[color=silver][right][sub][i][b][u]TIMESTAMP:[/u] Early Morning, Tuesday, July 20th, 2021 || After [url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/5401657]“I Promise/I Swear”[/url][/b][/i][/sub][/right]

[center][url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/users/metanoia][img]https://i.imgur.com/3L3ixWD.png[/img][/url]  [img]https://i.imgur.com/IagRbeB.png[/img]  [url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/users/venus][img]https://i.imgur.com/YZvxuqc.png[/img][/url]
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[color=635687][b]_________________________________________________________________________________[/b][/color]

[img]https://fontmeme.com/permalink/221123/fb3f8e1e98a5a84abb49a97fffc61fb7.png[/img]
[img]https://i.imgur.com/A4YWnTK.png[/img]

[i][b]The shortest distance
Between two points
Is the line
From me to you[/b][/i]

[sub]Featuring [color=635687]Mikhail Zima[/color] & [color=C81935]Caitlin Cleary[/color][/sub]
[color=635687][b]_________________________________________________________________________________[/b][/color]
[color=c81935][b]_________________________________________________________________________________[/b][/color][/center]
[indent][indent]Like the weights that Mikhail had been carrying in his heart and on his shoulders for so long, so did the freedom to be free of them at long last make him feel uneasiness. But in a different way. This uneasiness came through in hesitation last night. Unlike past times when he had been with Caitlin, or really anyone for that matter, he felt exposed. It was simultaneously the greatest feeling in the world and the worst thing for him because he had spent so much time being guarded, putting up walls that were reinforced with steel and secrets, guarded by armed guards and self-sabotage, and financially backed by billionaires and bad compartmentalization.

All of that became a moot point when it dawned on him through a very convincing Caitlin that she was about done. So many thoughts went through his mind last night, but in those moments, he couldn’t lie anymore. Not to her, but more importantly, to himself. 

So he didn’t.

And the end result was any version of a best case scenario multiplied by his best dream minus everything that made him hurt the worst. 

Last night, Mika didn’t have to think about what his brother was doing or thought nor who he was: Zima, Gonzalez, O’Hara. When he took Cece into his arms, though he hesitantly poured everything he ever wanted to say into kisses on her lips, her neck, her stomach, every inch of her bare skin, Mika felt the uneasiness build yet, at the same time, as he became one with her last night and with no worry in his glistening blue eyes, he felt nothing but a bliss he hadn’t felt since they were in the back of his truck that afternoon four years ago.

Last night, yeah you could say that Mika’s weight shifted into something weightless. He was exposed, but after everything and after deciding what felt most important to him, being in her arms was the only thing that mattered.

Then as the hours passed with them loving each other and coming together as one again and again after a shower, they were both laying together in her bed. Mika’s right arm was under her neck and shoulders, supporting it. He couldn’t stop replaying every second and minute that was last night. It was a whirlwind of emotions, a tornado of uncertainties, and a hurricane of ultimatums drawn in the sand by the unlikely source of fiery clarity. It brought smiles to his face all night and Mika just couldn’t believe it. Some part of him needed to be pinched because it wasn’t real.

Looking down at her, blue-green eyes full of love and adoration staring back up at his, seeing how she held onto him. While tight as she could, it still was gentle. Cece had always been gentle, but also firm. His eyes darted to the first light of morning blessing Edenridge after that hellacious storm. [color=635687]“Seems like it’s morning already.”[/color] He commented with a laugh, realizing that they hadn’t gotten a wink of sleep. 

A cloud of gloom seemed to put a damper over the woman's previously content demeanor at this comment. [color=c81935]"Already?"[/color] she asked her lover, visibly crestfallen and instinctively tightening her grip around his chest. After the magical night spent rekindling the love they had for one another, the last thing Caitlin wanted was for Mika to make his departure. It had been so long since they had been together in each other’s arms just like this… She didn’t want the moment to end.

[color=635687]“I know. I don’t want it to end, either.”[/color] Mika saw the disappointment in her eyes, a familiar glint that was in her eyes had faded in a rather swift manner the moment he mentioned that the sun came to greet them. He mirrored her sentiments as he found himself frowning only slightly. There was a significant part of him that didn’t want to leave. Of course, this had been a long time coming and when they weren’t under her blanket, the moments that he had cherished above all else were the moments they were talking. How long had it been since he had been able to lay his soul open in such a vulnerable way to anyone else that wasn’t her? Boa was the only other person he could think of, but it was so much different. Cece always made him feel a certain type of way.
 
Just as Mika was about to say something else, he caught Cece’s thoughtful expression, like something was on her mind. [color=635687]“You okay? Looks like me whenever Ms. Belmonte decided to go all algebra on our asses way back when.”[/color]

Caitlin was quick to laugh at Mika’s comment, being reminded of the times she had tutored Mika in math. While subjects like geometry and algebra came easily to her (don’t ask her about calculus), she was aware that Mika had not been awarded that same courtesy. Back in their high school days, the two had spent their fair share of afternoons with their noses buried between textbooks and notebooks, with Cece trying to explain equations to an increasingly frustrated Mika. It was a task that tested her patience countless times, but that ended up being fruitful when he managed to pass the class with a C-.

The look he was pointing out, however, was one she wore whenever she began to muse about the trajectory of their relationship. [color=c81935]"I'm fine,"[/color] she answered sweetly as her laughter faded, tilting her head up to kiss Mika before continuing. [color=c81935]"I just… I can't help but think about how far we've come since the first time we met."[/color] Cece mused, mindlessly tracing circles on her lover's chest. [color=c81935]"When we talked under the oak tree, I didn't think much would come out of it. We clicked, and we had a good conversation, but I didn't really expect it to go any further than maybe some smiles in the halls and brief talks here and there after that. But we kept meeting up and hanging out and getting along so well with each other… By the time your birthday came around, I knew we had something special. Of course, I had no idea how special it would actually turn out to be, but I knew it was something unlike anything I had ever experienced before-- even with David."[/color]

That was quite the admission she just made. Mika obviously knew how much David meant to her. Even before he knew the full story, he still had an idea of how close she and David were. Despite that, at a certain point, it was clear to him that what they had between them wasn't just your ordinary kind of connection. What she felt for him and what Mika felt for her, it was meaningful in so many ways and [i]that[/i] was something he always cherished. It never went forgotten, regardless of the hell that followed their first day of their senior year.

[color=635687]"What I remember most about that specific birthday of mine were the cupcakes I didn't get to eat because [i]somebody[/i] helped herself to them before I got the chance to."[/color] Mika had always teased her about that and he certainly liked to. Of course he knew not to take it too far. He just liked to have his fun occasionally. 

[color=c81935]"First of all, it was a three-layer cake: blueberry, raspberry and strawberry with cream cheese buttercream,"[/color] she reminded him in the same teasing tone he had just used with her. [color=c81935]"I remember it well because it was my first attempt ever at an actual layered cake. And second of all, I only ate about a third of it. It's not my fault you were too focused on stuffing your face with the sandwiches and the rest of the snacks instead of paying attention to your [i]very[/i] delicious cake-- which, if I remember correctly, ended up all over us because of that food fight you started!"[/color] Cece retorted with a laugh, vividly remembering herself play-wrestling with Mika, both their faces smeared with buttercream.

[color=635687]“Well it [i]has[/i] been a few years. So sue me if my memory is lacking.”[/color] But it was coming back to Mika. That day with all the food that he remembered being like his dream feast. A smile crept on his face as silence claimed him as he remembered why it was so important to him. She went to all of the trouble leading up to his birthday four years ago. That was the first birthday they spent as a couple and it was the first time Mika had started to see her as someone whom he loved - yet never said it until last night. 

Listening to her, she mentioned that food fight and Mika laughed, remembering what came after. [color=635687]“Yeah, I remember that. I also remember what came after…”[/color] Mika’s smile turned into a smirk as he was remembering - quite vividly, mind you - about that moment. [color=635687]“There’s always been something between us about bodies of water and food that’s led to amazing, unforgettable moments, huh?”[/color] He didn’t laugh, though he did chuckle. Not that he found it funny, but it was more of the kind of sound one made when they had a realization. Food had always been an important aspect of his life. Be it with his mother making dinner when he was younger or his Cece, it always held a special place in his heart and filled it with memories he always cherished. 

Caitlin’s face flushed as red as her hair at the memory, and she let out a nervous chuckle. [color=c81935]"Oh God…"[/color] she mumbled, burying her warm face in his chest just like she'd done that May 1st four years ago. Mika's sixteenth birthday marked a milestone moment not just in their relationship, but in her personal life as well. That afternoon, between the Zima boy's arms and his body on hers, was the first time she had ever become one with anyone. The adrenaline coursing down her veins when he kissed her for the first time, the desire kicking in when she returned his kiss after some initial hesitation, the anticipation building up with every second they spent exploring each other's bodies, the passion guiding their actions as they became one, the way they tightly held one another as they brought themselves to sweet release, the blissful exhaustion that followed as they laid in each other's arms just like they were doing right now… They wouldn't know it then, but their actions that afternoon had shifted the course of their lives forever.

[color=c81935]"I was so nervous that day… And after we did it, too,"[/color] she admitted, peering back up at him with vulnerability in her eyes. [color=c81935]"I hadn't been with anyone before, so while we were laying there together after it all I could think about was you stopping things with me because I was inexperienced and didn't know what I was doing, or because you'd seen my body and didn't like it anymore. It's why I couldn't look you in the eye for days."[/color] Cece confessed, thinking back to how she'd practically avoided Mika for days after their first time. [color=c81935]"Of course I realized I was just being stupid after we talked about it, but it was something that kept me up for a few nights."[/color]

Mika shook his head and ran a hand through Cece’s ginger hair and caressed it soothingly. [color=635687]“You weren’t stupid. Not about that and not about anything else.”[/color] Mika remembered the conversation they had about it back then. About how that was her first time and he never knew it until she did become distant from him. [color=635687]“Truth be told, I thought [i]I[/i] did something wrong. So I guess if you want to say you were being stupid, then maybe I was too.”[/color] He gently laughed. They were both the same in a lot of ways. With her, he always felt like a softer Badger than when he was with everyone else in his life -- or at least in the way he would have been like he was with the bundle of nerves in his arms. [color=635687]“But look at us now? We’re laughing and even joking about a moment that, for a solid time, made us both nervous as fuck. If someone was writing a story about us, I think the phrase that Mr. Beau once said was ‘character development’.”[/color] 

[color=c81935]"You are such a nerd!"[/color] Caitlin teased him, joining in on the laughter as she nudged him playfully. Once it had faded away, she quickly added, [color=c81935]"I'm glad it was you, though. I’ve never regretted it... And I wouldn't have had it any other way."[/color] She murmured softly, adding validity to her words by pulling Mika into another kiss.

As silence momentarily settled between them and they continued to lay contently in each other's arms, a question came to the forefront of Cece’s mind. Although they had come clean about their feelings and made promises for the future, no real decisions had been made about what came next for them as a couple. If there was anything she had learned from her conversations with Mika last night, it was that assumptions had been incredibly prejudicial to their relationship. So rather than make the same mistakes again, the Cleary girl took this as her first opportunity to start their new chapter off on the right foot: by being upfront and direct about the things that were on her mind.

[color=c81935]"So what happens now?"[/color] she tentatively inquired, looking back up at Mika to closely study his reaction to her question. [color=c81935]"With us, I mean."[/color]

[color=635687][i]Good question.[/i][/color] 

After last night, there was no mistaking they were a lot closer than they have ever been, or at least they were getting back to it. Last month he came into her life and was nasty to her. What he shouted to Niles about her still made him physically sick. Just thinking about it made his skin crawl. But now? Now they were here. He was in her bed, holding her close to him after one of the best nights of his life where he felt truly alive and like his old self before Hyde ruined it all. 

He had to ask himself that same question: what did that mean? Where did they go from here? Could they stay friends after what happened? In his heart, Mika felt like they couldn’t, but how fair was that to Sinclair? Mika didn’t like Niles and he certainly didn’t care one way or the other what he thought about him, but even he didn’t deserve to know that his ex was in a relationship the very day she broke things off with him. No matter how badly Mika may have wanted that, even he had some grasp of what was right and wrong.

[color=635687]“Honestly, I don’t know, Cece.”[/color] He had to speak earnestly. He truly didn’t. [color=635687]“Last night was an unforgettable experience like nothing I will likely forget. I mean that. But I don’t know what it means for us. Like, do we stay friends? [i]Can[/i] we stay friends? Truth be told, I don’t think we can - not after last night. And I don't think I want to, either.”[/color] But then there was Niles and what this might mean. God, why was everything so fucking complicated when it came to his romantic life? 

Cece’s disappointment about the unexpected answer Mika had given her was unmistakably displayed all over her small, freckled face. After the night they had shared and every step in the ladder that had led them back to each other, she thought that he would be as ready to officialize things as she was. To hear that this was not the case, even as grateful as she was for his honesty… She truly couldn't hide how taken aback and stung she was by the uncertainty in his words. 

[color=c81935]"Mika, I don't want to be 'just friends' with you,"[/color] she said with the same level of sincerity he had offered her, shifting away from his figure for the first time in hours with fiery eyes. Her earlier fear that his appearance the night before had been out of loneliness and a desire for sex more than anything else was creeping up on her, and she didn't want Mika to feel her body trembling as she internally fought against the intrusive thoughts. [color=c81935]"I didn't end my relationship or told you I loved you or opened up to you about all of these things to be 'just friends' with you. And I know you didn't try to make amends with me after that dinner scene, come to my house in the middle of a storm and bared your soul out to me to be 'just friends' either."[/color]

Deep in his gut, which had been turning over itself since she pulled away and he saw that look of disappointment painted across her face. That only happened in two cases (at least when he was a factor): when she was mad at him for something or he said the wrong thing. In a rare showing, though, at least from where he saw things, it may have been both. 

And that fucking sucked. Mika honestly didn't know how to answer her question. He knew what the answer was. Any god out there: Slavic, Christian-- all that applied to this situation, Mika knew the answer. She wanted to know, after the moment they had, if they were in a movie, this would be the defining moment and the start of a beautiful relationship. Obviously, this wasn't a movie; this was real life and in real life, it wasn't always so clear cut. Mika wished this was a movie. He'd be able to just skip to the part where he said the right thing and she didn't look like she was going to cry because of the idiot that he was.

No, he couldn't be the reason for that again. Not again.

He tried to shake every negative thought. They persisted because Mika never was able to rid himself of them, but he focused on her and only her. Honed in on that fire in her eyes, the way a creeping sadness was mixed in on her features. [color=635687]"I'm not the best at this. Maybe it goes all the way back to how I was the reason your heart shattered. And what do I do? I come back into your life. Then last night happened."[/color] As he remembered everything and as it played in slow motion in his head, he saw how happy they were together. Before all the shit on their senior year graduation and before that hellish year, they were happy together. Genuinely and sickeningly cute-happy with each other. With them, when it was good it was heaven and when it was bad, it was like being on the slow-ass stairway to heaven.

In an action that he hoped wasn't received with a repulsive yanking of her hands to her person, Mika went for them, holding them in his. [color=635687]"I just fear that I gave up any right to actually do [i]this[/i] again with you. You know, the whole relationship thing. Even after last night, maybe I still think that--"[/color] Shut up and just say it! [color=635687]"I really am bad at this, aren't I?"[/color] He laughed and shook his head. [color=635687]"I don't 'just want to be friends' with you either. I want more than that. Like how it was with us before. Like how it was during our junior year, but...more official. You said you never brought up how you wanted a label on it? Then let's do that. Boyfriend and girlfriend!"[/color] God, his heart was pounding so fast right now. Was this what it was like to be normal for a change? To be… an O'Hara? It felt nice.

[color=c81935]"Do you really mean that?"[/color] she asked him in a small voice, feeling guilty about how she might have come across earlier and worried that Mika was only saying what he thought she wanted to hear out of fear of further disappointing her or because he felt put on the spot or pressured to. [color=c81935]“You really want us to be official? It’s not because of anything I said or the way I said it? Because if it is, I’m [i]really[/i] sorry! I don’t want you to feel forced or obligated or--”[/color]

When she started to apologize, in his gut, Mika knew what would happen. In the past, when she started to apologize like this, that made him feel intensely guilty because she would become sad and no matter how much he had always tried to do the right thing, people in his life seemed to cry and become sad, but that wasn’t going to happen again. He wasn’t going to be the reason that she’d cry. It was impossible for him to make all the wrongs he committed right, but at least he could make [i]one[/i] of them align with the new leaf he had turned.

As he leaned forward, Mika didn’t waste another second. As her lips started to move, he gently pressed his against them mid-sentence. There were no words from either of them. For a few moments that became eternal, he answered her questions and quelled her worries with a single action. He wrapped his arms around her, bringing her closer to him, their chests touching, bodies connecting, souls embracing, and goddamnit, it was pure bliss.

When he had pulled away, which felt a lot shorter than it had been, Mika pressed his forehead against hers, mirroring last night. [color=635687]“Please, no more apologies. I mean it. I promise I mean it.”[/color] Mika kissed her again, though shorter, it held a larger meaning. [color=635687]“I want us to be what you always wanted and what I never had the courage to say. Boyfriend, girlfriend -- however you want to label it, that’s what I want, Caitlin. I’m choosing [i]you[/i] and nobody else to be my girlfriend.”[/color]

The redhead's eyes filled with tears of excitement and emotion, and her face broke into a joyous smile. Every previous concern or fear about Mika being unsure of the state of their relationship was put to rest when he pressed his lips to hers. The conviction and certainty in his voice when he spoke, so different from the hesitation and insecurity of before, added value to every word he said. Ever since the day of their first kiss, Caitlin had dreamed about the day Mika would ask her to be his girlfriend. In the past, circumstances both in and out of their control had stood in the way of their relationship status becoming official. But today, after trials, and tribulations, over a year apart and so much growing up as individuals, the dream had become a reality: she was Mika’s girl, just like she had so profoundly desired since that May afternoon in 2016.

With her forehead still pressed against his and her arms around her beloved, Cece finally spoke up. [color=c81935]"I love you,"[/color] she proclaimed passionately, holding Mika closely against her. 

[color=635687]”I love you too,”[/color] he muttered in an almost-whisper.

Mika and Cece allowed their eyes to meet and take in the sight of each other, drinking in every one of their beautiful features. And as the sun continued its trek rising in the horizon after the raging storm, the two lovers locked their lips together in a deep kiss and eventually came together as one once again.[/indent][/indent][/color]