Written In the Stars | s.b |

SIXTY-EIGHT

Christmas was very similar to every other Christmas in the Lupin house. Ariah looked forward to the letters Sirius wrote her every other day and found herself longing to be with him again. She missed everything about him, it was sickening. Luckily, it was finally New Year's Eve, meaning the group would be meeting at Andromeda Tonks' lake house for a New Years party. Ariah was throwing clothes into a bag, just enough for a day trip, when Dylan came in, sitting down on Ariah's bed.

"I hope no one minds, I invited Karli," she said.

Ariah beamed, lifting a suggestive eyebrow in Dylan's direction. "Not at all. Planning on getting a New Years kiss?"

Dylan rolled her eyes, tossing a pillow at Ariah who caught it before it could hit her. "I don't know, are you planning on finally getting laid this New Years?"

It was Ariah's turn to roll her eyes, but there was a hot blush on her cheeks. "Shut up Dyl."

"What?! You guys have been together for a little over a year now," Dylan said. "And I can tell that you guys haven't slept together but I can also tell that you guys really want to. I mean a whole year?! He must have a bad case of blue balls."

"Dylan!"

"I'm just being honest!" Dylan shouted. "You and Frank were together for... how long? Like four months before sleeping together I mean —"

"Dylan," Ariah said sternly. "Something like this isn't set on a timer — we've never talked about it... we've hardly been alone in a type of setting to even make-out... occasionally we would but we've always been on a time crunch."

"Borrringgg," Dylan called, clearly messing with Ariah. But something in what she said had Ariah worried. Was he wanting more out of the relationship?

Ariah rolled her eyes. "Pack, Rose. So we can get to the lake house."

Remus, Meeka, Dylan, Karli and Ariah arrived at the lake house last; James, Sirius, Lily, Jules and Peter already there, getting situated. As soon as Ariah saw Sirius, she ran to him, embracing him in a hug. However, his back was facing them as he searched his bag, making her hug his waist from behind. After the initial startle, Sirius was quick to turn around and hug Ariah back.

"Oh my gosh!" James groaned. "It's been two weeks. Not two years."

"Still a grouch I see," Ariah said, pulling from the hug. And moving to hug James. "I've missed you too Jamie."

He hugged back. "I guess I've missed you too," he mumbled.

Everyone who hadn't seen each other in two weeks hugged before Dylan introduced everyone to Karli. James pulled out the alcohol while Peter set out all the food and the party finally started. They stayed inside a bit, playing board games or drinking games. After a few hours, they all decided to jump into the lake.

Ariah swam over to Sirius who had just jumped into the lake for a third time. She was only a little tipsy, just enough alcohol in her system to erase any filter she had before. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders, his resting on her hips.

"Hi," he whispered in a low voice. "I really missed you Ariah."

She rested her forehead on his, her heart pounding against her chest as she felt his hot breath against her. "I really missed you too."

Ariah pressed her lips to his. "I really missed doing that, too."

Sirius didn't respond, instead putting one hand on the small of her back to push her closer to his body to kiss her again. This kiss was more intense than any of their other kisses, taking Ariah's breath away. She assumed it was due to the alcohol in both of their systems but didn't seem to care as she moved her hands to his hair, wrapping her legs around his waist. As the kiss continued to deepen, Ariah tugged at his hair, causing Sirius to gasp. Ariah took that opportunity to slip her tongue into the kiss, clearly surprising Sirius. But he didn't fight it, or pull away. Instead he ran his hand up her back, spreading chills down her body and pulling her even closer against himself.

She couldn't help thinking about how she still wished to be closer to him. It was as if any distant between the two would kill her. But there was no way to get closer.

Ariah pulled out of the kiss, still keeping her face close to his, their breathing equally labored. "Do you want to go inside?" she whispered.

Sirius hesitated before nodding. Luckily, the others were too focused on their game of chicken to notice the couple slip back into the house. Once they got into one of the bedrooms and Sirius shut the door, Ariah was back against him, lips back on his as if his breath was the only way she could breathe. While still kissing him, she moved the two to the bed, pushing Sirius down onto the mattress. She went over him, straddling his waist before going back down to kiss him, her hands moving up his chest.

Sirius seemed a lot less sure of himself than Ariah, his shaky hands moving hesitantly to her waist. Ariah didn't take notice of this, repositioning herself so that she was against him, their legs entangled. She had grabbed his hands from her waist, placing them on either side of his head, her fingers entwined with his. He let out a low moan as she moved her lips to his neck, then to his collar bone.

"W-Wait," Sirius breathed out. Ariah quickly stopped kissing, looking at Sirius with wide eyes.

"A-are you okay?" she asked.

"No — I mean yes," he said, letting go of her hands to run them through his hair. "Have you.... have you done this before?"

".... make-out?"

"No... have you had... sex before," Sirius mumbled, his face turning a bright shade of red. "Like... do you — are you ready? Do you want to do this? I mean I-I don't have like... any protection or anything — do you? I just didn't think that we'd... I didn't think about this or anything."

Ariah smiled softly, sitting back up on her knees. "You didn't plan on having sex with me tonight?"

His eyes quickly widened, worried that he had upset her. "Well I mean — I-I've thought about it, sure I mean what teenage boy hasn't I'd be lying if I said I haven't thought about it but-but it's not like I was expecting — should I plan in the future I'm not really —"

Ariah cut Sirius off then, pressing her lips on his. This time the kiss was a lot softer and only lasted a few seconds.

"You truly are amazing Sirius," she said softly, placing her thumb on his lips. "I love you so much."

"I... I'm confused," he said.

"Dylan got inside my head," Ariah said. "I just... I thought this was what you wanted."

"Well... sure it is." Sirius kissed her thumb before holding her hand in his. "But... not right now. I-I've never actually done more than a kiss a girl before you... I don't think I'm ready... are you...?"

Ariah was silent. She didn't want to tell him that she wasn't a virgin but she didn't think it was something to lie about to him either. She closed her eyes.

"I-I've done it before," she confessed.

There was a painful silence between them for a long minute, before Sirius breathed out a, "oh."

Ariah quickly opened her eyes to get a better view of his reaction. "But... but that doesn't mean I want to do this — I mean I do! Just... not right now... I like how slow we're taking things.... it makes it feel more.... lovely."

Sirius' eyes looked back up at Ariah's. "You really mean that? You're not just saying that?"

Ariah couldn't help but chuckle. "I'm not just saying that Sirius, I mean it." She put her hand on his cheek tenderly. "I love you."

He smiled, leaning into her hand and pressing a soft kiss into her palm. "I love you too."

A/N

I've literally been procrastinating this chapter Bc I suck at writing even the slightest bit of smut Bc I'm a sad 20 y/o virgin who cringes at this type of shit BUT HERE YOU GO! The most amount of smut y'all will get! This was legit so hard to write I'm cryING

I hope y'all enjoy ndkanfks

Edit: I know this says chp 68 but if I counted the prologue as chapter 1, this would be chp 69 so... that's funny as frick