Reasons

Part 6

*This part comes with a warning. As a request, this part was written as a bonus scene and I thought some of My Lovely Followers would like it, but it is for mature audiences ONLY!*

To feel is a risk of falling, but to love is a risk of soaring.

The following day, no one was surprised to see Ava and Max come strolling hand-in-hand up to Jessica's new house to help upload. They were surprised, however, by the ease with which they found them in. It is as though they have been together for months, and not hours. Neither wore their headphones because together they are each other's anchor. Before long, Jessica and Ryan were barking orders about what goes where, and everyone ate, drank, and laughed. Ava managed to escape with baby Aiden but only for a few minutes before Hazel appeared and stole him. Ava tried to voice her disapproval, but it was hard to do so when Max came up behind her and stole her attention. She melted into him and he nuzzled into her, and it was as if they had not been apart for a few hours.

By that night, everyone was used to seeing them together, as if they always had been. Yet, they were still the same people, and no one said a word when they disappeared from the party. Back in Ava's apartment, the pair end up falling asleep during a movie. It is not because the movie is not engaging, but rather because they were at ease in each other's arms, it is not a surprise when Ava awakens when he gets up. It takes her a few minutes he is not in the living room, but rather sitting at the end of her bed removing his prosthetic. He had done the same thing the night before and fell asleep on her bed before she realized he had moved from the couch. She knows it has been bugging him, but he refuses to admit it. He does not want her to see it either, always keeping it covered with or without the prosthetic.

Max hears her coming and props the prosthetic against the wall and moves to grab a blanket off her bed. She knows it is not to cover up his boxers. "Don't..." She starts while moving quickly into the room. He falters and looks up at her, afraid of what she will see, of what she will say. Ava walks over to him and kneels in front of him. "I don't want you to ever think you have to hide from me." She gazes up at him in a way that she hopes conveys how much she means those words. "Because this..." She takes her index finger on her left hand and runs it down his bare right thigh. It sends a jolt through him and she hears his breath catch. "Makes no difference to me." His gaze fixates on her, piercing her into the floor she kneels on. She knows that look. She saw it the night before, but he did not make the move.

Ava stands up, forcing her shaking knees t still long enough to make a move herself. He will not act unless she gives him a sign. He did not see it yesterday, but he will now. Ava had changed into shorts when they got back from Jessica's, and she lets her bare legs brush against his, just enough to get his attention. Slowly, his eyes drag up her body in that intense way until he locks onto her gaze. She holds out her hands, offering him to take them. There were a couple of times where she helped him up and did the same thing, but this is different, and both of them know it. She keeps her breath deep and skillfully times, but her heart beats loudly. After a second, she has him to a standing position, but only long enough to take two steps to the side of her bed. She puts a finger to his chest, and tugs slightly on the buttoned shirt he is still wearing. He has worn that shirt before, and it is her favorite because it is the same blue as his eyes, but right now, no shirt in the world is her favorite.

Max picks up on that signal, at least, and pulls the shirt off, tossing it onto the chair he just moved from. With the same finger, she fixes it on the center of his chest and nudges ever so slightly, telling him to sit. He thumps onto the bed as though she shoved him, all the while he never looks away from her. He is giving her the chance to stop, the chance to run away. She steps up to him again, like she had when he was sitting in the chair. Raising her arms above her head, it takes a second for him to take the next hint. She continues to lock his gaze, but she feels his knuckles brush up her thighs until they reach the bottom of her tank top. She is not wearing a bra, and he knows it. With her hands in the air, she undoes her bun holding her hair and it tumbles down, as her shirt pulls up. His fingers leave a trail of tingles. When it reaches her elbows, she yanks it off and throws it. She stands there for a minute while fixing him with a gaze that is a dare.