For Rachel 8-15

[likesthestooges]

Aidan wasn't having the easiest time of things with Rachel. On one hand, Rachel was great. She was smart, funny, sexy, and kind. She also had a ton of issues, which Aidan considered as a plus since he had a ton of his own and didn't feel guilty bringing that into a relationship with her.

On the other hand, Rachel didn't want a relationship. Rachel wanted to be good friends who slept together but weren't in a relationship. Most guys would kill for that sort of thing, but Aidan wasn't most guys. He'd come to realize that his time as a human was short and he wanted to make the most of it. Sex without feelings or a meaningful relationship was something he could easily do as a vampire. Having a real relationship was something more suited for being a human.

That wasn't something Rachel wanted though, and he was accepting of that. The problem was all too often he had trouble distinguishing the line between "friends with benefits" and "pushing for a relationship".

Case it point, Rachel had had a rough day. He wasn't even sure exactly why, but he could tell that it hadn't gone well. To help out, he'd come over that evening and cooked dinner for both of them and brought over a bottle of wine so she could just relax and unwind. No sex, no talking about feelings, just helping a friend get over a tough time while talking late into the night.

Maybe helping get her into bed and essentially tucking her in was a bit much, but he didn't think she would even remember that in the morning. He also thought he'd leave her something nice to wake up to, so before he went home he'd got a small bouquet of flowers together and left them in a vase on her table.

Several hours later he was still lying in bed awake, over-thinking those flowers. Too much? They were just flowers. Flowers didn't mean much, did they? Friends got flowers for each other, right?

Aidan sighed and rolled out of bed. That was stupid, friends didn't get each other flowers. It wasn't too long of a walk to Rachel's hut, even in the dark. He could go there, get the flowers, and be back before he lost too much sleep.

Once at Rachel's hut, he listened quietly at the door to see if she was up and moving around for some reason. Everything sounded dead quiet though so he cracked the door open and slipped inside, carefully feeling his way toward the table where he had left the flowers.

Comments

[starchilde_lost]

"I wasn't. I was sleeping. You woke me up." Sitting cross-legged, she laid her hand on his chest, still worried, but trusting him.

She was very confused. Confused and worried.

"But really, babe, did you leave some medication here or something?"

[likesthestooges]

"I wasn't that noisy," he said, although he obviously was. Former big, bad creature of the night couldn't even sneak into someone's hut without waking them.

"Nothing serious, I just couldn't sleep so it was something to do. Have I ever mentioned how I like it when you call me babe?" he asked, grinning up at her in an attempt to change the subject.

[starchilde_lost]

"Word of advice, babe?" She gave him a grin, "Next time you can't sleep, knock on the door before you come in. I have nicer ways of laying you out if you can't sleep."

Leaning forward she gave him a brief kiss before sitting up again, meaning to get up and find something for his head. But she was distracted by something bright on the table. Frowning slightly, she tried to remember if she'd brought some flowers in, or if Aidan had brought them in with dinner and the wine.

"Did you do that?"

[likesthestooges]

Aidan winced when he saw her look at the flowers. The beating was for nothing if she still noticed them, he had been hoping to convince her to go back to sleep so he could leave with them.

"They, ah, were for Josh?" he said, giving her a hopeful look. "I had picked them up on my way over and was keeping them in water?"

[starchilde_lost]

Liar. He was lying. And very poorly. "You got Josh flowers? Are you thinking about asking him out or-" Oh, wait. She was an idiot. "You broke in here to give me flowers?" That might be the strangest romantic gesture she'd ever heard of.

Especially since they weren't really... well, they were, but they... God, she really needed to figure out what they were, didn't she?

[likesthestooges]

"Actually, I broke in to take the flowers back," he explained. Maybe he'd get points for trying to undo the mistake and she wouldn't panic too much about the initial intent.

[starchilde_lost]

"You were what?!" Rachel's mind short-circuited for a moment. So... he gave her flowers, but then wanted to take them back. Was that a thing now? Granted, the last guy she was with wasn't even human and so romantic gestures of any kind were, um, different, but this was confusing as hell.

"You broke in to steal back flowers that you gave me... after I went to sleep? Or am I forgetting something for dinner? Or..." Crossing her arms over her chest, she wondered if she was supposed to be offended. Probably. Maybe? "Explain, McCollin. I'm still not sober enough to follow your logic here."

[likesthestooges]

"I'm the one with the mild-concussion, imagine how confusing it is for me," he said, shifting to prop himself up a bit on his elbows.

"I put the flowers in the vase after you feel asleep. I came back because I was worried it might be too... romantic of a gesture. I just didn't want to freak you out."

[starchilde_lost]

She was dreaming, right? She'd been drinking and this was some kind of strange romantic-comedy of a dream and when she woke up it would just fade away. Except... not.

"You don't..." That wasn't right. "I'm not..." Not that either. Why couldn't she talk anymore?

[likesthestooges]

"I think the important thing to keep in mind," Aidan told her. "Is that I should get credit for either giving you flowers, or trying to correct the mistake of giving you flowers. The point is, I should get some sort of positive credit."

He wasn't sure how well that logic was going to go over, but Rachel seemed so confused that it was worth a try. For a moment he realized this is what Josh must feel like every day in every situation.

[starchilde_lost]

Yeah she wasn't so sure about that. Because whichever side was the good side, was pretty knocked out by the bad. In fact, she was pretty sure where her perspective was settling.

"You broke into my house to steal flowers. Sorry - steal them back. Seriously? Flowers. I almost shot you over flowers, Aidan!" The reality of that scared the hell out of her and she realized she was shaking. "Are you sure you're okay?"

[likesthestooges]

"You're... really upset with me over this."

This was not an outcome that Aidan had imaged. He was pretty sure even if she busted him she'd just shrug it off. If he knew it was going to be that big of a deal he would have just left the flowers and dealt with that.

"It's just a few bruises. Look, I'm sorry. I was just doing what I thought would cause you the least amount of panic in the morning."

[starchilde_lost]

"I'm not... angry." Hands ran through her hair, scratching as she tried to figure out exactly what she did think and feel. "I'm more freaked because I could have hurt you over something I wouldn't have cared about one way or another in the morning."

Leaning forward, she gave him a quick kiss. "I like the flowers. Friends give each other flowers. A ring or lingerie or a candle-lit evening with rose petals in the tub would be a little odd. Flowers are flowers. FYI."

[likesthestooges]

"In my defense, I didn't know you slept with a shotgun. I don't remember it being there when we were in it together."

That had scared him a bit, but he didn't think she would have actually shot him, especially since he didn't attack her. Not much of an attack really.

"So you'll dress in sexy lingerie for me but I can't get you any? Got it. And I'm sorry. I'm... trying to make this all as easy as possible for you."

[starchilde_lost]

"It's under the bed in a holster usually, we're usually on the bed, not under it." Mostly they were on the bed. There were exceptions.

Standing, she decided she could probably use a glass of water. At the very least it would keep her from being hungover in the morning. Aidan could probably use something, too, she wished she had a fridge so she could get him some ice. "And I wear the lingerie because you spend so much time looking at my ass. Figure I might as well make it look good."

[likesthestooges]

"For the record, I look at it so much because you make it look so good."

Not that it was really possible to make her ass look bad. Aidan was pretty sure that it was difficult to make any part of Rachel look bad.

[starchilde_lost]

Frowning, Rachel rolled her eyes a little as she poured a couple glasses of water. "So if I stop wearing the lingerie, you'll stop staring at it so much?"

Men, seriously, she wondered why she was bothering. She liked Aidan, liked him a great deal, but she wasn't sure she was ready for a relationship. At least not the kind that he was and now she had him so freaked out about freaking her out he was breaking into her house.

What was she doing?

[likesthestooges]

Aidan sat up and moved over to where Rachel was getting the water. Standing behind her, he wrapped his arms around her.

"No. There's nothing you can do to make me stop looking at you. You're gorgeous," he told her. "And again, I'm sorry. I'm probably over thinking this stuff and worrying too much, but I'm trying to do that so you don't have to. I don't want you to worry about this, that's not what I want."

[starchilde_lost]

She wished, and not for the first time, that she could just magically resolve all her issues. Sort out what she wanted because standing there, right then, with his arms around her felt great, but if she couldn't return the feelings he had for her, it wasn't fair to him.

Leaning back against him, she closed her eyes. "Don't worry about me, Aidan, I don't want you to feel like you have to censor everything you're doing. I just want to be with you, to enjoy this."

[likesthestooges]

"I want you to enjoy it too, but I don't want to make you uncomfortable," he told her, kissing the top of her head. She could ask him not to worry, but that was unlikely to happen. He didn't want to ruin what they currently had, let alone future potential.

"But I promise to try and not over thing it as much."

[starchilde_lost]

"And please no more sneaking around my house in the middle of the night? Especially when people are having visions or visitations or whatever it is that has people keyed up right now?" Because that was one thing she really didn't want to have to worry about. If she started having visions, she was going to be a hair-trigger. She didn't know if she should be getting herself more guns, or taking hers to her brother's to be locked up.

She looked up and over at him with a wicked grin, trying to banish the freaky idea. "I mean, I don't mind the odd late-night booty-call or whatever, but knock on the door like a normal person, will ya?"

[likesthestooges]

"No more sneaking, I promise."

That was one promise he could easily keep, especially if it meant that Rachel was less likely to shoot him. Aidan had always been pretty good when it came to self preservation so that was essentially a no brainer.

"What, you're bored with regular booty calls so that now they all have to be odd ones? What... constitutes an odd booty call?"

[starchilde_lost]

"I meant odd as in one or three, not odd as in strange." She knew he was teasing. She hoped he was teasing. She gave him a kiss, placing her hands over his where they were wrapped around her. It was a comforting feeling.

[likesthestooges]

"Is that days of the month or how many times we go per sessions?" he asked, smiling against her. He was sure that their relationship status would be an issue again later, but for right now it seemed to have passed.

[starchilde_lost]

"You naughy, naughty, man." Giggling she felt herself blush a little. For all that they didn't know what to call it, it was the closest thing to a normal relationship she'd had since she was... hell, since before the Sentinels? She couldn't exactly call what she had with Korvus normal, after all.

"We're certainly spending more than a few nights a month together right now, so I guess we'd be looking at the other, huh?"

[likesthestooges]

"I've never heard you complaining," Aidan said, smiling against her skin.

As much as Rachel was unsure about things, he was glad that she didn't mind moments like this. This was the sort of thing that made him not worry about where this all was going.

"I'll keep in mind that if I want to go more than once, I'd better be able to go a third as well."

[starchilde_lost]

That earned him an elbow to the side as she laughed. He really did like to lay it on thick, didn't he? "You're just going to run that odd thing into the ground, aren't you?"

She turned in his arms so she was facing him, "And what if I'm not in the mood, huh? What are you gonna do then?"

[likesthestooges]

Aidan grunted as she elbowed him but he laughed along with her. He supposed he deserved that.

"See if I can at least get some snuggling out of it," he said, kissing her forehead.

[starchilde_lost]

"I think that could maybe be arranged. I mean, you're already here and all and I do feel a little bad for knocking you on your ass." Not a whole lot, of course, she was still cross that he'd broken in in the first place, but she maybe could have handled things a little differently.

Maybe without the shotgun. That had been over the top.

[likesthestooges]

"Alright, but don't go changing your mind and thinking you're going to get some. This is snuggling only."

Not that Aidan could really resist if she decided otherwise, but he was pretty sure she was not in the mood for that. He figured he was lucky that she wasn't kicking him out after how upset she was.

[starchilde_lost]

Putting up a hand, she tried to put a grave expression on her face. The giggles ruined the effect, but she did try. "I solemnly swear that I won't try to seduce you tonight." After all of that, she really wasn't sure if she'd be in the mood for it. She still felt a little tremble-y.

Christ, she could have shot him. Since when did other peoples' paranoia go to her head?

Pouring out the rest of her water into the sink, she pulled away from him, heading to retrieve the discarded weapon. "I'll put this away and we can strip you down in a completely non-sexual way and go back to sleep, okay?"

[likesthestooges]

"I'm not sure I believe you, but alright. I'll trust myself with you tonight."

Rachel may have had the giggles, but Aidan could pull a poker face with the best of them. That didn't mean he couldn't smile if he wanted to though, and Rachel definitely made him want to grin.

"Okay, that sounds like a plan to me."

[starchilde_lost]

Heading back to the bedroom, she knelt down and started to re-secure the shotgun before changing her mind and moving to put it in the wardrobe. She could manage without it for a little while at least. At least on the nights when she wasn't alone. Not that she hadn't been alone when she pulled it out, but...

God, she probably just needed to sleep. And re-evaluate that whole therapy thing again.

[likesthestooges]

"You're over thinking something," he said, reaching out to slide his hands along her shoulders and gently rub them. He felt guilty about this, knowing that whatever bothered her wouldn't be something she was thinking about if he hadn't shown up.

[starchilde_lost]

"Me? A Summers? Over-think things? Heaven forbid." Rachel smiled and closed her eyes, letting his hands ease the rest of the stress from her shoulders. He was good at that, making her relax, making her feel safe.

"I didn't thank you for dinner, I should have. Thanks."

[likesthestooges]

Aidan kneaded her muscles a bit harder now that she was relaxing, moving along her shoulders and back, up along her neck and then down again. She had been so relaxed and in a good mood when he tucked her in he felt bad for ruining that.

"You're welcome, I was glad to do it."

[starchilde_lost]

"God, your hands are magic, you know that?" Groaning, she relaxed even further into the gently touch. He was either going to put her to sleep or turn her on, and frankly, at the moment, she didn't have a preference. Either meant she'd be able to relax, stop thinking about what had just almost happened.

[likesthestooges]

"I just like making you feel good," he assured her.

Aidan liked how relaxed she was getting. If nothing else it meant that he was somewhat out of the doghouse after sneaking into her place in the middle of the night. Besides, she needed a good night's sleep.

[starchilde_lost]

"And you do that very, very well." After another moment she turned enough to give him a kiss. She was still a little shocked, but Aidan was far from in the doghouse.

"C'mon, let's hit the hay, I want to forget all about this crazy whatever-it-was."

[likesthestooges]

"Sounds great," he said, kissing her back and smiling down at her. It probably wouldn't be the last time they had this sort of argument, but he was glad they had gotten through this one.