The Polaroid Girls

Chapter 23

A/N: Hello my lovelies and happy Tuesday! 

We are back to Laina and Royce's POV this week. 

***Trigger Warning: Please read with care*** (Sexual violence occurs in this chapter in the last few paragraphs. It isn't explicit, but I wanted to provide you guys with a trigger warning anyway. If this scene may affect you negatively, please skip it and do what's best for yourself.)

Question of the week: Which kind of french fry is the best french fry? (If you say anything other than waffle or curly fries--you're wrong) ^u^

Once again, thank you for supporting me and my writing and don't forget to vote, comment, follow, and share this story. Every little bit helps boost my story and gives me good feedback for editing. Happy reading and I hope the rest of your week is splendid! 

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Royce hummed to himself the whole way to work that morning. He had woken up early with Laina still by his side and very much real, which he, admittedly, feared the most, that it had all been some twisted dream. But every single touch, every kiss, every second of their night together had been real.

He knew they needed to talk about it, to figure out what it all meant and what would become of it. But for now, they both seemed content to let it be what it was and to savor it before the dreaded conversation came. So they hadn't talked. Instead, they cuddled closer, kissed some more, and laughed like maniacs when their kissing and touching somehow turned into an early morning tickle war before work.

Royce grinned into his coffee cup as he saw Laina's flushed cheeks, her breathless grin, her loud, bursting laughter as she weakly pried his hands away from her sensitive sides. When she had finally gotten him to stop, she did so by tempting him with yet another long, luscious kiss. Little did he realize that she had one of his pillows poised behind her back to swat him with when she pulled away.

He fell backwards onto the bed, blinking at her attack, and when he went running after her to tickle her again, she bolted into his bathroom and locked it with a click. He could hear her breathing behind the door, the sound woven with giggles and proclamations of a truce. Royce agreed with a smile of his own, especially after catching the time on his bedside clock. They both needed to get ready to go to work. He let her shower first and he followed after she was done. They had stolen kisses as they both dressed and got ready and each one felt like their first all over again.

He would never get tired of her lips on his, of her light touches, of her fingers running through his hair, of her careless, hawking laugh, of her rosy cheeks and broad grin. She was as radiant as the sun, the moon, and the stars, and now--she wanted him.

He took a sip from his cup to control his growing grin and stepped into the station. He walked down the hall and into his unit's room but stopped in the doorway, his smile dropping away as he saw the person sitting on the opposite side of his desk. She glanced up at him when he froze and her ragged, bleary-eyed expression made him pause.

"Rebecca?"

Her lips barely rose into a tight lipped smile, "Good morning, Deputy Royce."

He shook himself back into motion and stepped over to his desk.

"What--what are you doing here? Are you alright?"

"I'm fine for now," she started, but her next statement made his blood run cold in his veins. Every joy he had felt from the night before and that morning dissipated. Reality was a cold slap across his face. "I came because I think I know who took Natalie Cabell."