Status: In Progress

Set Fire to the Rain

Heaven In Your Arms

Arriving at Shannon's apartment close to around midnight, we made our way inside and the second we were through the front door Shannon stopped me in the entry. He turned, facing towards me and placed his hands on my arms. "Stay here for a minute, ok? I will be right back."

Then he jogged off down the hall and around the corner as I stood there and waited. My ankle was throbbing, and I really just wanted to put my leg up on the couch and talk to him already. Find out what the hell had been going on with him this past week and to see if there was any possibility of a future for us. A future. The word sounded so foreign to me, but felt so good allowing myself the thought of it, finally. I looked around the small entryway, and saw that not much had changed since the last time I was here. Not that I had expected any monumental changes to happen in my absence. I think it just felt nice to be back here. Shifting my weight slightly, I heard Shannon making his way back around the corner.

"Sorry about that. Are you thirsty, do you need anything?" He asked. My overnight bag was now missing, as was his sweatshirt, and he stood in front of me wearing his black jeans and white t-shirt. He looked delectable.

Getting my mind back on track I answered him "A glass of water, so I can take some Aleve for my ankle would be great thank you. And I think I really should put my leg up. It's starting to hurt. I'm sorry"

"Don't you dare apologize. It's no problem. Follow me, I have everything all set up for you already in my room for the night."

"Shannon, I..."

"I swear to god Eliza, if you even think about refusing, I will be extremely pissed off. I promised your brother I would take care of you, and goddammit, that's exactly what I am doing. You deserve it, sweetheart. Besides, we can lay down and talk easier that way. I will be a total gentleman, promise." Then he winked, and started walking down the hall turning to make sure I was following him. So not wanting to upset him, I did. Besides the thought of being that close to him, was just way to appealing right now.

Reaching the doorway on the left side of the hallway, he stepped aside to let me pass through the door first, and when I did, I couldn't believe what I saw before me. It was beautiful. Shannon had filled his bedroom with different sized candles in different shades of red, purple and black, and he had lit them all. The effect was incredible. There were small bunches of roses scattered on his dresser, by the window, and the table next to his bed. I was unable to move or speak. No one had ever done anything like this for me before. I turned and looked at Shannon, who was leaning against the doorjamb holding his hands in front of him.

"Too much for just getting together to talk?"

"Maybe. But I love it. Thank you so much." I said turning to him and reaching my right hand up to hold his cheek. Shannon leaned in slightly wrapping his arms around my waist, and looked into my eyes.

"I want very badly to kiss you right now, El."

"Then what are you waiting for?"

He leaned in and his lips touched mine. It was soft, simple, and perfect. Of course it ended all too soon for my liking, but I was pretty sure I knew why.

As if reading my thoughts he answered me. "As much as I want that to continue, I think you need to get off your feet, and we need to figure some things out first. What do you say, let's get changed, and comfortable for the duration?"

"Sounds great."

He showed me where his bathroom was and where he had placed my bag. I didn't want to think about the fact that Jack had gone through my underwear drawer to gather my change of clothes for the next couple days; Jack had packed a pair of pajama shorts and a band t-shirt for me to wear to bed. Shorts were easier to maneuver in and out of with a cast on your foot. While I made my way towards the bathroom, Shannon went and gathered up his things for the night. He said he would be back, and went to use the bathroom down the hall to get ready. I changed and got freshened up, took the Aleve with the water Shannon had brought me, then made my way to his bed. I had butterflies at the thought of sleeping with Shannon, in his bed. Even though nothing was going to happen, I was still a nervous wreck.

Sitting on the edge of the bed, there was a soft knock on the door. "Come in."

"Hey, beautiful." He said walking into the room over to a long wooden table that sat in front of the window at the far end of his room. There was a small stereo/iPod docking system there, and he placed his phone on top, turning it on. Fiddling around with a few things, he then picked up a tiny remote and made his way to where I was sitting. Shannon was now wearing a pair of black basketball shorts and a grey t-shirt with the sides cut out that he loves to wear, and he looks so damned hot in. I now have a great view of the tattoos I love so much. I want to trace them desperately. Tossing the remote onto the open space beside me on the bed Shannon said, "Let me help you ok?"

"Thank you." I replied, biting my lower lip. Shannon took hold of my lower leg and gently lifted it onto the bed as I twisted my body onto it fully. He had already propped up a few pillows for me to lean on and had one to put under my leg. The man had really thought of everything. "You thought of absolutely everything, didn't you?"

"Of course. I wanted to make sure that if you did say yes, that you would be as comfortable as possible. Are you ok?"

"I am, really. Thank you for all of this. It's overwhelming." Shannon walked around the bed, climbing in beside me. We were laying back against the headboard, and he moved close, wrapping his arm behind me, pulling me into his side. My head was now resting comfortably on his shoulder. He reached down picking up the remote and pressed play. Music began to play softly all around us. 'Wish You Were Here' by Pink Floyd was playing and I found myself melting into him even more. He knew me so well, it seemed.

"I want to explain everything to you, if that's ok. My reason for leaving and not being around will all make sense, I hope, after this."

"I'm not going anywhere." I said looking up at him with a small smile.

Shannon then started to explain everything in detail. From the moment we left the beach that day, when I had stupidly told him I only wanted to be friends, and his visit to Jared asking for advise. Then Jared's brilliant idea for Shannon to ignore me while he prepared for his beautiful performance tonight. Of course, Jared doesn't know that Shannon came to see me that night in the hospital. That will remain our little secret. That was what they were fighting about at the hospital hallway. Shannon said he had wanted to give up on the whole stupid thing, that it just wasn't worth it to him anymore. He just wanted to be honest with me, wanted to be with me, after nearly losing me again. I could feel the tears pooling in my eyes remembering when he left me, and how angry I was. How he had begged me to trust him, but I wouldn't, I couldn't. I didnt say anything the whole time he talked, I wanted to let him have his say without any interruptions. Shannon, went on saying that he understood my anger towards him at the time, and if the roles had been reversed, he might have reacted the same way. I don't know about that though. This whole thing had been about winning my heart, and showing me that he cared. That he couldn't just be friends. It would have been too difficult for him when his heart wanted something more. Thats why he decided to go forward with Jared's plan. Because he hoped against all odds, that I would be willing to give him a second chance to give us a chance. When he was finished he sat rubbing his hand up and down my arm in a slow easy motion. Neither of us saying anything for a little while. I was processing everything and I wanted to make sure that what I said came out the right way.

I began to maneuver myself so that I was laying on my side facing him on the bed so I could see him better, and he did the same. We reached for each others right hands and looked at each other in the glow of the candlelight. God, he was so beautiful.

"When are you going home?"

Taking a deep breath, he looked at me with sad eyes. "I'm scheduled to leave Monday morning. I have to be back in LA for a meeting I can't miss. I have already postponed it once."

"Oh, I understand."

"I have a more important question for you though."

"Ok."

"Do you think you could ever find it in your heart to forgive me?"

Raising my hand to his arm I began to trace the outline of the tattoo on his left bicep. "The way I see it, there's nothing to forgive." Biting my lower lip, I took a chance and glanced up at Shannon to see his reaction.

"Seriously? You really forgive me? After everything I put you through, you really don't hate me?"

"Shann, I most definitely do not hate you. And like I said, there is nothing to forgive, so please don't worry yourself over it. I understand why you did what you did. I am worried though. If you are going home, where does that leave me? What was the point in going through all of this, if I am here and you are on the other side of the country? It doesn't exactly make for an easy dating situation." Looking away, I was feeling sick to my stomach at the thought of him leaving me behind and saying goodbye.

"Well, you see there is one other question I have for you sweetheart. I have found that I have been unable to get you out of my head and my heart, and I would love nothing more than for you to officially be my girlfriend. I want to be exclusive. Before you say no, I want you to understand that yes, I know being across the country from one another won't be easy, but I am willing to do anything to make this work. I believe what we have and the potential of having is worth working and fighting for. If you are willing to give us a chance, then so am I."

"Even with so much fighting against us?"

"What is there that we can't overcome together?"

"Um, a huge one. Namely my psychotic ex, who has already vowed to hurt anyone I care about. I won't let anything happen to you. I could never forgive myself if something..." I couldn't finish the thought.

"Eliza, I am a grown man, and I can take care of myself. And so help me, if that bastard comes within a mile of you again, I will kill him myself. Listen, I don't want him to be the reason we aren't together. We can't let him win. You deserve to be happy. Ok, let me put it to you this way, do I make you happy?"

"Yes."

"Did you miss me when I was gone?"

"More than I imagined possible" Still aimlessly tracing my finger around his tattoo, I looked up into his hazel eyes. I melted, and felt the wall breaking down around my heart.

"Do you want to be with me?" He whispered, scooting a little bit closer.

"I am so scared that you are going to go back to LA, and I will become nothing but a distant memory to you. Some poor broken, single mom that you helped along the way, that you thought you might have had feelings for. Then some stunning Brazilian model, with no baggage, will come along, and you will forget I ever existed. You would be much better off that way."

"Is that what you really believe? That I could so easily forget you, that I ever could? Fuck, that I would ever want to? Eliza, have you no idea how amazing you are?" Shannon shook his head sadly and looked at me reaching up to move a chunk of hair back over my shoulder. "You bewitch me Eliza Cahrter. You have captured my heart, and I will travel every free moment I have to see you. You can come to see me when you can. We can do this, I know it. I am better with you than without you. Ask Jay, I was a fucking disaster without you."

"How can you possibly promise to do that Shannon? You have your work. Your life. I can't ask you to drop what your doing for me. It's not fair to you, and I don't want you resenting me in the end."

"El, first you didn't ask. I offered. Do you want to be with me? Just answer me that."

"Yes, more than anything. I just..."

"Shh. Ok. Then don't over think the rest of it. Now, answer this, if David weren't a factor, would you agree to be mine?"

"Yes"

"Alright. Now, I want you to think back to when you were in the hospital, and the moment I told you I couldn't be there anymore, how did you feel, and what did you want more than anything? You can be totally honest, you won't hurt my feelings."

"I really hate thinking about that night. Why"

"Please, there's a reason."

"Fine. I was so excited to see you there when I woke up. I had just left the concert in the city because I needed to see you that night."

"I knew it wasn't from the fever I was running. I thought I saw you standing in the crowd, then I looked back and you were gone. So I thought it was because I was sick."

"No, I was there hiding in the back of the church listening. You looked like shit by the way. I remember wanting to go home and cook you chicken soup and bring it to you." I laughed at the memory. "Anyway, when I woke and you were there I was so happy. I thought this is my chance to make everything right, that I fucked up. Then you told me you had to go. It was like my entire world came crashing down around me. I felt my heart shatter. I felt it break. I have never felt that before. Every day I wished I would wake up from the nightmare, but it wasn't. Then you came to see me that night out of the blue, and I felt a small glimmer of hope, but when I didn't hear from you again I was devastated. I wanted to disappear. The party was the only thing keeping me going then."

"El, I am so very sorry."

"It's ok. I understand now."

"Now, if you had the chance to make things right again, and I was to ask you to be my girlfriend, and the chances of the world falling apart around us was there, but we could be together, would you accept? I only want you to accept if it's what you want. I don't want you to say yes because I have to convince you to do it. That would really suck."

"Shannon, I want to be yours desperately. I just want to make sure that you really want everything that comes along with me."

"So is that a yes?"

"That is a yes." Nodding my head with a smile spreading across my face.

"Oh my god, Eliza, you have no idea how happy you've just made me. By the way, I have never wanted anything more than I want you and your craziness." he joked. We smiled widely at each other and leaned in wrapping his arms around me, rolling us so I was on my back. "Good now that we have that taken care of, I can do this."

The next thing I knew, Shannon's lips were touching mine. I wrapped my arms around him sliding my hands into the sides of his shirt so that I could feel the warmth of his skin. It felt amazing. Hard, toned, all Shannon. Our mouths opened slowly and our tongues started to dance together. His soft, full lips molding to mine, becoming one, the scruff on his face rubbing against my skin, sending electric sensations all the way to my toes. I wanted to devour him. His mouth was warm and his tongue soft and I couldn't help but put all my feelings for this man, that was now mine, into this kiss. He responded in much the same way. One of his hands came up to touch my face and the other went into my hair, as he began to place kisses across my face then moved to my jaw line, making his way down my neck. Tilting my head to the side, giving him more access, I moved one hand to hold onto his neck and ran it through his hair. He began kissing his way slowly back up my neck and kissed my ear then gently bit it and pulled on my earlobe. I moaned out loud. Holy hell my hormones were now officially on overdrive. Dragging his face back up to mine, I started to kiss the side of his face, then began to kiss and suck on his neck softly. Something I have always wanted to do to him. He has a delicious neck. I was very careful not to leave any marks on his beautiful skin, and he moaned. It made me smile, knowing i made him respond that way. Shannon took my face in his hands and kissed me with so much desire desire, it consumed every part of my soul. he ignited something inside me I never knew I could feel for anyone. I matched what he gave. Eventually the kissing became less heated and more sweet and loving. Our breathing remained heavy, and Shannon leaned his forehead on mine. He took a deep breath, and so did I, we looked at each other and both started to laugh.

"Wow." I said softly looking up at him above me, as I gently stroked his back.

"Yeah, a definite wow. I think we had better stop now, or I will end up sleeping on the couch tonight. And I am really looking forward to laying here with you, if that's ok."

"I think that's a wise idea, and I wouldn't dream of you staying anywhere, but right beside me."

"Good. Let me go blow out the candles, and we can get some shut eye. We have all day together tomorrow." Leaning in to give me one more very nice, long kiss, I reached up and stroked the side of his face. "Mmmm. I'll be right back."

Rolling out of bed, he ran around the room blowing out each candle and made sure that they were all completely extinguished before climbing back into bed and under the covers with me. My boyfriend slid up next to me and wrapped his arm around me pulling me into him. We kissed each other goodnight, I snuggled into his chest as he lay on his side holding me, feeling safe, content and happy.

"Goodnight beautiful girlfriend of mine."

"Goodnight beautiful boyfriend of mine." He chuckled at that. We lay there as the music continued to play very softly and as I started to fall sleep, I thought I heard Shannon say, "I love you Eliza Cahrter." All I know for sure, is that I had the most amazing nights sleep I can remember.
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Yay! It's finally happened! They are a couple! Please comment, subscribe, and recommend. Hope you enjoyed. It's going to get good, and the story is going to be wrapping up fairly soon. So please comment and let me know what you think so far. To all of my amazing and loyal readers, I love you all!!! :)

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