Yes

“Honey, I’m home!” a familiar raspy voice yelled out in a singing tone from down the hallway.

I popped open a beer and with a smile on my face I half-ran through the kitchen to greet my man.

“How was work, darling?” I asked in a sweet voice as I finally let my eyes fall on the beautiful guy before me; his hair was getting longer and his eyes seemed small.

He was so tired lately, poor thing.

“You’re amazing,” he sighed as he took the ice cold bottle from my hand and gulped the liquids down.

We kissed before entering the kitchen together and he immediately went straight over to the table before dumping himself down on one of the chairs.

“Work was good. Man, those girls are hardcore,” he said while gazing over to the oven.

I was making lasagna; I knew he liked that.

“Yeah?” I sounded over my shoulder as I tossed some lettuce into a big bowl.

I knew he’d been signing all day, and he was always dead-tired afterwards because he always stayed until the last person had had their share of his attention.

“Yeah, I think my hand is broken.”

“What?”

I turned away from the canned corn to get a better look at him.

He shook his head and twitched both of his hands, saying: “Not for real. Just feels like it.”

I breathed out before turning back to preparing the salad.

“Norm, seriously, you’re too extreme. I know you want…”

My worlds stifled off as I felt a pair of hands glide down my back and a kiss being planted on the back of my head. My lips parted in a smile as he hugged me from behind.

“You want me to ditch my fans?” he sounded over me.

“No, of course not, just saying that you need to listen to yourself; I mean, you don’t wanna break a hand doing autographs all day, do you?”

A small chuckle sounded.

Good answer.

“Can you get the lasagna from the oven?”

I pulled out plates from the cabinet and called out for Mingus to come and have dinner.

“Hey,” Norm sounded and I twirled around to have him looking at me with tired eyes and a smile on his lips. “You don’t have to do all this, you know that, right?”

I continued setting the table with blushing cheeks.

“I know, I just… like it. Helping you.”

He put the lasagna on the table just as Mingus sat down by the table.

“Mh, it smells so good.” Mingus chimed before pouring orange juice into his glass.

I ruffled with his hair before sitting down myself, a smile on my face reaching from ear to ear.

“Thanks buddy.”

“No, thank you, babe,” Norm sounded as he too sat down.

He smiled his best crooked smile before diving into the steaming lasagna. Silence fell on all three of us as we ate; it was nice just being around each other, to enjoy each other’s company.

With a mouth full of salad I looked over at Norman as he cleared his throat and sipped on his beer. He was looking at Mingus with a weird light in his eyes.

“Hey, Mingus, how would you feel like if she moved in with us?”

I dropped my fork.

Somehow a piece of cucumber had gotten stuck in my throat and I coughed out loudly.

Did I just hear…?

What the fuck had he just asked him?

“Mh, dunno, that would be nice. Food’s so good,” Mingus said as he took another bite of lasagna.

“Yeah, and she always have your dirty underwear washed.”

Mingus laughed.

“Yeah, and it’s so nice when she’s here because sometimes…”

“Um, hello?!” I exclaimed when I was finally able to breathe again, having swallowed the piece of cucumber stuck in my throat.

I looked at both of them with big eyes and waved a hand before my face.

“What?” Mingus asked with a mouth full of lasagna.

His face had this I-don’t-have-a-care-in-the-world expression written all over it.

“Don’t I get a say in this?” I asked and looked over at Norm who apparently was really busy drinking beer and looking in the other direction.

“Well,” Mingus said as he sipped from his orange juice, “You’re here all the time, anyway, so it’s not really a problem to ya, is it?”

My jaw dropped.

Norman now seemed to be really interested in the different layers of the lasagna on his plate.

“But… I can’t just come here and live with you two?”

Mingus popped an eyebrow.

“Why not?”

“Yeah, why not?” Norman chimed in, his voice dripping with the innocence of a child.

I don’t think my eyes could go any bigger, and if there’d been any flies here I would probably have swallowed all of them by now.

I looked down at my plate of food. I didn’t know what to say.

“Come on kid, finish your dinner,” Norman spoke, breaking the awkward silence that had fallen between us.

I couldn’t eat up.

My mind was on overload.

..............................................................

The hot water was streaming down my body, the water jets gently massaging the muscles of my back while steam filled the room with its moist dampness.

I couldn’t believe what had happened during dinner today; Norman hadn’t even mentioned this to me once, and then he just put it out there in front of Mingus? I couldn’t help but to feel a little irritated. I mean, couldn’t he have discussed it with me before bringing it up like that?

I’d looked like a freaking walker, ha ha I’m so witty, sitting there with my eyes open and not being able to say anything. He seriously wanted me to move in with him?

Like, quit my apartment and live… here?

I heard the bathroom door close.

“Norm?”

“Can I join you, babe?”

I looked down at my painted toenails.

“Sure.”

I heard the door being locked and then the sound of clothes falling to the floor. I had my back at him when he entered the shower and I soon felt his hands nudge my shoulder.

“You mad at me?” he asked with a quiet voice.

I shook my head.

Of course I wasn’t mad. How could I be mad at a guy who loved me and wanted me to be a bigger part of his life?

I turned around and pulled him closer to me so he would have the water running down on him as well.

“Just wish you would have… talked to me before mentioning it to Mingus,” I mumbled into his chest.

He felt cold compared to my hot lips.

His hands stroke down my back. They were rough.

“I know. M’ sorry.”

I kissed his wet skin and tasted salt on my lips.

“I just think it’s stupid that you pay so much rent for an apartment you don’t use,” Norman sounded over me in a breathy voice.

I stepped back to look at him.

“Seriously? You couldn’t find a better argument for me to come live with you? Uh…”

I turned around and reached over for the shampoo. I’d finally brought one of my own so I wouldn’t smell like a guy every time I showered here.

Which I did almost every day...

I sighed. Maybe he had a point?

“I just…” Norman said and reached over to take his shampoo, “I love it when you’re here. And I know Mingus does too. You’re so good to us, I mean, take today for an example…” he poured shampoo into his hand, “I come home to you, and you’re just so nice to me. Beer, food and kisses. And even though I’m ass-tired, you’re so understanding. And it’s not ‘cause I want you to cook us dinner every day or clean our dirty laundry, it’s just…”

“Nice,” I nodded.

I got his point.

I felt him hug me from behind, his skin slippery on mine and his stubble prickly on my chin.

“I don’t want to push you or anything,” he whispered.

“I know,” I whispered back.

I loved being here; there was life here, whether it was Norman humming some Fleetwood Mac song while sitting with his phone, him vacuuming the zebra carpet in the living room because Eye in the Dark always curled up there and left a huge bunch of black fur, or the frustrated yells from Mingus’ room when he had friends over to play some computer game, or even just when it was Eye in the Dark sneaking its soft tail around my leg, making me yelp out in surprise when I was doing a drawing; there was always life.

And Mingus was right; I really was here all the time.

When I got home to my place to get some fresh clothes or something I needed, it had taken me forever to get the charger for my phone but when I’d finally gotten around to do it, Norm had already bought a new one for Mingus, I always felt… alone.

There seemed to be no life there; no familiar sounds of music or someone talking together, just the desperate sound of my refrigerator and the passing of cars from down the street.

And I’d come to hate the one thing I’d always loved the most about my place; the wall where I painted whenever I felt like it.

The last time I was there, it had freaked me out so much that I had to leave even though I hadn’t gotten all the stuff I needed. It was so dark and creepy and it reminded me of a part of myself that I had happily left behind... But I'd thought I'd left that person in Denmark, not in my apartment here in New York.

I sighed out contently as I felt Norm’s big hands cup my breasts.

“Babe?”

“Yeah?”

“Can I ask you something?”

“’Course.”

“What’s holding you back?”

I frowned slightly. His voice had a tiny twist to it; like he was feeling a bit down about it.

“I don’t know,” I said as I turned around to have him hug me, “what if it changes something between us?”

His warm body was embracing me so tenderly; I felt so safe.

“What would change? I mean, we practically live together already, we shared the same hotel room for over a month during Boondock, one freaking room, and I still loved you as much as I did when we started out. I love you. Come stay with me. Please.”

His voice was so gentle and so raspy, my heart melted away right there.

He was right, wasn’t he?

I looked up to have his eyes gaze upon my face. They were so honest and sincere.

My eyes started pricking. Whether it was from the shampoo in my hair or because I was tearing up, I didn’t know. All I knew was that I couldn’t say no to that man.

Fuck, was he perfect!

“What about other people? Your fans? What will they think when they…” I started but I was soon pushed slightly backwards, his hands still devotedly holding around me, protecting me.

“Why care about them?” he said.

I popped and eyebrow at him; he wasn’t exactly the guy for saying that.

He quickly continued: “Not in that way, no, I mean, when it comes to my personal life. They know I have a girlfriend? Or at least, a lot of them do, the hardcore ones.”

“The ones from today?”

“Yup,” he nodded, “and they’re only congratulating me. They’re happy for me, ‘cause they can see I’m happy, you know? You make me happy.”

I gulped down and a wide smile spread on my face.

“You make me happy too,” I smiled girlishly as I looked down between our bodies.

“Yeah? So fuck your place and come live with me!”

I hissed out as I felt the cold bathroom tiles on my back and he smiled innocently at me.

“Okay,” I said.

His eyes went wide.

“Okay?”

I nodded: “Okay.”

“Yes!” he exclaimed, grabbed my ass and lifted me up to have me straddling his hips, my back still on the cold tiles.

His face was soft as he leaned in to kiss my lips more gently than ever. The water still rained down on our bodies, the steam still mingling the warm air in here.

I threw my arms around his neck, leaning in to have our foreheads pressed together, noses almost touching. His blue crystals were boring into my green ones, seeing how much he meant to me. He swayed his head to the side to kiss the skin of my neck and I sighed out happily. My body was so relaxed from all the hot water and love.

I could hear his breathing get a bit heavier as he let one of his hands grasp one of my breasts, the other still lifting up my ass. His arms were so beautiful; strong muscles holding me up so nicely.

“You’re so…”

“I love you, Norman” I whispered in his ear and pulled him even closer to me.

I could feel his length hard up against my thigh.

“I love you,” he whispered back.

The only sound in the room was the water drizzling down on the cold wet tiles under our feet and our heavy breaths.

His eyes found mine and I saw the familiar dark smolder burning so deliciously behind them that my breath got caught in my throat.

His eyes were questioning me as I felt him near the heat between my legs. As if he needed permission…

My body was already on fire.

“Please,” I whimpered in a hush voice.

I felt like I could hear both our hearts pounding as we stood there, looking at each other so intensely you would think we were staring right into each other’s souls.

And then he entered me; smoothly and quickly.

My mouth fell open as I felt his thrust, no sound coming from it.

Was I even breathing?

Fuck, it felt so amazingly good.

I tightened my legs as he pushed me closer to the wall I was leaning in on, and I felt one of his hands cover my mouth.

“Shh,” he sounded staggered before he bucked his hips upwards again.

As he thrust up in me, my breath escaped my mouth together with a moan.

Oh fuck.

Shut up, please! I thought to myself.

He thrust again, still covering my mouth with his hand, the water still splashing down. His head dropped to my shoulder while he gently thrust up in me again and again.

My body was exploding. I wanted to scream.

His breath felt cool on my shoulder; a mixture of hissing and breathing. He sounded so beautiful.

Kisses were planted all over my shoulder and collarbones and I leaned my head back up against the tiles and just enjoyed the things he made me feel.

Heat was building up down the pit of my stomach and I wanted to cry for him to go faster. But I also liked that he was being so gentle.

He turned his head up again, and pressed his forehead against mine. Our eyes were locked as he continuously hit that perfect spot inside me.

His face twitched, his mouth opened.

I never knew this man could be this gentle. His hands were everywhere; breasts, ass, stomach, shoulders but his eyes were locked with mine.

“Ah babe, please, come for me,” he whispered, his voice trembling with pleasure.

My mind went numb as he spoke to me, his voice so raspy, his breath hot on my lips. My nails dug into the skin of his back and I whimpered out quietly. I was so close.

“Just a little… harder, I… Norm…”

He burrowed his fingers in my thighs and slammed me against the tiles, thrusting hard into me.

I moaned out.

Fuck; that had been loud.

But I couldn’t help it. My body was exploding. I was exploding. He was exploding.

We came at the same time.

..........................................................................

We were lying in bed, both still naked and all wrapped up in the bed sheets. We were too lazy to go outside so we shared a cigarette as we laid there; all crazy in love and with music playing in softly in the background.

His eyes were on me nonstop, warmth shining through them and on me, through me, to burn around my beating heart.

How could you feel so loved? I’d never thought it possible.

“So…” he started, tracing his finger along my jawline, “you ready for tomorrow?”

I smiled and placed a small kiss on the tip of it.

“Tomorrow? Why?”

He took a long hit from the cigarette before passing it over to me again.

“Well, you know, your job at IntelligentBikeWheels?”

Fuck.

That was tomorrow?!