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Saturday night was the official Hargreeves’ Sibling Night.
Since they corrected their timeline and averted the apocalypse, the Hargreeves’ Sibling Night became a weekly event for sibling bonding time. That meant weekly movie nights, playing games, trash talking, drinking and, basically, just learning to be real siblings again. It was nearly Vanya’s favourite time of the week. They were all living their own lives, of course, but each Saturday they came all together to spend the evening together. Surviving (or well, escaping) the apocalypse did make them want to have another go at being better siblings for each other.
Today, they started the night with ordering a huge round of pizzas and drinking beer (Luther, Diego and Vanya) and cocktails (Allison, Klaus and Five). Over the last couple of weeks they did a movie marathon, meaning they watched all Avengers and relevant side-movies in chronological order, ending today with Endgame (which left most of them very teary-eyed at the end). Throughout the movie, Five dismantled the whole time-travelling plot by making scathing comments, declaring it all mathematically and physically impossible.
(“Five, stop ruining the movie for us!” Luther yelled.
“Yes, no one cares, if it is actually possible,“ Diego added. “It’s supposed to be fun!”
“I don’t know, if I would call this one fun,” deadpanned Allison.
“Ben says you are a party pooper!” Klaus hollered, even though Ben said no such thing, instead flipping Klaus the bird.
“Well, maybe you should care, since time-travelling did save our lives. If they make a complete pantheon of unbelievable superhero movies, they should at least care for getting the physical aspects correct.”
“NO ONE CARES, FIVE!”
She and Allison only exchanged an eye roll, when a popcorn fight commenced. Their brothers were so childish sometimes. )
In the last months they had redecorated and refurnished the mansion, mostly funded by Allison and by Five who had several bank accounts and had exploited the stock market for decades. Only very little remembered them now of their old Academy days and their dad. The only room they had left untouched was the kitchen – that had always been their and Grace’s domain, never Reginald’s. Gone was the living room with all of Reginald’s posh and dreadful furniture they all learnt to hate in their childhood. Instead, the rooms were modern and cosy and absolutely none of the furniture matched, because they couldn’t agree on the same decorating style. But that was okay; now it was theirs.
They were spread in front of the large TV screen. Klaus and Allison had commandeered the largest sofa, with Klaus’s feet in her lap and Allison painting his nails in bright orange. Diego and Luther had fought for the only armchair – which ended with Luther sitting on the floor and still being the tallest. Vanya and Five shared the small sofa and, during the movie, she had slumped more and more against Five until her head was leaning against his shoulder. Five had said nothing, when she encroached his personal space, only grabbing the blanket from the armrest and covering her with it. She saw only a part of his face, but she could have sworn that for a second his mouth had pulled up in a small, but pleased smile.
Vanya was aware that none of her other siblings would have dared to, basically, cuddle up to Five. But she and Five – they had always been close, had even shared a bed many times back when they were kids. Five had a small soft spot for her. Really, that was all. Nothing special.
And she was really glad that Five managed to grow out of his teenage body, now appearing as a thirty-year-old like the rest of them. Who was now really attractive with his broad shoulders, these devastating cheekbones and his neatly combed fringe that kept flopping into his face anyway.
Nope, this wasn’t bothering her at all.
He was still Five, her best friend and sole confidant. It was absolutely inconsequential that Five grew up hot, since he saw in her only his little sister or maybe his best friend in a best-case-scenario. She should just be glad that her best friend was back and that they spent so much time together. And really, she was grateful for that. She had never been this happy in her life before. Wanting anything else on top of that would just be greedy.
Vanya should just enjoy the night. The casual atmosphere and the beer had made her pleasantly buzzed and drowsy, but she was still awake enough to follow the bickering of her brothers and sister, but mostly preferring to listen. Five was a familiar warmth against her, occasionally throwing in his trademark sarcastic comments.
The overall tranquillity of the moment was broken, when Klaus leaned forward and focused on her, quite suddenly, with a little glint to his eyes. “So my dear little Vanya! A little birdie has told me a rumour!”
That was already enough to make her suspicious. Her life wasn’t very exciting. It consisted mostly of rehearsals, training with her siblings at the mansion, lunch breaks with Five and the weekly Hargreeves’ Sibling Night.
“What did you hear, Klaus?”
“The little birdie told me that you have a secret admirer!”
Now Vanya was fully awake. “Allison!” she shrieked.
Next to her, Five had gone completely still.
“I am sorry! Klaus tricked me!”
Now, that had gotten also the attention of the rest of her brothers who had only recently discovered their protective streak in regards to her. Exactly what she had wanted to avoid. Great.
Diego leaned forward as well. “A secret admirer? What happened?”
“Do you know who it is?” Luther asked.
Vanya sighed. “No, I don’t know who it is. After the last concert, a bouquet with red roses has been delivered to the ladies’ dressing room. I didn’t even see who left the bouquet.”
“Awww, that’s so exciting! Our little sister has a secret admirer!” Klaus clapped his hands gleefully. “But you do want to know who has left you the roses?”
“I don’t know. Maybe? Then I could at least thank him. Or her. The roses are very beautiful.”
“Come on, Vanya, don’t be boring!” Klaus was whining now. “This could be a love story for the ages! A beautiful and successful violinist falls in love with her secret admirer and they live happily ever after.”
That caused her to splutter. “Who said anything about love?”
“Yes, Klaus, aren’t you getting a bit ahead of yourself?” Allison interjected.
“We should at least run a background check, before Vanya agrees to meet him.” Diego was already reaching for his phone, as if he wanted to text his contacts on the police force right this second.
“Are you deaf, Diego? She doesn’t know who it is!”
Vanya sank further into the sofa, covering her eyes with her hands, while her siblings decided if she could start dating again without them doing a background check first. She chanced a glance at Five, who hadn’t said anything at all. Which was very surprising, to say the least.
Five looked … indifferent, mostly. His face was blank, but Vanya knew him well enough to know that this was a mask he put on, when he didn’t want anyone else to know what he was thinking. But she had the feeling that he made a point by not actually looking at her, but observing their siblings discussing Vanya’s non-existent love life. Only a muscle twitched at his jaw, giving away his tension.
Was he angry with her?
Because she had a secret admirer? That was ridiculous, right? She didn’t even do anything!
“Vanya, do you think it could be Harold Jenkins again?” Diego asked, pulling her back to the here and now and stopping her from panicking. This at least she could answer with certainty.
“No, I don’t think so. I haven’t seen him at all.”
And she really hadn’t which she was glad for. She didn’t know what she would have done, if she had met him again.
“It’s not Harold Jenkins”, Five interrupted.
Vanya leaned back from Five in order to look up at him. “What? How do you know?”
“Because he’s dead.” Five swallowed visibly, then added, avoiding her gaze: “I killed him.”
“You what?”, she squeaked.
Finally, he looked at her, his eyes stormy and determined, as always.
“I killed him,” he repeated, “Jenkins was a threat.”
“But how can he be a threat in this timeline? I wouldn’t fall for his tricks a second time! And I can control my powers this time.”
“He still manipulated and hurt you. He deserved to die.”
“Five, you can’t just kill someone, when he hasn’t done anything yet!” Allison interrupted.
“Allison’s right” Luther said.
“Harold Jenkins was not innocent, Allison,” Five sneered, his eyes flashing, “he was still obsessed with the Umbrella Academy. That didn’t change just because we jumped back in time. I couldn’t risk that he would find another way to harm us – any of us. I won’t apologize for that.”
“I think Five has a point,” Diego said.
“Diego agrees with me, the end must be near.”
“Don’t get used to it, old man.”
“Five, we should make this decisions together,” Luther interjected.
“Oh, our fearless leader speaks once again for us all!”
“Five, Luther is just saying that you don’t need to make this decisions alone anymore,” Allison tried to assure him, glaring.
“I will do whatever needs to be done to protect us,” Five declared unapologetically.
“Guys! Stop arguing!” shouted Vanya, and added more calmly, “please. It’s done. We can’t change it anyway.” She turned to Five, who looked still ready to start another fight, full of unreleased tension and taut like a whip. “Five, will you at least promise to talk to us, before you decide it’s necessary to murder someone else?”
Five returned her look contemplatively, his face still stony.
“I will try,” he conceded at last.
That was good enough for now. Vanya was sure, if they should ever be in danger again (and knowing her family, they probably would be one day), Five wouldn’t hesitate to do whatever was necessary to keep them safe regardless of any promise he just made. That was what made him Five. But he would try.
She shot him a quick smile. She heard the others mumbling and ignored it. She found Five’s hand beneath the blanket and squeezed it once. “Thank you.”
He squeezed her hand back. His expression lost some of his hard edges, almost becoming soft. This was the Five she knew.
“Okaaaay, guys!” That was Klaus, ripping her from her thoughts. “Let’s get back to the fun topic – Vanya’s secret admirer.”
She groaned. “Klause, please not again. I don’t even know who it is. It’s just a fan. It’s really not that unusual that some of us get some flowers here and there.”
Beside her, Five had gone stiff as a board again.
What was wrong with him?
“So you had fans who sent you flowers before?”
“Well no, because I was only third chair before.”
There was a moment of uncomfortable silence, but Klaus being Klaus just ploughed right on.
“So you having a secret admirer is special! Please, do tell, what are you planning to do about this?”
“Uh, nothing?”
“Klaus, it’s enough, leave her be!”, commanded Five harshly.
“Don’t get your panties in a twist, Five-o. If Vanya wants me to stop, she can tell me herself. She is a big girl now.”
“Klaus,” growled Five.
“You are making her clearly uncomfortable, Klaus”, Allison warned, giving him a pointed look.
“Jeez, not having any fun allowed around here. Just answer me one more question, Vanny, and I’ll shut up.”
Warily, Vanya nodded. “Okay, what is it?”
“Did your mystery admirer sign a card?”
“Yes, there was a card saying that it was a delight hearing me play and he or she looked forward to seeing more from me, but there was no signature. I have really no idea who it could be” she answered in hope that would end further discussions about some secret admirer she absolutely had no interest in.
So this was of course the moment her other siblings decided to join in on the conversation.
“Creepy”, commented Diego.
“Very,” agreed Luther.
Five ground his teeth quite audibly, almost growling again.
“Vanya, I think we should come to your next concert and check over your fans,” Diego said seriously.
Luther nodded. “Better so be safe than sorry, Vanya.”
(Klaus leaned back and enjoyed his margarita, quite satisfied with the mayhem. Ben hit the back of his head.)
“What? No, that’s not necessary just because someone sent me a bunch of flowers and a cheesy card.”
“Guys, isn’t this a bit much?” Allison sighed.
“Not if Vanya decides to date him.”
“Who said anything about dating?!” she shrieks, “I don’t even know who it is! Maybe he’s married! Maybe it’s some old man! Oder maybe it’s even someone even younger than me!“
“No, you don’t know anything yet about him, but you could always get to know him”, Klaus said, waggling his eyebrows, “Vanny, think about it. I am ready to be your wingman. I’ll help you and give you all the tips to seduce your man! You just deserve some loving after all that apocalypse stress.”
“Klaus, stop talking!” snapped Five.
“But I just want to help Vanya! I want her to be happy!”
“Guys”, Vanya pleaded, before Five could say anything more, “I am not interested in dating anyone at the moment, alright? So you can stop going all big brother on me!”
Diego and Luther grumbled affirmatively. Klaus sulked. Five untensed minimally, he still looked ready to tear someone apart. Allison mouthed an “I am sorry!” at her.
“Okay, but if something creepy happens with this admirer, you’ll tell us, right? Five, back me up here!” Diego commanded.
Five turned to her, pinning her under his intense gaze. “As much as it pains me to say so, Diego is right” - Diego huffed indignantly, throwing some leftover popcorn at Five – “You need to tell us, if your fan keeps being creepy or is harassing you – or anybody else for that matter.”
She squirmed under his imploring gaze. She never could say no to Five. And it was not totally unreasonable, she guessed, and it was kind of nice to have them all so worried about her. “Okay, okay, I will,” she acquiesced finally.
Satisfied, Five settled back against the sofa. “Good.”
“But you do realize that I can defend myself now, right? That’s completely unnecessary.”
“We know,” said Luther.
“And we want to protect you anyway,” added Diego, looking highly uncomfortable with having expressed a positive emotion.
Allison smiled encouragingly. “We love you, sis. We want to be there for you.”
“Yes, we do, you are our little, precious Vanya!” Klaus hollered. “Even though you can be terrifying.”
“Thank you?” she said. “I think?”
Five squeezed her hand beneath the blanket. Vanya smiled shyly at him. They didn’t need any words.
The conversation drifted thankfully to other topics after that. There was another round of beers and margaritas and their brothers trash-talking and one-upping each other, while she and Allison kept exchanging amused looks at their antics and interjecting with comments of their own. This time around she had slumped even more against Five, tucking her legs under and curling into his side. She guessed the booze had made her unusually brave, emboldened by the fact that Five’s hand still covered hers and his thumb rubbed gently back and forth against her knuckles. She wished that she were bold enough to turn her hand and interlace her fingers with Five’s.
Don’t be greedy, she scolded herself. This is enough.
She was already beginning to nod off, when she noticed hazily that her siblings got up slowly and wobblingly and were bidding them a good night one after another.
Five nudged her shoulder. “Hey, still awake?
“More or less.” She yawned, hiding it in Five’s shoulder. She deeply wished she could just stay with Five on the sofa the whole night; she had felt so safe and cared for as she always did in Five’s company. She didn’t want to get up again. “How late is it?”
“Just past midnight. Do you want to spend the night?”
She considered it for a moment. Technically, she also had a redecorated (and still unused) room upstairs, but the thought of laying alone in her bed in her tiny room was enough to make her want to go home. She never spent a night in her old room again, since she left the mansion. She didn’t need the reminder.
She was already sitting up und pulling on her shoes. She avoided looking at him. “No, I‘m going home.” Her mind was somewhat fuzzy, it became a bit difficult not to slur.
Five looked unsurprised. “I could jump you to your apartment.”
She shook her head. “Last time I puked all over your shoes.”
“Then I’ll walk you home.”
“You don’t need to. I can defend myself – remember?
“Vanya, we have this exact conversation each week. What makes you think that you are going to win this time? It’s late and you are drunk. I’ll walk you home, this is not open for discussion.“
She shrugged, the booze hitting her belatedly more and more. Why did he still look so put together? He had drunk more than her. Damn him and his tall body and his high tolerance.
She made one last-ditch-attempt to convince him, but she already knew that Five wouldn’t budge. He just was like that. “I’m used to walking alone. It’s not a big deal.”
“Not happening, I am coming with you.” His gaze softened. “Besides, I like spending time with you. You know that.”
She smiled softly. “I like spending time with you, too.” Promptly, she felt her cheeks heating up. Damn the booze for making her so bold.
And there it was again - that little, pleased smile on Five’s face.
Her heart fluttered excitedly.
She gathered her things and soon they were on their way. The clear night air was refreshing and she took a deep breath, her mind already clearing again. They kept walking in silence and after an evening with all of her siblings, she enjoyed the quiet. With everybody else she would have felt desperately the need to fill an uncomfortable silence with chatter. She thought briefly back to their childhood, before Five time-travelled into the future – they had spent hour after hours in companionable silence, Five working on his equations and Vanya practising or doing homework. She was glad that this didn’t change, even though they had become different people since then.
“Vanya”, spoke Five softly into the quiet.
“Yes?”
“Why didn’t you tell me about this fan before? Why did you only tell Allison?”
Vanca glanced at him. He walked besides her, looking down at the ground with his hands pushed in his jeans pockets and avoiding her gaze. He had pressed his lips together, as if he wanted to prevent himself from saying too much. His voice carried a somewhat hesitating tone she normally didn’t associate with Five. Hesitation was not a word that existed in Five’s vocabulary, he always knew what he wanted to do or say and then simply did it.
It occurred to her that she actually might have upset him.
“I didn’t want you to worry,” she told him earnestly, bumping her shoulder with his. “It just seemed like the thing to talk about with Allison. You know, a proper girls talk. And –, “ she swallowed, but steamrolled on, “I wanted to ask Allison how to deal with fans in general. I was a bit more worried about this fan than I let on earlier. The last time I wasn’t such a good judge of character, but Allison was wary of Leonard right from the beginning. I should have listened to her.”
Five had stopped walking during her answer, so she stopped, too. He drew her to him and laid both hands on her shoulders, pinning her under his intense, demanding gaze.
“If you worry about something, you tell me and I’ll help you. You must know that you can tell me anything and I would never judge you badly. Promise me that you will tell me!”
There was still that unhappy curl around his mouth. Beneath his cool and collected behaviour she could sense his frantic, restless energy, tearing him in opposite directions as if he didn’t know if he wanted to rip her a new one first or go and kick somebody’s ass to blow off some steam elsewhere. Five was truly upset that she didn’t tell him about her worries regarding the fan before, Vanya realized. He tried very hard to conceal it from her, but his mask was fraying at the edges and she could see his anxious agitation bleeding through.
Not daring to think her decision over, Vanya stepped into his arms and embraced him, pulling him close and laying her head on his chest, directly over his heart. Five goes stock still the second she pulls him against her, and after one, two heartbeats he melted against her tiny frame, wrapping her in his arms and tightening the grip even further. He exhaled jerkily, his hot breath making the skin on her neck tingle.
And then, she heard Five sigh, softly, contently.
When was the last time they had hugged each other? When had somebody hugged him the last time? Back when they both had been innocent kids? She couldn’t bear to think about it that it had been such a long time, for him even longer. Her heart aching for him, she tried to squeeze him even tighter.
“I know I can tell you anything”, Vanya said eventually, when she could tell that Five had let go of his underlying tension. With her amplified hearing she had zeroed in on Five’s heartbeat - it had gone from jackrabitting against his chest to a slow and steady rhythm. It felt soothing.
“Vanya –-“ His voice was low and hoarse.
“I promise to tell you, if I worry about something serious. Promise me to do the same?”
“I …” He hesitated.
“Five, I want to be there for you, too. If you want me to tell you when anything worries me, then you need to promise me the same.”
He sighed resignedly. “I promise” he said at last.
His lips grazed her temple so lightly she almost thought she imagined it, and then there was the soft press of his cheek against her hair. And so they remain silently for a long time.
Vanya couldn’t have said how long they stood there, embracing each other on a sidewalk in the middle of the night.
“We should go,” broke Five the silence. The wind had picked up and Vanya shivered even though she was pressed against him, while Five stroked her back in an attempt to warm her up. “It’s getting cold and we are nearly at your apartment anyway.”
None of them moved.
Vanya didn’t want the night to end yet. They stood on the precipice of becoming something more and if they parted their ways now, they probably would pretend nothing out of the ordinary had happened at all at their next meeting
“Will you come up with me?” she whispered then.
“Yes.”
His hot puff of breath met her nape, causing her to shiver again.
Reluctantly, they broke apart. This time, she was sure that Five pressed a quick kiss to her hair, before he stepped away. Her heart was jumping so loudly she was convinced Five had to hear it. They began walking quietly again, their hands brushing from time to time. Feeling brave, Vanya took his hand like she had wanted to the whole evening. He squeezed immediately back.
It wasn’t a long walk, but the last few blocks to her apartment seemed to drag on endlessly. When they reached her block and trudged up the stairs to her apartment, she was nearly vibrating out of her skin. Once they were in, the nervousness hit her full force. She shed her jacket and went to her cabinets, grabbing a glass with water for herself and gulping it down in one go.
“Do you want coffee?” She braced herself on the counter, not daring to turn around and face Five. She heard something rustle, probably he had pulled off his jacket as well and tossed it somewhere.
Earlier had seemed everything so simple and natural, why was it now so stilted?
“Usually yes, but not now. I am already wide awake.”
He stepped closer to her.
“Vanya, turn around.” His words were a demand, yet his voice was soft.
Vanya barely refused Five anything, so she turned hesitantly around. She didn’t even dare to look up at him – for inexplicable reasons it was very hard for her to meet his gaze, so she focused on his mouth instead.
Bad idea. She wanted to kiss that mouth.
Never before had she even admitted this wish to herself.
She ripped her gaze from his mouth hastily, meeting his eyes at last.
“Vanya”, Five said again and then – nothing. He just stared at her for a very long moment. “I don’t know … how to do this,” he confessed haltingly, “I have … actually never done this before.”
She had never seen him so unsure or fumbling for words in the past and she realized, astonished, that Five was just as nervous as her. He swallowed and she watched his Adam’s apple bob, mesmerized. She had the sudden urge to kiss it.
“You are my favourite person,” he told her earnestly and she watched the tips of his ears go slightly red. He breathed out harshly, when she continued to watch him silently, waiting for him to continue. “Just say something, Vanya.”
“You are my favourite person too, Five,” she hastened to reassure him and smiled shyly. “You always have been.”
He ducked his head slightly and his mouth pulled up in that little, pleased smile she loved so much. The tips of his ears went even redder.
He stepped closer to her and took her hands in his, brushing his thumbs over her knuckles. “My feelings for you must have been glaringly obvious in these last few months. So you must already know what I am trying to tell you here.” He paused. “Please, tell me, what you feel, Vanya. If I misunderstood you, you can just tell me and we have to never speak of this again. Everything stays just as it is.”
While his tone was earnest and sure, he still spoke carefully while taking care to not actually reveal too much, leaving her the possibility to feign ignorance so they could continue as before. Even a year ago, she probably would have taken that route, too scared that maybe she had misunderstood everything after all and that he would reject her if she revealed too much of her feelings. Too scared that she would lose her best friend a second time around with only herself to blame.
But how could she be even scared of taking the next step, when Five was here to take it with her together? He had been back for more than a year and had done nothing else but take all of her next steps with her together – learning to control her powers, helping her to forgive herself for causing the apocalypse he spent a lifetime in, learning to play and to trust her violin again and so much more. Everything was less scary with Five directly by her side.
So was this.
She looked into Five’s tentative hopeful face and found that she wasn’t scared at all anymore. So Vanya went on her tiptoes and kissed Five, her sole confidant, her best friend and the love of her life. Finally.
She felt Five coming alive against her lips after a second of shocked stillness, kissing her eagerly back, at bit inexperienced perhaps, but, oh, so enthusiastically, and it was thrilling to be kissed by Five with something akin to desperation as if he wanted to devour her and he had pulled her close to his chest with one hand on her hip, while the other had come up to caress her cheek and she felt ready to burst and now she heard both of their hearts jackrabitting and she wanted to exist in this moment forever.
“Vanya, Vanya,” he panted in between kisses. His voice was so low and husky how she had heard it never before – it made something pleasant curl deep down in her belly. She moved to chase his mouth, when he leant his forehead against hers and closed his eyes. “Tell me you love me.”
She didn’t even hesitate anymore. “I love you.”
He made a pained noise, like he had been punched. “No, you don’t understand, Vanya. You need to be sure that you want this, because if I let myself have this – have you, I mean – I won’t ever let you go again. So you must be sure, Vanya. And if you are not, then we can pretend this never happened. We can go back to how things have been before and nothing will have to change.” He pressed reverently a kiss to her forehead and sighed. He rested his forehead against hers again and closed his eyes. “Please, Vanya, be sure.”
Vanya laid her hand on Five’s cheek and guided his head back so she could see him into his eyes again. He looked equally rumpled and debauched with his hair all messy from her hands and falling into his face – it was a good look on him, one she intended to see on him more often. She traced his jaw line reverently and she felt his pulse jump under her fingers. She was enraptured with the effect she had on him.
“Of course, I am sure,” Vanya told him gently, but firmly. “There has been only ever you for me.”
Vanya had thought that Five would start kissing her again with the same kind of desperation he had shown earlier. Instead, he framed her face gently with both hands and traced her cheekbones with his thumbs, seeming to revel in this moment. His gaze was so tender and loving that Vanya could barely bear looking into his intense eyes. She felt exposed and known and overall cherished like never before. It was almost too much.
“Vanya,” he spoke softly, his voice a caress, “I realized I didn’t say it earlier, even though my feelings must be quite clear to you by now.”
“Five ...“ she mumbled, not quite knowing what to say.
“Just to clarify – I love you, too.”
With the same gentleness he pressed his lips to hers and their mouths began moving against each other again, with great care at first, but quickly their kisses grew more heated and sloppier. Vanya pushed one hand in his nape, playing with his hair and messing it even more up while Five growled lightly, but pleased, into her mouth and began sucking at her neck, causing her to whimper slightly, and her breath hitched, when she felt Five squeezing her ass and aiming his bastard smirk at her, while a familiar heat had begun to pool deep down in her.
Distantly, she was aware that her cutlery was shaking in her drawers, but she couldn’t find it in herself to care.
“Five,” she whispered softly, “take me to bed.”
It was fascinating to watch; the power she apparently held over him. The confident smirk had dropped from his face, while his eyes grew even darker; his gaze intensified and set her nearly aflame with want.
“Please,” she added.
In the next moment he had already picked her up, causing her to squeak in surprise and to put both of her legs around him to keep her balance.
“You have no idea how good it feels to hear you say that”, he said in a deep, husky growl and walked with her to her bedroom, his eyes never leaving hers. Vanya got goose bumps all over her body alone from his heated gaze. “Or how much I want you,” he continued in the same low voice. He paused at the end of her bed and lowered her gently onto her sheets, but remained standing, just looking down at her pleased.
She bit her lip and already the blood rushed to her face, before she even had had the chance to say it. “I want you, too, Five.”
This time, he did pounce on her and kissed her fiercely.
Outside, lightning struck across the sky.
*
“Last night, New York City was witness to an extraordinary weather phenomenon, when out of nowhere a thunderstorm approached. Meteorologists are baffled, since no weather forecasts indicated the possibility of a thunderstorm approaching, even less one of this magnitude. Furthermore, a new record was set: Last night the longest lasting flash was measured at 17,57 seconds above lower Manhattan. Before that, the record was 16,73 seconds, measured by a lightning bolt over northern Argentina in 2019. Experts all over world have declared their interest to research the causes of this unparalleled weather phenomenon …”
*