The Alien Next Door

20 - Proud Giggles

POV: Jake
Over the past few weeks my confidence has really been increasing as I've been leaving the house a lot more, my hood has still been firmly on my head but I don't feel as afraid when I go out. I've been going to the park and enjoying the minimal amount of sun we've been getting.

Phoenix has been busy with work a lot but we sneak over to each other's at night and cuddle the nights away together. Nothing else has happened between us but I'm going to ask him on a date later. It'll be a date/confidence outing and I know he won't turn me down. Morgan is planning to visit next week too which is very exciting, I think they're staying for a week and then going back to the farm which will give us adequate time to spend together and chill.

I'm watching Netflix in the living room when I hear a knock on the wall behind me, he's home at last. It's only four in the afternoon so he must have gotten out early somehow but that means I can go see if he wants to go out in a bit for dinner.

"Hey!" I say as he opens the door and pulls me inside. "I need hugs," he sighs as I close the door behind me and follow him to the sofa. He sits next to me and puts his head in my lap, my hands find their way to his hair and I start running my fingers through it. "What's the matter?" I ask  quietly. "It's just been very hectic at work, how's your day been?" He replies moving around more to get comfy. "It's been good, just lounging about as always, want me to make dinner tonight?" I ask leaning down and planting a kiss on the side of his head. "Look at you treating me like a Prince," he says as he sits up and kisses me.

"You're fucking adorable," he says as he sits up from beside me in bed. "UNO reverse card," I reply pulling him back over towards me. "I need to pee!" He exclaims as I pull a little too hard on his lower stomach. "And I need to go make us food," I reply pulling my shirt back on as he leaves the bedroom. I get ready and plant a quick kiss on his head before leaving and going back to mine.

Thankfully I've got enough food at my place to satisfy two hungry boys so I get cooking and cleaning up the place. I have the broccoli boiling and the bacon cooking whilst I hoover quickly and I add the pasta into some boiling water before waiting for everything to cook before adding everything into one pan and putting in the white sauce. I feel like a housewife and I'm already tired. I should thank Phoenix more when he cooks for me.

I dish everything up and put it on the coffee table before shoving all the pots and pans into the dishwasher and quickly making my way to his front door and knocking. "Dinner awaits!" I excitedly tell him as he opens the door. I grab his hand and pull him to my living room, the excitement still apparent as we sit down. "It smells lovely," he says as he picks up the plate and looks over at me. I feel my cheeks heat up and I shyly say "thank you," as I watch him take the first bite. "This. Is. Fucking. Beautiful." He moans. After that it doesn't take us long to devour the chicken, broccoli and bacon pasta.

"You know what we need now?" He says. "Cuddles?" I reply as he hands me his plate to put into the dishwasher. "Yes, but no. Wine," he grins at me as I stand back up. "Let's go get some!" I say closing the dishwasher and grabbing my keys from the counter. He looks at me surprised but follows me in getting ready to leave. I've got this.

It takes a lot of self control not to put my coat hood up as we are walking to the shop but thankfully there isn't many people about so I manage to restrain myself. I keep catching Phoenix looking over at me and smiling to himself though, that's keeping me going. "What wine are we getting?" I ask him as we turn the corner and I can see the shop in the distance. "White?" He replies taking my hand in his and throwing me a questioning look. "It's a plan," I say squeezing his hand, unsure if the look was about the wine or for holding my hand, either way a smile appears on his face.

We step into the brightly lit corner shop and Phoenix leads me to the wine section at the back of the shop. I'm acutely aware of the atmosphere in here but it doesn't feel bad, just odd. "This one?" Phoenix asks as he lets go of my hand to pick a bottle off the shelf. "Yeah, can we get some cookies too?" I ask quietly. He smiles at me as I lift my head up to look at him and he takes my hand again and leads me to the cookies. I grab the bag I want and we go to the till. I make brief eye contact with the cashier and we exchange friendly smiles before he hands us a bag with our stuff in and wishes us a good night. As we step out of the shop I can't hide the smile anymore and I squeeze phoenixes hand before bringing it up to my mouth and giving it a kiss. I really did that. "I did it, and it was fucking amazing!" I quietly squeal. "Fuck yeah you did!" Phoenix shouts back. "Let's go drink this wine baby!" He adds, shouting it yet again.

"I am so proud of myself!" I squeal as we get back into my apartment. "I am so proud of you too, let's celebrate," he winks as he pulls the wine out of the bag, quickly followed by the cookies making an appearance. "I'll get the glasses!" I say as I scour my cupboards for the wine glasses, when I can't find them we both laugh and he goes and grabs a pair from his place. I thought I'd brought some with me when I moved but clearly not... whoops.

"I need to go shower," I say clumsily after I finish my second glass of wine. "Me too," Phoenix adds from above me, laying on the sofa. "How about we have a bath?" I ask him as I stand up. I'm not fully drunk, just a little tipsy but definitely not sober anymore. Phoenix however, is definitely drunk which was made apparent to me in the past half an hour because he hasn't stopped giggling. Though, I'm not complaining because it's adorable. "Let me go get the bath ready," I say to him as I make my way to the bathroom.

"It's ready, go get in and I'll be there in a second," I say to him from the bedroom. I hear him get up and he near enough runs into my bedroom and kisses me unexpectedly before disappearing into the bathroom as quickly as he appeared. How he didn't fall over is beyond me, I can still hear him quietly giggling to himself and a smile tugs at my lips. I turn around and join him in the bathtub.

"I forgot my wine!" He squeals as I'm just about to step into the bubble filled tub. I laugh, realising I startled and nearly fell flat on my ass, before going back into the lounge and grabbing his wine glass. There isn't much in there so I put the rest of the bottle into the glass, which doesn't add much to it but I'm sure he'll appreciate it. "Delivery!" I say as I return and watch the smile grow on his face. "You're nakey," he giggles as he takes the glass from me. "So are you, you stinky," I reply as I finally get to sit in the tub. I let the warmth of the water consume me.

"Let me clean you?" Phoenix says after a while of us sitting in the quiet together. I keep my eyes closed and nod my head yes, he must have been looking at me waiting my answer because he starts moving about in the bath grabbing what I can only assume is my bar of soap and my shampoo bar. "Turn around," he whispers. His drunken giggles have disappeared now and his soft side has come out again. I love this. I turn around and dunk my head under the water to wet my hair and then emerge to feel Phoenix moving my hair out the way of my face. He begins with the shampoo bar in my hair and gently massages my scalp, I'm so relaxed right now I'm struggling to stay upright in this bath.

He finished up my hair and I did his before we both got out and climbed into bed together. He shakes his wet hair like a dog and I do the same, our giggles fill the dark bedroom. "Where's my wine?" He asks feeling around the nightstand. "You left it in the bathroom," I reply as I stand up to go and get it for him. I return with the wine and hand it back to him before giving him a kiss and laying down beside him.