Episode 34: Then Let's Go To My Place

Episode 34: Then Let's Go To My Place

"What are you doing here?" Leslie asked.

Christopher's eyes scanned her from head to toe. She was dressed down in casual lounge wear. That wasn't what caught his attention though. It was the defensive form in which she crossed her arms and braced herself for the worse. He couldn't help but wonder if she was always this way in his presence—on edge.

It was almost as if she was protecting herself from the force of him.

That made him begin to question a lot of things about their interactions.

But right now there were bigger problems—like his feelings for the woman before him being shared with her alleged best friend. Ed didn't get the hint he was sending to leave them by themselves. He just stood there to the side with an inquisitive look traveling back and forth between them.

Christopher raised one brow, but he still stayed.

He looked to Leslie and she said nothing either.

For Christ's sake, he thought, exasperated by this happening.

Shedding his nice guy image, Christopher finally snapped. "Do you mind giving us a little privacy?"

Ed raised his hands in the air as if to say he was not the one at fault here. "Hey, I'm just trying to make sure she actually wants to see you." Ed's sincere eyes then implored the woman they both obviously loved. It was as clear as a bell to everyone except for the main character of their feelings.

Don't get this wrong.

Leslie was bright about many things.

Unfortunately for these two men, the fact that her best friend and roommate was in love with her for years wasn't one of them.

"One word Les, and I'll have him leave within a heartbeat." He said to her, secretly praying that would be her request.

Ed couldn't help but feel jealousy seeing the man standing before Leslie right now. Even more so by the signs that she looked affected by him. She was trying her best not to show it, but for as long as he knew her he could tell she was caught off guard.

Maybe even a little touched by the sudden appearance.

Why are you so naive, Les? He mentally admonished.

He knew she was a sucker for when men acted impulsively and solely on a woman's behalf.

Rom-com movie nights with her taught him that much.

Therefore, Christopher standing there like a wet puppy shaking from the rain with a desperate look of needing to get something off his chest—ugh—it was the perfect formula for her fantasies.

He hated how this guy was the one that was fulfilling them for her instead of him.

It was like he had spent this entire time studying the blueprint of her, hoping for great results only for a natural scholar like Christopher to swoop in and score straight As without any effort.

It infuriated Ed that even with the attention Leslie had given him, and based on her revelation the other day, that included her heart too, this guy still didn't know how to treat her right.

It was taking everything in him not to punch him in the face right now.

Meanwhile, Christopher refrained from rolling his eyes at Ed's former comment. As if he could make him leave that easily. He loathed being petty but their exchange was tempting that side of him. He hated the way how when they glanced at each other it rubbed him in unfamiliar places. A foreign and scary part of him thought of the many ways he could get rid of Ed without anyone knowing. He brooded over the tiny smile Leslie spared her "guy best friend".

This entire situation was getting harder and harder to endure for Christopher.

As he was about to lose the final grip on his self control, Leslie released a heavy exhale. "It's fine, Ed. I'll let you know if I need your help."

Christopher felt his shoulders relax a bit.

Ed's did too—but with a different sentiment.

They sunk in disappointment.

That was Leslie's indirect way of dismissing him.

It meant she wanted alone time with only her and Christopher.

The realization stung like hell.

Ed, eyes veiled with hurt, got her message. Without another word, he went inside their shared apartment.

As the door slammed shut behind him, Christopher instantly took a step backwards to give her some space.

Leslie's brow raised in shock.

She buried the need to scoff at the senseless act.

Shouldn't he be doing the exact opposite right now if he wanted to make it up to her? Getting close, apologizing and soothing her? Isn't that how you get the girl? Or was Christopher that clueless to all those simple but effective clichés?

The woman swore there would never be a day where she would figure this man out. That was annoyingly one of his killing points. It was exciting to try and figure him out. However, she had to remind herself that that didn't include his feelings for her as well. Regarding this, she needed him to spell it out for her.

She also didn't want to feel like she was competing with a past lover for his affection. If she didn't hate anything more than dishonesty it was being neglected emotionally.

Leslie needed him to make things clear for her more than ever.

Or else she was afraid this was where the last chapter in the book of them would be.

Christopher, after seeing the way her face fell, instantly regretted making that move backwards. He really didn't want to, but he was a logic person. This was a narrow hallway. He didn't want her to feel suffocated by his unannounced visit. It wouldn't have been the first time he had invaded her space. In comparison to the last time though, he didn't feel like his presence would be as well received as when she was sick.

She proved him right with the exhaustive look that came his way. "What are you doing here, Christopher?"

His brain stuttered for a moment because of how direct she was being.

For the first time, he felt unlike himself.

Still, he came up with a response.

He had to.

"I'm here to see you."

She blinked at him passively. "For what reason? I don't see why you would after ghosting me for the past few weeks."

"I didn't ghost you—"

"What do you call that then? I haven't heard from you since you witlessly revealed that Marley was your first love." Her face scrunched up tauntingly. "Oh, I see. It all makes sense now. Maybe that was the reason you were so busy after all. Rekindling old flames does take some time."

He sighed, hating how she was drawing the wrong conclusions here.

Breaking his resolve and taking that step forward, he looked her straight in the eyes. Her breath hitched at their close proximity and the coolness of his ocean eyes.

"I will say it once and only once, Marley means nothing to me. At least nothing worth mentioning. She's a figment of a dark past I didn't want you finding out about because I was simply too ashamed of it."

Her guard slowly came down seeing how serious he was being.

With unfolded arms, she questioned. "What's there to be ashamed about? If you two were in love with each other, that's perfectly normal. It wasn't like I didn't have someone before meeting you."

"You see, that's the difference." He said then delivered regrettably. "I wished I hadn't."

His sheer honesty in that had her heart skipping a beat.

Did he just...her thoughts trailed off in the back of her mind as she looked at him.

His face was softening with an expression she had never seen before. Oh god, she thought. Her eyes quickly categorized that specific emotion before he could even get the words out.

"I wish I never had anyone else before you. That's how much of a weight your presence has brought to my life, Leslie Quinn. I don't know if I can truly explain the depth of what your existence means to me but I'll begin by saying it's a miracle. I didn't think I would ever meet anyone again that could make me as invested in their life as much as the ones I create on a page for a living. You are the beautiful distraction I needed to realize that there's more to life than that. You are the reason for me to believe that there is still hope in this lifetime. A chance for me to find someone...someone special."

Releasing a nervous chuckle, Christopher walked up to a now shy and reclusive Leslie.

She had receded back into her shell after seeing the look on his face earlier.

That had definitely been love, she ruminated happily.

It felt like a thousand fireworks were going off in her chest as she stared at the man before her.

All this time she had waited for him to reach out to her, she had expected nothing short of a mundane apology. No dramatic confessions involved.

Surely because that was not of Christopher Wells' nature.

He hated any form of excitement or loudness.

However, this man never failed to knock her off her feet.

Standing before her, he slowly reached for the side of her cheek. The area burned with a fervor as he glanced down at her fondly. "You are that person for me, Leslie. You're the only one who makes me feel like it's worth it for you to set the book of my life on fire. To be an excruciatingly sweet disruption...in the best way possible of course." He smiled endearingly and she couldn't help it anymore.

Leslie stood on her tippy toes, wrapped her arms around his neck and gave him a teary-eyed smile. "I'm not just a disruption, Christopher. I'm your best episode."

And she pulled him in for the kiss of a lifetime.

Knowing his habits to intimacy, she had expected him to show the slightest resistance as he did in the past. Especially since she hadn't given him a warning, but there was no such thing.

Christopher returned her kiss with as much passion and ardor as he could muster up. It was so earth-shattering that it had her feeling lightheaded. Her stomach instantly erupted in a fine frenzy, fluttering with crazy delight.

She moaned when he skillfully slipped his tongue into her mouth and explored her like he never had before.

The woman clung to him for dear life. She didn't care that he was soaking wet from the outside world. All she knew was that she had enough warmth to share for the both of them. Even if the entire world froze over, there would still be a flicker of flame left if they were stuck together. That was how profound this moment was.

Christopher reveled in that, loving the way she fit perfectly in his hands.

He felt like the war was over having her like this.

He had so many other things to say but for now he let them all out through his actions.

Leslie gasped when things escalated and he suddenly pinned her against the wall by the front door. She pulled away, panting to see his eyes holding an insatiable blue flame. He barely gave her the opportunity to remind him of Ed possibly hearing them before he claimed her mouth once again.

He was like a man starved of affection and she almost cried at how good it felt to have him be like this with her. So intimate. It was like rain in a desert after a famine. She couldn't help herself when her hands slipped beneath his shirt and trailed the hard outline of his abs. He let out a guttural sound, so unlike him, and his muscles clenched at the feeling of her fingers, making her smile into the kiss.

The lightheartedness of the moment was ripped away when he started trailing kisses alongside her jaw to her neck. Leslie's heart rate sped up, knowing that this was so risky out here in the hallway. What was an impulsive burst of passion had turned into a full on make out session. She was burning red at this point.

"Christopher..." she trailed off, head in the clouds.

She felt the slight nip of his teeth in the skin at her collarbone and gasped at the wonders it did to her senses.

It was making it impossible to collect herself.

Even as she unwillingly rested both hands on his shoulders, prodding him to ease away from her he never did.

Christopher Wells was a man on a mission in this moment.

One that involved capturing everything that she had to offer; heart, body and soul.

And because of that untold quest, he was not letting up.

"Chris—" her words got high pitched as his hands went under her thighs, lifting her against the wall. She wrapped her legs around him instinctively, holding on for dear life.

Leslie swore she saw a smirk as his head lowered and his mouth claimed her neck again. Her hands dug into his shoulders. This time because of how different things were. He was not only nipping, but sucking and licking the spot. She started fantasizing about how alarmingly good it could feel if his tongue was somewhere else.

So stained by the onslaught of his affection, she was beet red. In the cheeks, in the face and all over her body.

Just as she thought she couldn't take it anymore, on the verge of ascending to somewhere beyond her knowledge, she heard a knock from the other side of the door, making them both jump.

She was only allowed to pull away from him then.

"Les, is everything okay out there?"

It was Eddie.

She completely forgot he existed.

In fact, she was at the point of forgetting everyone and everything did.

Christopher was still looking down at her with hooded eyes. He didn't seem the least bit shaken up by Eddie bursting their private bubble. If anything, he was still caught up in the lavender haze of everything.

Clearing her throat from the distraction of him, she swallowed and answered, "Y-Yeah. I'm fine, Ed. Thank you."

Leslie trembled when the man she was entangled with brushed a teasing finger across her neck. A freshly bruised neck. She didn't understand the way his eyes twinkled at the infliction until he pressed down onto it and she softly yelped, making him chuckle. The first of a genuinely boyish reaction she had ever seen from him.

He placed her down on her two feet.

She hit the ground with a stagger, making him catch her firmly by the waist.

He looked down at her with a smile that she hadn't been a witness to before. It was so pure and sweet. She didn't know what to do under that kind of gaze. A blush slowly crept up the side of her neck. At this point she was going to explode.

"You can't be doing stuff like that," she chastised, referring to him poking her sensitive neck. "Ed could have heard, come to check and would've seen us."

"So what if he did?"

That endearing smile he had was gone.

"I-I..." The brunette couldn't help but stutter at his heated gaze. "We're roommates. He lives here too. I don't want to make him uncomfortable seeing something like that."

Stepping closer, he took her hand in his. His gaze followed hers with unwavering confidence. As he tilted his head to the side, he flashed a lascivious smile.

"Then let's go to my place."