Chapter 19 - Oops

 

There's a pounding on the door around four in the morning, and Tiara opens her eyes in confusion. But Toulouse isn't the suspect. She furrows her eyebrows, rolls out of bed, and pulls her clothes on for decency's sake.

 She was expecting Athena in labor, perhaps, but not Zac, not the man she's only talked to on the phone a few times. She vaguely wonders if she was serious when she told him he could stop by at any time.

"Hey," he murmurs, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Hey?" Her reply is a little sleepier and less aware. When Zac looks away with a frown, her curiosity takes a hold of the situation. "Do you, umm, wanna come in?"

Before she can even finish talking he's sliding past her into the house, and she stands outside wrestling with her tired confusion for a moment before she follows him inside and shuts the door.

"So...is something wrong?"

"Wrong?" Zac asks. "Why would you say that?"

Tiara's eyes stray toward the clock on the wall. "Well, it's, like, four-fifteen in the morning or something..."

"Oh..."

There's a thick awkwardness in the air that leaves Tiara fumbling for answers even as her head begins to clear. "Look, I know we don't know each other that well, but-"

"My girlfriend's a bitch."

Tiara's eyes widen. Girlfriend? Dude. Why didn't she get the memo? But as she stumbles for words to say to comfort him, Zac doesn't really appear to need them.

"I mean, I ain't been with her for long, but I took good care of her, y'know? But apparently it's not good enough for her. She just runs off with this dude, this fucking HIPSTER, of all things, and gets herself pregnant, and I just..."

He looks at his wit's end, and Tiara does the first thing she can think of.

"I'm sorry," she murmurs against his ear, breathing in the faint smell of cooking oil and brandy, and he hesitates for only a moment before wrapping his arms around her as well.

His breath hitches faintly in that moment, just enough for her to realize that the brandy is on his breath and not his clothes. "Yeah, well...thanks."

As they step out of the embrace, he's looking at her harder, his eyes those of a man with just enough alcohol in his veins to be easily swayed. But he also looks desperate, though for what she doesn't know, and she rolls the situation around in her head again.

Her mother lingers over her shoulder with a smile. "He feels inadequate," Rhiannon murmurs. "And what kind of woman would you be if you didn't help him through it?"

She isn't sure who moves first. For all she knows, they both move at the same time. But seconds later, the problem of the moment evaporates into thin air.

Her first kiss is sweet but electrifying, like a sour piece of candy that sets all of her senses aflame before melting into sugary bliss. It makes her feel overstimulated and heady, but desperate for more.

Zac stares at her. And then he pulls her in with a soft groan, crushing her body against his.

The two fall into bed, Zac pulling her on top of him, and Tiara gladly presses him down against the bed and makes him feel as wanted as she damn well can. He deserves that much.

For her first time, it goes surprisingly well. Zac lets her lead the pace. Her pain is minimal. And, when it's all over, he cradles her to himself as they catch their breath, as close as two spoons in a drawer, and somehow that is far more intimate than the act itself.

She nearly falls asleep there in the addicting warmth of his arms, but when she glances over her shoulder she sees that he is wide-awake and troubled. He stares back at her tentatively, and she offers him a tired smile.

"If I was you," she murmurs, "I'd slip back home while I still could, before anyone could get suspicious."

He sags into the bed for a moment, one heavy moment of gratitude, before he nods. "Yeah...yeah, you're right." Zac rolls out of bed and dons his clothes again. "Uh...thanks, by the way."

Tiara shakes her head and waves him off. "Don't worry about it."

The next morning as she changes the sheets on her bed, Tiara wonders at the faint sense of emptiness in her. Rhiannon never really warned her about that. She ponders if her mother ever felt that after her many one-night-stands or if she's the only one in the world who does.

Work waits for no wondering woman. Nor do hungry kitties.

Hitler!Cat grows into a full-grown Dizzy, handsome as can be.

Dizzy dislikes bathing. The whole experience tires Tiara out far more than it should and leaves her more confused than ever.

The next morning, she figures out why.

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I know it's a rather short post, but I hope ya'll bear with me as I get back into the swing of things. Hopefully chapters will get a wee bit longer as time goes by.