[text] Whatever, I’m going to sleep. 

[text] Oh, come on, don’t be like that. 

[text] Are you really going to let me be this bored on a stakeout? 

[text] Just because we had a disagreement about cheesesticks? 

[text] I’m still not going to take it back. 

[text] Sonic’s Cheesesticks are better than anywhere else’s. 

[text] Jesus Christ sorry I didn’t have my phone on me for one minute. You’re honestly overreacting. 

[text] Oh really? 

[text] You’re on an extremely dangerous mission

[text] Where you could very likely get killed at any second

[text] And you didn’t answer your very pregnant girlfriend’s call

[text] AND NOW I’M OVERREACTING? 

[text] I don’t want to do this anymore.

[text] And by this you mean . . . 

[text] the job? 

[text] Being a Princess? 

[text] Going to get your hair done? 

[text] I hope not us. 

[text] [ ✓ Read 00:00 AM ]

[text] Really? 

[text] You’re going to leave me on “read”?

[text] You know that phones don’t really send that as a message right? 

[text] So I know you’re there. 

[text] Scarlet, please, I didn’t mean what I said, you know that. 

[text] Do I have to? 

[text] Yes, unfortunately you have to go to work. 

[text] At least that’s what you told me last night. 

[text] When you were running out of the room.

[text] You’ve really got to stop doing that, you know. 

“I love you all too much.” 

Those were words that Ava had been wanting to hear for a long time now. Almost her whole life she had been starved for that sort of affection with her mom dying when she was young and then her father who had never really been one for affection in the first place. Then after high school she had went into the army, and of course there was no affection to be had there. So hearing the guy that she was absolutely crazy about, the father of her daughter, say those words to her should have been a happy occasion, but for her, it wasn’t. She didn’t find herself wanting to launch herself at him, wanting to kiss him senseless, or wanting to say it back. Maybe a small part of herself did, but the larger part, the part she could mostly hear right now was terrified. While she had been wanting Lucas to love her for a long time now, she couldn’t help but think of the few people who had said those words to her before. How badly it had ended up. Saying that he loved her almost felt like a death sentence for him. Now that he had said it, there was no way he was going to stay around. While Ava knew that wasn’t the least bit logical, she couldn’t help but think it. Not to mention she didn’t even understand it. “Why? After all I’ve done to you, you should really hate me.”

“Yeah, I want you.”

“I want you too babe. I wish I was there to show you that.” Zaria had never suspected them being apart would be this hard. After all, they were only going to be apart for a few days. Honestly, if she had known that it was going to be like this, she would have suggested that Lennon come and join her for a few days of the holidays. It wasn’t like her parents would have been against that. They were happy that she was dating someone. The main reason that she hadn’t invited her is because she figured it was too soon. They hadn’t been dating for very long now, and meeting the family was a big deal. Especially Zaria’s family who she wouldn’t deny was a little bit on the crazy side. She didn’t want to scare Lennon off yet. Especially since she really liked her. Now though, sitting here and listening to her girlfriend on the phone just made her want her by her side as soon as possible whether that meant getting Lennon here or vice versa. She wondered if the other girl would go for that. It was last minute, but maybe she wanted to see her just as bad as Zaria did. “You know … I could really use some company, and my family keeps talking about how much they would love to meet you, so if you wanted to come up here for a couple of days … I definitely wouldn’t object.” Zaria proposed, biting her lip as her grip tightened slightly on her cell phone. 

“And it’s not my fault that I fucked everybody here.”

“Surely not everyone, but if you have, I’ve got to say I’m impressed.” This was terribly amusing honestly. Skye really hadn’t had much of an idea about Grant’s sexual history because that was just something she hadn’t really cared about knowing. In fact, she thought it might be a little weird to know about all the women that her boss had slept with. In fact, she thought it was weird to even see anyone flirting with him in the first place. She couldn’t imagine someone sleeping with him. Not the serious, hard working Grant Ward that she knew. Not that she hadn’t imagined how Grant would be in bed. After all, she had seen him shirtless. Who could see a sight like that and not imagine what it would be like to have that pressed against them? Her thoughts were getting her off topic though, and she quickly found herself focused back at the conversation at hand. She did have to ask herself how he found himself in this situation. Skye was about to ask him that question when she noticed the completely panic stricken look on his face. He really was freaking out about this, and it wasn’t often, or ever really, that she had seen Grant Ward freak out about something. When he groaned something out about how one of his exes was coming over, Skye looked up and sure enough someone was headed this way. A tall blonde with messy hair and a smirk on her lips. A weird feeling erupted in her stomach, and she found herself wanting to help. She leaned across the bar, tugging Grant close by his shirt and whispering in his ear, “Play along,” she pulled back slightly, letting out a little giggle as she nuzzled her nose against his with a goofy smile. 

“What happened to just messing around?”

“I don’t mess around with card games Jameson Mathers.” Rayne replied, not feeling the least bit sympathetic about the fact that she had just used a “draw four” card on her boyfriend when he only had one card left because yes, she was that person. There were only a few things in her life that Rayne considered herself to be good at. She was good with math, good with running a business, and she was good at card games. Of course, this wasn’t something that James had the chance to witness before now, and she liked to think that everyone at the table was actually slightly impressed including James’s sister and cousin. Mostly though, she knew they were amused, but hey, she couldn’t help that she was a competitive person when it came to games. “Just because you’re cute and you’re my boyfriend doesn’t mean I’m going to take it easy on you.” Even though Rayne knew she was being rather competitive, she also knew that James wasn’t taking her too seriously. No, he just grinned at her as he massaged her leg under the table that she currently had in his lap. “I hate to break it to you Mathers, but you’re going down.” She told him as she laid down her next to last card. “Uno.” She grinned. 

“Babe, you look so cool.”

Simon was, at that very moment, absolutely positive that he did not look the least bit cool. In fact, he was fairly sure that he looked about as uncool as he could ever look. Really, who could blame him though? He had just gotten back from the hospital, where he had a long shift again. So of course, the first thing he wanted to do when he got home was relax. He had just taken his scrubs off and thrown them in the washer when he realized he forgot to check the mail. He didn’t know when his letter from the hospital would be arriving, but he couldn’t wait to check. That’s when the problem arose. He hadn’t done his laundry yet. His scrubs were kind of gross, and he had nothing else to wear except … That was how he found himself on the front porch in SpongeBob SquarePants pajamas. A gag gift from a family member a couple years ago. “It’s a laundry day.” He finally managed to say, trying not to show in his face just how embarrassed he was that the girl of his dreams had found him like this. “And I was going to get the … oh you got it.” Simon muttered once he noticed the mail in her hands. The silence became even more awkward as they stood there, Simon flustered while Ellis looked amused. “Weren’t you supposed to stay late - You know, never mind, I’m going to do laundry now.” Simon said, gesturing back inside and hurrying back to his bedroom. 

“I can’t believe that we’re talking about him.”

“Why not? Because we don’t talk about things like that? Well, I want to.” Okay, so maybe Talisa was just a little on the drunk side. Probably a lot more than a little now that she thought about it. In fact she couldn’t really remember how many drinks she had. After four shots of Fireball, the world had started to get a little blurry. In fact she had no idea how he even made it back to the dorm, much less the room. Right now, the fog of alcohol had cleared up slightly just in time for her roommate to return from her little date. “I want to talk about just how great your date must have gone.” She made her way over to Celeste’s bed on the other side of the room, stumbling slightly for a brief moment as she took her heels off. She landed on Celeste’s bed and smirked down at her as her hand found the other girl’s thigh, tracing a gentle circle on the skin. “Did you let him touch you like you let me?” She wondered out loud, her fingers tracing just a little bit higher. “Did you let him eat you out, because I’m sure if you did, it wasn’t nearly as good as what you get from me.” Talisa added as she parted the other girl’s thighs, so she could slip between them, “Or did you actually let him fuck you?” She emphasized her statement with a thrust of her hips against Celeste’s center. Even though she knew the other girl could smell the liquor on her, she still crawled up her body, pressing an open mouthed kiss against the other girl’s lips. “Come on … I want to know.” 

“Get back here and cuddle with me…”

“I can’t … You know I’ve got to work.” Zaria didn’t want to leave her. She hated seeing Lennon sick and knowing she couldn’t stay with her. She felt like it was her job as her girlfriend to take care of her when she was sick, but she needed the money. Zaria had to be in the parades today, she couldn’t miss them. She got paid more of them, and with her and Lennon moving in together … she didn’t want them to get behind on their payments. After changing into her jeans and light tank, she sat down on the bed beside Lennon. She ran her fingers through her hair, trying to relax her. “I’m sorry baby. I’m going to try my best to get back as soon as possible.” She kissed the top of her head, frowning at the feverish state she was in. She was definitely going to be taking this girl to the doctors if she did not get better soon. “I’ll bring you some soup, and you’re going to eat it all. After that, I’m going to cuddle you like crazy. I’m going to cuddle you so much, you’re going to get sick of me.” She assured her, giving her a quick squeeze before standing up. “I’ll be back super soon. You should try and get some sleep until then.” Zaria said. She grabbed her bag, and blew her a kiss before she left the room.

“Well if it’ll make you feel better…”

“It will …” Kaia whispered. She didn’t hesitate after that to crawl into his open arms. He always made her feel better. For so long, she hadn’t had someone she felt she could actually turn to. Not with the way that her mother treated her. She didn’t have any friends because her family only let her converse with people they approved of. That wasn’t a long list. Most of them were stuck up jerks just like her family. It wasn’t like she could actually talk to them about what she was feeling. Atticus was the exact opposite. Being able to talk to him about what was going through her mind was the only reason she was still sane. He had done so much for her in the time they had known each other. She wasn’t even sure he knew how much she depended on him. She never usually craved physical affection from him, but right now, she needed it. “Thank you,” she murmured against his shoulder. “Thank you so much for being my hero tonight.” Kaia told him as she felt his arms tighten around her.

“I’m sorry babe; I’m just not in the mood today, could we cuddle instead please?”

Roxy’s eyebrows rose in confusion. “Are you sick or something? Did you get bit and not tell me?” She asked. She lifted up his arms, looking for any blood or funky looking bites. She didn’t see anything though. It was unusual for Rook not to be interested in sex. She had to admit though it had been a trying day, hunting for food and almost getting attacked by another group. She was kind of thankful he said something actually. “That’s fine though. I wish I could have recorded you asking to cuddle though.” She laid down on the pile of blankets next to him, rolling onto her side so she was facing him. “I never thought I would hear the word ‘cuddle’ come out of your mouth.” She teased him, tugging on the top of his hands to pull him closer. Roxy heard him mutter something under his breath. She just ignored him though, letting out a little giggle as he wrapped his arms around her. “The big, bad, crossbow welding, Walker killer loves to cuddle.” She continued to tease him until he shut her up with a kiss. She wasn’t going to complain.

“I’m really sore today, could we just take it easy and cuddle today please?”

“You are such a damn whiner. We had a deal.” Maria reminded him. Finally, after weeks of trying to sneak around him, they had struck a bargain. If she would follow his rules for the week and listen to him, she could go out on the weekends. With him in tow of course. Tonight, she was convinced that she wanted to go out and have some fun with a few of her friends at a club opening. “Just because we’ve had sex doesn’t change that.” Maria told him. Even though she wouldn’t admit it, part of this was because she wanted to show off her hot bodyguard. Nobody believed that her parents had actually picked out somebody gorgeous to watch her. “If it’ll make you feel better, we can cuddle when we get back.” She said, a playful pout on her lips as she poked her head out the door of her bathroom. Finally, she was ready. A smirk formed almost immediately as she watched the way his eyes trailed over her body. Who could blame him though with the way her legs looked in this mini dress? She grabbed her leather jacket and clutch off her bed before interrupting his gazing. She grabbed a hold of his collar, tugging him off her bed as well. “Come on, let’s get out of here.” She said, her dark eyes sultry as she pulled him out the door.

“A little cuddling won’t kill you, I promise.”

“I don’t know, it might,” Rylee joked, but climbed back into bed with him anyway. At first, she had to admit the suggestion was strange for her. When she had sex with someone, she had pretty much learned it was expected of her to leave as soon as possible. Cuddling was a foreign concept to her. After that first night with Ezra though, she realized that she actually kind of … liked it. She liked being in his arms. He was always warm and strong, and held her like she was something precious. It was almost as if he couldn’t believe he was holding her in the first place. A part of Rylee had to wonder if the reason he acted like this was because she was his first. She knew that it wasn’t just that for her, no, she had genuine feelings for him. She had for a long time as a matter of fact. Ezra on the other hand? There was always a connection with your first. Was that all this was for him? She pushed that thought of her mind for the moment, resting her head against his chest. No matter what it was for him, she was going to enjoy this feeling for as long as possible.

“I always sleep better when you’re here with me…”

Noel knew that he was most likely only saying this because he was so exhausted. They both had a long day today working, especially with his shifts and hers. There weren’t many nights lately that they had gotten to spend together. So both of them were going to take advantage of it while they had the chance, and that included cuddling on the bed. It would have included more, but both of them were just so tired, neither of them was up for it. Besides, this was almost as good. It was for her anyway. Her head was resting against his warm, bare chest while his hand brushed against her back. It felt so nice and just kept her so calm. She was sure she could lay here for hours just relaxing and sleeping. It was something she had never expected would happen between the two of them earlier. Beckett never seemed as if he was the type to settle down, and neither was she. Beck managed to change all that for her, and she had changed it for him. As much as she hated the government, she had to admit there was some merit to the matching system. “I do too,” she admitted in response, turning her head to press a quick kiss to his chest. “I think that’s because you’re an excellent pillow though.” She teased him.