Jarida Drabbles

Former Roomates

Well.

She hadn't seen that smirk in a while.

Five years if she remembered correctly.

And the person it belonged to had been an insufferable roommate. She had yet to regret her decision of moving out and renting a small apartment closer to her job, but as her friend smiled as she introduced old high school friend, her heart clenched a bit.

His crystal blue eyes still held that mischievous sparkle that had somehow roped her into sharing an apartment with him. His bleached hair brushed over his dark eyebrows as he leaned against the side of her cubicle. The smirk on his face deepened as his eyes scanned over her. "Fancy seeing you here, Red Hots. So tell me, how much gel does it take for you to get your hair in that bun?"

A scowl pulled at her lips. Right, that was why she had moved out. He was teasing and rude, and apparently some things don't change.

"Do you two know each other?" her friend asked, tucking a blonde strand of hair behind her ear.

She slouched back in her chair, crossing her arms across her chest. "Regrettably the answer is yes."

"'Regrettably'?" he repeated with a quirked eyebrow.

"Yes," she snapped.

"How'd you guys meet?"

"We went to college together. Shared an apartment for a couple years after graduation," he answered promptly.

"Oh. I—I didn't know you two—I didn't know that you had been…" the blonde floundered.

"No!" she shouted, before wincing at the volume of her voice in the wide office floor. "It wasn't like that. It was for convenience's sake only," she assured. "Right, Jack?"

"Yeah. Convenience only."

"Oh…okay. I'll leave you two to catch up then," she said shyly before ducking out of the cubicle.

The woman sighed, blowing a stray curl from her eye. She reached out and clamped her fingers around her desk, spinning her chair to face it and pulling herself back to it.

"I never thought that I'd see you like this," came his voice.

"What? With a good job?" she snapped.

"Being bored out of your mind because being paid for doing something you hate is better than doing something you love."

"Archery doesn't really pay the bills, Frosty."

She could hear the shrug in his voice. "So you didn't make the Olympic team. You could've become an instructor: started your own business. You could've done something fun, Merida."

He sighed and in her mind's eye she could see his long fingers pushing through his hair, ruffling the locks. "I got a new place on 10th. You should come over for dinner one day. Catch up, you know."

"Yeah," she mumbled as she opened a file her boss had sent and began skimming through it.

"I'm serious."

She groaned and spun around to look up at him. His blue eyes sparkled gently and in no time she found herself giving in.

Goosebumps flowered up her arms as she stepped through the door. Her hands automatically began rubbing up and down her arms in hopes that the friction would bring a satisfying warmth. "I see you still like it below freezing," she grumbled.

"I see you still can't say anything that resembles a greeting," he countered with an arched eyebrow.

She chuckled briefly, before schooling her features. "Alright, Frosty. I was promised dinner."

He draped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her through the living room to a small kitchen. "Got to make it first," he said as he dropped her off in front of the sink where a colander of lettuce sat before making his way to the cutting board.

"I thought I was a guest. Since when do you make guests cook?" she whined as she pushed her sleeves up to he elbow.

"Since I don't view you as a guest. You used to like cooking together," he responded simply.

"'Used to' being the key phrase," she countered as she turned on the tap and let the water run over the lettuce.

"What happened?" he asked softly.

She shrugged noncommittally as she stuck her hand in the colander and halfheartedly pushed the lettuce around. She felt the warmth over his body pulsating against her back but chose to ignore.

He reached around her and turned off the water before his long fingers wrapped around her wrist.

"Jack…" she began before she was yanked around. She slammed against his chest as his arms clamped around her waist, holding her to him. His lips crashed against hers with violent passion.

She stood in shock for a moment trying to decide what to do. With each passing second of her indecision, his kiss became more desperate. As the soreness of her lips grew and her lungs began to burn from oxygen starvation, a fire leapt to life in her chest and she threw her arms around his neck and returned the passion.

His thumbs idly rubbed small circles on her back tantalizingly slowly before they withdrew to slide down her sides. His fingers hooked around her knees and hitched her legs up around his hips. Once satisfied with her new position, one arm returned to a protective hold around her while the fingers of his other entwined in her fiery curls which she had thankfully worn down tonight.

He stumbled from the kitchen into the living room as she clung desperately to him. Her legs latched on tightly around him as her fingers clawed at his hair, arching his neck backwards as she deepened the kiss.

She felt herself pitch backwards as he tripped over the couch. They landed with a soft thump of entangled limbs, but they paid no mind to the new position as they focused on releasing too many years of pent up aggression and passion.

When they finally broke apart, lips hovering over each other, their chests heaved violently, greedy to gather the oxygen denied them for so long. The pocket of air surrounding them was warm and heady as they slowly became aware of the intimate way their bodies pressed against the others'.

Jack smirked as he pressed himself closer to the woman under him, his lips brushing against her jawline until he reached her ear. "You're not leaving again," his warm breath poured over her ear. "I won't let you."

Merida felt her body shiver as she cradled his face in her hands, pulling him back to look at him. "Good," she whispered hoarsely before dragging him back to her and ensnaring his lips in her own.