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Chapter Text

There are a few things in life  that you are absolutely certain of. The wetness that splashed in front of your feet being water and not the bodily fluid of some drunken man was not one of them. All you could do was be thankful that open-toed shoes were a faux-pas when going out clubbing and try your best to sidestep the questionable puddle in the dark alleyway that Sam seemed unnervingly familiar with. It was past 2 in the morning for sure and you had hoped that being shoved out of the closing bar would have been enough to convince Sam that it was time to go home. 

In order to celebrate your new job at Valdivian, Sam had been quick to suggest a night at your favourite club. Unfortunately neither of you seemed to have gotten the memo that they were closed for renovations and had shown up teetering on what you would never admit were too-high heels and filled with about 5 shots of Vodka and whatever leftover cocktail mix you had laying in your fridge.You both had stared bleary eyed with a group of other partiers at the greasy paper that blocked you and everyone from a good time, it was hardly a great way to celebrate a new job.

Not one to give up on a fun night , Sam had quickly dragged the both of you to every other club this side of the city. The good news was she knew a lot of them. The bad news was that she was a lot worse at holding her alcohol than you were and every bouncer was quick to toss a weary glance at the teetering , glass-eyed girl before kindly asking you to leave. At this point you had probably gone to and been rejected by every single club and nothing killed your buzz like standing outside and seeing everyone but you come out with the glow of a good club session on their cheeks.The buzz was long dead  and so was the night.

 “Sam, let's just go home. We can go clubbing next weekend and it'll be better cause we will be celebrating my first full week at work.”

“ Last place I promise , we can’t end the night with pres that's how you start the night. Anyways we're here.It’s more a bar than a club but at this point if they let us in and serve booze I don't care if it’s a closet.” She says tugging you towards a dark wooden door in a barely lit alleyway. In front stood a man that could have been mistaken for the door itself with that height and those shoulders. His sleeves were rolled up just enough to see the myriad of tattoos layered across his skin. 

Odd you never imagined bars as the type of place to have bouncers , clubs sure but not bars. Luckily, it seemed that the buzz had worn off for Sam and you crossed your fingers that she could hold it together just enough to be let in.

“ID.” the bouncer demanded his arms still crossed before his chest. You both reach into your bras to pull out your driver’s licence.The doorman leans forward to inspect them a smirk on his eyes.

“I don’t have a bag that goes with this outfit so you know, improvisation.” Sam say's with a little grin.

“Quite the genius we have here .” He responds with a smile before moving to the side and opening the door. “Names Dorian by the way” he adds , resting his gaze on Sam and by the way she bites her lip you know she might be slipping away for a minute … or twenty.

The open door brings with it the sound of chattering and what can only be described as some of the most god-awful wailing your ears have ever had the misfortune of experiencing. You immedaitly drag Sam over to the bar . If all the music sounded like that then you were going to need a shot to make it through the remaining hours of the night. The both of you order your customary shot of tequila and begin scanning the bar. It was much more chill than your regular scene but at least that terrible wailing had stopped. Instead it was replaced by some mediocre rapping. 

“ Hey , so I need to go to the washroom for a bit , actually a while.” Sam whispers into your ear over the sound of the music.

“You mean you need to go see if you can get dick from Dorian.” she responds with a lighthearted slap on your arm and mock outrage.

“Just what kind of woman do you think I am?”

“ A woman that is going to come back and give me way more details than I need to know about him banging you. Go have fun but message me if you guys end up going to do it someplace else and don’t forget to share your location.” 

She gives you a quick hug before sauntering off towards the door. Taking a seat by the bar to give your feet a bit of reprieve , your mind wanders over which cocktail you should order to sip on. You suddenly get a strong whiff of shampoo and turn over to look at the figure that slumped heavily into the stool next to you.

The man turns towards you , his eyes peeking through the curly mass of hair that falls over his forehead. He straightens up fiddling with the lapels of his see through coat. Running his fingers through his hair , he flashes you a smile.

“Well hello there , darlin’ . Mind if I buy you a drink?” he asks in a deep, drawling voice.

“Depends on whose offering.”

“My apologies , the name’s Johnny , Johnny Splash.”

“Oh, like Johnny Cash?”

“ Exactly right , young lady.” he responds, his eyes widening in shock and delight “ dang , pretty cute and pretty knowledgeable , now you gotta let me buy you a drink.”

You give him an appreciative once over, even when seated you could tell he was tall and that white suit did little to hide the firm body underneath. It had been a while since you had gotten laid and honestly after the mediocre night you were having maybe spending it with a deep voice like his in your ear would be more than enough to make up for it.

“A martini , dirty.” you say to the bartender he had summoned never taking your eyes of him. 

“ A whisky for me” and after putting down the cash for it Johnny turns, giving you a full view of the slit in his shirt and a smooth chest that you expected to be running your hands over sooner or later.

“So what’s a pretty , young thing like you  doin’ here all by her lonesome?”

“Well, I was here with a friend but she met someone and they are getting to know each other if you know what I mean.” you were laying it a bit thick but bars weren't always a place known for their subtlety 

“ Uh-huh I know all about that , but say how about you make a new friend , like me.”

“I’d love that Johnny actu-”. You are cut off by the bartender leaning in between the both of you.

 “Sorry guys but the bar closes in 10 minutes oh and thanks for the tip.”

“If you don’t mind , how bout I walk you to your taxi? Can’t have you walkin round these parts alone this late at night.” 

You take a quick glance at your phone to see a message from Sam with her location showing her at an apartment down the street. 

“I live pretty close but I would appreciate the company on the walk home.” 

‘Say less , darlin’.” Standing from the stool he offers you his hand and leads you towards the door. You notice a different but eerily similar bouncer to Dorian at the door. 

The two of you stroll down the quiet streets with you occasionally brushing your thumb across his knuckles.His face maintains a flush and you can’t tell if it’s from the whisky or excitement.It’s a pleasant enough walk although you have to focus really hard on listening to what he’s saying. It’s not that he’s boring but that voice and those red lips keep dragging your mind to topics that are a bit more exciting.

“What about you , what does a girl like yourself do ?” drawing you from the fantasy of feeling those lips and other parts of him pressed against our skin.

“Hmm? Oh, I'm a customer service assistant . I actually just got hired and today was supposed to be a chance for me and my friend to celebrate. Oh this is me , can I offer you something to drink as a thanks for walking me home.” 

“No need to worry your pretty , little head over that.” he says with a squeeze of your hand.

“ It’s no worry , please I’d love for you to come in.”

Johnny let’s go of your hand and turns to face you. You take a small step back until your back hits the door as he inches closer. He lifts his arms, pinning you against the door before slowly lowering his head. You part your lips , eyelids lowering towards his own. His lips hover just a breath away from yours before he turns and places them on your check in a chaste kiss before stepping away.He chuckles as you blink at him in confusion.Pulling out his phone he hands it to you.

“Put your number in , darlin.” He says with a smirk that makes you want to smash your lips against his.Instead you do as he says passing it over once you’re done.

“Listen , when I come across a girl that I like , and I know I’m goin to like you . I prefer to take things slow , you understand right , darlin? Good, I knew you would. I’ll message you and we can go on a real date to celebrate your new job and see where this thing takes us.”

All you can do is nod and fumble for your keys before slipping in through the door. You cast another glance at him over the threshold in case this was just his way of being a tease. He gives a wink and walks back to the sidewalk.

You close the door and peek through the window to see if Johnny is waiting on the sidewalk but he is nowhere to be seen.

Great, just great. You trudge your way up the stairs into your bedroom and throw yourself onto the bed slapping around the dresser for your vibrator.You may not have gotten laid but that doesn’t mean you would be going to bed without an orgasm.

Chapter Text

It has to have been at least five minutes that you’ve let your mouse hover over the incredibly tempting ‘mute’ button over the chat. Too bad the chat just so happened to be the one your boss was in AKA the reason you wanted to mute it anyways. In all your other jobs it had always been the co-worker social chats that had driven you crazy with the one person that took the ‘we’re a family’  motto a little too seriously. Those had been easy to mute with little to no consequences but this time you couldn’t risk the chance of missing out on some important information and honestly with the way employee surveillance was in these big corporations you would not be surprised if the company workspace had a function to figure out who was muting who especially if it was a higher up.

After fantasising about clicking the button , you sigh in relief as the boss ends his stream of pep talks and goes silent. Switching tabs you make your way through some cases that feel like the case studies from your  How to deal with complaints1001  class in first year. You hoped that they were just assigning you the easy cases since it was your first day but if not then at least it was decent money for easy work. After about an hour you smooth over the sticky tab you had pressed onto the camera about 15 minutes into the shift after learning that there was no ‘camera-on’ policy even for meetings. Once sure that it was stuck on nicely and not about to transmit your transgressions you swipe open your phone and pull up thiscord. Pulling up the chat with Sam you scroll through the update of her weekend with Dorian. It had been Sunday afternoon when she had sent you her first signal of life and based on her pinned location it seemed that their one-night stand had spilled into the next day.She had sent a simple ‘ hey , still alive , still at his place and still waiting for him to finish with breakfast so we can continue with round 7? 8? Anywayyss i’ll send deets tomorrow during work.’

The part of you that should have been dealing with the aftermath of a hangover instead got to deal with the jealousy of knowing that Sam was having the time of her life with a hot bouncer while you had settled for your vibrator.The jealousy had turned to irritation as your mind had turned back to the man that had left you a frustrated mess.For the first time in who-knows- how many years you had taken your phone off silent for when Johnny messaged you.Every bit of anxiety that you should have had about  getting for your first day at work had instead gone into waiting for that message. At first you thought he would send you a good morning message before asking you out but by noon there was nothing and you had to throw your phone into a desk before you started manifesting the message to come through. By four  o'clock and after having read Sam’s message the anticipation had turned back into irritation and you had decided to just put your phone on silent and put the man out of your mind. An early night turned into an early morning and still nothing but at least you had a day of work to focus on.

You scrolled through the wall of texts Sam had sent and the only thing you could make out from all the typos was that Dorian seemed to have kink for going at it on any hard surface that wasn’t a bed. You send a message telling her that you call her once the shift was over because her excitement-induced typos were so egregious that it may as well have been a different language. A ping from your workstation draws your attention and you turn over the phone to get back to another batch of customers that seemed to think reading the item description or instructions was just a recommendation.

The hours go by and soon there’s only 10 minutes left in the work day. You flip over the phone to check for new messages and notice a message from an unknown number. 

Don’t think I forgot about your pretty lil face.How about you and me go grab milkshakes this Friday , my treat .

Your heart thumps in your chest once you realise the message has come from Johnny. Another ping from your workstation stems the flow of thoughts of how long to wait before responding.Leaving him on read you scroll through the new batches of messages from your boss and manager. With each message you feel your blood start to freeze over until it feels like shards of ice are slicing through your veins.You reread the message letting you know that you have been terminated in the hopes that you had just misread it or that it was just silly prank on all the newbies but the side message from your supervisor confirms everything. 

Your numb fingers pull up your phone , your hands are shaking as you see a notification banner from Sam flash by asking if she can call now.You pull up the messages and just type in a quick ok but your hands are shaking so bad that it takes infinite amounts of focus to tap on the two letters. Closing your eyes you try to control your breathing waiting for Sam’s familiar profile pic to flash across your screen. When you open your eyes you notice another message written below your ok that you quickly realise had not been sent to Sam just before her call comes through.

Perfect,  see you at 7 darlin

Chapter Text

“Hey , I saw the announcement … are you one of the ..you know … affected?”  Sam’s compassionate voice filled your ears and you tried to focus on it instead of the gnawing anxiety that chewed on your heart.

“ Yeah , my supervisor confirmed it. Hah I must hold the world record for shortest employment term.”

“It has nothing to do with your work ability , you were probably going to end up being the best agent that they had. Not probably but definitely. It’s just that they always let the newbies go first cause you know the rest of us have all these laws and rights and stuff.”

“I know but it still feels really shitty you know. I spent all these months looking for a job and finally think that I’ve gotten something stable just for it to be over in a day.Sorry I’m being really whiny but -”

“But nothing! It’s totally normal that you’re upset. Look, you are going to find another job that’s just as good if not better and I’m going to help you look. I’ll see if any of the places my friends work at are hiring and let them know.”

“Thanks Sam.” you try to make your voice sound anything but flat but give up just as quickly as you start. “I know I don’t sound grateful but I am.”

“I told you , its fiiine. For now just take some time to decompress, get out of the house, go for a walk or the movies. Just don’t stay at home rotting.”

“Well , I did just accidentally agree to a date this Friday.”  You push yourself out of your chair stretching until you feel a satisfying pop in your shoulders. Putting your phone on speaker you make your way to the kitchen to pull out the packet of ramen for when you couldn’t  be bothered to actually cook. That resolution to eat more home-cooked meals has managed to continue past the zeal of the new year  but today you were willing to put it on pause.You rustled around for a pan and all the extra veggies and egg you would add so you could call it a real meal while listening to Sam bombard you with demands for details.

“ Well after you and Dorian decide to go and discover every surface you could fuck on I met someone at the bar and - don’t get to excited cause we did not sleep together. He walked me home and then offered to take me on a date later this week to ‘celebrate my first week of work’ . He messaged me right as the announcement came and I accidentally said yes.”  Tossing the veggies and egg into the ramen you watched it boil as Sam squealed at the thought of you going on a date.

“Oh this is perfect! Let alone getting laid when was the last time you went on a date? I say make good on the message and go on the date. It’ll keep your mind off this mess.Make sure to wear that cute little yellow dress.The short one an OH sorry i’ve got to go Dorian is calling but I’ll send you some links to places hiring and see what I can do but yes go on the date byee.”

Hearing the call disconnect you turn off the stove and grab the hotpad to place the hot pot.you could not be bothered to pour the ramen into a bowl and create extra dishes.Sitting at the table to slurp up the ramen while looking at the last message Johnny sent. You had considered sending a message to let him know that the response had been for someone else but maybe Sam was right.Afterall , being unemployed wasn’t a reason to rule out going on a date and you definitely had more than enough money to afford a milkshake date. Speaking of which you typed in a message asking which spot you would be meeting at. He responds immediately and sends you the directions for a place called For God Shakes. You forward the location to Sam to check if its a good place , if anyone would know about the food scene in the city it was her. 

You had already finished the dishes and finished your night time routine by the time she responded. Snuggled up in bed , scrolling through youtube three notifications from her flash across on your screen.

You have to get their hojicha shake it is SOOO good

Also gonna be spending the night with Dorian again

Oh also x2 when I spoke to Dorian he told me that he has a friend at Hank Corp and they have a position open. I know its no Valdivian but i asked if he could drop your name and he said yes! Told you everything would you be fine !!

Chapter Text

The day after Sam had sent the message you had received an email inviting you to an interview with Hank Corps … the next day. You had to read the email to make sure you were not reading the date and time wrong . The only good thing had been that the interview was virtual because there was definitely not enough time to scope out the route to the building if it had ended up being in person. 

The first interview had gone pretty well , at least well enough that they invited you to a second round for the next day … and then a third round for the day after that. Each interviewer (oddly enough all named Hank) had said it was because all the supervisors in the chain up to the boss had to be happy with you to proceed with the hiring.You had grinned and endured it all , though you could only do so many  “So tell me about yourselves” in a row before wanting to swallow glass.

 It was now Thursday evening and your heart felt heavy with dread when you saw the email notification from Hank Corp. If it ended up being another interview , you decided you may just have to bow out of the process and look elsewhere because honestly a company that sold hangers did not need to go through such a long process to hire a customer service agent. Sighing , you pull open the email and your breath catches as you read through the email.

Congratulations!

We would like to extend a warm welcome to Hank Corporation in the role of Customer Service Agent in the complaints department. Your first day is XX-XX-XXXX  .This role is a hybrid position with the expectation that you will be in office 3 times a week. We kindly ask that you sign and return the contract to this email by midnight.

We look forward to welcoming you on the first day.

Best ,

Hank Juan.

Head of HR Administration.

Tomorrow . Your first day is tomorrow and you had to fight the nerves that filled your body.It wasn’t the nerves of starting a first job but the nerves of wondering what on earth you had gotten yourself into. After all they always said to be wary of a job that was quick to hire you and while you did have to go through 3 rounds of interview the quick turn around from offer to first day was enough to make anyone wary.

Deciding not to question your luck in getting a new job so quickly you hastily sign the document and send it over along with your  banking and Social Insurance Number. Glancing at the clock that now showed 9 pm you decided to go up and prep your outfit for your first day of work. As you pull out a simple grey dress that should be HR appropriate you spot the yellow dress Sam had brought up and suddenly remembered your date with Johnny tomorrow. 

There hadn’t been much communication between the two of you other than confirming that he would be picking you up from your home. You had studied all the train routes to and from work and figured that even if you missed one train or three you would still be able to make it home in time to get showered and dressed before Johnny arrived. Taking out your steamer , you steam both dresses before placing them on the hanger by the cupboard ready for tomorrow.

Luckily for you it turned out the office was just two stops away  from your old university campus. It felt strange seeing all those students looking so young and excited even though you had been in their position just a few months ago looking at all the office workers that seemed so adult and professional with their bags and suits. The reminiscing did not last long as you managed to find your way into the building and go through the process of getting your badge . Once the badge was fastened to your lanyard you bump into one of the three Hanks  that had interviewed you, you remember his surname sounding like either Terzo Or Thierzo. He wore what looked like a navy jumpsuit and seemed to have another in his hand.

“Hey! New Employee” somehow he and the other interviewers spoke in a way that felt like the oral version of putting all-caps on each word. “Looking great but you are going to look even better in the uniform we got to show off our partnership with Redbowl.” He said, nudging the jumpsuit into your arms. “I’ve brought you yours so you can get changed and get started.”

You paste a small grin on your face as you thank Hank and make your way to the employee washroom to strip out of your dress and put on the suit that makes you feel like a power ranger cosplayer at a two year old’s birthday party. The suit smelt like it had just been ripped out of the plastic bag it came shipped in and as you sat at your desk you hoped that work would be busy enough to distract you from the smell and shame of being in the outfit. To be fair , it did end up being incredibly busy because it seemed that a lot of people had a lot of complaints about hangers. The day slipped through as you listened to and dealt with the different variations of the same complaint.

Finally the day came to an end and the thought of a nice, hot , long shower had you ripping yourself a little too forcefully out of the jumpsuit and back into your dress. After all there was absolutely no way that you would be caught dead on the train in that outfit. You leave the building making sure to give everyone a friendly goodbye before making your way to the train. The universe seemed to have taken pity on you for the lackluster day and had you arrive just in time to catch the train.

As you unlock your front door and walk into the home you notice a message from Johnny’s number.

Can’t wait to see your pretty lil face tonight .

You can’t help the sappy smile that spreads across your face as you read the message.You decide to finally save his number under his name instead of leaving it as just a series of digits before stepping into the shower. You scrub every part of your body that you could imagine him putting his face to. After making sure that you were as fresh as you could be , you step out making sure to moisturise and add a little spritz of perfume. You pause and decide to add a spritz to your ankles and the back of your knees because you never know where the night could take you.

Pulling open your drawer to grab your underwear you hear the sound of a car engine coming closer until it stops right underneath your window. Quickly slipping into your underwear you pull the curtains slightly ajar to take a peak. Right outside your house is a shiny , black cadillac. The door swings open and from your angle you see a tuft of dark black curls emerge from the seat. You pull back the curtain and shimmy into the dress as quickly as you can. You grab your bag and heels trying to slip your earrings into the hole that decided today was the day to block up. Wincing as you manage to get the earring through you reach the front door and take a deep breath to calm your racing heart as you pull on your shoes. Feeling like your heart has calmed down to an acceptable rate, you check your phone to see his message saying he was here. Grateful for the message so it didn’t make you look like you had been just waiting for him to show you finally open the door.

Leaning against the door of the Cadillac is Johnny in a light blue jacket , underneath which is a white button up although just like last time not all the buttons are done giving a glimpse of his chest. His white slacks lay enticingly against his hips and as you walk towards him you have to fight the urge to lick your lips as you eye him. He pushes himself off the car in an easy manner as you stand in front of him. His lips slant into a lopsided grin before he leans forward to press them against your forehead. You sigh as the smell of his body wash envelops you and before you can melt into him he steps away with that deep chuckle of his. Stepping to the side he opens the door ushering you inside. He then reaches over to clip your seatbelt in place and your hands itch to grab the lapels of his coat. Once certain the seatbelt is clicked into place he closes the door and crosses over to slide into the driver’s seat. As he revs up the car , Johnny turns to you with a smoldering look in his eye. 

“Might I just say you are looking mighty fine tonight.” he adds with a wink.

You manage to squeak out a thank you as he pulls onto the road. The night had barely begun and yet you already knew you didn’t want it to end.

Chapter Text

Johnny was just as much a gentleman guiding you out of the car as he had been getting you into it.Pulling you out of your seat he kept your hand firmly in his as you both walked up to the waitress at the entrance of the milkshake bar. In the dark of the night the bright lights from inside the bar surrounded the hostess giving her an almost effervescent glow that matched her equally bright smile.

“Hey there , Johnny , the usual spot?” the hostess chirped at him

“Nah , gimme the booth , I wanna be able to look at this pretty lady all night.” he replied with a squeeze of your hand 

You feel your face grow warm from the statement as your eyes fall to the ground lest he or the hostess see how affected you are. 

“Not a problem, follow me.” She says grabbing two menus and leading you through the throngs of waiters and waitress that glide through the room with an array of shakes and meals.She brings you to a booth in a corner of the diner that shields you from most of the other tables while still giving you a view of the counter where the dishes are brought out from and the juke box.

As you and Johnny slide into your seats you take a moment to look around the place. It’s a pretty small place obviously modeled after those from the 1950s . Red and white checkered floors bleed into the counters and wall. Next to the counter a light up Jukebox blares out a familiar tune that you just can’t remember the name of.

“Swell place aint it , darlin.”

You snap out of your appraisal of the place at the sound of his voice. Bringing your eyes back to him you see him , with his cheek nestled in one hand with that lopsided grin of his. Your own lips quiver as you try to stop them from turning into a smile of their own.

“It’s lovely , I’m guessing you come here often seeing as the hostess knows you enough to know your usual spot.” 

“Don’t get too jealous , Koppi just remembers me because I’m a good tipper. ‘Sides I mostly come here with my friends for the karaoke nights.”

Just as you open your mouth the reply Koppi reappears with a notebook in her hand and a pencil that she pulls out from her hair.

“I’m assuming the usual peanut butter and banana shake for you Johnny?” and with an affirmative nod from him she turned to you with that perpetual bright smile of hers. “ and for you?”

“Could I get the Hojicha milkshake please?” you thanked Sam a thousand times in your mind for her recommendation because you had been so focused on the venue and Johnny that there was no way you could have focused on picking something from the menu.

“Excellent choice , I’ll be back soon with your drinks.” and with that she slid back towards the counter.

“All my years comin here , and I ain’t never heard of that shake. You’ll have to let me get a taste of that.” Johnny drawls with a wink.

Try as you might you can’t fight the dopey smile that creeps up on your face . You take a moment so that the things that come out of your mouth are words and not the garbled mush that he is making you feel.Lucky for you Koppi returns quicker than you imagined with your respective shakes and metal straws before disappearing once again.

Feeling a bit bold you pull Johnny's straw from the side plate it's laying on before placing it into your shake so that it's facing him and your straw is facing you.You shift the shake to the middle of the table so you can both lean over towards the straw.Wrapping your lips around your straw you quirk your eyebrow at him inviting him to join you. He responds with a chuckle as he encloses his lips around the straw. 

His hair falls over his eye as he leans over and without thinking you reach to brush it away , your fingertips burning where they meet his skin. He captures your fingers in his hand chilled from holding the glass still. Perhaps because  of the chill of his own fingers yours feel all the more hotter. You gaze into his eyes as if hoping that their blue like that of a newly frozen pond will bring down your own heat. Instead he hides them between his tightly squeezed eyelids as he leans slightly back. You also let go of your straw with a gasp as much from the incoming brain freeze as from Johnny.

“Damm , can’t remember the last time I had a brain freeze.” Johnny blurts out wincing as he rubs his forehead. 

“Want me to rub it better ? ”

“Don’t start offering to rub ,sweetheart cause I may not ask you to stop.” He says with his eyes still closed.

Suddenly feeling to shy to continue the conversation in the vein you pivot the topic. “So Mr Splash , you say you come here often with your friend for karaoke. Does that mean you embody Johnny Cash not just in name but in talent too ?”

Underneath the table you feel his ankle brush against yours and by the look in his eye now trained on you it is no accident. In return you raise your foot along his leg slightly dragging the leg of his pants so you feel his skin against your ankle.The chilled hand that had never let go of your fingers grips it even tighter as his grin spreads although you are unsure if it from the little game of footsie or from your question.

“Such an inquisitive lil thing you are. Well I’m not going to anger the musical gods by claiming to be on his level but I do think they put a little bit of talent in my pocket , so to say.”

“And when can I expect a serenade?” you say as you continue to slide your ankle against his foot. Johnny plucks the cherry sitting on the pile of ignored whipped cream twisting it by the stem before his fingers. He brings it to his lips and just as his tongue darts out to pull it in he quirks his eyebrows and leans forward bringing it your lips instead. You pull the red fruit into your mouth pressing your lips against his fingers.Even as you chew he keeps his fingers against your lips not lifting his gaze from them as he speaks.

“Hmm , well we are celebration’ my pretty lil things' first week at Valdivian so why not tonight. Let’s mosey on outta here , alright. I know a nice park , sounds real romantic right darlin’ ?”

With that he suddenly chugs his own forgotten milkshake , shaking away the brain freeze that you know immediately struck him. Licking the brown foam from his top lip he slides out of the booth pulling you with him towards the counter. He drops your hand as he pulls his wallet out of his pants to get his card. 

“Don’t keep that hand too far , sweetheart. Hey koppi! the bill please and quickly if you don't mind.”

Koppi quickly punches your total into the machine and flips it towards him. Johnny taps through the prompts , putting in a 20% tip before tapping his card and withdrawing it back into his wallet as soon as he hears the beep of approval. 

Your hand back in his , he leads you towards the Cadillac. As he fastens you back into the seat you can’t help but wonder how to admit that you were no longer with Valdivian but rather with the less notable Hank Corp. While a job was a job and you knew that the time you were spending with him wasn’t because of what you did for a living your hand couldn’t help but twitch with some sense of shame. In response to the twitch , Johnny brings your hand to his lips as he drives on one-handed into the dark night.

Chapter Text

The lights of the car illuminated a  large blue sign next to the open gate. 

“Huh! Say here no parking here after 9 pm. What time is it now sweetheart?”

“9:15” you respond looking at the time on his phone that lay in the centre console. “But the gate’s still open and I can see other cars in the parking area so it should be fine.” 

“Well , looks like I picked up a little troublemaker tonight.” He says with a teasing lilt to his voice as he swerves the car towards an open parking space far from the others.

“Troublemaker! I’ll have you know I am the very embodiment of good.” mock outrage filled your voice. Although it was hard to maintain the tone as he threw his hand over the back of your headrest. His body tilted towards you as he turned to look through the back window as he began the manoeuvre to reverse park. Your gaze travelled up his exposed neck to the profile of his face highlighted by pale slivers of moonlight that slipped through the window screen. His brow furrowed in concentration as he spun the wheel to get the car into position and you realised that this was the first time you had seen him without the dreamy look in his eye. It took but a few seconds for him to get the car parked but even then he remained in the same position only with his eyes back to their relaxed state.

“Got a good enough look , darlin , or do you want me to stay like this a little longer?”

You turn towards your door throwing a ‘show-off’ over your shoulder which was met by a chuckle. 

“Now how am I a show-off for parking ?”

“You could have driven straight into the spot.” you say as you slide your hand down to un-do your seatbelt. His hand slips over yours pushing down your thumb on the seatbelt clip  to release it. He gently pulls the seatbelt back into its place before slipping out his seat and coming over to open the door for you. As you step out of the car he pulls you into his arms, his warm breath tickling your ear.

“Ok , yes I am a show-off but with a sweet thing like you next to me what else am I  supposed to be.” He whispers into your ear as he punctuates his words with a soft kiss to the tip of your ear.Tilting your head you press your lips to his chin. Leaning back you see a faint blush bloom across his face and something about the fact that you could make him just as flustered as he makes you fills you with a bit of pride. 

“You are forgiven ,Mr Splash, as long as I still get my serenade.” 

“Does the lady have a specific request?” 

“Surprise me.”

His hands slip from around you as he leads you towards a bench illuminated by a single lamp post. After seating you on the bench he takes a few steps back before shimmying into one of those outlandish poses you remember from the posters of Elvis your parents used to keep around the house. His head down he peaks at you beneath his lashes and mass of curly hair. He lifts his arm to point at you 

“This one's for you , pretty mama.”

You give a little cheer that echoes through the silent park as a grin stretches across your face. He lowers his hand to begin beating out a rhythm on his thigh. Swinging his head towards the moon he parts his lips , takes in a breath and a melody emerges. 

You slightly falter in your swaying to the beat but catch yourself just as his head whips back towards you. Within the first lines of his singing you are taken back to the night you met and the grin stays frozen on your face as you realise that the awful singing that you had thrown out of your mind on that night belonged to the very man that stood in front of you. His face showed no sign or awareness of the weakness of his voice. Instead he sang to you with such earnestness and such a look in his eyes that you could almost convince yourself that passion and tenderness was what made his voice weak.

Approaching the chorus of the song he moved closer to you taking your hand in his. Looking into those eyes of his surrounded by the warmth of his blush you couldn’t help the tenderness that grew in your heart. Each line filled it with such cloying sweetness that you felt like your breath would stop. So what if his voice was made for singing in the shower and not in public ? the tenderness and yearning that he put into the words that he chose for you could make up for it. 

With your hand still in his , he seats himself next to you letting the final notes of the song drift into the night. All is quiet as he gazes at you expectantly. 

“So … what did you think?” 

“Oh , Johnny …” you trail off, unable to think of what to say. You couldn't say it was amazing but telling him it was good was just as bad.

Unaware of your inner dilemma a boyish smile spreads on his face and he leans close. Just as close as that first night when he denied you a kiss but this time you refuse to be let off with a peck on the cheek. Throwing away all thoughts of his performance you lean forward to close the gap. Closing your eyes you press your lips hesitantly against his. You feel his hand rest against your cheek , his thumb tracing it softly as he pulls you deeper into the kiss. Your ears fill with the sounds of his soft lips moving wetly against yours. 

Gently he pulls away from your lips resting his forehead against yours.

“I guess I left you speechless huh , but lemme say this before we get more distracted. You know I’ve been thinkin’ … I’ve been wonderin’ would you do me the honour of bein my girl?.”

Chapter Text

“I know it’s only our first date and all that but I really wanna see where all this goes with you.” Johnny blusters out without his usual suaveness. It makes your heart itch how cute he is in this moment of vulnerability. It's true that you rarely agreed to be becoming so official so quickly , well to be fair you didn’t have much experience being official with someone , but wasn't that the point of dating? To fumble around the world together , hand in hand and hope the other one would still hold on. 

“Johnny , I can’t promise that I am going to be everything you want me to be-” 

“Darlin all I want is for you to be yourself and to be mine. We’ll figure out the rest as we go along.” He cuts you off , poking a warm finger into your cheek.

“In that case , yes Johnny , I will officially be your darling.” you whisper against his lips which stretch into a smile.

“That makes me happier than a clam at high tide.” 

“I can’t wait to find out just how many of those sayings you have locked up in that head of yours Johnny.”

Johnny stands up pulling you along with him into a tight embrace before intertwining your fingers as he continues up the path towards the car.

“Well hopefully we have a long time for you to find out about my fairly infinite number of sayings.”

“Not as infinite as you say if you have to add the quantifier ‘fairly’ .”  You say thrusting your head towards him with a voice as light as you feel.

With his free hand he gently taps the top of your head making sure you see him exaggeratedly roll his eyes.His hand slips from the top of your head to give your cheek a small pinch before ushering you into the seat of the car. 

“Wow, a boyfriend and a chauffeur all in one.”

“Don’t forget to add a singer to that sweetheart.”

You humm in response which he seems to take as a sign of your assent. The purring of the Cadillac's engine echoes in the silence of the empty streets as the both of you navigate the familiar path towards your home. In the short drive back to your home you contemplate whether or not to invite Johnny in with the intention of spending the night. 

As he parks the car and walks you up to the door you decide that a second time must be the charm.Slipping your key into the lock you push the door open after hearing the familiar click of it unlocking.

“Would you like to come in for something to drink? you must be thirsty after your serenade.” internally you cringe at how flimsy your excuse sounded for inviting him in but you force shame into a little box to spring up for another occasion.

“If you have a glass of lemonade I’d be delighted to come in but a glass of water is no lesser substitute for me , my darlin.”

Cheering at the internal victory you step in and a sense of happiness bubbles within you as you see his feet cross over the threshold of your house for the first time.His heavy footsteps match yours as you walk through the corridor before turning right into the kitchen. Johnny settles himself heavily into the dining chair as you look through the fridge for the lemonade that you had made at the beginning of the week. The pitcher remains half full of the drink and you place it on the table before pulling out two glasses.You seat yourself in the only other dining chair across from him putting a glass in front of the both of you.

Johnny slides his hand over to the pitcher filling up both of your glasses before placing it back in the centre of the table. He raises his glass to you and you clink yours against his before letting the sweet drink slip down your throat savouring the tangy sweetness of your tongue. A grunt of satisfaction leaves Johnny as he slams the glass back on the table.

“Well goddam , darlin this may just be the best lemonade I’ve ever had the pleasure of putting in my mouth. Be a doll and tell me which brand it is.”

 A grin spreads across your face from the compliment. 

“It’s actually homemade… I made it.”

“Really now , you sure do make a great lemonade. Got the neighbourhood kids quaking when it's time to bring out the drink stands.”

“I’m not that cruel plus I only started making my own drinks a few months ago. I realised that I was spending WAY too much money at roofbucks and thought ‘how hard can it be to make my own lemonade’ and turns out not that hard. A good mocha on the other hand don’t get me started on how difficult that is , I swear they must be using some trademarked msg-infused premium chocolate there because ah sorry I’m rambling.” 

“Now why on earth are you apologising for something I didn't complain about?” Johnny says, looking at you with a slight furrow of his brow.

“Ah well , you don’t have to outwardly say something is annoying for it to be annoying and trust me I know I can ramble a lot.”

“Listen darlin, I’m not one to bite my tongue and I'm not one to stay in a place I don’t like. If I found you talking annoying I woulda said somethin and for your ease of mind I did not find your rambling annoying .”

Your response merges with a yawn that suddenly builds in your chest. You try to muffle it but Johnny's sleepy grin shows that it’s a pretty futile endeavour.

“Seems I’ve kept my angel up past her bedtime.”

“I’m not a kid.”

“Too bad , I would have tucked you in goodnight before heading home.” 

“You can spend the night. I can set up the spare mattress or take the couch if you aren’t comfortable with …”  you trail off leaving him to imagine the rest of your sentence.

“I appreciate the invitation , darlin , I really do but I have to be someone early tomorrow and truth be told I don’t know if I can keep my hands to myself with a vision like you around the house and I’m just not ready to take that step. You understand right ?”

“Mhm, at least let me walk you to the door. I’ll be strong and tuck myself in tonight” at this point you feel your exhaustion from the day channeling through your body in the form of yawns that threaten to spill if each time you open your mouth. 

You both stand from your seats and make your way to the door. He presses a kiss to your forehead , then your cheek and finally your lips before sauntering off to the car. You wait until the car drives off before closing the door and heading up the stairs to start your night time routine.

As you go through the steps of your night routine you pull out your phone for the first time in hours to see a string of texts from Sam. Reading through them you manage to wrestle yourself into your pajamas and slip into the solitary comfort of your bed.

Hey!! just checking that you are still alive!

Send a message if you’ve been kidnapped

Lol jk you wouldn’t be able to do that anyways send a message when you have a chance 

Also are we still on for breakfast tomorrow if you don't respond I’m gonna still come in and eat from your fridge.  

You chuckle at the quintessential Sam messages and send her a quick affirmative for the breakfast plans in the morning to which she immediately responds  to by hearting. Finally comfortable and having planned the dish for tomorrow's breakfast you place your phone onto the deskside table and turn off the light letting yourself descend into sleep.

Chapter Text

“Could you eat at a pace that does not suggest you are about to be sent to an uninhabited island?” filling Sam’s glass with orange juice you prepare for the choking fit she was bound to have with the way she shoveled down the eggs benedict on her plate. Her response to your quip is a smile as wide as her stuffed mouth would allow as she swiped the glass from your hand. A large swallow is followed by a big swig of the juice and a satisfied sigh.

“Look, your cooking is the only decent meal I get all week so yeah I basically spend all my time on an island with blah food.”

“Maybe try learning to cook something other than buttered toast.”

“Boo, no way . Plus if I made good food who would you practise your cooking skills on? The mailman ? I doubt he has enough time on his schedule for that.” She reached for the bowl of strawberries which you pushed closer to her reach after picking out a few to eat.

“Well, there’s always Johnny. At the very least he likes the lemonade I made.”

“Ok , you’re the one that brought him up so spill . Tell me everything! What he wore ,what he drove.”

“What his Social insurance number is , his mom’s middle name is. Anything else I should be telling you about, Detective Samantha?” you say giggling as she tries to swat your hand which you turn just in time for her to miss and slam the table.

“I’m serious, I've been dying to hear how it went with him. I mean yesterday I probably yapped Dorian’s ear off with all my theories of what was happening.”

“Does he live in  your house now or what ? I swear the way you speak it's like he never left after that first night.”

Sam flicked her fingers wet from the strawberries letting drops of water land on your face. “I’m the one asking questions , so speak and if I am satisfied with your answers I'll let you know what’s happening with Dorian cause it’s actually insane.”

“Geez learn to appreciate suspense but anyways it was great. He picked me up in a vintage Cadillac and can you imagine he opened the door for me and did my seatbelt.” you couldn’t help the increase in your voice's pitch as memories of the date and the encouraging squeals of excitement from Sam egged you on. “Then we went to get milkshakes , by the way you were absolutely right with your recommendation. We shared the milkshake then he took me to the park and serenaded me and-”

“Wait serenaded? Like,uh, Frank Sinatra ? I don’t know who else went around serenading. Is he a good singer ? cause oof awkward if he isn’t.”

“He sang an Elvis song so like Elvis and … girl it was not good. I mean , shame , he was really sweet and sincere but it was definitely the kind of voice you keep for the shower.”

“Could he tell you that he didn’t sound great ? I mean your poker face leaves a lot to be desired.”

You reached into the water at the bottom of the strawberry bowl and returned Sam’s earlier gesture of flicking it into her face. 

“He asked me to be his girlfriend so probably not . I said yes , we kissed, came here, drank lemonade and then he went home.” you rushed out the last bit as Sam’s eyes widened and she pushed for more clarification.

“Wait! wait! girlfriend ?! you guys are official ? Look at you,  a job and a boyfriend in the same week. Hold on, you didn’t hook-up?”

“ No, we didn’t sleep together. He said he’s not ready for that yet which is fine. Yes, we are official and life will be good as long as the singing doesn't happen at every date. That's my story ,  now it's your turn. What on earth is happening with you and mr more-than-one-night-stand?”

“ Well, I rode hard and put him away wet as they say , without a doubt the best sex I have ever had and I definitely was not just about to let him go. Since he works late night shifts he stayed over the first morning and when I got back he had bought a toothbrush which was fine since who wants to go the whole day without brushing their teeth. I came back from work , we fucked , he went to work and asked if he could come and spend the day after with me since it was his day off and one of his brothers was working that shift OH thats how I found out he’s a triplet.” 

She paused to take a drink as you pilled the dishes together to put to the sink for washing once she finished speaking .

“So then when he came back he had a duffle bag with a change of clothes and I thought nothing of it because he was coming from a night shift and well I was more focused on banging him. And then it kinda was just always there and now he has a spot in my closet with his clothes.”

“I don’t want to be that person but why does it sound like he’s bumming at your place ?”

“I swear he’s not, he’s been paying for food and he does have a good reason for crashing at my place.”

You cast a skeptical glance her way. It would not be the first time that Sam had picked up a one-night-stand just for the police to have to be called to kick them out because they decided to make her home their own personal hostel.You had tried to convince her to go to hotels instead of bringing these men to her home but Sam had made it very clear her disgust for hotel and motel bedrooms. Her rant about the uncertainty of their cleanliness was her favourite rebuttal and so you had decided that tracking her location , codewords and constant texts were the best you could do for her.

“Just listen, so as I said he is a triplet. One of his brothers , Atticus , was in a relationship with this guy named Keith and at first everything was fine and they all liked him including their parents. After like a year of dating Atticus and Keith move-in together and they are just the perfect couple.Then one day a few weeks ago Atticus gets an alert that his bank account is empty after an attempted automatic transfer to Keith for the rent since he’s the one that takes care of it. Then it gets worse , he gets back from work to see an eviction notice on the door and when he emails the landlord they tell him that they hadn’t been receiving the rent for like three months and they had sent Keith all these notices with no response. Now throughout the ordeal he’s been trying  to contact Keith but it just rings once and drops. Eventually they find out that Keith had been taking all the money in their shared account and transferring it to some secret other one and then finally he just got into Atticus’s personal account and transferred all the money to his account. Now this poor guy has no money and no home. He tried to stay with their other brother but he’s kind of a dick and said that wouldn’t be able to bring girls home so Dorian agreed to let him stay at his place while he helps him get himself sorted.”

Any words you have get stuck in your throat as you try and process everything Sam has just said. First of it explained that doorman you saw that night that looked way too similar to Dorian and why Sam was so willing to let him stay over but at the same time you couldn’t help but feel a twinge of suspicion as to the truth of this story. From how Sam spoke about it she definitely believed it to be completely true and while you didn’t want to cast undue suspicion on a man you didn’t know you can’t help but feel a bit cautious.

“Are you sure he is telling the truth and that this isn’t a sob story to get you to lower your guard?”

“I know it sounds crazy but it is true I actually met him yesterday afternoon. I drove both of them to the police station. I’m sure you can imagine it's a messy investigation. Poor guy , he was so upset.” Sam sighs heavily as she grabs the stacked plates and makes her way over to the sink to help dry the dishes when you wash them.

For a few moments the only sounds in the kitchen are the squeak of the sponge as you lather up the dishes , the sploshing of the water and the towel being rubbed on the dishes. The excitement brought from the talks of a new relationship is slightly tempered by the story of Dorian’s brother. You could never imagine Johnny doing something like that but it was hard not to feel weighed-downed by such a story.

“Sorry to end breakfast on such a depressing note but hey the day is still young. We can go out and do something fun. Might I suggest karaoke?” she says with a comical wiggle of her eyebrows. 

Peeling off your gloves you give her a  poke in the ribs before staking the dishes back into the cabinets. “Fine, but first I want to stop at the bookstore and then we can go.”

Chapter Text

As Sam wandered over to look at the posters detailing events happening in town you made your way deeper into the hall of books. As you stood in front of your favourite section your mind went blank at the thought of which one to grab. Fairly often you would walk into the quaint little store simply with the intention of looking at what they had and the sheer volume of books typically resulted in a literary trance such as the one right now. Trying to snap out of it you pull out your phone to scroll through the list of books on your TBR so you could at least wander around with a plan.

You remain focused as you scroll through the list of books that were not already on hold at the library. So focused that you barely register the presence next to you. You slightly shift out of the way assuming you were blocking another person’s access to books but as you shift to the right so does the other person. Shifting further back without looking up from your phone you sense the person has done the same. For a moment you realise it must be Sam trying to show that she was done with her wandering and not so subtly asking you to hurry up. 

“Gimme a second to see if they have this one book , ok ?” you whisper.

“Take all the time you need , darlin’, gives me more time to admire the view.” 

Your heart leaps at the familiar voice and you struggle to keep your head from jerking towards him. Instead , you tuck your phone back into your tote and slowly tilt your head towards a smirking Johnny standing right next to you.

“Darlin’, if you had taken another step the store woulda thought we were line dancing.” he says with a deep chuckle before wrapping his arms around you to draw you into him. He rubs his cheek against your temple before pulling back , his eyes gleaming as he looks at you. You bump your forehead against his chest as a grin settles on your face.

“What are you doing here?”

“My home is close by and I was heading over to the liquor store down the street when I saw you and your friend and decided to moosey my way over here and say hi to my sweetheart.”

You twist your head to look at anything but Johnny because you could feel the grin on your face spread so wide you doubted you looked like anything other than a fool. As your eyes roamed the room for something to look at while you tried to school your features you noticed Sam a few steps away with a pamphlet in her hand and her eyebrows high on her face as she let her eyes flit between you and Johnny. You signal over to Sam to come over and turn back towards Johnny.

“You’re an absolute darling Johnny by the way, let me introduce you to my friend.”

Sam makes her way over, giving him a friendly greeting that was equally returned. You couldn’t help but roll your eyes as Sam gave the usual friend spiel of surprise at finally meeting your new partner and the exaggerated wagging of her eyebrows at the sight of your intertwined hands.

“Well if you two lovebirds are about to have an impromptu date don’t let me stop you.”  she says, giving you a less than discreet wink which you returned with a glare.

“I am not one to complain about having more time with my sweet girl but you two were already in the middle of something and I don’t wanna get in the way of your fun.” he says with a squeeze of your hand.

“ I’ll be free in the evening so I’ll be free to chat then.” you say to him before Sam could start a new tactic in getting you on a date probably so you could have a new story to tell her … not that you wouldn’t have done the same to her.

Johnny presses a kiss to your forehead and whispers into your ear  “I’ll send you my address , instead of spending the evening talking on the phone we can do it face-to-face at my place.” 

He says a nice goodbye to Sam and heads over towards the door and makes his way out.

“My sweet girl ?! Whispering ! Kissing your forehead ! oh my goooood he is SMITTEN ! As he should be. Also look at this event that's happening.” Sam waves the pamphlet in front of your face that you gently grab so you can actually read what it's advertising. Rather than a pamphlet it turns out to be a black and red flyer with a circus tent and ghostly apparitions. The text details a circus with a spooky theme happening in the parking lot of the nearby mall. At the bottom you spy an ‘18+ only’ in black text.

“How spooky can a circus be that it doesn’t allow minors?”

“That’s what we should find out ! I looked it up and they have really good reviews. They still have some seats for the 4pm show today so if we leave now we can make it. It’s only two hours so you’ll be back in time for your prince , Cinderella.” 

Giving her a gentle pinch you agree as you pull out your phone to transfer your cost of the ticket as she buys the ticket. You leave the store without buying anything but with a few more books on your TBR list. Getting into Sam’s car the both of you drive over to the mall. The only thing the flyer and website said was that it was in the parking lot of the mall , unfortunately for the both of you there were multiple parking sections considering the size of the mall and so despite arriving half an hour early by the time you had circled all the parking areas you could think of and wandering the mall to find someone that could give you directions you were already 20 minutes late.

You both make your way through the blood red tunnel to your seats having made it in just as a new act was about to start. Eerie music fills the tent and a fog spreads across the floor in thin tendrils and then you see two figures making their way towards the centre. Strutting towards a thick rope hanging in the middle of the tent is a petite performer in little more than fishnets, a corset and ghostly makeup in her right hand is a leash which connects to a masked man on all fours trailing after her. You and Sam turn to each other, your wide eyes conveying every word of surprise coursing through your minds.The man attaches his counterpart to the rope never getting off his knees as he pulls on the rope twisting and spinning it as performs her acrobatic tricks in the air. Her stunning contorsions in the air remove all thoughts of the BDSM nature of her entrance until she is gently lowered to the ground and returns back into the depths of the tent with her assistant quite literally at her heels.

As more performers come out each with paddles, corsets and anything that the kink section of your local sex shop sold you very quickly realise why no minors were allowed. Not that it took away from the talent of the performers who, other than their makeup and props performed the typical acts expected in a circus. The show draws to a close and you and Sam make your way back to her car in awed silence before bursting into squeals once seated inside.

“This might be the first time that I’ve been surprised by kink ,geez and they are here all week. I just know those guys' knees are going to be aching by the end of this tour.” Sam said as she pulled out of the parking spot.

“ I think my brain went blank when I saw the first guy. My jaw was on the floor with him.” you say as you dig in your bag for your phone. After taking it off DnD you notice a message from Johnny with his address. Noticing that it was only a few minutes after 6 you send him a message asking if it was ok for you to come now and he responds immediately with an affirmative. “ Hey can you drop me at this address instead of my house.”

“Ooh , so impatient to try out the tricks you just saw with your man I see. Put his address in.” Sam says pointing towards the navigation system of the car. You punch it in and after seeing the 15 minute eta settle back into your seat.

“As much as I would love to have Johnny watch me spin around his bedroom ceiling from my hair, I doubt anything remotely sexual is going to happen tonight.”

Sam gives you a very doubtful sure as she meanders through the streets following the directions towards his house. After 10 minutes of reckless driving by Sam you end up in front of an apartment building. You send Johnny a text letting him know you're outside and he sends you an entry code and his apartment number. After a quick hug and promises to keep her updated you leave the car and make your way into the building punching in the code before riding up the elevator to the 9th floor. Stopping in front of room 904 you give a short knock and the door immediately opens before you have a chance to lower your hand. 

You walk in and stop to take a good look at Johnny. You realised this is the most casual you have ever seen him. Even this afternoon when he was making a quick stop to the liquor shop he had been wearing a button-up shirt but here in the comfort of his home he wore a white t-shirt that hung loosely against him giving you a view of his collar bone and a pair of grey sweatpant that you fought not to focus on.

“Darlin ‘ , I’m just so happy you came , please sit down. I hope you are ok with white wine.” He leads you towards the red couch in the middle of the living room. A bottle of wine sits sweating on the glass table next to two glasses. As you both sink into the couch he reaches over to pour you a glass. After filling both glasses he tilts his towards you for a soft cheers. The smooth flavour slides down your tongue and a pleasant buzz fills your body. He takes a few sips before placing the glass back onto the table before leaning back and resting his arm by your head , stroking the back of your hair.

“So tell me sweetheart, what did you and your friend get up to?”

“ We ended up going to this circus that had a  ‘no minors’ policy.

“What kind of circus doesn’t allow minors?”

“That’s what I thought ! turns out this one and with good reason. The flyer made it seem like it was a really spooky theme. It turns out it was more kink than spooky. I mean they had paddles and dom/sub play happening.”

Johnny’s hand freezes for a moment and you notice his adam's apple bob in his throat.“ Did you ,uh, like it?”

“After the initial surprise , yeah . It was fun and all the tricks were good.” you say trying to study his reaction. You couldn’t tell if you were making him uncomfortable and circled through your mind for a way to change the topic.

“So you are into kink huh ?” his voice was a lot softer and his throat continued to bob.

“Oh , no , not , I mean I haven’t really done anything really kinky or ah I’m sorry this is really uncomfortable for you I didn’t mean-”

“No darlin’ it’s not you I promise.” he cuts your rumbling short ,  his hand cupping your cheek to turn your head towards him just as you begin to lower it.

“You don’t have to do that. I shouldn’t have spoken about that stuff. I know you aren’t keen on it right now.”

Johnny looks at you with such intensity in his gaze that you have to make the effort to remember to fill your lungs with air. The feel of his thumb gliding along your cheek is the only anchor to your body as you feel yourself being pulled into his gaze. Slowly he leans forward and with each centimetre of space he passes the deeper you feel lost in him until you feel his lips press softly against yours. He pulls back , his eyes softening.

“Darlin’, I don’t want you to feel like we can’t … talk about that or that we aren’t ever going to have sex. It's just that, I mean  … the truth is that I’ve never slept with anyone before.”

Chapter Text

“You’re a virgin?” 

“Yes.”  his voice carries none of its teasing or musical lilt and his face tightens as he forces the word out his throat. You gently place the glass that was still in your hand on the table so you can reach over to brush the curls over his eye. The tickle of his eyelashes on your palm scratches at your heart. He does not look away as you study him , his pale face slightly twitching as he tries to relax his tightly drawn features. In the silence you can hear him swallow.

“Johnny, why are you acting like you are admitting to a crime or having some horrifically contagious disease?”

“You’ll have to forgive my nerves but usually it ,uh, this admission tends to be  death knell so to speak of my relationship… if they wait long enough for me to tell them”

“In what world would you being a virgin be the reason to end a relationship?” 

“My world , sweetheart.” he says as he  runs a hand through his hair grabbing a fistfull of curls. “It’s not that I haven’t taken anyone to bed that gets them but…” a rough sigh escapes his lips as he tightens his fist around his hair. You reach over to cover his palm, softly stroking your thumb across his knuckles as you ease his fist into a looser grip before he rips out any of his dark locks.

“Sorry , darlin’, it’s just you're the second girl I’ve ever told this too and let’s just say that relationship ended with me being left out like a dog in the rain.” 

“I’m a bit worried about your taste in girls now.” 

His lips tremble as he lets out a deep exhale that you decide to believe is a slight chuckle. He slips his arm between yours tugging you towards him until you back hits his chest. Wrapping his arms around you he leans back against the couch. Twisting into a comfortable position in his arms you relish the feel of his heartbeat against your back as he finds his words. You manage to wiggle your fingers to intertwine with his and he rubs his cheek against yours as he tightens his arms around you. 

“I grew up in a pretty strict home. Now don’t get me wrong I love my Ma and Pa and I know they loved me but their love was the kind that made them scared for me , you know what I mean? I wasn’t allowed to listen to ‘modern music’ because it would be a bad influence , kinda ironic because they let me listen to  Elvis and Cash and they weren’t exactly preachers’ sons . I couldn’t hang out with anyone they didn’t approve of, which was pretty much everybody and of course I was warned about the dangers of sex.” his voice  warbles on the word in the dramatic fashion of a ghost story causing you snort. “They wanted to drum it into me that sex outside of marriage was about as close to frolicking with the devil as I could get in this world. It didn’t help that when some of the boys at my high school started having sex  there was a whole herpes hysteria that went about and boy did my parents have a field day with that.”

“I swear it's a right of passage for every high school to have a herpes scare. I remember this girl freaking out because she shared a fork with her friend who she suspected had herpes and suddenly everyone was freaking out.” You bring up , feeling his muscles release its tension around you.

“If my mother heard that she would have had me homeschooled quicker than a rat could run up a drainpipe. So throughout high school I was just your average nerd that couldn’t and honestly didn't even want to dream about being with a girl. When it was time to go to college my parents were scared that I was going to get some girls pregnant and ruin everyone's lives so the anti-sex talks got more intense but you know how it is when you get to college especially when it's far away from your hometown. I was making friends , going to parties and girls wanted me.”

You gently elbow him, earning you a peck. “ Such a humble man you are Mr Splash.”

“Don’t be jealous , sweetheart , this humble man only wants you. But I was getting more attention than I ever had and getting into relationships. Even though I was doing a lot of things that would have given my parents a heart attack, something about their sex talks stuck and I just couldn’t get right into it. It’s not that I couldn’t get it up  but I felt like I had to work up to it , you know ? Get to know them , date and then afterwhile finally have sex but since I wouldn’t initiate anything sexual or reciprocate all these girls thought it meant I wasn’t attracted to them and would end up leaving. This just kept happening and eventually I reached the age where it was a bit embarrassing to be a virgin. Last year, I met a girl and we dated and I really liked her and for the first time felt fully ready to have sex. I decided to put all my chips on the table and let her know that I hadn’t had sex before. She was nice about it but a few days later broke up with me because she didn’t want to have to ‘teach someone how to please her’ which I am not angry with her for but I can’t lie , darlin’, it really put a dent in my armour.”

As he spoke you could feel his muscles tensing up again and by the time he lapsed back into silence his arms were like a vice around you. Nuzzling your head against him you digested his revelation. 

“Johnny, I want you to believe me when I say that I am willing to wait as long as it takes. I admit when we first met I wanted to sleep with you , you are attractive afterall, but that goes to show even more that if that’s all I want I would have refused the date or refused being your girlfriend.”

“I want you, darlin, I really do but … I don’t want to disappoint you. I feel like I just keep pushing it until some moment when I think I am going to be good. I know it’s ridiculous but-”

“It’s not ridiculous Johnny,  I would never expect you to magically know everything I like. I mean I don’t even know everything I like in bed and I’m not just saying this to make you feel better.”

“I appreciate you saying that, sweetheart.”

“Actually if you don’t mind hearing me out I have an idea.”

“Darlin , I would listen to you read out a dictionary.”

“Humble and a charmer. I remember reading about this thing in which you basically spend either 5 to 7 days leading up to sex with each day doing something more sexual until the final day when you actually have sex. It’s usually a way to edge your partner but since it starts off with just kissing on the first day and builds up from there we can use it as a way to build you up to it and we can stretch it out as long as you need to.”

Johnny remains silent and for a moment you worry that you may have pushed it too far. That you should have just listened to him and let him decide what he wanted to do. The only sound from him is his breathing and as you feel his arms loosen , you feel your heart sink and tense for the moment that he would move you away and ask you to leave for the night. 

He moves one hand into his pocket pulling out his phone and typing in his password.You assume he is going to order you an uber and try to turn and tell him that you would just order one yourself. Instead he pulls up the search bar and places the phone in your hand. You mind blanks for a moment before you bring yourself back into the moment and begin typing in all the  key words you could remember to try and pull up the list before he could even consider changing his mind.

Chapter Text

It is important to note that neither you nor your partner are allowed to masturbate in any form during the 7 days.

Day 1: Only observe your partners body 

Day 2: Explore each other’s body through touch or taste ( avoid genitals and lips)

Day 3: Kissing is allowed

Day 4:You may touch sensitive areas ( still avoiding genitals)

Day 5: Sexual acts that do not involve the genitals are allowed 

Day 6: Avoid interactions with each other for the day 

Day 7: You may have sex

You silently hold his phone as Johnny slowly scrolls through the list pausing at the detailed descriptions of what each day entails. He pauses on the simple phrase of the last day before bookmarking the page and taking a screenshot for extra measure. Relief buzzes through you when he does because at the very least it was a sign that he was willing to consider it and that was more than you could ask of him.

“Tell me , sweetheart , what kind of things are you reading that you end up coming across this ?” his  voice low in your ear.

“My reading list is between me , the author and whatever supernatural entity is tasked with watching over me.”

“Well based on this list I’m sure that entity has a nice long document of complaints for their HR.”

You try to elbow him lightly but his hold on you is still so tight that you end up just shuffling in his arms. He snorts at your attempt before waving the phone in front of you to bring your attention back to the list.

“For the most part this feels pretty straightforward but to be real honest with you, day 5 has got me stumped.” 

Looking over the description of day 5 you cycle through your memories of what the characters had done on each of the days for inspiration. Inspiration that is quickly doused as you remember that the characters had essentially speedrun through the days because they were too horny to wait. 

“Ah , to be honest the characters in the story didn’t manage to hold out for the five days so I guess we will just have to do what feels right. I mean we could always do stuff with clothes on like dry-hump. Then again this is all about making you feel comfortable ,Johnny. So if you want to change up anything then we can. Just think of this as the outline rather than the hard rules.”

“Sure thing darlin’, lets just take it day by day and see where we end up. Hmm,we already kissed today so safe to say day 1 is a bust. How about we officially start tomorrow? That way it will be the weekend when we … reach day 7.”

His pause doesn’t escape you and you nuzzle deeper against his chest, “ We reach day 7 when you are ready Johnny.”

“If you don’t have anything planned for tomorrow, do you want to spend the night? I have a shirt and some shorts you can wear or one of my robes” Johnny says after humming in agreement. “We can share the bed but if you’d rather not I’ll sleep on the couch.”

“I’d love to sleep with you , I mean fall asleep with you .” Even though you say it with innocent intentions you can’t help the feeling of heat that rushes to your head once the words leave your mouth. 

“I think they call that a freudian slip , sweetheart.” Johnny says, chuckling as you both rise from the couch. 

Leading you by the arm he takes you towards his bedroom. As he makes his way to a large wooden dresser on the side of the room you take the chance to glance around the room. It was fairly spacious with enough room for a queen size bed , a dresser and a work desk. His bed had those pale blue sheets that seemed to spawn into the bedrooms of every man over the age of 18. On opposite sides of the wall were two massive posters of Johnny Cash and Elvis. Looking closer at the Cash poster you notice what seems like a signature at the bottom.

“Authentic signature , darlin’. Jealous?” 

Standing behind you he held a pair of plaid shorts and a shirt that looked oversized even for him. You grab both of them holding up the shirt to see the logo of the local football team on it.

“Authentic huh? Must have cost you a fortune.” 

“A gift from my granny , she got to see him back in his early days and nabbed his signature . Kept it until I came across it and asked her for it. By the way there's a spare toothbrush behind the mirror in the washroom that you can use. You can get changed in there and I’ll get changed here.” he gestured to the door leading to the en-suite bathroom and you walked in closing the door behind.

After folding your clothes you slipped into the make-do pajamas he gave you and found the toothbrush behind the mirror.Pulling it out the packaging you looked around for the bin to find it in. A few minutes of pulling cabinet doors yielded no results so you held onto the package as you brushed your teeth. Finishing up you grab your clothes and head back to the bedroom. The main lights were off with the room being illuminated by a lamp on the bedside table. Johnny was already underneath the blankets on the side of the bed closest to the door.You put your clothes on the top of the dresser and luckily notice a bin underneath his desk where you promptly dispose of the toothbrush packaging. Johnny pulls over the other side of the blanket for you to slip in.

Sliding into the bed you try to calm your heart as you feel Johnny pull the blankets back over you. He slides closer , reaching over you to switch off the lamp and plunging the room into darkness. Settling against your back his arm rests heavy on the blanket over you. 

“Good night , my darlin.” he says softly as his breathing slows down before slipping into a soft snore. You whisper back a wish for sweet dreams and hope for your body to not act out whatever dreams your mind decides to create because as the heat sears through the shirt you are wearing you realise that Johnny is sleeping shirtless.

Chapter Text

Whatever dream that held you throughout the night leaves no trace as the sound  of footsteps on the floors begin to pull you from your sleep.Your eyes remain close as you float in the space between sleep and restfulness. The sound of rushing water surrounds you and you feel yourself being lulled by it back into the realm of sleep. Just as you feel the dark grasp of sleep about to embrace you again an off-key warble invades your mind.The warble stretches on as the grasp of sleep releases you fading further away as everything around you becomes brighter a particularly , terrible note severs the last ties with rest and your eyes open up to an unfamiliar room.

You are so focused on the singing coming from the bathroom that it takes you a few minutes to recalibrate and remember that you were in Johnny’s room. With a deep sigh you turn over, planting your face into the pillow . Pulling the sides to cover your ears you stay like that until your lungs feel like they are about to explode from the lack of air circulation. Lifting yourself up to your knees you reach up into a deep stretch. Focusing on the feeling of your muscles relaxing into the stretches after being held in the same tight position overnight  you don’t realise that Johnny has ended his shower ballad. 

After a particularly satisfying pop of your shoulders you turn to move off the bed only to see Johnny standing by the door of the bathroom. His curls seem even darker as they glisten with droplets that slip down his neck making their way beneath the grey shirt he wears. He remains by the door still infused with the steam of his shower , his eyes slowly trailing over your body. Grabbing the pillow you make as if to throw it at him.

“Didn’t your mother teach you not to stare.”

Johnny just grins at you as he strides over to where you are. He reaches for the pillow in  your hands which you grasp tighter leading to a mock battle that you quickly concede. Having won his little battle Johnny returns the pillow to the bed before leaning to seemingly press his lips to you. Remembering that you had just woken up , you turn to offer him your cheek which he bypasses to whisper in your ear.

“I thought in exchange for not being able to kiss you today , I got free reign to look at you as much as I want, sweetheart , or did you forget?” he punctuates his words with a slight flick on your forehead.

Slowly your brain remembers the agreement of last night and you flush as Johnny steps back to continue his staring.

“Yes , well at least let me freshen up . It's unfair that my first look at you is when you have already gotten ready but your first look at me is when I’m all gross and groggy.”

He shrugs his shoulders as he moves to sit next to you on the bed. You try to place your hands over his eyes but he keeps wiggling out of reach , widening his eyes at you until you can’t help but burst out into a fit of laughter.

“Oh my gosh, Johnny just let me shower and brush my teeth and we can stare at each other as long as you want.” You manage to say between bits of laughter.

Grinning over his second victory of the morning Johnny goes to grab a towel and stops in front of the dresser. 

“I have another set of shirts and pants you can wear unless you want to wear your outfit from last night.”

You head over to Johnny to grab the towel and tell him that you’ll just wear your clothes from last night before going to the bathroom. Stepping out of your clothes you twist the knobs of the shower until it reaches the perfect temperature. Letting the warm water wash over you , you consider exactly how to go about the day. It would probably be best to do it in Johnny’s home so he could at least be comfortable in his environment. It would be slightly annoying to have to make your way back home late at night and on edge so you could be ready for work the next day but you would take the annoyance rather than pushing Johnny away from you.

Satisfied with the plan you step out of the shower and as you brush your teeth you stare at your clothes on the sink top. An idea pops into your mind and after rinsing your mouth you walk out of the shower wrapped in a towel and place the clothes on the bed. You stop in front of the bedroom door and crack it slightly open. The smell of a slightly burnt breakfast makes its way through the slit of the door. You push the door further open and peep your head out until you see Johnny placing the two plates on the couch. At the sound of the door he turns towards your , only seeing your head.

“Breakfast is ready , sweetheart.”

Taking a deep breath you step out from the door. Johnny eyes widen as his eyes trace a path up from your toes , following the lines of your legs up to the hem of the towel. You notice his hands twitch and lightly cross your feet letting the towel ride slightly higher up your thigh. 

“I changed my mind and think it will be better if I wear your clothes for breakfast and then change when I head home. If you tell me which ones I can wear I’ll go grab them if that's ok ?”

For a few moments Johnny remains silent , his eyes slowly roaming over your body as if trying to memorise every expanse of skin that you let him see. Just as you are about to repeat your request he drags his eyes towards your lips and finally responds.

“I don’t mind but let me get the clothes for you.” 

You remain by the door as he comes closer to you , his eyes boring into yours. You prepare to move at the slightest sign of hesitation by him but he continues until he is right in front of you. You can feel the heat radiating from his body and the intensity of his gaze. Red splotches bloom across his neck and cheek. Looking up you trace his slightly parted lips with your eyes. You feel your own lips part as those red , plump lips of his fill you with an intense desire to bite them. Your breath catches in your throat as his lips come closer until it feels like your entire vision is just filled with red. Just as your eyelids lower you feel him whisper just a hair's breath away from your lips.

“My darlin, I need you to move slightly so I can get into the room.”

You find your breath again and your mind manages to lighten the fog of desire clouding it as you move into the bedroom and stand by the door. Watching Johnny slightly bend to rummage through the dresser you chide yourself for almost failing the first day. Focusing on the feel of the towel on your skin you take the clothes that Johnny offers to you and quickly slip into them as he goes back to the breakfast he has set up.

Patting your cheeks to focus, you sit in front of the simple breakfast that Johnny has made for you.

“I usually make toast with the toaster but I decided to be a bit fancy and do it in a pan. Sorry to say it turned out a bit burnt.” He says in between bites.

Ripping your eyes away from the movement of his throat as he swallows you manage to find a response.

“Nothing that butter can’t hide.” reaching for the orange you juice you take a sip trying to moisten your dry throat. “I was thinking that we could do everything at your place , since you would probably feel most comfortable her.”

“I’m comfortable wherever you are darlin’ but if that’s what you’d like then I don’t mind. I can pick you up from your place after work if you’d like.”

“I would like that.”

The rest of the meal lapses into a silence more pleasant than awkward as you find yourself focused on the sight of Johnny eating. Something about the movement of his lips as he takes a bite and the teasing sight of his tongue that slips out to lick the occasional stray drop of juice. You swallow and feel your thighs squeeze as you imagine your lips pressed against his throat with each bite of food that he swallows. 

It's only when an empty fork touches your lips that you realised you had long finished your food and were just going through the motions of eating. Letting out a noisy breath you lean back in your chair pressing your eyes closed.

“I hope the views been to your liking , sweetheart , because mine definitely is.”

You let out a sound that sounds closer to a moan than to the hum you were aiming for.

 “Best view I've had in a long time. You are going to drive me crazy, Johnny. I think I should get changed and head home.”

“... Can I watch you change?” Johnny says softly.

 You open your eyes at the request and see the patches of red nestled on his cheeks and beneath his eyes. You nod silently and go to take your clothes that are still on the bed as Johnny quickly puts away the dishes. You come back to stand in the centre of the room and Johnny sits back in the chair facing you.

Without taking your eyes off him you reach for the hem of the shirt slowly lifting it higher and higher . Your heart thumps with each bit of skin you reveal. Pausing for a moment you watch as his eyes widen slightly at the sight of you before arching slightly as you pull the shirt over your head. His eyes widen and he shifts in his seat as he sees that beneath the shirt you wore no bra. Your nipples harden under his gaze and underneath his sweatpants you notice a twitch. Hooking your fingers into the shorts you slowly slide them off pushing them down to your ankles before gingerly stepping out of them leaving you in nothing but your panties. Johnny lets out a low groan as you take your bra into your hands. Turning around you fix the clasp of your bra before returning to face him. You step into your clothes just as slowly as you had removed the prior ones and as you do up the final button of your jeans the both of  you let out a sigh. 

“Do you mind driving me home?” Your voice is barely a whisper and you can hardly hear it over the thundering of your own heart. Johnny’s vice is no less shaky as he stands to get his keys and put on his shoes.

“Anything you want , darlin’.”

The short drive to your home is full of tension and you have to press yourself against your door to avoid reaching out to touch Johnny. Every traffic light is a fight against your urges as you watch Johnny's fingers twitch towards your hands and your face before curling into a fist and returning to the driver's wheel where he tightens them to the point of making the leather groan.

Stopping in front of your house, the two of you sit watching each other , the sight would have been ridiculous to an outsider as the both of you kept swaying towards each other before pulling back sharply just before you could touch. Finally Johnny is the one to break the silence.

“I’ll come by tomorrow around 7 , ok sweetheart?”

“Ok , Johnny. I’ll be there.” 

“Good girl. Then I’ll see you tomorrow."

You nod briskly and quickly step out of the car before you lose control and pull his lips between your own. You rush to your door not bothering to look behind. Locking the door behind you you rush up to your room throwing upon the drawer with your vibrator and grabbing it. Sighing deeply you walk to your cupboard and throw it into the deepest part before slamming it closed again. 

You pull out your phone and send off a few messages to Sam before opening up your work email hoping that it would stop the throbbing between your legs. Even though it was a Sunday you knew that you would probably have a bunch of emails from work and sure enough you spot one.

Subject : Important Updates

Dear employees 

Please note that the city is performing improvements on the road in front of the main entrance as a result all employees are asked to use the entrance on City  street until further notice and plan their journey accordingly to account for delays.

All employees are also expected to come to work in business casual tomorrow as we have begun a new partnership with American Maestro for their upcoming season. Further information will be provided at the mandatory meeting tomorrow at 9am  in room 555. If you are unable to attend the meeting please notify your immediate manager as soon as possible. 

Kind Regards.

Hank Quartz

Senior Admin Assistant.

Chapter Text

If there was one thing you could give Hank corps credit for it was their ability to feed their employees during a meeting. You couldn’t think of a time you had ever been served warm refreshments at an event and as you bit into the warm samosa you could almost forgive the company for making you wear those hideous jumpsuits and having you wake up early so you could navigate the maze that is a construction zone. 

After a bit of milling about and small talk  Hank Q clears his throat signalling for everyone to find a seat so the meeting can begin. You seat yourself towards the centre of the oval desk tilting towards the giant screen and presenters. A powerpoint page with American Maestro season 8 and its logo  glare at you in bright blue and white. Smiling next to Hank is a sharply dressed woman both with a little blue and white pin on their blazers. After confirming that everyone is seated Hank claps his hands together and begins his introduction in a voice that is way too chipper for pre-noon.

“Good morning everyone. I hope you all had a great weekend and are enjoying the refreshments. Thank you all for coming to this meeting. This is an exciting new partnership that we are beginning and I have the honour of  introducing  Ms Rainey, the representative of American Maestro to give you an idea of our joint expectations for you.”

 “Thank you for the introduction Mr Quartz. Yes , my name is Ms Rainey and I am part of the public relations team of American Maestro which I hope you’ve all had a chance to watch at some point. This year we will be embarking on our 8th season, gosh how time flies. However we will not be going about it alone which is why we are so happy to be partnering with Hank Corps for this upcoming season but this partnership isn’t  just about posting logos on any and every advertising space and the winning cheque. No ! This is a true partnership in which you ,  employees of Hank corps also get to benefit. How so ?” 

Ms Rainey takes a pause to sip on the bottle of water placed next to her as she clicks through to the next slide. On the slide a tier ranking system appears and you can sense that the eyes in the room that had begun to glaze over at the start of the speech were suddenly regaining focus. 

“Yes, so as you can see on this slide, we at American Maestro and your managers at Hank Corps have decided to come up with a reward system for those of you that have a little songbird inside of you know someone that does. Simply put there are two categories for rewards which are not mutually exclusive. Firstly is posting. Employees that post our calls for auditions on two or more of their social media pages will be granted a giftcard to Kopi Kafe!”

You notice the girl next to you furiously scribbling down the information on the powerpoint and everything that has been said so far and fight the urge to tell her that the value of the giftcard was unlikely to be anything more than $10. Letting your job see your private social media account for the chance to get a gift card was going to be a hard no and you realise that this is going to be a meeting that only requires half your intention. Not that this stopped Ms Rainey who continued on with her presentation.

“Each of you will be provided with a personalised link so we can track how many people register for an audition from your posts. All of this will be confidential of course. As you can see on the board the more people that register using your links the greater your reward will be. Those of you who get a minimum of 5  registrations will get TWO gift cards for Kopi Kafe. 10 or more registration will be a giftcard for amazon on top of the Kopi ones and 20 or more will be granted a half day of leave to be discussed with your manager of course.”

At the mention of a half-day leave a ripple of excitement surges through the room that touches you for a second. From that point on the room is enraptured as Ms Rainey continues through the ways to redeem the rewards and further explanations of  the audition process so you would  be able to explain to those that registered. Which in your mind meant that you would be doing extra work as a customer point of reference for American Maestro but without the guaranteed pay. 

An hour and half later the meeting finally draws to a close and as everyone steps out of their seats to either ask for further clarification or head back to their cubicle Hank stops everyone with a short announcement.  

“By the way everyone is expected to make up the hour and half of missed work from this meeting today. If you have extenuating circumstances today please come to me so we can discuss when you can make up the time. Ok? Great , let’s make this another great day at Hank Corp.”

Reaching up to cover your eyebrows that twitched in irritation you headed out of the room to your cubicle on the lower floor. Once in the elevator you dropped your head as the rest of the employees that filled in chatted about how they would aim for the top tier reward. You manage to make it to your desk without rolling your eyes out of your head and log in to the company system to begin another day of work. Luckily the work goes on as smoothly as all the other days with the mild inconvenience of the occasional nit-picky customer. 

You are so in the zone that by the time your regular end of shift alarm goes off you almost jump out of your seat. Pulling out your phone you notice that the company had sent a link for the audition calls to your personal email as well as your work email. Choosing to ignore it you and everyone else begin to pack up until your manager Hank T peeks in.

“Remember everyone that unless cleared with HR or me you are expected to remain for the missed hour and half.” He says from the door to the office not even bothering to fully come into the room before ducking out before anyone could complain or throw a stressball at his head.

Groans fill the room as everyone returns to their stations. Out of spite you decide to go through all the cases at the slowest pace possible. With a mix of that and conversations with your co-workers  that consisted mostly of complaints about having to stay without the mention of overtime pay, time moves until another alarm goes off indicating that you were all truly finally free. Taking your bag that was sitting ready to go you take out your phone noticing it is already 6:30 as you head to the elevator. In the elevator you notice a new message from Johnny.

Got here early.

You slow your steps as you get outside the building both in an attempt to avoid the construction and to figure out how Johnny is outside… and then you realise. You still haven’t told Johnny that you were working with Hank Corps and so as far as he knew you were still a remote worker with Valdivian. You quickly pick up the pace rushing towards the train station and bump into a few people as you try to make it to the platform. You manage to throw yourself into the train car just as the doors close with your heart beating so hard you feel like it might just end up giving out. Once the train begins to make its way towards your home station you quickly type out a response to Johnny who has now sent a few question marks at your lack of response. By then it was already close to 7.

So sorry for not responding! Just wait in your car and I’ll be home in about 20 minutes.

After what felt like an agonisingly slow journey you make it to your home station and rush towards the e-scooters that were always parked in front. Going through the process of paying you hop on and pray that you don’t fall off or knock down an innocent pedestrian.Whipping past people and trees you finally turn onto your street where you spot Johnny's familiar Cadillac.

Hopping off the scooter and placing it in a dedicated pick up spot you run over to the car and tap on the window. After a few seconds Johnny steps out, his brows furrowed in concern as he watches your heaving chest.

“Darlin’! What happened? Where were you?” He throws his arms around you gently stroking your back. Slowly your heart settles back into a regular rhythm and you sigh deeply into Johnny’s chest as you calm your breathing.

“ Come let’s head inside first .” You say as you slip out of his embrace and lead him by the arm towards your home. Once inside you slip out of your shoes and as you lean down to place them properly on the mat you feel Johnny press a kiss on your back. You straighten up and turn to him. His face is still full of concern. You step on your toes to plant your lips on his furrowed brows. As you step back you notice they’ve eased a bit but his eyes still look at you with concern.

“Work made us stay overtime because of this stupid meeting we had.”

“But how come you didn’t come from inside your house? Isn’t Valdivian exclusively remote ?”

You pull Johnny up towards your bedroom as you respond. Cursing Hank corps a thousand times in your head for not letting you enough time to shower and relax before having Johnny over as you seat him on the bed.

“The truth is that I am not with Valdivian anymore.”

“Since when?”

“Since the day after we met. Valdivian had a round of layoffs and since I was so new I was one of the affected . My friend found me a job with Hank corps and they have an in-office policy.”

“Why didn’t you tell me this, sweetheart ? Do you know how worried I was when I got here thinking that you would be done with work and you weren’t responding to my texts and then you show up on a scooter riding from who knows where?”

You move to sit next to Johnny, fixing your eyes on your feet.

“I’m sorry Johnny , I didn’t mean to lie to you or make you upset I-”

“I’m not upset , I was worried! At one point I wanted to break down the door thinking that your silence was because something had happened to you.” 

Shame flushes over you and you twist your fingers in your lap unwilling to look Johnny in the eye. You hear Johnny sigh deeply before feeling his hand over yours.Your voice is faint as you try to apologise.

“I’m at fault. I didn’t think it was important enough to mention, especially since normally I am home around this time.”

“Darlin’, I don’t care about where you work but I do care about making sure everything I know about you is true. I don’t want any secrets or half-truth between us , understand?”

Silently you nod and Johnny wraps an arm around you , leaning back until you are both flat on your backs on  the bed. With a firm grip on your arm he pulls you to lie on top of him. You lie there with your cheek pressed against his and his hand slowly tracing up and down your back. You lay like that for so long that were it not for his fingers still moving on your back you would have thought he had fallen asleep .

“I guess today is day 2 then?” he says, suddenly breaking the silence.

 You lift your head slightly so you aren’t speaking into the mattress.

“If you still want it to be.”

“I do.”

“Then at least let me take a quick shower first , I’m sweaty from the trip home.”

“I don't mind you being sweaty”

“Johnny!”

“That is is in fact the name my ma gave me.’’ 

“Johnny, I highly doubt you want to run your tongue on my sweaty body.”

“We won’t know until I try, now will we, sweetheart?

You sit up and wiggle about until you find yourself comfortably straddling him.Fixing him with a pointed look as Johnny’s hands slips from your back to your waist before resting on your thighs. Your nylon tights serve as the only barrier between your skin and his searching fingers whose heat still manages to sear through the material. Johnny watches you through his dark lashes and after a moment of contemplating making a run for it into the shower you ease your blazer off your shoulder making sure to press heavily into his lap. He responds with a roll of his hips and his boyish grin as you gasp in return.

Chapter Text

“I’m pretty sure that thrusting against me is breaking the rules for today, Johnny.” You sigh as Johnny’s fingers remain still against your thigh unsure of what to do. 

“Gorgeous, you can’t say that after grinding into me. We gotta be fair don’t ya think?” 

“Fair enough.” you respond, trailing your fingers down his arms , studying his face for any sign of discomfort. His lips twitch but remain in their grin as your fingers land on his, your hands covering his.

You pull his fingers up your thigh to the waistband of your skirt, guiding his hands to pull out your shirt. Johnny’s gaze remains fixed on yours as his fingers circle around the lowermost button. His breathing is deep as slowly undoes the button before sliding up to undo the one above it. You lean slightly forward as he reaches higher with each button. Never taking his eyes off yours he slowly continues his path. As his gaze is focused on you, his fingers trail along your body in order to locate each button leaving a trail of searing heat in its wake. His fingers tremble slightly as they reach the final button leaving your shirt slightly open. He takes a shuddery breath as he closes his eyes. 

When he opens them they are fixed on your waist as his fingers go back down to the waist of your skirt. Just as you are about to reach to pull off the shirt he grabs your wrists , stilling your hands. You let them lie limp by your side. A few moments pass and he presses his fingertips into the skin of waist. His eyes remain focused on where his fingers meet your skin. From your angle you can see his dark lashes fluttering. His fingers twitch and you press harder against them. His fingers inch up your bare skin at an agonisingly slow pace until they finally reach the underwire of your bra. You hear him swallow and a dark flush rests upon his cheeks and nose. 

His fingers trace along the line of your bra before moving up to the cup. You have never been so grateful to not be wearing a padded bra. A soft sigh escapes your lips as he thumbs a circle around your nipple. You twist slightly trying to get his fingers to actually brush over your nipple but each time he just widens his circle until you are panting in frustration. Beneath you, you feel his hardening cock and clench your fingers into the material of your skirt as you fight the urge to roll your hips along it. 

You gasp as he pulls down the cup of your bra. The tips of his fingers lightly brush your hardened nipples as he does so before moving to roam over your breasts. His own breaths are coming out in harsh pants and you can feel him trying to ground his rolling hips into the mattress instead of against you. His hands move up to roughly shove your shirt off your shoulders. Without warning he suddenly sits up and you grip his shoulders to avoid falling back in shock. Johnny cradles his hand against your cheek pressing the other roughly against his. 

“Angel , I think …. Think , you should sit next to me.”  The phrase is let out with a sharp pant as he rubs his cheek roughly against yours. You don’t respond , instead you slip your hand beneath his shirt resting your palms against his stomach. He sighs deeply against you. You slid off his lap leaning next to him with your hands still pressed against him. After all the tension you do not possess an ounce of the restraint that Johnny did and you quickly tug off his shirt. Johnny’s hand falls from your cheek so as to let the shirt pass over his head before resting it on your hip. 

Leaning over to the shoulder furthest from you , you let your breasts brush against his chest. Placing your hand on his shoulder for support you tilt your head towards his neck. Parting your lips you press your mouth against the heated skin. You feel his throat pulse against your tongue as he swallows and the feeling sends a rush of pleasure to your brain. Your fingers roam over his torso lightly scratching your nails into his skin in the spots that made his fingers twitch on your hip. 

His pulse quickens against your tongue as your fingers follow the trail of wiry hair leading to the waistband of trousers.  You let your fingers pause there as you ride the curve of his neck to leave a kiss on his collarbone. His hips slightly buck and you take that as a sign to continue. The tips of your fingers slip beneath the fabric nestling into a thick mass of curls when suddenly 

“Wait! Darlin’ wait. please .” 

You rip your hand out and lean back to look at his face. His eyes are pinched tight and the flush on his face has darkened. You try to move further away but he keeps you in place with the hold on your wrist. 

“ I’m so sorry Johnny , I didn’t …” you trail off unsure how to end the statement. Even if you planned to fight through the haze of lust clouding your mind to stay within the rules you couldn’t be sure you would have if he didn’t stop you. 

“No , no, don't apologise sweetheart.”

“But I-”

“You stopped when I asked you so it's fine darlin, really it is.” He takes deep breaths as he speaks. “ I just think this is a good spot to end today.”

A twinge of disappointment runs through you but you quickly try to squash it down after all this was always part of the deal. His hand cups your cheek, thumbing small circles. 

“I’m sorry for cutting it short , sweetheart.”

“Don’t be Johnny.”

“Do you mind if I use your shower to take care of this?” He gestures awkwardly to his very inconspicuous hard on.

“Go ahead , the shower is downstairs in the second room to the right … I know , I’m not the one that designed the house.”

The light tension eases at your words. He stands leaving his shirt where you had tossed it and heads down to take his cold shower. You consider filling your tub with cold water and plunging in but decide to veto the idea in favour of folding Johnny’s shirt and planning your outfit for the next work day to stop thinking of the heat of Johnny’s cock so close to your fingers. 

Having set out the next day's clothes your heart finally begins to return to a normal pace. Fishing out your phone , you lay back on your bed going through any messages and emails to flush out the final heat. You can’t help but think it would be best to find another alternative soon because if things kept going like this who was to say you wouldn't develop some weird Pavlov response to reading work emails at home. Looking over the American Maestro links you don’t hear Johnny come in until the bed dips as the lays next to you. His shirtless torso is still chilled from the shower as he lays shoulder to shoulder with you causing goosebumps to rise on your skin.

“What are you reading, love ?”

“ hmm? Oh just the American Maestro thing work sent.”

“American Maestro ? You mean THE American Maestro as in the competition show?”

“Yeah , that’s what the meeting was about today, we are doing a partnership and they are giving us some incentives to get people to audition but I don’t know anyone that would want to so I’m not getting involved .”

“What do you mean you don’t know anyone ? You know me , don’t ya?”

You turn from your screen to look at Johnny who has now turned on his side to face you. His eyes shine as they look at you in all earnestness.

“Do you … want to audition?”

“ I’ve always thought about it but never really put serious thought into it but maybe this is a sign that I should. What d’ya think? Think this songbird’s got a chance?”

You try to find some semblance of joking on his features but find none and realise that he is absolutely serious. Images of all the possibilities flash through your mind and you feel a cold dread claw at your heart at the image of Johnny being made into one of those compilations of auditions pushed through just to be mocked. 

“Ah, well , so many people tend to audition for these things and only a handful of them ever make it through so… ”

“ They only make it through because they audition in the first place and who knows maybe if I go through you I may have a higher chance of my audition makin it through. Did they give you a link on where to audition? Can you send it to me, angel?”

You feel the urge to lie to him , to tell him that you had deleted the email with the link just before he brought it up. However the email was right there beneath your finger tips and it hadn’t even been that many hours since he had caught you out in an earlier lie about your job. So instead you forward the link to Johnny’s number as he watches , his eyes curving into pleased crescents as he peppers your face with kisses. As his lips press against every inch of your face it can touch you can only pray that he receives the automated rejection at the first stage of the process. Awful as it sounds you would rather he be rejected immediately than be forced to face the mockery of the world.

Chapter Text

Gentle tides pull at you , dragging you out towards the open ocean before pushing you back towards the shore. As soon as you feel the grainy sand beneath you the tide pulls you back deeper into the ocean before once again returning you to the shore. After a few more repetitions your eyes slowly open to the sound of your ocean wave alarm. The crust of last night's sleep coats your eyelids and you have to blink rapidly to clear your vision. As you do so you try to remember the last moments of the prior night before you had fallen  asleep. You remember Johnny turning the night into a querying session as he went through the rules and requirements for the audition.By the time you had finally clarified every question that the meeting and powerpoint had prepared you for you blinked except this time your eyes were so heavy with sleep that you abandoned the attempt to re-open them.Instead you sank deep into sleep with the light sensation of something pressing against one eyelid and then the next.

Turning to the side you notice the spot  Johnny had been laying in last night had the blanket tucked back in. The bathroom door was open and there was no sign of Johnny. Stretching out of bed you look for any signs he is still in the house but see none. Instinctively you jam your feet into your slippers and rush down the stairs to make sure that the front door is still locked. Although no crime had ever happened in the neighbourhood in the years that you had lived there you refused to have your neighbours on the news or worse a true crime podcast saying ‘no one ever locked their doors because it was so safe and that's probably why it was so easy for the killer to get in’

Just as you reach the bottom of the stairs , the smell of food and deep humming fills the air.Calming your thudding heart you shuffle into the kitchen you see Johnny , dressed as he was last night but with your frilly blue apron around him fiddling the knobs of your stove.

“Glad I went for the blue apron , it's definitely your colour.” you say moving over to wrap your arms around his waist , pressing your lips against his back. “Sorry, I fell asleep last night and trapped you in my house. Do you have enough time to get home and get dressed for work?”

He twists around in your grasp “Darlin’ I’d take being trapped with you over FUCK” he jolts forward and lifts his arm to reveal an angry red blotch.

“Oh my god Johnny! Quick! put it under cold water !” you drag him towards the sink, twisting the knob to cold and shoving his arm under the stream before rushing to grab the first aid kit from the bathroom. Digging through you find the burn spray and grab a roll of bandages before rushing back to Johnny who is still standing with his arm in the sink.

You walk him over the chair and begin to administer first aid. You are rather sloppy in your application of the bandage but you hadn’t been in many situations where you got practice

“Thank you nurse , thank you very much.” 

Were it not for the burn you would have smacked him on the arm but settle instead for an exaggerated eye roll which he returns with his own. 

“By the way, sweetheart, I was gonna ask if you would let me film my audition video in your house?The lighting in mine isn’t that great.”

“Sure, when do you want to do it?”

“The sooner the better , in fact I’d do it today if I can.”

“ mmm not today don’t you want to prep first ? Maybe take a session with a vocal coach to get you ready?”

“No can do darlin , I’ve been bitten by the singing bug worse than a dog with a rabid flea and the sooner I get my audition done the better. Think about it , the first few auditions are going to be seen by the people over American Maestro when they’re still bright eyed and keen and that's the best time to get them. 

“... alright, Johnny. In that case I’ll just give you my spare key and you can come in when you’re ready just not today.”

His face that was still in a slight grimace from the pain turned into one you couldn’t read.

“You mean that ? I can just come in whenever I want ?”

You stand to go look for the third set of keys that were hidden in one of the drawers in your study room. Sam already had the second set and while a part of you could argue that it was still a bit soon to be giving Johnny your keys the clock ticking showing that you didn’t have much time to get ready for work silenced the thought.

You gently place the key in Johnny’s hand letting that serve as the answer to his question before going to serve the breakfast that was still in the pans. Ordinarily you would just grab a meal at the company cafeteria or hope that your large coffee would keep the hunger pangs at bay until your lunch break so this felt like luxury and made up for the less than calm start to the morning. 

The both of you eat breakfast trading updates from your social media and the news. Up until now Sam was the only person that you had experienced this sort of morning domesticity with. Finishing up the meal you place both sets of dishes in the dishwasher and move to go back upstairs to get dressed.

“How bout I drop you off at work , angel?”

“Are you sure? It won’t make you too late for your own job?” you say halfway up the stairs.

“ Don’t worry your pretty lil head about that. Just get dressed and I’ll wait for you in the car.”

You were not about to give up the offer to ride in his car instead of being trapped in the train during the morning rush and run up the stairs to quickly finish the rest of your getting ready routine. Once you were certain you looked HR appropriate you head downstairs to slip on your heels and head to the car. As soon as you are settled in Johnny pulls onto the road following the directions from your phone. 

Despite the morning traffic you make it to the office park and flash your work badge at the car guard who lifts up the boom gate to the employee parking. Reversing into the only available slot Johnny leaves the car running before unbuckling his seatbelt. You sit still, realising that you had essentially been Pavloved into having him undo your seatbelt but instead of his hands moving to the buckle they move to cup your cheek. 

Your breath catches as your gaze lands on his lips moving slowly towards yours. Knowing the inadvertent tease he could be and with the memory of last night you prepare for him to divert towards your cheek. Instead you feel the firmness of lips slowly moving against yours. You don’t even think as your hands move to his curls and your lips part letting his tongue slip in between. You moan at the feeling of his hot wet tongue sliding against yours. His mouth bears a trace of mint but all you can focus on is him slipping inside of your mouth. You strain against the seatbelt trying to push yourself closer against him but he pulls back only to press against your lips again. Finally at the sound of a car's alarm going off he leans back, your lips separating from his with a wet smack. 

“ I hope you don’t mind me startin day 3 a little early , sweetheart.” he says as he deftly undoes your seatbelt. “I probably won’t be able to stop by tonight but tomorrow I’ll be there.” 

Nodding slowly, you grab your handbag and whisper a goodbye before stepping out of the car and praying that none of your coworkers had decided to take a peek into what was happening in the car. Pinching your cheeks to focus,  you head into the building ready to start another day at work.

The next day 

Unfortunately for you it seemed today was just one of those days in which all your good luck had been used up and you had no choice but to survive on bad luck. All your tights had runs in them, the train ended up being so full that you couldn’t get out of your stop and had to get off at a later one and hop on the train heading back in the direction of your work place. Even worse for you this bad luck followed you into the office as the power kept cutting due to the construction workers hitting a power cable  causing a backlog of infuriated customers and the unhelpful pep talks of your managers. By the time you finish work and make it to the station you find out the trains are experiencing technical difficulties and will be replaced by buses that run every 20 minutes instead of 4 minutes like the train.

The bus is even more packed by the train and you squeeze yourself by the door so you don’t end up stuck at a stop further than your home. From there you decided not to tempt the universe by riding the electric scooter lest you or someone else end up in urgent care and instead walk towards your house , the thought of a warm bath with your favourite bath salts being the thin line of sanity you could maintain.Turning the corner to your house you spot Johnny’s car and truly have no idea if you have the mental fortitude to handle another day of edging. 

Opening up the front door you give out a tentative hello which is immediately returned by his hoarse voice. Toeing off your shoes you head towards the living room and spot Johnny standing by the piano. You walk towards him as he sips a glass of water. He is wearing a thin white shirt with the top buttons undone exposing small beads of sweat on his chest. The shirt ends in the band of a pair of tight crisp white pants that cling to his every muscle. 

“Wow, darlin, you look tired as a dog.”

“So charming. Not tired, just had a really awful day today.”

“Something happen at work?” his brow quirks up as he moves to pull you in his arms. Once nestled in his embrace his fingers find your chin drawing you up to a kiss.

“Yes, but it wasn't just work it was just one of those days where everything goes wrong.”

Johnny looks at you and hums . “Well how about I try and make you feel all right baby?

Now it’s your turn to raise your brow. “And how do you plan on doing that?”

“Well let’s start with getting you undressed and up on this piano.” and even as he speaks his fingers are already tugging on your blouse.

Chapter Text

His fingers tremble as they go through your buttons and as they reach the last one you reach out to cover them with your own. When you walked closer to him just moments earlier you had suspected a wave of anxiety through him and now his trembling fingers were proof of it.

“Johnny , are you ok? You seem a bit nervous.” 

Johnny’s fingers twist out of your grip and slips the blouse of your shoulders before trailing the curve of your spine to lower the zipper on the back of your skirt.

“Nervous? Baby I’m as good as can be.” He leans to lower your skirt which you step out of despite your apprehension.

“I’m serious, Johnny , if something's wrong just tell me.”  you let him unclasp your bra but stop his hands from trailing to your panties. Looking back to make sure the lid of the piano is closed you brace your hands and lift yourself into a seating position on it. Johnny slots himself between your legs pulling you closer to the edge and pulling on your thighs until you get the hint to wrap them around his waist. The piano feels cool beneath your thighs but is countered by the burning heat of Johnny pressed against you.

He nuzzles against your neck , his nose rubbing against your pulse.You can feel the thin beads of sweat from the slit on his shirt cooling against your chest. As his feverish fingers roam against your back you slip your fingers into his hair grabbing a fistful of curls and gently pulling to get his face to look at yours just as he nipped against your throbbing pulse.

“Johnny, talk to me.” Your gaze tries to find his and as you look at him you can tell his mind is racing with a million thoughts. 

He presses his lips against yours in response . His chest separates from yours leaving just enough of a gap for his hands to slide through and cup your breasts. You can’t help but sigh at the sensation of his burning hands palming your breasts. Your eyelids flutter as you try to maintain your gaze but soon give up as you feel his fingertips brush against your nipples. Your legs tighten around his waist as his fingers roughly fumble around your nipples. His movements are clumsy alternating between rough twists and dragging his nails across them. Neither of which stop the short gasps that Johnny swallows. 

As your lips meld together with wet gasps and sighs you move your hands to his guiding his fingers to pull at your sensitive nipples. Your tongue feels slick and hot as it slides against his as you try to draw in his own pants of pleasure.

 You feel Johnny lean forward pressing against you until you fall back onto the piano hissing at the coldness on your back. With this new angle you feel Johnny roll his clothed cock against your soaking pussy. Your toes curl at the sensation and your hands find their way to Johnny’s back as you grind your pussy harder against him , eyes squeezed shot as waves of pure bliss rush over you. Johnny pulls back from your lips with a rough gasp, his eyes lowering to the sight of your bodies grinding against each other.His hips stop and his hands abandon your breasts. 

A whine of protest starts in your throat but devolves into a low moan as his fingers bury themselves in the flesh on your hips pulling you roughly to meet the rough rolls of his hips. 

“Is, is , oh fuck , is this ok , baby?” His voice falters on each word as his eyes screw shut in pleasure .

You manage to squeeze out a breathless yes. His pace quickens as he  leans down to capture a nipple in his mouth. Your hands immediately find his hair tugging as you arch your arch pressing your breast deeper between his lips. It feels like sparks are burning through your brain as his  tongue messily laps around  the sensitive bud. You twist slightly desperate for him to pay attention to your other nipple. Johnny releases the bud in his mouth leaving it glistening with his saliva. He grabs both of your breasts pushing them together before rubbing his face against them. 

His tongue laps against your two nipples pressed against each other. You would have chuckled at the cute sight of his head swaying between the two as he lathered them with his hot tongue were it not for the tight knot of pleasure you could feel building inside of you. Your chest heaved against his mouth as your breath quickened. You could feel Johnny's hips rolling faster against your pussy that was so soaked that you wished you had let Johnny remove your panties. 

All it took was one shudder of his hips and everything inside you shattered under the assault of your orgasm. Your clit throbbed mercilessly as your body shook from wave after wave of pure sexual bliss. Your eyes twisted shut and all you knew in that moment was the weight of Johnny against you. 

Slowly your muscles begin to ease and while your breath is still laboured you manage to open your eyes to Johnny’s blue ones staring at you in awe. You can still feel his hips moving against your oversensitive clit.

“My word , darlin , you are so beautiful when you finish.” Even with the look of pure lust on his face he still manages to be so tender.

“What about you, you still need to cum.” You say lifting yourself up to your elbows. “Can I take care of it for you? You were pretty sure that you guys had gone further than what today’s rules entailed but at this point you couldn’t be bothered to stick to them.

He nods and before he can change his mind you sit up and untangle your legs from his waist. You point towards the piano chair urging him to sit. Sliding off the piano you settle yourself between his thighs you knew he was already close and while there was a tinge of disappointment that it would be so soon at least there would be other opportunities… at least you hope.

Your hand rests on the button on his pants as you look up at him for permission. He nods and lifts his hips slightly so you can slip his trousers and boxers down to his thighs. His cock stands red , heavy, and slightly curved with the tip slick with precum. Your heart which had begun to slow down picks up again as you softly slide your palm around it. You take his muffled groan and the movement of his hips as a good sign. Keeping your eyes on him so you know to stop if he shows any sign of discomfort you slowly lower your head until you press your lips to the tip ina kiss. His precum smears against your lips and you flick out your tongue to taste it. 

Swirling your tongue around the tip you watch as his own lips part at the sight of you. Flicking your tongue against the slit you relish in his low moan that breaks into a gasp as you wrap your lips around the head of his cock. As your tongue circles around the head you let your hand gently pump his shaft. Your grip is just loose enough to allow Johnny to control the pace with the thrust of his hips. Slowly Johnny begins to thrust further upwards into your mouth until he is almost off the chair. Releasing your grip you slide lower down his cock until your nose is nestled into the mass of curls around the base.

“Oh fuck, baby , your mouth.” his fingers twitch at his side as he pumps into your wet mouth shivering as you moan around his cock. His pace quickens and his thrust becomes more sloppy as you match his thrust with the bob of your head sucking tightly against cock. 

“Shit, darlin , wait , I’m so fucking close.” His chest heaves as his fingers dig into your forearms resting on his thighs. Suddenly he stills and as his head falls back with a guttural groan. You can feel his cock twitching in your mouth and the taste of salty cum fills your mouth. 

His head slumps forward with his curls damp against his forehead. You pull your mouth of his spent cock. For a few moments the both of you rest as you are his heavy breathing and the clicking of your clock being the only sounds in the room. Gently Johnny lowers himself off the chair and wraps his arms around you as he lays the both of you on the ground. 

Laying in his arms you look into his shining blue eyes as your thumbs. “ How do you feel, Johnny?”

“ Amazing , tired but amazing.”

“ Amazing enough to tell me what had you so nervous earlier.”

“ Dang, and here I thought you would have forgotten about that. Sex always seems to work for that kind of thing in the movies.” he says chuckling.

“Yeah, in the moment it worked but now, spill.”

Johnny sighs and tries to kiss you but you turn so his lips land on your cheek.

“Alright, darlin, truth is I spent all afternoon working on my audition and was working myself into a state because it needs to be perfect. In fact when you got back home I had finally worked up the courage to send it and got that wave of nervousness of waiting for a reply.I know I'm good enough to make it but there's always that one chance of what if I sent it to the wrong email or something happened and the file got corrupted.I just thought that being with you and seeing how far I could go tonight would get my mind off it.”

“Did it?

“ Angel the only thing I could think about was how fucking good you felt and how amazing you sound when you come. Honestly there might be a songbird inside of you.”

You bite his chin as he laughs. “ Yeah, well instead of a songbird I’d like you to be inside me.”

“ Don’t you worry about that, my love , after tonight that’s gonna happen a lot sooner than you think.”

Chapter Text

Instead of the gentle rhythm of waves moving along the shore you awake to the sound of deep , gentle breathing in your ear, something soft tickling your face and a horrific stiffness in your limbs. You try to shift to check your phone to see how much time you had before your alarm kicked in but feel yourself pinned between a hard place and a hard place.Pressed against your thigh you can feel Johnny already half-hard. Opening your eyes half your vision is blocked by a mass of dark curls and the other doesn’t see your usual bedroom ceiling but what looks like the chair of your piano. Twisting your head you look around and realise that both you and Johnny had fallen asleep on the floor. Wincing at the thought of the knots that were about to form in your body you close your eyes again with a deep sigh. 

You open your eyes again to try and see if you can figure out the time. If you were lucky maybe you would have just enough time to indulge in your fantasy of waking up your lover with your mouth around him. You wiggle slightly in his grasp and save for a few little groans he doesn’t seem to wake. Gently lifting his arm you manage to escape from under his embrace and lightly rise to your feet. You hoped that none of your neighbours decided to peek through the window as  you walk as lightly as you can to your phone in nothing but the panties that you had fallen asleep in.You figure you would have just enough time to play with Johnny but then an email comes in from work. Rolling your eyes you open it up.

Subject : Work from home

Dear employees 

Due to ongoing connection issues caused by nearby construction all employees that were supposed to be in office today are asked to work from home.

If you do not have a stable internet connection at home we suggest going to the closest collaborative workspace. If you choose to do so please retain your receipt and email it to HR for reimbursement. 

Due to the last minute nature of this announcement all employees will be given a 30 minute grace period to begin work form their expected start time.

Best ,

Hank Quartz

Senior Admin Assistant

Dropping the phone you tiptoe back to sleeping your sleeping lover who was now splayed on his back.The grace period means less time needed to get ready which means more time to tease Johnny. Lowering yourself to your knees you crawl between his legs. It seems in the exhaustion of last night he didn’t have the energy to pull up his boxers which still hung low on his hips. His cock was half hard and lay heavy on his left thigh.You rest your head on his right thigh tracing his cock and watching it twitch under your ministrations as you listen to Johnny’s breath become more shallow. A low moan follows a swipe of your thumb across his tip. Your thighs clench as you watch his cock become larger under your caresses until it is hot and red. You inch your face closer burying your nose in the curls at the base of his cock. 

 Just as you were about to open your mouth to take him in, you pause. Lifting up your head you look to see Johnny’s face flushed red. 

“Johnny.” you whisper softly and when no response comes you gently wrap your fingers around his cock stroking it as you say his name a bit louder. After a few strokes and murmurs of his name his eyes open still clouded by sleep  as his chest heaves in shallow breaths.

“Darlin , wha-, what are ya doin?” His voice is thick with sleep and you can’t help but squeeze a little harder at the sound. His hips buck into your hand in response before he lifts himself up. Cupping your face , his thumb slips down to press between your lips. “ Hmm? What’s my pretty girl doin to me so early in the morning?” He doesn’t let you respond but removes his thumb replacing it with his tongue which you eagerly accept. 

Letting go of his cock you shuffle unto his lap , wrapping your arms around his neck as you suck his tongue deeper into your mouth. You feel his hands slide to your ass pulling you to grind against his cock. You gasp as you roll your hips chasing those familiar sparks of pleasure. Suddenly you feel the need to guide his fingers down into the soaked fabric of your panties. The thought of his fingers pressing against your clit sends a shiver of pleasure down your spine. Untangling your hand from his neck you reach to grab his hand only for the both of you to suddenly still at what sound like the sound of the door unlocking. 

Johnny quickly pulls back and looks at you, his eyes clear and alert. The sound of the door opening fills the room and you quickly jump off Johnny’s lap. 

“Shit , it’s probably Sam.”

He looks at you questioningly as you pull him up. 

“Why is she- ?” You shush him telling him to quickly dress . As he pulls up his trousers and boxers in one move. Your brain whirls with thoughts of what to do and where to tell Johnny to go and whether or not you even have time to grab something to cover up. 

“HELLOOOO, Sleeping beauty are you awake?!” Sam’s familiar voice fills the hallway. You pray that she decides to walk up the stairs to your room so you can quickly rush to put on the clothes that littered the floor. Unfortunately just as you begin to cross your fingers you notice her in the living room.

“Oh , good you’re up. Look sorry for bursting in but - wait - wait are you naked right now? Girl, since when do you eat breakfast - OH MY GOD.” As Sam comes closer to the piano room you try to signal to her not to come closer but in her chattiness  she  just ignores you until her eyes rest on Johnny standing right next to you. Her eyes flit from you to him and back to you as you cross your arms over your chest. Silence looms over the three of you as Johnny holds your arm and pulls you behind him. 

“I am sooo sorry , I should have knocked.”

“Yes, you should have.” Johnny responds deadpanned.

Sam doesn’t respond to that but looks at you imploringly as you look at her from behind Johnny. You sigh and nuzzle Johnny before returning your gaze to Sam who is still looking at you for help on diffusing the awkward situation. She has a tote in her hand and frets with the straps as she waits for you to say something. 

“Uhm, do you mind waiting here while Johnny and I get more … presentable.”

“Yes, yes , I mean its your house , you don’t have to ask . I’ll just wait here,  no problem.” She rambles as she makes an about-face and goes to sit on the couch. 

Grabbing Johnny's hand you lead him up to your bedroom using the kitchen to connect to the hallway. Once inside your room you try to let go but Johnny refuses to release his grip.

“Umm Johnny, I need both my hands to get dressed.”

“Do your friends always barge into your home?” The flush is gone from his face instead leaving a cool pallor.

“Well, usually she gives me a heads-up.”

“She could have knocked. I don’t like the idea of people just waltzing into your home sweetheart.” His grip is tight as his thumb brushes across your knuckles.

“Sam isn’t just people and like I said she usually lets me know when she is coming in.”

“Yeah, but she didn’t today. Listen darlin , I don’t want you to get used to just having people just pop into your home because what if it's someone you don’t know huh? What if one day someone manages to find their way into your home and you just think it's one of your friends , no sweetheart I can't even stomach the thought.”

“I told you, this is a one time thing not to mention you just came into my home yesterday.”

“My car was outside so you knew it was me and  I told you that I would be auditioning in your home.Please darlin, sweetheart , sugar, try and understand where I’m coming from.”

 You wrestle your hand from Johnny’s grasp and reach up to press a kiss against his jaw. Grasping his face in both your hands you pull his face down until he is eye to eye with you.

“TskThis overprotective streak of your.I get what you mean and I will remind Sam to let me know when she is coming but at the same time you need to calm down ok? Please apologise for being so short with her when we head back downstairs.”

“I didn’t say anything wrong.”

“Yes but the way you said it.”

Johnny doesn’t respond just looking into your eyes; his features a mixture of concern and irritation.

“I get to work from home and I still have some time before my shift so if you want we can shower together, ok?” You say relenting to his gaze and wanting to cool the argument. A smile tugs at his lips and you can’t help but return it. 

Luckily any remaining tension of the argument dissolves into the pile of clothes you remove from Johnny as you both step into the bathtub. Despite the need to be quick Johnny doesn't hesitate to run his soapy hands over part of your body that he can touch. While you doubt that sound would travel as far down as the living room you fight to keep your moans in as Johnny bends over to capture a wet nipple in his mouth. As his tongue lovingly lathers the perky bud you feel a slick hand trail down down your stomach before gliding down the seam of your pussy. Your legs buckle but luckily Johnny manages to hold you up. Releasing your nipple he looks at you with that heart-stopping grin.

“Almost got carried away. Let’s get you out , dry and ready for work.” 

You can only nod as your heart races in your chest. Were it not for the fact that Sam was downstairs you would said ‘fuck it’ called sick at work and begged Johnny to touch you until the only thing you know is his name and the feel of his body against yours. As if he can sense your thoughts, Johnny gives you a little pinch on the ass before guiding you out of the tub. 

Since you would be working from home you decide to dress in something a lot more casual that has Johnny raising his eyebrow.

“Working from home today so no need for something as fancy as a pencil skirt.”

“I didn’t mind the skirt, it gets me all hot and bothered.” He says with a cheesy wink.

“Well make an appointment and I’ll make sure to wear it just for you.”

“You’re killing me, honey.”  

Glancing at the clock you realise that you have twenty minutes left of the grace period. Johnny takes a last look at himself in the mirror before joining you as you both make your way downstairs to a waiting Sam in the living room. She has her laptop on the table in front of her as she types away. At the sound of both of your footsteps she looks up from the screen and stands up. 

“I’m really sorry again for not knocking before coming.” 

Although you didn’t need the apology you look at Johnny trying to signal to him to accept it.

“And I’m sorry for my tone earlier.” Johnny says with a curt nod. Turning to you he pulls your hand to his lips pressing a kiss on each finger tip before addressing you. “ No need to see me to the door. I’ll message you.”

He walks off to the door and only after you hear it close and hear the rev of his car does Sam finally speak to you.

“Geez , I felt like I was talking to the principal.”

“Yeah well, knock next time. Anywho, why are you here so early?”

“No power and your place is closer than the office plus I’d rather die than go sit in the office for work.”

“ Lucky for you today is my work from home day.”

“Yaaay , it will be like a sleep over except with work.”

“You literally could have said it’s like a study date. Go put your stuff in the dining room so we can do our work together there.”

While you were used to having other people around you as you worked considering you had to be in office there was something especially fun about working with your best friend right by you. It felt like back when the two of you would be in university wasting the first hour of the time you had booked in the study room to chat before finally locking in. The sounds of the two of you typing in silence as you went through your caseloads formed the perfect background noise for you and before you knew it lunch time had arrived. 

Reaching into a deep stretch you turn to Sam who waves her phone showcasing your favourite restaurant's menu. You nod and she places the order already knowing exactly what you wanted to get. 

“So are you mad that I interrupted your fucking time? Honestly I never imagined you to be someone that would get down and dirty on the floor.” She says with a grin so wide you were surprised her face didn’t hurt.

“Wouldn’t you if I interrupted you and Dorian?”

“I don’t know , I would probably be too busy cumming to notice.”

“SAM! Ugh my innocent ears ”

“Innocent , my ass considering yours was about to get plowed this morning.”

“I will hit you. By the way, is Dorian still staying over?”

“He’s at my place about half the week now since his brother just found a new place. I’m going to be helping him move into his new place this weekend.”

“Need any help?” You move to the kitchen to start setting the table for when the food arrives.

“Nah, he doesn't have much stuff to move considering. Yeah he had to sell a lot of his furniture at the start so it’s just the basics. I swear if I ever meet that Keith, I don’t know what I’ll do but it will be bad.”

“Do you even know what he looks like?”

“Nope, but still. Oh food is here , I’ll get it.”

You wonder if you should try and find out who this Keith is but as Sam brings the steaming containers of food in front of you, you decide to let it go. No point inserting yourself into something that doesn’t concern you.

Chapter Text

Trying to enjoy the last bit of rest that Sunday  afforded you had been doing nothing but lounging around on the couch all morning by the time Johnny calls.

“Darlin’! Are you home right now?”

“Yes, is everything alright? You sound out of breath.” You could hear the whine of his car engine and wind buffeting through an open window. “Are you driving right now?”

“Driving over to see you.”

“Oh?” You jumped up from the couch realising that today may be the day that you and Johnny were probably going to go all the way. “ You should have given me more time to prepare.”

“Prepare? Honey, I just figured I had to get to you immediately. Listen, just be ready ok. I’ll be there faster than a dog can shake its tail.”

“And how fast is that exactly?” You were rushing to the shower as you spoke but quickly turned to unlock the door for Johnny before heading up again as quickly as you could. 

“Say about 10 minutes.”

“ shit  oh sorry didn’t mean to say that outloud. Ok just come in when you are here doors open.”

“Baby , what did I tell you about that door?  Lock it now. I’ll use my key.”

“Yes , yes I will , see you soon.” You hang up the call before you can scold him any further. At this point you had already ripped off your shirt and was about to take off your sweatpants but decided to make a run for it to the door and lock it. 

Heading back to the washroom you peel out of the rest of your clothes and twist the shower knob and step in squealing as a blast of cold water hits your skin. You wiggle around under the stream waiting for it to warm up to an acceptable temperature before lathering your sponge with body wash and violently scrubbing every part of your body you could imagine Johnny touching and tasting. While he had shown he did not mind a bit of sweat you did not want your first time with him to be after you had done nothing but stew on the couch in an old loungewear set and your granny panties. 

You scrub yourself until your skin feels raw and only then do you turn off the water and step out to reach for a towel. As you rummage through your toiletries for some body oil to make your skin smooth to his touch you hear the door open. Fuckin hell there’s no way I spent 10 minutes in the shower. Panicking you slather the oil on your still wet body resulting in more of a grease than a shine and straighten up to realise that here in the bottom washroom you don’t have any underwear let alone lingerie to put on. 

“Angel, are you downstairs?” Johnny’s voice booms and with a sigh of resignation you open the washroom door clad in nothing but your towel with water still clinging to your body. Johnny looks at you already a few steps up the stairway and his face lights up into one of the biggest smiles you have ever seen on his face. He turns and runs down the stairs rushing to gather you into his arms. Before you can even speak you feel yourself being lifted and spun around in the air. 

“Darlin , you won’t believe the news I got.” His lips descend unto yours and each of his words are punctuated with a loud peck until he finally decides to just speak with his lips pressed against yours. “ I got an email from American Maestro and they want me to come to the big live taped audition next week!” 

 With his lips pressed against yours it takes a moment to make out the muffled words but when you finally understand what he is saying you pull back from him in shock.

“What?!” Are you serious?” 

Johnny grins at you and places you back on the ground only to pull you up to your bedroom talking a million miles a minute all the while. 

“ I got an email from them about a half hour ago telling me that they want me to come to the next stage of the audition which they're gonna stream. Oh darlin, this is the best news I have ever gotten.” He sits you down on the bed before handing you the phone already open up on the email. You scroll through the email and sure enough it is inviting Johnny to go to the in person auditions in the nearby town of H the following weekend. 

Your mind races with the possibilities of what this email entailed. At first you scrolled to see if there was anything that gave it away as being a scam email but everything about it looks legitimate, then a wave of horror fills you as you imagine that it is all an elaborate joke to make Johnny one of the fodder in the cringe compilations that inevitably comes out of the shows.Finally you manage to taper of the horror but reasoning with yourself. Maybe you had simply overstated how mediocre you thought his singing was and that in his audition Johnny had actually showcased his real talent that he was hiding until this very moment.

Feeling the bed dip as Johnny sits next to you brings you out of your internal thought spiral. He looks at you with such eagerness in his eyes that you simply shove away all negative thoughts and let your hand rest on his cheek.

“Are you proud of me, sweetheart?”

Your heart swells at the question and you trace a heart unto his cheek. “Always, Johnny.”

His hand rests on your thigh right by the edge of your towel. “Will you come with me to the audition? It would mean a lot to me if you were there. My time slot is 2pm on the Saturday. I was thinking since it's kind of far we could drive over on Friday night and stay the weekend. We could even spend the Sunday exploring. I heard they got a bunch of aquariums and wax museums that are worth checking out.”

“Are you sure you don’t mind driving late since I don’t think I will be able to get Friday off? ” You ask knowing that you definitely were not winning the half-day off.

“What would be better than a late night drive with my Angel?”

“Alright then, in that case we’ll have to find a hotel or airbnb to stay at unless you already found a place?”

“Honey, I drove straight to you after getting the news so we’ll have to figure that out together.” His fingers circle lazily on your skin as he speaks and unconsciously you begin to part your thighs. “ By the way darlin , why were you taking a shower in the middle of the day? I mean it’s 2pm.”

You spread your thighs even wider letting the towel ride up until it is just covering your pussy. His fingers follow the towel but go no further and you can’t help but notice the movement of his throat as he swallows. Your own hand trails down to tease at the collar of his shirt. He is so close you have to tilt your head to look at him.

“Well I was thinking about you and what it would be like when we finally …” You trail off letting his mind work to fill in the rest of your sentence and from the movement of his Adam’s apple and the red flush starting at his neck he must have filled in the blank with something very interesting. “ Of course, that’s just me fantasising and it's up to you to determine when day 7 is.”

Johnny looks down at you through his lowered lashes and covers your hand at his collar with his own. When he speaks his voice is as deep as if he has just woken up. 

“Do you have any condoms?”

You shake your head cursing yourself for not having thought to stoke up on any. “No but I think you can order them on uber.”

He unlocks his phone and opens up the app, typing in condoms in the search bar and quickly adding the closest one to his cart and confirming the order. The app switches to an ETA of 15 minutes. He turns his phone to silent mode and stands up to place the phone on your nightstand. He then walks over to stand in front of you and something about this position with his bulge a few inches from your face sends a rush of heat to your now throbbing clit. 

Gazing up at him you reach for the tucked in corner of your towel and slowly open it up. Your heart thunders in your chest as you watch his lips twitch as the towel falls onto the bed. Leaning forward you reach underneath his shirt running your hand up the smooth plane of his stomach. In one fluid movement he lifts up his shirt and throws it to some part of the room. He catches your hand and pulls it to the hem of his pants. Never taking your eyes off him, you tug down his pants and boxers internally grateful that he wasn’t wearing a belt. For the first time the both of you stood before each other fully naked and soon , you thought, that thick , red cock would be inside of you. 

You lean back onto the bed and a sigh falls from your lips as you feel Johnny press on top of you. Wrapping your arms around his neck, your lips meet in a heated, frenzied kiss. His tongue traces along your lips which open obediently in a heady moan as his fingers quickly find their way to your nipples. 

In this position you can feel his cock sliding against your clit and you could scream from how good it feels. Your thighs wrap around his waist as he thrusts against you pulling back until the smooth head bumps against your clit.

“Fuck, Johnny, yes , rub it against my clit.” You gasp into his ear. He circles his hip letting the head push harder against your clit that is so slick from how wet you are and his precum. 

“Like … like this?” He asks his lips now but your ear as his fingers continue to twist and tease at your nipples.”

“Yes , oh fuck I love how it feels.” you tighten your legs around his trying to match the circling of his hips. Your back arches in pleasure and all you can think of is that badly you want to shift your hips ever so slightly until he slips inside of you. Lifting your hips , you circle your waist until you can feel the heat of his cock at your entrance god  its so fucking close. You can feel your pussy clenching wanting to pull him in deep and just as you decided to give in the both of you jump at the notification on his phone going off. 

Johnny peels himself off of you and you reluctantly unwrap your legs from him as he rushes to check his phone. His cock is stiff and glistening with your wetness as he turns to look at you.

“It’s here.” He whispers and without covering himself up he runs downstairs to get the package that had been left at the door. 

When he re-enters the room he has already ripped open the pack is holding out a condom. You stand up from the bed and tell him to sit and the head of the bed. He does so never taking his eyes off you as you take the condom from his hand and rip open the wrapper. Johnny sits with his back against the headboard and watches as you place the condom in your mouth and lean into between his legs. His lips part in sync with yours as you slowly lower your head until the condom is in position. Using your mouth you roll the condom all the way to the base thrilling in the sound of his low groan as you slide back up. 

Moving closer you straddle his lap until you are hovering over his cock. You look at him as you wrap your arms around him. 

“Are you sure about this?” You ask giving him one last chance to back out. He places his hands on your hips and without breaking eye contact pushes you down unto his cock. You can barely breathe as you feel him sliding into you inch by inch. His fingers dig so deep into your skin you wouldn’t be surprised if he draws blood. His mouth is slack as rough pants and broken words escape his mouth when you reach the hilt. 

You don’t even give him a moment to catch his breath before raising your hips. A whimper leaves your lips at the empty feeling before rolling your hips down to engulf him again. Bracing a hand against his chest you begin to work up a rhythm that has you curling your toes which each burst of pleasure that hits you as you slam down on his cock. Johnny's hips jerk sloppily to meet your thrusts accompanied with his deep, desperate moans. 

His one hand leaves your waist to intertwine tightly with yours. Pressing his check against yours his delicious moans fill your ears and you can’t help squeezing your pussy against his cock loving how his voice changes each time you do.

“Darlin, angel , gorgeous … fuuck , you’re killin me. Why, shit, why do you feel so fucking good ?!” His voice slips into a rough growl as his breath buffets your ear. Your heart stops for a moment as he suddenly rolls you over onto your back and places both hands back on your waist slamming into you. 

His thrusts are jerky and awkward as sweat beads at his temples and his lips are red between his teeth. You tighten your legs around him until he can barely pull out. You arch into him as you feel him pressing so deep inside of you into the spot that has you seeing stars and gasping for breath. You roll your hips trying to guide him into a rhythm.

“Ah , if you move this it will feel even better.” You say before loosening  your grip just enough for him to slide out and thrust back into you. “Fuck yes like that baby , you’re doing so good Johnny.”

The room fills with the sound of your moans and the wet, squelch of your pussy around his cock. Your fingers tighten in Johnny’s grip as you feel a surge of pleasure building up inside of you.Your own movement becomes sloppy as your toes tighten and your pussy pulses as your orgasm hits you so hard you forget to breathe. In the haze of pleasure the only thing you can say is Johnny’s name.

“Oh darlin , you feel so hot around me , ah I’m , fuck , darlin I-” He slams into you , throwing his head back. You can  feel his cocking twitching inside of you as he cums and you can’t help but wish you could have felt his hot cum filling you up. 

His head snaps forehead , his hair slick with sweat as his hips continue to thrust lazily into you. You free your hand and move away the curls from his forehead as he collapses unto you.with your other hand you gently stroke his back as you both try and catch your breath. Johnny turns his head and presses a tired kiss to your ear.

Chapter Text

It takes quite a bit of delicate wiggling to slip yourself from under Johnny. While there is something wonderful about the weight of his body that feels like it is pushing your soul back into your flesh , there's something less wonderful about barely being able to breathe.Within a few moments of stroking his back and peppering with soft kisses and murmurs of how good a job he did Johnny had fallen into such a deep sleep that were it not for the feel of his heartbeat against yours he may as be dead.

Having gotten into a position that gives your lungs room to expand but still close enough to feel Johnny, your mind begins to move to the plans of next week. You’ve had a vague knowledge of how quick the turnaround times are for these competitions but you are still surprised with how quick they got back to Johnny. All of a sudden you needed to find a place to stay while in H town and considering how many people tend to be brought to these auditions you don’t even bother to enjoy the fantasy of hoping to find a reasonably priced place. 

You decide it's better to focus on finding an accommodation for the trip as a bulwark against the other anxiety tinged thoughts starting to build up.You would not think about the long lines at the gas stations, the crowded audition rooms, the pulsing waves of stress of contestants. 

“Ugh, no.” You say out loud to stop the flow of thoughts  and roll to the edge of bed not missing the muffled groan of Johnny that fades into a snore as you shift your warmth from him. Grabbing his shirt from the spot on the floor that he had tossed it you put it on and walk down to your study room. Turning on the computer you open up tabs for all the hotel booking sites you can remember and look for anything within a reasonable distance of the convention centre hosting the auditions. The first price that pops up leaves a bitter taste of disgust in your mouth and you quickly pull up the filter to start with the lowest priced place. That only seems to lower the price by a few tens of bucks. 

Refusing to give up you find yourself in a flow as you go through every hotel and motel that does not look like it could be used as a location for a horror movie or induce a visit from the crew of Ramsey’s Hotel nightmares. The longer you scroll the lower the number of available rooms at the top of the page goes.Finally you come across a place with one bed that's only 15 minutes from the convention centre but the price is still one that leaves one to be desired but at the very least it has free breakfast. You hover over the button to reserve when you feel a presence next to you causing you to flinch so hard you bang your knee on underneath the table.

“Geez Johnny, at least say something, you scared me.” You turn to look at him. His hair is ruffled with strands sticking out in every direction possible. The remnant of sleep lay heavy on lowered eyelids and his lips pursed into a puffy pout. His chest is marked with lines from where the sheets pressed into his skin and as your eyes lower instead of the hem of his pants they see a dark patch of hair. 

“Did you come down here naked?” You ask incredulously although you can’t help but slightly angle your head to get a glimpse of him since at this angle you couldn’t get a really clear view. He bends at the waist resting his palms on the desk and looks at the screen. 

“Yes. Why did you leave me alone in the room?” He says groggily reaching to pinch your cheek before smoothing it over with his thumb.

“I wanted to find a hotel before they got booked out or super expensive. A lot of people from here and neighbouring towns are probably going to be looking for a place and I wanted to get as much of a headstart as I could.”  You say watching the profile of his face highlighted by the white glow of the screen. You can see love bites blooming on his skin and feel the urge to bite into them , to make them darker and deeper.  

“Is this the place you chose?” 

“So far it's the best place but I was thinking of reserving since you have free cancellation up to 48 hours before and then checking with you since I don’t really know what your budget is.” 

Johnny’s eyes remained on the screen as he looked at all the details of the room. Meanwhile you try desperately to stop fidgeting at the heat radiating from his body. You decide to rest your head against his right arm and bring up your hand to stroke it as you await his verdict. You feel him nuzzle the top of your head before he shifts his arm from under it. Leaning closer he covers your hand that still rests atop the mouse and clicks through all the prompts to make a reservation before filling in the details himself. 

You make a bit of a show of turning away and closing your eyes while he types in his credit card details from memory to which he gives a chuckle. Once the confirmation page loads he turns so as to lean on the desk and you turn your chair so as to get a full view of his body. You are the first to bring up what you both had probably been thinking of.

“So Mr. Splash … what did you think?”

“I think that if I had woken up with you by my side it would take all of heaven and earth to stop me from having you wrapped around my cock.”

Your eyes widen in shock at Johnny’s words for all the inadvertent tease that he is you never imagined you would hear him say such things and so bluntly.

He continues. “ But of course, I need to know how you felt. Did I satisfy you ?” His voice softens at the question and while his laid back position against the table gives off an air of ease you know that there’s still a vulnerability about him.

Standing up you move to press yourself right up against him with your arms on his chest trapped between your two bodies. Instinctively Johnny’s arms move to rest on your ass.

“Johnny , If you’re doubting whether my orgasm was real how about you ‘wrap me around your cock’ and see”

“Darlin’, I want you to say it straight.” He says although you can see the twitching of lips as he tries to force down his smile. “Tell me how I made you feel, how good it was and you can even tell me what I didn’t do right. Ok? I want you to feel as good as you made me feel.”

Wiggling from his grasp you swap your positions and perch yourself on the table. Lifting Johnny’s shirt over your breasts you keep your eyes on him as you plant you spread your legs.You watch as his cock starts to thicken under your gaze and you begin to run your fingers across your body starting at your collar bones. Your hands slips further down until you are cupping your own breasts, fingers teasing the buds of your nipples into stiff peaks.

“After being with you I don’t think I’ll be able to masturbate anymore.” You say panting softly “Not when I know that it won’t make me feel anywhere as good as you did.”

Johnny doesn’t say anything but moves closer resting his hands on your knees as he watches you play with yourself. Watching as your fingers abandon your breasts to go down towards your clit.Your fingers hover it as Johnny leans so close that your foreheads are touching. 

“You’ve spoiled me, Johnny. If you don’t fuck me I’ll go crazy.” Sliding your finger down your clit you shiver before reaching across, fumbling to grab a hold of Johnny’s cock. The familiar heat lays heavy in your hands as Johnny slams his lips against yours. You pull away just as they meet loving the look of utter lust pooling in his eyes. Shifting your head so your lips are right by his ear you whisper “ You said to talk so let me talk.” before nibbling on the lobe of his ear. 

He shudders against you as he thrusts into your palm. With each thrust the crown of his cock bumps against your clit and you can’t help but spread your legs wider wanting to feel the smooth head slide inside of you. 

“I don’t want to feel anyone inside me except you Johnny. I loved how you filled me up with your cock, just thinking about how it felt having you sliding in and out of my pussy  is making me so wet and the sound of you moaning was just so amazing.” You say breathlessly.

“Fuck, darling let me fuck you please.” His voice is so low you can feel it vibrate through you. He slips out of your grip and before you can lift your head to see what he is doing you feel his cock nudging at your entrance. You wrap your arms around him, your nails digging into his back as he presses himself deep into you. Your body melts into the pleasure of being filled up by him again. You can feel his mouth on your ear as he pulls out and thrusts back in deep. His pace is slow and deep and you can feel his pubic bone brush against your clit each time he sinks into you.

“Is this what you want darlin? You want me so fucking deep inside of you?” His voice is rough against your ear and your brain feels like its about to melt with the onslaught of his pants , his moan , his fucking voice. “ fuuuck baby, you feel so tight around me. Why are you so tight, baby, hmm?” 

He doesn’t give you a chance so respond , dragging his lips from your ear, across your cheek before melding against your mouth. His tongue slipping in to mimic the rolling of his hips as he pounds into you. Your mouth is filled with his moans as the table rocks underneath the movement of your bodies.ripping his mouth away from yours he once again presses his forehead against yours his thrust becoming faster. 

“God I love fucking you hah love feeling you squeeze around me. I want you to cum for me, Angel. Will you let me make you cum?” 

You can only nod as your mouth feels incapable of producing anything other than  please , more , yes and fuck. 

Dragging a shaking hand from his back you grab one of his hands that’s wrapped around your thighs and pull it towards your clit. Framing your clit between two fingers he begins to rub, never slowing down his punishing pace and for the second time that day you shatter beneath him in an orgasm that rips your breath from you. Letting out a long moan you ride out your orgasm.

Johnny’s hand reaches out to catch the back of your head as you slump backwards. Cradling you he doesn’t stop. He continues to rock into your quivering pussy. You wince as Johnny’s grip tightens on you, his own thrusts becoming more erratic and you can tell that he is close. Despite how sensitive you are from your own orgasm you move your hips to meet his own.

“You want to make me cum for you sweetheart?” 

“Yes, I want you to -FUCK JOHNNY THE CONDOM!” You gasp straightening up but as you do so you tighten against him and Johnny shudders, growling your name as you feel his cum splash inside of you.

Johnny slumps against you and under the weight you have to lean flat against the desk. He lifts himself onto his elbows to keep his full weight off of you. His pupils are blown out with only a small ring of blue around them. 

“I-I am so sorry darlin’ I -fuck-I wasn’t thinking, I mean I was but not with my head and … shit what do we do?” His words come out in a tumble and you silence him with a kiss before he can spiral into a full panic.

“It’s fine, Johnny, we just need to go to the pharmacy and get a plan B. Luckily I’m close to my period so we should be fine but we should hurry now to buy it.”

He nods and lifts himself off you, his cock sliding out of you as he does. Despite the situation you can’t help but miss the feeling of him inside of you but shake the thought out of your head as quickly as it enters.

Jumping off the desk you give his hand a reassuring squeeze before leading the two of you back to your bedroom to get dressed.

5 days later - Friday evening.

Tapping your foot against the floor you watch as the time seems to move excruciatingly slow. Almost as if it understood how keen you are for the workday so that you and Johnny could zip off over to H town. There still remained 15 minutes on the clock and as you hear the familiar sound of the Cadillac's engine e stopping outside of your house you feel so close to hovering over the disconnect button for your job’s VPN and sending an apology email accusing the wifi of cutting out just before your end of shift.

The door to your study is open so you can hear the keys jingling in the front door before it opens. Johnny steps through and walks into your study. He smiles at you over the laptop before grabbing your already packed bag to put in the car. Filling your work queue with a few cases you go through them in the hopes that it will go by faster. Luckily for you it does and by the time you get to the 3rd case the alarm goes off and in record speed you log out of every application and turn off the laptop. 

You do a quick check that everything on the ground floor is in place and no lights are still running before heading outside and locking the door. You send Sam a quick message to let her know that you and Johnny are on your way. You enter into the waiting car to meet Johnny in a deep kiss as he finishes the ritual of buckling you in. You hadn’t seen him since last Sunday after your rushed visit to the pharmacy. He had been quick to assure you that his lack of visits had nothing to do with that and everything to do with his last minute sessions with a local vocal coach he had found to help him prepare for the audition.

He hands you his phone to put in the address to the hotel and after confirming that there were no accidents or delays to make the trip longer than the previously established 6 hours he pushes into drive. With anyone other than Sam this long drive would be a nightmare but with Johnny you can’t help but feel excited for what's to come.

Chapter Text

It’s a few hours into your drive and while you are digging in the back seat of the car for the snacks that you spot it - gorgeous arctic blue  polaroid gen 3  in a small box. Taking hold of it and the  two sandwiches you twist back into your seat. Unwrapping the sandwich labelled ‘PB&J’ you press it to his mouth as he takes a large bite while keeping his eyes on the road. You continue to feed the sandwich to him until nothing but the crust remains.

“You’re not going to eat the crust?”

“No way.”

“What are you? A baby?” You ask incredulously as you finish up the crust in his place.

“I’m your baby aren’t I, mama?” He says chuckling as you groan.

“Hmmm, yes but also I don’t want to call you that too often. I like saying your name.”

“And I like hearing you say it.”

 You fiddle around with the camera trying to see if there was already any film in. While you weren't the most knowledgeable on cameras in general you had spent enough time with your friend setting it up to capture anything that she felt added to her collages and photo albums. Finding a film still in the camera you turn and lean back , trying to get as much of Johnny in the viewfinder as you can.  Eyes still on the road he lifts his lips in his lopsided grin as you snap a shot. 

As you wait for the picture to develop you close your eyes and get lulled to sleep by the hum of the engine as Johnny cruises down the highway. 

You are slowly pulled from sleep by the feel of Johnny’s fingers caressing your face. Groggily you open your eyes and notice you are in a parking lot.

“Sleep well, my sleeping beauty?” Johnny asks as he undoes your seatbelt.

You mumble out an affirmative as you look at the fully developed photo on your lap. You smile at how good it turned out and tuck it into your handbag. Opening the door  you step out and give your body the full stretch that your muscles are craving before opening the back door to get the cooler bag filled with the snacks and any valuables you could see. You close the door at the same time that Johnny slams shut the boot of the car after pulling out both your suitcases.

You walk as close to Johnny as you can slightly pouting at the fact that his hands are too full of your suitcases to hold yours. Despite it already being late at night the reception is full of people. There are people by themselves, couples, and families with children heavy with sleep in the arms of their parents all forming a line to the front desk. A young girl stands in front of you swaying against who you assume to be her mother’s arm.

“Emma , please just stand still. I’m so tired.” The mother hisses at her daughter as she grips her arm to still the young girl.

“But it’s taking so looong ugh. When I’m famous I’m never going to have to wait in stupid linesl ike this.” The girl responds, bumping even harder into her mother’s arm.

“Emma if you do not stand still, We are going back into the car and heading home and you will not so much as see the sign for the audition building. Do I make myself clear?” 

The girl grumbles and turns towards you and Johnny and you quickly have to school your features into a deadpan look. She eyes the both of you before settling on Johnny.

“Are you guys also here for the American Maestro audition?” she says as her mother glances back at the both of you before making a point to ignore all of you and focus on the slow movement of the line. 

“That’s right.” Johnny responds

“Yeah, I think almost everyone here is. This is basically just a room full of my competition but I’m not worried because I know I have what the judges are looking for.”

“Confidence is half the battle and luckily you seem to have a lot.” You say mildly. The girl turns her gaze from Johnny to you and makes a big show of rolling her eyes.

“Of course I’m confident I’m great and I’m going to win. But who knows maybe you will make it to the final five and that’s not too bad.” Emma flinches as her mom pinches her arm and pulls her to turn back to the front as they move to the available receptionist. 

At the same time another receptionist signals towards the two of you and you head over while trying to fight the urge to mentally bully the child. Going through the check in process you manage to get a glimpse of Johnny’s ID and almost fall into a coughing fit. The receptionist offers you a cup of water which you happily take before he hands over the key to your room on the 5th floor. 

Luckily the elevator line is not as long as that of check-in but unfortunately you get in at the same time as Emma and her mother. Riding to the 5th floor all four of you step out and you pray that your rooms are on opposite sides of the floor so as to avoid this awkward moment but no such luck and it soon becomes apparent as you tap your keycards that you are essentially neighbours for the weekend. 

You give them a quick nod and basically shove you and Johnny into the room before locking the door behind you. 

“Geez what a little brat.” You say as you remove your shoes  not caring to figure out how thick or thin the walls are. Johnny moves your suitcases to a corner of the room before plopping heavily onto the sole bed in the room. He pats the space next to him and you join resting your head on his shoulder. 

“She’s just confident.” He says playing with your fingers.

“She’s rude. She could have easily just said that she thinks she’s good enough to win instead of the passive aggressive ‘final five’.” 

“Don’t worry about her, darlin. Right now I only care about you and the judges, not what that little girl has to say.” 

You nod eager to take our mind to another subject when you remember what you saw on his ID. “Your full name is Jonathan Aubrey Cash?” 

“Is that what had you choking at the counter?” He says with a tired smile. Now that you were both seated you could tell the exhaustion from the drive was hitting him.

“I know Johnny is short for Jonathan but I just assumed that you were just straight up named Johnny.”

“It’s not Aubrey being my middle name that shocked you?”

“Slightly but you're not the first man to have that name let alone the first singer.” You stand up to open your suitcase and pull out your pajamas. “I’m going to take a shower first if that’s ok.”

After taking the quickest shower  you could in the tepid water you crawl into bed looking through cafes and  activities next to the convention centre. Friends and families weren’t allowed to stay in the area and so you needed to find something to pass the time and fill your mind. The bed dips as Johnny joins you under the sheets wrapping his arms around you.

“So tomorrow, I’ll just wander around and explore for a bit while you are doing your audition. I found this cute bookstore/cafe online that’s close to the venue so I’ll be able to head over and meet  when you’re done.”

“Send me the name of the place, won’t you angel?” Johnny says and you can already hear his breathing getting deeper.

“I will but don’t try to find me at the cafe when you're done ok? I’ll be there before you finish. So don’t worry about it and go to sleep, my love.” 

Having gotten his confirmation with a very sleepy ‘yes’ you give him a kiss and reach over to turn off the light before snuggling in close to him. 

The next morning was nothing but a flurry of nerves and anxiety. More so you, than Johnny who seemed to be utterly immune to the pulsing wave of anxiety that was radiating off of everyone in the breakfast room. You could barely stomach your food and it seemed so could few of the people in the room. Johnny on the other hand had scarfed two rounds of food and you had to stop him from getting a third least he got heartburn or fall into a food coma. 

Immediately after breakfast you had rushed to the room to make sure that all the documents needed were together, that he had a portable charger on him and slipped a few protein bars into his bag just to be safe. While he had laughed at how overeager you were the process of checking, double checking and triple checking oddly seemed to do the trick in lowering your stress and by the time you got in the car to make the short drive your heart was no longer beating like you were being chased.

The parking bay was absolutely packed and you were glad that you had insisted on arriving an hour and half early because it took about half that time to find a spot to park the car. You follow the throngs of people making their way to the convention centre hosting the auditions. After making it through conventions security you head to the booths for everyone whose surname started with S — V to get his number and lanyard. Despite the number of people the line moves pretty fast and you are both ushered to a waiting area. At the door stands a tall man with dark hair holding a megaphone. You are close enough to read the name on his tag, ‘Keith” as well as to have your eardrums destroyed.

“From here on only contestants are allowed in. Everyone else is kindly asked to please leave until the time indicated on your email.”

Johnny takes in a deep breath and pulls you into a tight embrace. His fingers dig into your skin and despite the bravado on his face you can tell there’s a hint of nervousness in him. You lift yourself to your toes so you can plant kisses on as much of his face as you can reach. He chuckles and lowers his head so you can press your lips among more of his skin before meeting his lips.You pull back and look at him.

“No matter what happens, I’m always here supporting you.So go get 'em.” Your heart thunders in your chest as you speak. Johnny smiles at you before letting go and walking into the room.You stand there with all the other relatives and friends until the door closes. You want to continue standing there but know that it will only serve to fuel your anxiety so you pull up the directions to the bookstore and begin walking over. 

The cafe is packed with others who seem to have had the same idea as you. In fact it’s so packed that you decide to give the poor, frazzled barista reprieve by asking for a simple iced chai rather than anything fancy. Having received your drink you blitz your way to the only open table to lay your claim. You just managed to settle down when a man walks up to you.

Dressed in black slacks and a button up shirt he holds a suit blazer in one hand and a mug in the other. His face is framed by a thick grey mustache and deliberate curls. He looks at you with a smile and points to the empty seat across from you.

“Excuse me , young lady, is this seat taken?”

“No , no, please sit.” You say gesturing to the seat.

“Thank you very much.” He says placing his blazer along the back of the chair and sitting down. “I’ve never seen the place this busy.”

Ordinarily you would be annoyed at having to make conversation with a stranger but you relish the opportunity to take your mind off of Johnny’s audition.

“Yes, it’s probably because of the auditions happening. Most people are just trying to kill time.”

“Auditions? Are you a singer? ” The man asks.

“Oh no no , I can’t hold a tune to save my life. I’m here as support.” 

“I see, I don’t keep up with these things so I had no idea. I recently moved here so have been exploring the town but this is the cafe I always return to. Have you done some exploring yet?” He leans forward on the table but quickly draws back. “ Oh, my apologies if I am being too invasive.”

“Not at all. No exploring yet but I’ve heard about the wax museum and a spinning restaurant.”

“If you want my advice , skip the spinning restaurant. It’s overpriced with mediocre food and terrible service. Instead you should go to the Brazilian restaurant down F street. There’s also a few wine tasting spots.”

“I will check those out, could you tell me the names. Oh, may I ask your name?”

“Of course, my dear . My name is Keith.”

“Huh, I guess Keith is a pretty common name around here. You are the second one I’ve met today.” You say as you open up your notes app to list down his recommendations.

“Hopefully, I’m the best one.” He responds with a wink.