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Alette's POV

As soon as he finished eating I grabbed our plates and walked to the sink.

"What are you doing?" he asked, getting up.

"The dishes silly," I told him smiling.

He came over and tried grabbing them out of my hands.

"You don't need to do that," he said firmly.

"Nope, you cooked, so I'll do the dishes and you can't tell me otherwise," I said to him, using my best strict voice.

He raised his brow, which caused me to smile. I turned around and started doing the dishes.

He sighed, and went to the counter that was adjacent to the sink, and leaned against it. He crossed his big arms across his chest, swoon, and just stared at me while I did the dishes. His attention on me made my heart pound.

I quickly finished the dishes, drying my hands on a paper towel, I turned to him. He was still staring at me.

I wringed my hands together, he probably wanted me to go now.

"Um s-so I should probably go n-now?" what was supposed to be a statement, came out as a question because I didn't want to leave him.

He looked at me intensely, his eyes searching.

"Do you want to leave?" his voice was rough.

I looked down and shook my head.

"Me neither."

I whipped my head up to look at him, my eyes wide. He wanted me to stay?

I bit my lip, "I don't want you to feel like you have to let me stay, I've taken up too much of your time."

"I don't want you to leave," he says, his tone final.

I smiled shyly and nodded.

Grasso strutted into the kitchen, his tail swishing back and forth. He walked up to my legs and rubbed against them. I bent down and picked him up, cradling him in my arms. He was such a pretty kitty, and his name was so adorable.

I wonder what it meant?

Aresius stared at the two of us, and the silence was overbearing so I blurted out:

"Do you wanna watch a movie?"

My cheeks heated, and his lip twitched slightly. Then, without moving, he nodded. I nodded back and he walked towards the comfy living room. His whole house had dark furniture that stood out in contrast to the white walls. Although there were no pictures or personal pieces in the home, it didn't feel cold or unwelcoming.

He walked into the living room, where there was a black coffee table, a grey sectional sofa, and a huge TV mounted on the wall. There were some shelves and a painting on the wall. The room fit his personality well.

"Um Reece?" I asked to get his attention as he grabbed the remote.

"Hm?"

"Can I u-um borrow s-some c-clothes? My pants don't feel comfy after eating, and I can't watch a movie if I'm not comfortable because I can't concentrate, and then my stom-"

"Alette," his voice interrupted my rambling, I took a breath, smiling sheepishly.

"Come."

He led me to a bathroom that was by the living room, and said, "Wait here."

I nodded, and he turned around, taking long strides up the stairs. I waited, humming under my breath and rocking on the balls of my feet. Grasso came into view and I waved at him. He just meowed and strutted away.

After a few sounds of rustling upstairs, I heard his footsteps on the stairs, and he came back into view. I waved at him.

He walked over to me and handed me some neatly folded clothes.

"You can change in there," he nodded towards the bathroom.

"Okay, thank you," I said to him, and walked into the bathroom.

Locking the door, I quickly unfolded the clothes and saw a white t-shirt, about five sizes too big for me, and a pair of soft grey pants, also way too big for me.

I quickly took my shirt off, trying not to look at the mirror at myself, and slipped the soft shirt on. It smelled delicious. Just like Reece. I then took my pants off and put on the pants that he had given me. They slipped off immediately. Huffing, I grabbed the pants and pulled them up again. I tied the drawstring as tightly as I could, and then rolled the waistband of the pants just to be sure I didn't flash anyone my underwear.

I'm sure Reece wouldn't appreciate seeing my flabby body.

I fixed the fly-aways in my hair, and then folded my clothes, walking out of the bathroom.

I put my clothes on the bench by the door, and walked towards the living room. I looked around the room, not seeing Reece, until I heard footsteps behind me. I turned and ended up face to face with him. He had also changed, and was wearing a black full-sleeved shirt that clung to his body like a second skin. He was also wearing a pair of black sweatpants.

He looked yummy.

I felt like a creep staring at him, but when I looked up at him, he was also staring at my clothes.

I probably looked dumb.

He cleared his throat, "So, movie?"

I nodded slowly, my throat dry.

He walked and sat down on the sofa. I began walking towards the sofa, but of course, being the clumsy person I am, I tripped over the coffee table and fell forwards. Aresius got up halfway to save me from hitting the ground, but because of the position, I ended up falling on top of him, as he fell back on the sofa.

I looked at him, my eyes wide, and he stared back at me, his mouth slightly open. My eyes went to his mouth, and his fingers tightened around my waist.

That made me giggle and squirm, which made his hands tighten even further. I giggled harder, and he looked at me confused as I tried to pry his hands off of me.

"I'm really t-ticklish there l-let me g-go," I managed between my laughter. My words caused a glint to appear in his eyes, and then, he started tickling my sides.

I laughed trying to get out of his grip, and pry his fingers off my sides.

"S-stop p-lease Reece," I wheezed out, until he finally let go.

I tried catching my breath, "That was so me-" I looked up at him and my words caught in my throat.

He was smiling.

It was the most beautiful sight I had ever seen. His eyes seemed lighter, and his face looked even more stunning.

He tucked a piece of hair behind my ear, and his smile slowly got smaller. There was a faint hint of it at his mouth, when he finally sat back down on the couch, and I sat down beside him.

He grabbed the remote and turned on the TV, turning to me he said, "Anything in particular you want to watch?"

I shook my head, my mind frazzled from the tickling, his hands on me, him smiling and our close proximity, "You can just choose."

He browsed through the selection and put on some movie. A thriller.

Uh oh.

"Is this okay?"

I gulped, not wanting to seem like a baby, I nodded.

He pressed play and sat back on the sofa, stretching his legs out, and leaning back on the sofa, his arms crossed on his chest.

The opening credits of the movie played, and the eerie music made my palms clammy. I slowly inched closer to him, trying not to let him know that I was scared. A loud noise on the screen made me jump, and I scrunched my eyes shut. Slowly opening one eye, I peeked at the screen, immediately closing my eyes again when I saw the screen.

With my eyes still closed, I whispered, "Reece? Can I please hold your hand?"

He didn't reply for a minute, and I was about to open my eye to check if he was still there, when I felt his hands grip my sides.

I yelped as he pulled me closer to him, and tucked me into his side, his one arm wrapped around me.

I opened my eyes to look at him, and he looked down at me, smoothing out one of the many hairs that had found their way out of my braids.

"Okay?" his voice was soft.

I nodded slowly. He turned his head back to the TV, whilst I continued to look at him. Slowly, put my legs up on the sofa, and circled both of my arms around his waist. I laid my head on his shoulder, close to the crook of his neck, and clung onto him, like a koala hanging onto the side of a tree.

My tree.

His scent, his heavy hand resting on my hip and the sounds his heartbeat were so calming that I closed my eyes, forgetting about the movie completely.

I must have fallen asleep because I opened my eyes, seemingly a while later, to the sounds of clicking computer keys. My head rested on his thigh, and there was a white throw blanket placed over my body. I got up slowly, and saw that he was on a laptop, with a document open. I rubbed my eyes with my fists slowly, yawning.

"Did I fall asleep?" I asked him, cocking my head to the side. Well duh.

He nodded at me.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to, I think I was just super sleepy," I apologized.

"Don't apologize, you did nothing wrong," he said in a strict tone.

"Thank you," I whispered.

He raised his brow, getting up and out of the sofa. I wanted him back in my arms, I thought, and pouted.

"Your phone was ringing while you slept," he pointed at my phone, which was on the table. His jaw was clenched, and he looked slightly unhappy.

I got up immediately and walked towards him. I grabbed his hands, "You're okay?"

His jaw eased, and a look I couldn't decipher, flashed in his eyes. He gave my hands a little squeeze, and nodded. I beamed, happy now that he had confirmed that he was fine. Unable to stop myself, I reached forwards and gave him a little hug, wrapping my arms around his waist, and resting my head on his lower chest, which is where I reached. He was a giant. I gave him a squish but let go quickly, because I didn't ask to hug him, and I was afraid he would reject my hug.

I turned around and reached forwards to grab my phone. Tai had called, and I squealed. I missed the dude.

Aresius looked at me, and I pointed to my phone, "Can I make a phone call?"

"You never have to ask me to do something." Aw.

"I just didn't wanna be rude mister," I said to him, in my best sassy tone. It didn't work so I giggled.

I dialled Tai's number and waited for him to pick up.

"Yellow," Tai said finally.

"Hi Bow Tie!"

"Hello bee, how are you doing?"

"I'm great! I had the best day today," I told him, smiling. Aresius had walked out of the room, so I hope he couldn't hear me freaking out about him.

"I am glad! I heard the crew down at the store saying you left with Adler, so I wanted to make sure you were alright."

"Tai...he wouldn't do anything to me, of course I'm alright," I said to him, my voice strong and sure.

"Bee, I know that, I wasn't insinuating that he would do anything, I just wanted to check up on you."

I shrunk down and let out a sigh, "I'm sorry Tai, I didn't mean to be so...mean," I said in a small voice. And I meant it; I don't know why but I couldn't bare the thought of anyone saying anything bad about Reece. He was a wonderful human, and a wonderful friend.

Friend.

For once, the word made me feel not so good. I didn't want to be friends with him.

I shook my head, not letting my thoughts go there. There was no way that someone like Aresius would want to be with me. I know I was a good person, and I tried my best, and I was kind, and I was sometimes smart, but he was perfect. And I could never fathom reaching that level.

"It's okay Bee, no need to be sorry, I know you didn't mean it. But dang, so you and Adler huh," Tai's tone was teasing.

"Tai oh my gosh stop it," I said, feeling my face turning bright red.

Tai laughed, "Okay fine fine, I'm sorry I'll stop."

"It's not like that Bow Tie, seriously," I mumbled.

"Hm are you sure about that?" he asked, "I'm just teasing Bee, you go and enjoy yourself with your boy...uh...man-friend, say hello to him for me."

I giggled, blushing again and we said our goodbyes.

I hung up the phone and placed it on the table, looking around for Reece. He walked back into the room and I waved at him.

"Tai says hi," I told him, "I'm not sure if you know him well, but he works for you at the tattoo sh-"

"I know him."

I nodded, feeling nervous around him again. My eyes drifted to the clock and they widened at the time. I shot up off the couch, "It's so late! I'm so sorry I stayed for so long and took you away from work, I should go now," I said, rushing around the room, and looking for where I had put my folded clothes.

I was stopped when he placed his hands on my arms, "Calm down, you're fine."

I took a breath and nodded slowly, looking into his eyes.

"Let's go, I'll drive you home."

He started walking towards the door, grabbing my clothes that were folded, and putting on his shoes. I quickly put on my shoes, as Grasso walked up to me by the door.

I bent down and pet him; "I hope I can see you again fluff ball."

"You will."

I looked up at him and smiled. Standing up, he opened the door to me and we both walked to the car. We got in, he opened the car door for me, and we were on our way.

We had only made it halfway down the driveway when he braked, making me look over at him confused. Did we forget something?

He didn't say anything, just looked directly ahead; after a momentary pause, he reached over and grabbed my hand, intertwining our fingers.

I turned red, smiling brightly, and gave his hand a squish.

He started driving again, and it the rest of the ride continued in a comfortable silence.

When he finally parked outside of my house, he let go of my hand and walked to my door to open it for me. The sweetest man ever.

I stepped out of the car, and held his hand, walking on the cobbled path that led to my front porch.

When we reached the door, I turned to look at him.

"T-thank you for t-today Reecie, I had a fun time. Thank you for cooking for me and also watching a movie with me, and I'm sorry I fell asleep and made you leave wo-"

His two fingers underneath my chin stopped my rambling. He tilted my head up, causing me to look directly into his eyes.

"Don't thank me, I had a good time," he said simply.

My heart thudded.

"W-well I s-should go. You don't have t-to pick me up tomorrow, it will be early and I can just walk to work and ride my bike ba-"

"I'm picking you up."

Oh. Yay.

I smiled, getting ready to go inside, but not wanting to leave him. Without thinking too much about it, I stood on my tiptoes and placed a small kiss on his cheek. I pulled away, my face burning, and I quickly opened the door.

"Well um bye!" I rushed out, berating myself at my actions and shut the door, in my frazzled state, leaving him standing on my porch.

I couldn't believe I had done that.

Why did I want to do it again?

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unedited