CatBee

SinfullSkills & CatBee

Monica's eyes flashed open momentarily in surprise; Gray was reciprocating, and she hadn't said a word. The woman leaned into his kiss, returning the gesture with equal ferocity. He wasn't messing around, and now she wasn't either. She backed off after a moment, smiling as her eyes traced the lines of his face and his gently curving lips before leaning in for yet another kiss. Not a gentle one this time, but a more aggressive, passionate gesture more like Gray's. Her hands found their way to his thick hair, made even messier than usual by her frequent ruffling. After what felt like only a short moment Monica leaned back, resting her forehead against her best friend's, closed her eyes, and enjoyed the sensation of being close to him. Before she let herself get swept up and went any further, she gave his hand a gentle squeeze and got to her feet. No easy task, considering her legs had fallen asleep from the knees down and her whole body was begging her not to get up, to cuddle up with Gray and never leave.

Say something, Monica. Don't just stand here staring at him like an idiot! she mentally yelled at herself, and finally stuttered out, all grace gone, "You can stay over if you'd like," she wrung her hands behind her back nervously, her face tinted red with what she said had implied, "I--I mean you don't have to and we definitely don't have to do that I mean you can stay on the couch and I can stay in my room you know," her words started blurring together near the end and she eventually took a deep breath to calm down. You're a grown woman now, you dummy, she scolded herself in her head.

"And you also don't have to stay over!" She blurted out, "You can go home and I'll see you in the morning! Don't forget my doctor's appointment," she almost awkwardly laughed. Not because of the situation, but because of her juvenile response to it.

SinfullSkills & CatBee

Monica visibly flinched as she heard loud echoes from Gray's room, by the sound of which he'd run into some rather difficult obstacles while looking for a movie. He really was adorable, acting almost like a little boy sometimes instead of the man she knew he'd become. Sort of like a puppy, a puppy she wouldn't mind cuddling up to all night long. What was she thinking? Gray was a friend, a friend, just a friend. And she was happy with that. But, that nagging feeling that she had kept deep inside for all these years was dying to come out. Even if Gray didn't feel the same way, he had to know what she felt.

She couldn't stop laughing when Gray presented her with the disk of the cheesiest sounding horror movie she had ever seen as though it was some sort of award. Monica hobbled her way over to the love seat and took her place beside him, "I don't think I'll be getting too scared," she teased, "But if you do I wouldn't mind holding you," she ruffled his hair playfully before turning her attention to the screen.

Amid the classic horror movie screams and jump scares replete with heroic heroes and damsels in distress Monica found her attention wandering from the movie to Gray. From the side of her eyes she watched him watch the movie, a smile dancing across her lips with each of his Gray-like reactions to everything going on on-screen. Then she'd focus back in on the television, and then back to Gray. It went on like this until the movie was over, the credits sprawling across the screen as the main theme song played over and over in different variations. Monica took a deep breath, glancing over to her best friend.

It was now or never.

She gently grabbed his hand, a gesture that wasn't terribly peculiar between them, and smiled as she placed a hand on his face. Another regular gesture that had occurred often between the two. Her next move was completely new.

Monica leaned in, closing her eyes so not to embarrass herself should he react poorly, and placed a gentle, feather-light kiss on Gray's lips. She lingered there for a moment, softly tracing circles on his cheek with her thumb.

When she pulled away, she met Gray's lovely gaze with her own, not even the faintest trace of a blush on her face, "Well, I think that was long overdue. At least for me," she smiled softly.

SinfullSkills & CatBee

Hey, no worries, and thanks! ^^ I've had some trouble posting anything in the past week or so, like I seem to have no motivation at all! So I'm working on it, haha. Take your time! (:

SinfullSkills & CatBee

"Cheers, but you exaggerate," Monica smiled cheekily and gently pressed her glass to his. It had been ages since she'd toasted anything; she couldn't even remember the last time. Perhaps during her senior year her parents had let her toast champagne at a relatives wedding or something. She had never really been much of a partier, so the taste of alcohol was almost foreign to her lips, "About everything except me being a lovely woman," she laughed.

"I was thinking we could take the old TV for a whirl," the woman laughed, "I even bought some popcorn," she waved a couple bags of the delicious, terribly artificial stuff in the air.

"I don't have any movies," Monica blushed a little; she had forgotten to rent something, "But I'm sure there's something on! Got anything at your place you've been just dying to watch?" She leaned up against the couch's arm after making her way into the living room once more. It seemed that even the dingy little apartment felt so much bigger, so much better, with Gray.

SinfullSkills & CatBee

Monica listened with a sloppy grin plastered across her face, her eyes never leaving his lovely ones. He had seemed extremely anxious, but perhaps she was just assuming he was because she was. And God, was she ever nervous. Monica was good at keeping her calm in a potentially embarrassing situation, but on the inside she wasn't at all as smooth as she wished.

"Normal stuff?" She teased him, "My my, you must be pretty popular with the ladies. At least the crazy ones," she chuckled before sipping her water, "You nerd," she smiled, and once more teasingly added, "I really need to find you a girl. You need some outlet for all that charm of yours," she flirted with him rather obviously. He might as well know how she felt, without her having to spell it out for him. However, she knew that men were almost always the same; oblivious to any hints, especially romantics ones, unless they came up and slapped them, or maybe kissed them, right on the face.

"I had a pretty good day overall," she began, leaning back jokingly and crossing her arms as though she had to really think about her words, "As usual, I busted into some random man's office, going on and on about whatever I could think up, and forced him to my house for dinner," she smirked and winked at him before adding, "I think tonight's catch was the best of all of them."

After finishing dinner, Monica stood and grabbed Gray's plate before he could even suggest helping with the task of clearing the table. She placed the dirty dishes in the sink before lifting the cake and the wine bottle from their places on the counter. The woman cut the cake into slices, a little on the large side, but hey, she was indulging tonight. She poured two glasses of wine, and hobbled the short distance to the table and placed their next course on the surface. When she finished giving Gray his dessert she grinned at him, "Voilà, monsieur," and gently ran her left hand against his back as she walked away. What was getting into her? Gray probably wasn't even interested in her as anything more than a friend, and here she was touching him as though she hadn't given it a second thought. She looked rather embarrassed as she took her seat once again, and stayed quiet for the first part of their second course.

"Oh, I nearly forgot," she piped up, "I have a doctor's appointment tomorrow, on the other side of town, and I was wondering if you and Lucky would mind getting me there?" She added with a teasing smile, "You didn't think I cooked for you just because," she joked. She would've cooked for that man any day, whether she needed a favor or not.

SinfullSkills & CatBee

Monica smiled at Gray as he began to fumble around and stutter with his words. It was so uncharacteristically strange on him, and yet instead of asking him if something was wrong and finding it weird she found his shy little voice adorable. The woman ruffled his hair, "Cat got your tongue, big shot?" She carefully took the cake and wine bottle from his hands and grinned, "Thanks for getting these! That was kind of you," she hobbled back into the kitchen, "Wait here!" determined to show off her newfound walking skills that were in reality quite shaky.

The woman had sat up a little folding table with a couple chairs, a little vase of flowers and a couple small candles. She was rather proud of her tiny apartment kitchen at the moment, and quickly pulled the chicken from the oven and the rice off the stove. She prepared the plates as nicely as she could; her stomach was rumbling and she was ready to eat with Gray, and set them on the table. She hobbled back and stuck her head back into the living room, "Okay, it's all ready now!" She grinned and beckoned him in with a couple waves of her hand.

Monica laughed and moved over to the side her friend was headed toward to pull out his chair for him. Her laughter grew louder as she grabbed his napkin off the table and tucked it down the front of his shirt. Her hands lingered on his chest and shoulders for much longer than they should've, and she gently rubbed the muscles in his shoulders before removing her hands and sitting across the small table with a small grin.

The woman placed her own napkin on her lap and began to eat. Her cooking wasn't half-bad; it wasn't exactly five-star cuisine but it certainly wasn't bad. She ate as politely as she could. It was odd, when they were kids she would scarf down a whole pizza in front of Gray but now that they were adults she felt bound to manners and etiquette, something she'd never felt in front of him.

This isn't a date, Monica, relax a little, she thought to herself before realizing she hadn't even attempted to start a conversation with the man.

"How was work today? Anything exciting happen?" She asked before taking another bite and holding his gaze with her own.

SinfullSkills & CatBee

Monica smiled as Gray talked about chocolate. She shook her head with a grin, "No need for chocolate, just seeing you is plenty for me," she ruffled his hair affectionately before standing up and grabbing her crutches.

"I should probably let you get some work done," she looked around, "If you actually do any work," she teased him with a smile. She stood quietly in thought for a moment, "How about I cook you dinner tonight? You can come over around seven," she paused and corrected herself, "Or whenever you get off, keep me company while the food's cooking," she smiled, "We can watch a movie or something afterward," she added. It would be nice just to relax with her friend, she'd wanted to be alone with him ever since their lake trip.

"I'll keep the doors locked this time too," she teased and pulled him into a quick hug before heading out.

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Monica finally managed to make her way home with a bag full of various groceries; she was going to make as good of a meal as she could. She had purchased an assortment of spices and veggies, and some rice. It wasn't going to be anything fancy that she cooked, but she hoped she would be able to make something at least a little tasty. First she rubbed the chicken down in spices and threw it onto the stove to be lightly grilled, and while that was in progress she began to chop up some of the vegetables and marinate them in the chicken stock. After a bit she stuffed them into the chicken and popped the whole mess into the oven. The baking wouldn't take too long, but it would be long enough that she had time to chat with Gray for a bit.

Monica had picked up a couple pieces of drugstore make-up on her trip, and quickly applied some of it. She hadn't forgotten how to, but she had forgotten what it did to her face. It was nice to look even a little pretty, especially for Gray. It was odd, her strange feeling that she wanted to, had to even, impress him. She had just finished up a little more of her preparation before the tinny sounding doorbell rang. She did her best to hobble over to the door without her crutches, and succeeded much to her surprise. It really must've been Gray.

She opened up the door and smiled, "Come on in! Make yourself at home, nerd," she grabbed his hand and pulled him into an embrace as soon as he entered and the door had shut, "I'm glad you came," she smiled into his neck.

SinfullSkills & CatBee

^^ Hope that's okay! I was thinking of maybe having her leave after a bit and go grocery shopping or something after inviting him over to dinner. (:

SinfullSkills & CatBee

Now it was Monica's turn to blush. Of course, she had always felt a pull to Gray that had been more than just friendship, but she had always repressed such urges deep down inside so that she could at the very least remain his friend. He was confusing though, and when moments ago he had been laughing like the prankster he was, now he suddenly had her pinned. From such an angle, Monica discovered that he was far more of a man than she realized. They were two adults now, and it seemed like their relationship had matured despite the years they hadn't been together. She supposed that that happened to all relationships, eventually. Her lips curved into a smile after the surprised ‘o’ had disappeared, and she reached her hand up to run her fingers through his messy hair. She didn’t have to reach far, as he had leaned in to speak into her ear.

The realization that she had in fact walked over to him without the help of her crutches, something she never would've done before, shocked her. It must've been Gray's fault; seeing him always motivated her. Perhaps she subconsciously was reacting to his presence once more and that feeling was helping her heal the mental block she had when it came to physically healing. She smiled even wider, her eyes alight, "You're right, I did," she almost sounded as though she were reassuring herself, "What makes you think it was your doing, you little nerd?" She teased him with love in her voice. It really was his doing. No one else knew her like he did and no one else could move her, literally and figuratively, like he could.

Monica was about to say something else, or perhaps she'd just try and pin him instead, but a knock on the door just had to interrupt them. The woman took Gray's hand and pulled herself to her feet, before slipping herself into his office chair. It was nice and comfortable, and she kicked the leg that wasn't casted onto the edge of his desk, "Oh, I'll stay here, count on it. I might not even give this chair back," she stretched out in the comfy thing. The woman glanced around his desk; she didn't want to sneak around in his business or anything, but her eyes did wander to the pictures on his desk. He had placed their prom picture right next to his computer, and Monica couldn't help but smile. They looked so young, and so very happy. Almost like a couple newlyweds. She shook that thought out of her head real quick. She noticed a couple more pictures of them together with other friends and family members, and one of just her making some odd face. She picked up the prom picture, running her thumb lightly over her friend's face. Just seeing him in that picture, all those memories filled her with joy. It had been such a carefree time back then. She kept her hand on the picture, admiring every detail of it. The woman still had it in her hand when Gray returned.

"Look at this," she motioned to the picture, although he had of course seen it innumerable times before, "Look at how happy we are," she grinned, almost wistfully.

SinfullSkills & CatBee

I should be able to finish up my reply tonight ^^