By your window

15.

'Just a few mornings ago he was shamelessly grinding onto my hip, I'm not going to feel self-conscious about wet hair and pink underwear!' Marben told herself when she heard a familiar knock at her window. Even better, Five's gaze showed how much he appreciated her state of undress when she came to open the window for him, so no harm was done on both parts.

"Hey...did the thermostat go nuts?" asked the boy as a greeting, looking her up and down; she smirked.
"No, I was getting ready for bed".
"Don't bother with the pajamas, I'm not offended!" said Five headlong, rushing into the room and closing the window and the curtains alike. Marben watched him amused, strongly suspecting there was a vein of jealousy underneath his strange behavior.
"Hello, Dimple" she whispered against his lips when he finally was done with the window; he blew out a silent chuckle and accepted the kiss with abandon, embracing her. Only to spring backwards a moment later.
"Shit!".
"Five? What's up?" asked the girl, abashed, watching her boyfriend fumble with his black scarf and grey coat. Five looked up at her, a little red in the face.
"I...I brought you something, Doll" he said in a soft voice "If I managed not to smash it right away, that's it...".
With slightly unsteady hands, Five fished a small white box out from under his coat: it looked a tad smashed, but otherwise in good conditions. The boy handed Marben the package, smiling shyly and shrugging a shoulder. Looking from the box to her love, the girl found herself devoured by curiosity, so she basically snatched it from Five's hands and opened the lid. Inside, there was a small, delicious-looking cake of raspberries and whipped cream, and with the most whimsical chocolate inscription on the top. '15 YEARS OF POLEMICS AND PESSIMISM'.
"I know it's dumb, your birthday was weeks ago, but...I still wanted to celebrate it with you". Eyes glued to the inscription, Marben smiled incredulously.
"'Polemics and pessimism'?" she quoted looking up at him; Five smiled, trapped between his arrogant self and his unexpectedly large romantic side.
"I love you as you are, Princess".
"This is the most beautiful thing anyone has ever done for me. And I absolutely adore the inscription".
The sweet, loving smile Five gave her at that point was worth all the arguments, the sadness and the insecurities of the previous weeks; standing on her toes, Marben kissed him trying to convey all the love she was capable of through her lips, and judging from the dreamy sigh Five let himself escape, at least part of it had reached destination.
"Shall we taste this beauty, then?".
"Of course!".

Marben fetched a blanket from the bed and piled it up on the floor, in front of the window; Five, from his part, made a show of fishing a handful of disposable cutlery from his pocket - snatching his girlfriend a laugh and a joke about how he managed to hide anything inside those - and then seated himself on the pile of cloth, beside Marben.
"It's a shame I couldn't find some candles...".
"Oh, don't worry about that, baby". Leaving the box with the cake on the floor, Marben went to rummage inside a drawer and then came back with an almost untouched candle and a pack of matches.
"Cut the cake, love, would you? I'll just...".
Five threw her a sideways glance while cutting two big slices of the cake, and saw her rip a piece of the box lid to which she glued the lit candle with some liquid wax. Then she went to open the curtains and switched off the light.
"Perfect" she sighed, plopping down on the blanket by Five's side. "Just perfect. The most perfect birthday of my life".
"Even if it's not your birthday for real and your family's not here?" asked him with an almost sad smile, to which she answered with one full of love and happiness.
"It's always my birthday, when I'm with you".

She leaned to kiss him on the lips, and suddenly Five realized she was right: everything was just perfect. Their window with a starry view partially obscured by the fire escape, the cake eaten in greedy forkfuls directly from the box, Marben's hair color by candle light - they were wavy, almost ringlets, if left to dry naturally -, the smell of molten wax and burning oxygen, their ushered conversations about everything and nothing in particular...it was all so beautiful Five felt overwhelmed by the sheer sweetness of its intimacy.
"I love your hair like this" he said to deflect his sudden rush of emotion, passing an errant golden lock of Marben's between his fingers. She smiled and turned swiftly to kiss his hand.
"Thanks, Five. For everything: the cake, the inscription, for being here...and for starting to open up with me, too. It means a lot. I love you...very much".
Five abandoned his fork in a rush, cupped Marben's sweet cheeks and dragged her in one of the most heated kisses they had ever shared, to which she gave back as much as she got.
"I love you too, Marben" he breathed on her mouth, before latching on it again. They tumbled backwards, in a lump of limbs tangled together and caressing each other - Marben's loving hands on Five's bare back, under his shirt and vest, and Five's curious ones up and down her naked legs which felt like silk.

Not far away, the candle kept burning undisturbed, while a raspberry rolled dejectedly down its little whipped cream hill.

A/N: A hundred million times THANK YOU for your kind attention and kind words or thoughts: you all are truly precious. Still, is it actually possible for my English to be that good? Really, no mistakes? Not even a little one here or there?