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thank you for you're patience! this is a very long chapter so it took some time like usual. I wanted to make it as perfect as I could.

Aven Brooks

His voice was full of uncertainty when he just gave me a single request that would be so normal from anyone that wasn't him. From him, it's something very heavy.

I wish I wasn't intoxicated for this moment—but I had a feeling I was gonna sober up real quick.

"Shower, together?" I try to contain my excitement, keeping the serious look on my face.

He nods timidly.

"Like...naked?" My questions are dumb but I'm slightly in shock.

He rubs the back of his neck, nodding again.

I keep my eyes on him, watching how nervous he was from saying that. My heart thrashes at the thought of taking a shower together, letting me see him shirtless for that long. Things like that I once dreamed of but I knew came with a price. As much as I just wanted to smile and jump into his arms, I had to be patient.

"Are you ready for that?" I whisper, knowing that was a huge step for him.

Standing in the bathroom doorway, I stare at him in need of a serious answer that would have to be convincing enough for me to let him go through with that. I don't want him to spiral into something because he didn't think this through enough.

"I have to try." He mumbles.

"You don't have to do anything." I make clear from his words.

"I want to try." He corrects, eyes burning into mine.

I blink in my stare, "do you usually shower with your shirt off?"

He nods, "I do most of the time but avoid looking down at myself. If I'm having a particularly bad day then I won't."

"You think you'll be okay?" I whisper in certainty, wanting it more than anything but not wanting to push him. He had to completely make this decision himself, with no persuasion.

"I-I don't know." He shakes his head. "But if I was ever going to, I want it to be tonight."

A smile moves up my face, the showerhead pelting in the bathroom behind me while the upbeat music from downstairs muffles through the drywall. The thought that he's willing to take a chance on something so terrifying in order to make a step forward with me is amazing.

"Me seeing you without your shirt will change nothing between us tonight. I know what you look like already, and I've told you how beautiful I still think you are. If you want to take this step with me, I'll cherish the moment forever. But if you want to even wear the shirt and still shower with me, I'll cherish that too. This is a decision that is totally up to you, you will not be getting any persuasions from me." I try to use the best words I can considering I was still tipsy.

Silence runs between us like he was deep in thought, it was good, I wanted him to really think about it. Amongst the silence, I speak one more time.

"Just don't do it for me, do it for you."

His eyes meet mine again, a meter stood between us on opposite sides of the doorway. My eyes may be glossed from alcohol and slightly blurred from my contacts being out, but I tried my best to keep my vision on his for the emotional contact.

He curves his hand around the door trim in the direction of the light switch on the bathroom wall, clicking a single button that changed the entire aura of the room.

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