Room With No Windows

"You're insane, Eric."
"Somehow, I find having your girlfriend stay at your old house with your parents a little crazier."
I sigh and shake my head. "No. Elsa is NOT staying with Joey."
There was no way in hell. He was insane for even thinking it, much less suggesting it. It's not happening.
Halvo narrows his eyes at me, looking annoyed. "Think about it, Johno. How safe is it really for both Ellie and your parents for her to be living there? I wouldn't risk it."
"And what? Run the risk of Joey telling Elsa everything?" I plop down on the couch with screwdriver and beer at hand. He was helping me repair, well replace, my door.
"I mean think about it, what's worse: Elsa finding out something that you can choose to tell her ahead of time, or your mom pulling out the old photo album and revealing the naked baby pictures?"
I wince. He had a point there. If there were any secrets left between the two of us, I could clear it up. There shouldn't be any secrets between us in the first place, so all there was left to do was to put all my cards on the table. It wouldn't be easy, but at least she would hear it from me instead of Joey and make assumptions. Plus, there were a lot of those naked baby pictures...
Eric takes a sip of his own beer and gives me a long, hard look. "I'm just asking you to think about it. I wouldn't want anything to happen to Ellie or your folks. And you already go see her, like, everyday, which doesn't help your situation."
"Not everyday," I mumble, bringing the bottle to my lips and ignoring his use of her nickname. Since when did he start calling her Ellie?
He rolls his eyes. "Alright, at least three times during the weekday and only every weekend. That's still a lot, John."
"Okay, I get your point," I scoff, punching his arm. "I'll talk to her. I'll ask Joey if she plans to stay in town a few more days and tell her about Elsa. If she would even be willing to do that for me."
"I'm sure she'll understand," he chuckles, standing to return to work on the door. "She always has."
Yeah, that was before she hated my guts, I say in my head.
Worth a shot, I guess.

My mother opens up the front door when I arrive. I give her a warm smile, pecking her on the cheek. "Hey, ma. Where's Els-"
"John!" Ellie squeals before I even get a chance to finish. She scurries down the stairs two at a time and throws her arms around my neck. It was Saturday and I hadn't seen her neither Thursday nor yesterday, so it felt like a lot longer than usual.
"Hey, darlin'," I chuckle, slipping an arm around her waist.
She pouts up at me as she gives me her puppy eyes. "I haven't seen you since Wednesday."
I throw my head back laughing. "Come on, we've gone on longer than that."
She giggles and my mom clears her throat. I grin at her, standing beside Elsa and pressing my lips to her temple. "How was my girl today? How has she been? Did she behave?"
My mother and Elsa both scoff and I give a lopsided smile. They were alike in a lot of ways, and scolding me seemed to be one of their biggest similarities.
"Elsa has been a complete angel," my mother confirms, nodding. "She was helping me with my garden earlier."
I raise an eyebrow. "Oh, was she, now?"
"Yes and it's gorgeous. Would you like to see?"
"Later," Elsa cuts in excitedly, tugging on my hand. "I haven't seen him in two days, Jenny."
She sighs. "Oh, fine then."
I smirk when Ellie begins to haul me toward the stairs. I laugh and pace behind her. Reaching the door to my room, she yanks me inside and closes the door, her lips meeting mine with a smile. My hands reach up to cup her face as I deepen the kiss.
"Somebody missed me," I mumble. She takes my bottom lip between her teeth and giggles, causing me to groan. Such a little tease.
I pull away and smirk, my fingers slipping under her shirt. My thumb brushes against her hipbone and she shivers. Blushing, I drop my hands, not wanting to be tempted to do anything that I know I shouldn't.
I move to the bed, all but diving and making her laugh. I lay down on my back and pat the spot next to me. Instead, she climbs on top of me, resting her chin on my chest. My arms wrap around her small body, running my hand up and down her back as I let her tell me all about her day with my mother. She even goes on to tell me that my dad offered to teach her how to fish sometime this weekend when he went on his usual outing with his friends. I laugh at the fact that he'd taken a liking to her so fast, probably more than me. Gee, thanks for the invite, pops.
Elsa finally runs out of things to say and stares up at me. "How's the door?"
"Good," I chuckle. "Halvo came over and helped me with it yesterday. My whole place looks brand new."
She smirks, catching the sarcasm in my voice. "Sure it does." Her expression falls. "I don't get why you can't just stay here. I'm having such a good time here with your parents, but it'd be so much better having you around."
I roll my eyes at her little pout. Unfortunately, that wasn't going to work. It wasn't smart or safe for me to be anywhere near her.
I run my fingers through her honey brown hair, untangling a few strands. "You're really enjoying it here, aren't you?"
Her shoulders move in a soft shrug. "I guess I've kinda made myself at home again and I've been here for a week. Your mom and dad are so nice."
"Good," I murmur. "I'm glad you're getting along with them. It only means that they like you even more now."
She nods her head, her cheek staying pressed to my chest. A comfortable silence falls over as she plays with the tiny hairs at the base of my neck. I sigh and continue to rub her back, feeling relaxed.
My eyes droop at the same time her breathing slows. I look down to check if she was asleep, but I only catch her staring into space. What was she thinking about? I couldn't help but wonder, captivated by her beauty. She was so easily pretty.
I reach up to touch her when she speaks. "I talked to my mom today. She called me."
Elsa's fingers grip my shirt, and my hold on her tightens in response. I really hope that didn't mean she had to leave.
"What did you talk about?" I ask hesitantly, the back of my throat squeezing.
"I told her everything that happened," she says softly. "She wants me to press charges."
Her hands run along my chest and I stare at her. So her mom finally knew? About everything?
"Everything?" I mutter.
She nods. "Everything."
I bite my lip. "What else did she tell you?"
"That the best solution would probably be a restraining order against Isaac. But she said that I'd need to come home to sort all that stuff out."
There it is, I think. I knew that was coming.
I take a deep breath and loop my arms around her. "Well, that's too bad because you're not going anywhere ever again without me."
She smiles and sits up on my stomach. "I know. I told her about that, too. She's okay with me staying with your family."
My eyes widen. "Really?"
Her smile widens as she nods. I beam for a moment before realizing I had yet to ask her about Joey. I didn't want to go and talk to her yet until I got Elsa's opinion about it. I really hated to ruin the moment, but Eric was right.
"Listen," I sigh, sitting up and holding her in my lap. She locks her arms around my neck, looking at me expectantly. Her eyes only made it ten times harder.
"I'm not sure if I'll be able to come tomorrow," I lie, knowing very well I would. "And if I do it'll probably be later at night. There's, uh, some stuff I have to do at the studio."
She frowns. "Okay."
I hold her waist and pull her closer. "Aw, c'mon, darlin', don't get all sad on me. I promise I'll try to make it."
"Okay," she mumbles and I kiss her. I wiggle my fingers beneath her ribcage and she squirms. The corners of my lips twitch, remembering the time she told me she was ticklish.
I slowly roll us over, kissing her deeply and making her think I had something else in mind. She moans as I pin her beneath me, her legs locking around my waist. Her hands sink into my hair, and I take advantage to tickle her underarm. She gasps. "John!"
Smirking, I use both hands to grab her by the waist and brush my fingers against her skin before rustling her like a baby. She cries out and laughs, trying to push my arms away. I continue to wriggle my hands as she fights me. "Quit it!" she giggles.
I chuckle and lean down to nibble on her neck. She starts to writhe, gasping for air from all the laughing. "Oh God, s-stop!"
"What was that? More?"
She lets out a squeal as I poke at her belly, tormenting her further. She laughs and whines. "Stooooop."
She glares at me with wide eyes. "You-you're such an a-ass," she huffs. I smile, stilling and letting her catch her breath.
The corners of my mouth lift, letting my lips return to her neck and latching onto her skin. Her breathing hitches as I trail down to her collarbones, skimming her breasts and slowly inching up her shirt to press my lips to her stomach, breathing in her sweet scent. I was addicted to the way she smelled, the way she felt. She was soft and sweet and flawless.
Elsa let out a soft moan and I groan, wanting to keep going. More importantly, she wanted me to keep going.
"John," she whispers.
Fuck.
I brush my lips against her soft skin, traveling along her waist. My fingers tug at the waistline of her jeans and they come off almost effortlessly. I teasingly trace her belly button with my tongue, causing her to suck in a breath. She hikes up her knees in anticipation and I could feel my heart racing.
I trail kisses along the inside of her thigh, my hands running up her leg and reaching for the elastic of her panties.
There's a knock at the door and I freeze as my mother calls out. "John, Elsa, dinner's almost ready if you'd like to come down now."
I groan loudly and hide my face in her stomach. I prop my chin up to look at her and she was panting. I bite my lip, feeling my face heat up. I was really about to do that.
"W-we'll be down in a bit, Jenny," she calls, sounding a lot more confident than she looked.
She finally meets my eyes and blushes, grabbing her jeans. I sit up and sigh. "My mom has awful timing."
Despite the bashful look on her face, a small smile tugs at the corner of her lip. I chuckle, brushing my lips against her cheek.
Well, I didn't resolve the situation about her possibly staying at Joey's or ask her what she thought. And I still had to tell her about the things that occurred in our relationship before Joey got a chance. Not to mention my mother interrupted us.
But I wouldn't have changed today for the world.