"Mhm," I hummed nervously.

"I'm going to save it for when I want."

"What? You can't do that!"

He cheekily smiled. "Of course I can! It was your fault for not seeing through what I was doing."

"I- damn it-" I mumbled.

He rose out of his chair and picked up our finished plates. He didn't say another word but his aura made it clear that he was a cocky son of a bitch.

I rested my head in my hand and glared at his back while he rinsed the dishes and put them in the sink.

"Thanks for dinner, (y/n)."

"Yeah." I said grumpily.

"Aw, what's the matter?"

My face flushed at his close proximity. He had turned the chair around to face him and had his hands on either side of my thighs. I squeezed them together and stiffened. I forced myself to talk, "You're going to make me do something embarrassing."

"No I won't! Well, I might- but we'll see." He put his hand over his mouth in thought before grabbing my hand and lifting me up from my chair, " Let's get ice cream, yeah?"

His hands were calloused and warm. He had lean hands and long fingers. Mine were nothing like that. My hands were soft from lack of labor.

He chuckled and gave my hand a small tug. "So? Ice cream?"

"We could have a movie night if you want."

I walked over to the jacket rack next to the door and threw on a hoodie. I was shuffling my feet into some flip flops when Hawks said, "Sure, but let me stop by my place so I can get some pj's."

Did he just invite himself over?

I smiled to myself. He'll be spending the night at my house. I was grabbing my keys from the door when I felt a hand wrap around my wrist.

"Come on, kid. You know the deal. We're gonna fly there."

I gulped. He seemed to sense my apprehension because he squeezed my hand in his and walked me over to the balcony.

"It's fine, puddin. You'll be okay with heights eventually."

"Pu-"

He leaped off of the balcony and I froze, still standing on the wall. I gripped the pillar to the right of me and looked down. There he was, hands held out, gesturing for me to leap off. I shook my head and gripped onto the pillar tighter.

"Come on, I'll catch ya!" Hawks bellowed from below.

"It's too far down! I'll die!"

"You'll be fine! Promise!"

I took a deep shaky breath and started to tremble.

Oh my god. I'm actually going to do this. Okay, on three.

My body was frozen and my stomach felt like buckets of ice had been poured down on it. I was shaking so hard, I was scared I might slip off.

"Need me to come get you, chicken?"

"N-no! Just give me a second! Oh fuck me..." I trailed off.

"Only if you come down here!"

Surprise overcame my intense fear. "How the hell did you hear that? I whispered it!"

He shrugged and held his hands out again in an invitation. My throat went dry and I took a deep breath.

One.

I slowly and shakily unwrapped my hands from around the pole and stood there.

Two.

I bent my knees in preparation to jump.

Three- no!

I learned forward but my instinct took over and froze me. I was trying to lean back so that I could fall safely on to the floor behind me but it was too late. After a daunting few seconds seemingly frozen in the air, I felt my body lean over the edge. I jumped last second so that I'd be able to make it to where Hawks was but failed, my shirt catching the wood on the corner.

I tucked in because of the fear and kept my eyes screwed shut. While falling, I felt arms hug around my form and slow me to a hover. I clutched onto Hawks' form, trying not to cry. The adrenaline from my system left me still shaking and I refused to open my eyes again.

"Might've pushed you too far that time. Good job though, I honestly didn't think you'd do it."

Instead of responding I buried my face into his shoulder and took some deep breaths.

The way he was holding me put obvious strain on his body. Nothing he seemed too uncomfortable with, though.

"Thanks for catching me."

He chuckled. "What? You think I'd let you drop?"

I let out a soft shakey laugh and continued to take in his scent and existence. Him being this close to me brought a warm feeling through my body.

"So, I think we should go to my place first so I can get my backpack and stuff. Don't want to be recognized at the store then just have a crowd mob us."

"Sure."

I hoped I didn't sound short, but with all of the cold nipping wind, the adrenaline rush, and Hawks, I was feeling a little sleepy; as if I had just dropped my mental batteries.

It was a bit if a longer flight than expected but eventually, Hawks flew into a house threw a window and lowered me down. My knees were a little shakey and I buckled. Luckily, Hawks caught me and steadied me.

"Looks like we definitely need to take it easy tonight. Shame, I was planning on giving it to you."

My face turned red and I froze, looking at him.

He burst out laughing and set me on an unbelievably comfortable couch. "I'm kidding, I'm kidding", he chuckled.

I laid my head down on my hands with my elbows rest in on my knees. I was feeling a little sick in the stomach. I felt Hawks' hand rub my back.

"Sorry about that. I think we should walk to the store. It's not far."

"Thanks, I don't know why this time got me. I've flown with you before."

He paused in thought. "It was probably the jumping and the eight seconds of falling. Before I just carried you off... Except that one time... But anyway, you made the decision to free fall and your body had already put you in fight or flight mode. Takes guts."

"Walking sounds nice."

He once again chuckled, running a hand through his hair. "I'm going to go upstairs and change. If you need the bathroom, it's down the hall, third door on your left. I won't be gone for too long, though."

I nodded and he walked off. The feeling in my stomach had lasted through the flight and all of that unraveling had left me a little sore. Hawks was right though, he wasn't gone for long. I heard steps coming down the stairs and when I looked up, I saw Hawks wearing the hat I got him, the sweatshirt I got him, the backpack I got him, black sweatpants, and shoes.

He seemed to have his feathers tucked into the oversized bag and walked to the counter to shove his wallet into his pocket.

"All right, kid. Ready to go?"

"Yes boss."

He chuckled and I stood up. I felt a little ache in my shin but I ignored the dull pain and we walked out the door.

"It's not too far", he said, " It's two or three blocks from here. And if you're feeling better I'll fly you back. No jumping, I promise."

I chuckled and pushed his shoulder with mine. He just softly smiled and kept walking. The more we walked, the more my shin started to hurt.

By the time it really hurts Hawks will fly us home and I'll rest on the couch.

"So, Hawks. What's you're favorite genre of movie?"

He thought for a moment, opening the CVS door for me.

"I really like action. But if we're just chilling, we should watch a horror movie."

We walked to the candy aisle and there was a kid with a jacket that had red fake wings attached.

"Oh! Watch this", Hawks said.

The kid was about nine or ten. Hawks quietly walked over and tapped the kids shoulder. The kid nervously turned around but when Hawks took the hat off the kid squealed.

"Shhh, shh, I'm here under cover! I can't be recognized. I just wanted to say I think your hoodie is really cool."

"You're really Hawks?"

He was bent over with his hands on his knees and he winked. "Yes sir, I am."

"I- uhm... What's the fastest you can fly?"

He whispered something to the kid and he started jumping in excitement. "Really? Wow that's fast!"

Hawks chuckled and put his hat back on. "I know, it's the fastest I've ever gone," he said, straightening. "Now, I'm going to shop around with that pretty little thing over there but you can't tell anyone I'm here."

"O-okay sir. Hey, can I take a picture with you?"

"Of course!"

They took a picture and Hawks said goodbye and walked over.

"Wait, one more thing!"

Hawks snickered and turned around. "Hm?"

"Is that your girlfriend?"

My eyes widened and I stiffened in my awkwardness as I waited for Hawks' answer.

He turned his head and looked at me over his shoulder, "Well, what are we?"

If I could get more stiff, I did.

Did he just put me on the spot? Oh god, I'm going to die of embarrassment.

I started to stutter and he started chuckling. "I'm kiddin', doll", he turned back at the kid, "I'm working on it."

He walked away and led me to the candy isle. As soon as we were out of that kids sight I turned to Hawks, red in the face and flustered. "What? What just happened? Why did you put me on the spot like that?"

He grinned, "So you don't want to be my girlfriend?"

I turned my head and suddenly became very interested in a bag of Skittles.

"Ooh! Does (y/n) want to be my girlfriend?" He put his hands on my hips behind me and rested his head on my shoulder.

"You're changing the subject, Hawks", I mumbled.

"I only said that because I think it's cute when you're flustered."

He sent a feather out and it came back with a basket. He threw a couple of candies in there and looked at me and pulled a chicken candy out of his pocket.

"Do you want one?"

"Yeah sure-" I reached for it and he pulled it away.

"Gotta try harder than that", he smirked.

I set down the basket and prepared to go sicko mode but when I tried to hop to get the candy, my shin basically felt like it exploded and I crumpled.

"Shit shit shit shit-"

He dropped down beside me and steadied me. "Are you okay? What's wrong?"

I tried to get up on my good leg and he stayed down, looking like he was ready to catch me.

"I'm fine, I just hurt my shin earlier when I jumped. It hit the balcony. It's probably just a bruise."

He gave me a look that was calling bullshit and stood up. He took off the backpack and held it out to me. "Put it on."

I slid in on and frowned in confusion. He turned around and hunched over.

Oh, a piggy back ride.

"Hawks, I'm fi-" He carried me with the backpack of feathers and set me on his back. I wrapped my arms and legs around him and flushed a bit. He sent a feather to pick up the basket and carried it while his hands held me up.

"We're checking that out when we get home, okay?"

"Okay", I huffed, "... Thanks though."

He turned around to look at me. "No problem, kid."

We walked throughout the store getting a bunch of candies, popcorn, and a few sodas. When we checked out Hawks was immediately recognized and he used his feathers to get the money out of his pocket.

The flight home was as smooth as butter and he set me on the small futon carefully.

"Okay, let's get a look here."

He kneeled in front of me and took off my flip flop. He grabbed the bottom of my sweatpants with his nimble fingers and carefully lifted it up.

"Damn, kid. This looks bad. You can't heal yourself?"

"No, only other people's injuries."

He nodded and lifted my leg by the calf to get a better look at it. "It looks like you hurt it pretty bad and the bruise was just developing while we were out. I bet if we didn't walk around you'd feel a bit better right now," he stood up, "I'm going to make an ice pack and you," he tossed me a Hershey chocolate, "Sit there and look pretty."

I ate the chocolate while I heard my ice maker go off. When he came back, he lifted me bridal style and had his feathers lay back the futon so it would be better for us to lay on, and put me down and gave me the ice pack.

I pressed it into my bruise and hissed. It was extremely cold and the bruise was a nasty shade of purple.

"You know what? Hold on a second", he mumbled.

He came back with one of my hand towels and gently tied the cold object to my leg. "There we go. Now you can lay on your side without having to constantly hold the ice pack there."

I honestly felt amazing despite my leg. I was being tenderly taken care of, and it felt nice. I smiled to myself and looked at the ice pack. Hawks plopped down beside me, not too gracefully, and scrolled though the movies. When he found a particularly scary movie he clicked it.

The room was filled with eerie music and we started snacking. It looked like a scary one so I scooted closer trying to be as inconspicuous as I could. But I could tell by his smirk he knew what I was up to. We were laying on our stomachs so he through an arm around my waist and pulled me closer until my body was pressed against his.