clearly that's out the window.

I'd wrapped the small box neatly, and I was proud of myself for taking my time with it. I was never good at wrapping presents. Thea's were usually shoved in a bag or my grams would do it for me. But I felt the need to be personal with his gift. Like a thank you for giving me the best night of my life. But I'll never admit that to anyone.