Nothing is so painful to the human mind as a great and sudden change.

Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley

Frankenstein

"Dalaric." I groan.

"Dalaric."I huff again, wiping off some of the sweat on my forehead.

He hums, clutching my waist tighter and burying his face in my tummy. He spent one hour- sixty whole minutes- kissing my body. It wouldn't have taken so long if i didn't try to run away every three minutes, embarrassed of how my body was reacting. Each time, Dalaric chased me down and threw me over his shoulder, adamant to prove me wrong about there being too many marks to kiss.

My face was beet red by the time he was done and I teared up- slightly embarrassed that I made some weird noises too. Those feelings and sounds were so foreign to me so I avoided him for an hour after that, but I got bored and needed his arms. Dalaric looked like he wanted to laugh.

After, the caveman wanted a hair massage so he laid between my legs, putting his head on my tummy and his arms around my waist, which resulted in us falling asleep. Intimacy at its best.

My eyes wander to the clock on the side table which reads five in the morning. Why is it so hot in here ?

"Did you turn the heater on ?"

He hums again.

"Can you turn it off, please ? I'm burning up here, dude."

"I'm not moving." Dalaric mutters against my stomach which is bare because of how far my hoodie rode up. My legs are bare too, only clad in sleeping shorts. My face heats up in the dark as I think of how his eyes lingered there.

Nope. Not thinking about it.

I sigh as I try and find a way to cool myself down. Maybe kipp can turn it off ? How do you signal a bird ? I look down at the hoodie that covers my arms and upper chest, mentally trying to remember if I have a bra on or not. It's dark anyways, he wouldn't notice, right ?

My hands detangle themselves from my boyfriend's hair and I try and sit up, before pulling the hoodie off my slightly sweaty body. Letting out a sigh of relief when I see my trusty bra, I lay back down and kiss Dalaric's forehead. Much better.

That comfort only lasts for a few minutes before I let out a minuscule shriek."Oh my." My eyes widen as Dalaric pulls me forward using both his strong arms, so that he can stuff his face right between my- Oh my.

"Much better." I hear him whisper against my skin.

Not what I meant.

"You-You're on my um-chest, Dalaric." My fingers play with a strand of his hair as I stutter out, gulping every time he shifts , his face mushed between my boobies.

Oh my.

"I am." Dalaric says, bluntly before making himself comfortable on my body. I squint my eyes in a slight form of accusation, trying to glare at the man who has his head on my chest.

"You did this on purpose, didn't you ?" Dalaric kisses a spot above my cleavage and I gasp. Oh my. Any plans I had of falling asleep have now completely vanished, something the tingly sensations are failing to do.

"I did." Is all he says before his breathing evens out, and I'm left with an even sweatier forehead.

☁︎︎ ☁︎︎ ☁︎︎

"Gosh darn it." My incessant mumbling continues as I try and reach the scar on the back of my thigh. Curse you, short arms. The bathroom counter is cold under me, as I attempt to lift my thigh just high enough to-

"What the fuck are you doing ?" Sigh. A very, very handsome and slightly asleep Dalaric strolls in the bathroom, trying to make sense of why I'm still in my pyjamas and surrounded by three bottles of healing cream.

"Come here." He sits on the closed toilet lid, looking irresistible in his grey sweats and bare chest. Yummy stuff.

My sigh comes out frustrated. It's not like I need his help with everything. "I can do it myself." I mutter, annoyed that I can't do the simplest of things. Dalaric crosses his arms on his chest and raises a brow at me, with slightly amused and challenging eyes.

"I know you can. But you don't fucking have to. I'm saying this one last time, Mayella." Both my shoulders slouch as I close the bottle of cream, cringing at how many newly-healed wounds I still have to heal.

"Come here." My own legs betray me and walk towards the man who then immediately pulls me in between his legs. "Turn." I turn around, hoping he doesn't mind my chubby thighs. Dalaric grabs the ointment from my hand and scoops some using his finger, applying the cold cream to my skin. His touch is gentle, as it always is, which helps me shake away any thoughts of how I got it in the first place.

Mama. Knife. I clench my eyes, not wanting to think of the past. I'm safe now, with him. With my Dalaric. It's all fine.

Dalaric must've noticed by labored breathing because he turns me around and grabs my shaking hands, kissing both of them. One look into his swirly eyes and I calm down, practicing regular breathing. He's here.

"Fine ?" I nod, smiling at him which results in the instant softening of his eyes- which I know were glaring at the scars. Dalaric grabs my hips and turns me around again, pulling me closer to his form. A warm, soft trail of pecks are left along the mark at the back of my thigh before he whispers,

"Beautiful." I gush, turning around again to bend down and kiss him on his cheek. So cheesy. Dalaric's eyes darken significantly as they lower to my chest, which is clad in one of my smaller band tshirts and matches the banana-print pyjama shorts I have on.

Both orbs zero in on my cleavage and he whispers again, "So beautiful." I cover his face with my entire, relatively small, hand and push him away as he nears my chest. "Nope. Nope, nope and nope. You tricked me.I haven't forgotten, baby cakes." I refer to how I spent the entire night awake because of overthinking the foreign feelings.

My man glares at me, and then my chest when I back away to put back the ointment in one of the drawers. After freshening up, he follows me out of the washroom with a sour expression and slightly damp hair. Dalaric continues glaring at me as I enter the closet and shut it close before he could enter too.

I'm feeling...jeans today. Maybe a band tee ? I think, as I pick out an oversized white wool jumper, along with a slightly cropped 'All-american rejects' tee and black denim jeans that compliment my all black sneakers.

Happy with my outfit, I unlock the closet door and stroll out, trying my best to ignore the clingy figure who's following close behind me.

Walking into the kitchen that's brightly lit by the morning sun, I sigh in happiness and take out some strawberry tea that I can brew. I also take out some eggs to scramble for the slightly intrusive, stubborn and almost pouting man who's standing right behind me, attempting to get his arms around my waist.

"You got to sleep on my boobs the whole night, you... you trickster." Dalaric grumbles something like 'ain't my damn fault' before sitting down at the table, yanking me onto the chair next to him and pouring the strawberry tea into the penguin cups I ordered from his amazon account.

"Can we go shopping ? I, um, need to get some things since I'm staying here. It's okay if you don't-"

"Yes." Dalaric glares at me, definitely annoyed at my doubting at this point. I'm working on it. I have a bit of money saved which I can use to buy some necessities and a bigger pillow. Maybe another penguin stuffie but that's a far fetch with my budget.

I kiss Dalaric about seven times on his cute lil' nose as he cleans up the plates, my hands fiddling with my wallet in a futile attempt to get the zip open. Once it budges, I smile as I realize I have a bit more money that anticipated. It's one of those feelings, like waking up in the middle of the night and realizing you still have a few hours until school.

School. I'm graduating soon. Gulp. Dalaric rubs away the crease between my brows as I silently panic about my future. Something I definitely have to discuss with him, no matter how much it scares the jeezdoodles out of me.

We leave the house, hand in hand after giving Kipp a pat on the head and telling him to be a good boy. Kipp only responds by eating more of the food Dalaric keeps buying him. Can birds get diabetes ?

"Okay.." I drawl out, my eyes scanning the shopping list I wrote down on Dalaric's phone. We exit the driveway as I try not to drool over how good our grey turtle neck and leather jacket looks on my man.

"I need a new pillow, some peanut butter, hair ties, pads, more peanut butter.." I think out loud, wondering how many things we couldn't get back from my apartment. Rafael, the kind man he is, brought everything I needed from my house last night, since I couldn't stand the idea of going in there again. It wasn't much but there were some things that I don't want to lose anytime soon. Dalaric fixed my father's photo frame, too. Dada would've liked him.

The rest of the ride is spent smiling at Dalaric. I lo-like how he doesn't mind and just kisses my hand every two minutes. He calls them soft too. He also keeps looking at my body and I glare at him, irritated at how the caveman tricked me into exposing myself. Yes, I was wearing a bra but he practically shoved his face inside it. Greedy man.

"This is our first shopping trip together !" I say giddily, noting it down on his phone instead. Dalaric usually orders the groceries or food, so we don't get to go out often. Neither of us mind, as long as I'm with him- I'm happy.

Dalaric kisses the side of my head, looking happy with his arm around my waist. We walk through the parking lot and a figure next to the super-store's entrance catches my eye.

I'm sure I have a dollar in here somewhere, I think as I rummage through my bag. After a few seconds, I panic because Dalaric isn't by my side anymore but soon grin, as widely as I can when I see him plop a fifty dollar bill into the homeless man's cup.

Dalaric walks back to my side, grabbing my hand. I don't move when he tries to enter the store, still in a daze because of how darn perfect this man is.

"What ?" He asks, running a hand through his braided hair, furrowing his brows at my dazed eyes and very wide smile. It's the fact that he doesn't show off the good he does, or take immense pride in helping others out that makes my heart beat faster. As it should. Your right hand should not know of the good your left hand does. It's what Fatima taught me, something that was highly followed in her religion. My father used to teach me about humility too.

"Nothing." I clear my throat, aware of the hoard of feelings that are overwhelming me. I've got it bad. But i've got it good.

We walk into the store and I drag him to the peanut butter aisle. Wow, so much peanut butter to choose from and so little time.

"Um- I think two jars enough," I say, my eyes wide at the seven jars Dalaric puts in the trolley. I giggle when he puts in some jam too. I know he's starting to like the pb&j sandwiches.

Dalaric gets some ingredients for a dish but refuses to tell me what it is, choosing to stay silent. He's very good at that. Whereas I'd probably tell a stranger my life story if they asked nicely.

"I'll let you sleep on me if you tell me what you're making." Dalaric stops pushing the cart, and turns to look at me with a contemplative gaze. He shakes his head and looks forward, grabbing my hand and putting it under his before continuing to push the trolly.

This must be pretty serious stuff then. Maybe it's...lasagne ?

We walk towards the aisle with lots of throw pillows and my eyes glimmer at the one with tiny little penguins, there's only one left !Dalaric doesn't notice the glimmer yet he still picks it up before I do, throwing it in the trolley.

Aw. How swe- "Mama ! I want that one." A high pitch voice cries as we near the end of the aisle. I ignore it and move towards one of the pillows that say 'Mr.Grumps'. Sounds a lot like someone I sleep with.

A strong hand grabs my waist and pulls me to a warm body, startling me as I failed to realize Dalaric had left my side earlier. My eyes wander to the cart and I furrow my brows when I don't notice the penguin pillow.

Dalaric notices my lingering gaze on the spot where the pillows supposed to be and nods behind us. Turning my head, I grin when I see the pillow in the hands of a small boy. He must be about five or six years old and is animatedly showing the cute pillow to his parents, who are encouraging him to go on.

My boyfriend looks between the kid and I , probably trying to decipher my reaction. I take Dalaric's hand and kiss his knuckles that smell like fruits, whispering loud enough for him to hear.

"You're the most amazing person, dude." His eyes slightly widen and he gulps before I rub my cheek on his shoulder, my arm wrapped around one of his. "I'm so lucky." I say to myself, before I'm being pushed into one of the aisles and kissed passionately, my face squished by strong, warm hold.

Once he leaves me panting with one visible lovebite, Dalaric lifts the corner of his lips and wipes my mouth with his thumb, that are definitely covered by remenants of his spontaneous passsion.

"I sure am." He says, his voice raspy.

Oh my.

"Two strikes, baby cakes. One to go." Dalaric furrows his brows and scowls at me, silently asking What the fuck did I do ?

"What the fuck did I do ?" I shake my head, stifling a laugh before entwining our hands and leading us back to the abandoned cart.

"First, you trick me into showing you my- you know what." I look around cautiously, waving at the elderly woman who witnessed our make out session. "And then, you force me into public displays of affection. Admittedly," I tap my chin. "I did like both of them..," Dalaric's eyes lighten up, before I boop his nose and laugh.

"But I like this game so..one strike to go, Mr.Mikael." Dalaric looks at me with something I recognize as mischief. He walks forward, trapping me against the chips corner of the aisle. Cheese balls! I love cheese balls. I get momentarily distracted but am brought back to utter consciousness when my man leans closer, whispering to me with the smoothest voice I have ever heard on anyone.

"You like games, huh ? I'll fucking play." I gulp at the sight of his handsome smirk and then shake my head, not failing to notice how his eyes fall to my swollen lips. I'm not sure what his ideas of games are but judging from the first-person warfare games that Fatima and Rafael play at the joint, I'm guessing it's got to do with bullets. Is he going to shoot between my toes ? I do have cute toes. They wiggle weirdly, though.

Mr.Grumps backs away after I huff, why can't I ever look this sexy when threatening a life ?

I pick up the rest of the things we need and we wait in line at the counter. I cringe at the sight of the man who's openly staring at my bahookie as we move in line. Dalaric grabs my hips and stands behind me, not bothering to send a glare to the short man who widens his eyes and scrams.

My body automatically leans against Dalaric's as we wait for our turn. He plays with my hair, twisting it around his finger, holding it for a moment and then letting it go so that it falls in small, temporary waves. I watch him do that before a preppy voice interrupts our interesting project,

"Ricky !? Is that you ?" My eyes trail to the tall, twenty-something blonde girl in front of me, who looks at Dalaric with a certain gleam that I question. My boyfriend wraps his arms around me from behind, leaving my hair and standing much straighter. He nods at her, speaking respectfully when he says, "Caroline."

I wave at her, slightly irked by how she doesn't greet both of the people that are in front of her. She has a well-structured face and is definitely very very pretty- at least by society's standards.

Her blue eyes compliment her red stained lips and her sculpted jaw brings out her aristocratic nose. She notices my gaze and her smile falls, before it reappears again but much more.. fake.

"Hi there, I'm Cary. But only Ricky calls me Caroline."

"I'm Maya ! Nice to meet you !" I smile at her, happy that she decided to introduce herself to me. The cashier calls out for the next customer and she looks at my man with apologetic eyes before showing us a sparkly smile. "Well, it was nice seeing you here, Ricky !" Her eyes go over his form and I inch myself closer, hiding his body from her predatory gaze. You don't look at other people's possessions like that.

"I'll keep in touch, okay ? Toodles." She walks away, a few plastic bags in her hands. Soon, I'm turned around to face Dalaric, who looks into both my eyes to read me. I answer his silent question, almost wanting to roll my eyes if it wasn't for the way he gets all caveman when I do so.

"I'm not jelly." I cross my arms defensively as he challengingly raises a dark brow.

"Well, do you like her ?" The man in front of me scowls, looking at me like im crazy. "Fuck no." I smile as I unload the things on the counter, pleased with his answer.

"Then I have nothing to worry about. You're mine, not anyone else's. There's absolutely no problem in you showing respect to a girl who's not me. It's what I lo-admire about you." I clear my throat, rummaging through my purse to try and cover up the blush that graces my face at my silly slip-up.

Dalaric pushes my hand away from my wallet that isn't budging open and hands the cashier a black card.

"W-What ? What're you doing ? You can't just do that- it was my things!" The cart was filled to the brim by the time we were done shopping, and although I was worried if I was going to be able to pay for all of it- there was absolutely no way I would use his money.

"It's your money, babycakes. Why the-mmmm-" Dalaric silences me with a quick touch of his lips before he gently pushes me out of the store, refusing to let me help carry the bags. I have some strength too, y'know.

He doesn't say anything until he opens the car door for me and gets into the driver's seat. I turn to him, a scowl on my face , ready to reprimand him.

"You can't just-"

"Mayella, what the fuck did I say to you last night ?" I look away, not wanting to repeat it because it makes no sense whatsoever. And it makes me want to cry.

"Say it." I face him again, and fiddle with his pinky.

"What's mine is yours, baby. Every single fu-fricking thing." My voice comes out deeper in an attempt to mimic his own. Dalaric shakes his head and grabs the nape of my neck,pulling me closer to his immaculate face.

"Fine ?"

"Fine." I sigh, I don't deserve him. "There's no way I could repay you, boyfriend." I mumble, I can give him some of my tips from the café though, the ones I decide to keep.