You felt like a teenage girl the rest of that night, giggling about your crush. Except you were giggling with your crush. And you actually had him in your bed in all his naked glory. Life was good.

When it came to sex, he was aggressively dominant but in everything else, he was rather tame. After spending plenty of time in the shower convincing him you weren't just saying you liked everything but actually meant it, he was more than happy to admit this would work between the two of you. And that meant he was willing to be more affectionate apparently. You didn't realize he was still holding back until you crawled in bed together and he cuddled up to you, refusing to let you go.

It was down right adorable.

You stayed awake well into the night talking until he eventually fell asleep mid sentence. It took you a bit longer to pass out than him and you spent the time tracing his facial features with a delicate finger, smiling to yourself when his face would scrunch up from the ticklish sensation. Eventually your phone lit up with a text from Killer asking if things went well.

He already knew they did. Wire would've been sent packing otherwise. But you still texted him back letting him know you were keeping Wire around. Kid tried texting suggestive comments not long after that. You ignored him.

That morning you rolled around in bed, confused when no matter where you went you didn't run into another body. It took real effort to open your eyes and see that you were alone. You got up slowly, a little stiff and sore from last night, and found an oversized tee-shirt to throw on before wandering around the house to find Wire.

It wasn't hard when you noticed the smell of coffee permiating the house. He was in the kitchen, wearing nothing but a fresh pair of jeans while he searched for your coffee mugs.

"Right from the sink." You said, making him jump.

"Did I wake you?" He asked, going to the spot you directed him to.

You shook your head and padded up behind him, cuddling up to his warm back. "Woke up and was wondering where you went is all."

He shuffled around to the coffee pot with you clinging to him and chuckled. "Woke up craving some caffeine so I thought I might see if I could make some of the good stuff for us."

"The good stuff." You squished your cheek against him and ran your hands around his front, feeling along those perfect washboard abs. "Yeah, I could go for that."

His hand enveloped one of yours as he filled the two mugs he got down for the both of you. "Well how about you put on some pants and we spend some time on that swing of yours out front? I have yet to sit in it and I helped you put the thing together."

"Is it nice out?"

"Very."

"Yessssss." You released him and headed back to the bedroom, finding a pair of shorts to slip into.

When you made it back to the kitchen, Wire was waiting with your cup in hand. He offered it up and followed you out front. He flopped down in the swing and you did the same, laying your legs across his lap.

It was a perfect morning. You sipped coffee, waking up a little at a time while Wire rubbed your legs, pushing the swing back and forth. Kids were already out playing, your neighbor was tending to her flowerbed, when she noticed you were out, she waved happily. You and Wire waved back. It all had that nice, close knit neighborhood feel to it. The kind without people getting on your nerves anymore.

"We've come pretty far." You broke the silence.

"How so?"

"You guys were a bunch of grouchy men that everyone avoided. I was pretty alone, starting a whole new life. Now you guys are still usually grouchy but people are warming up to you."

He laughed. "I'm not that grouchy. And you forgot to mention how things changed for you."

"Hmm, well I've made friends, the first real ones I've had in I don't know how many years. I've been able to do things I've only ever dreamed of, and now I've got a pretty spiffy boyfriend to boot. Things don't get much better than that."

"That's Aufork for ya. Sleepy little town making lives better one person at a time." Wire joked.

"I think I'm smitten with this town. Nosey neighbors and all."

Said neighbor keep peeking over her shoulder. You and Wire were being very touchy feely and it wouldn't be long until everyone and their dog knew you were an item.

Wire looked at her and back at you with a growing grin. "You checked yourself out in a mirror yet?"

"No?"

His eyes were alight with laughter. "You should when we get back in."

"She can see some of the hickeys, can't she?"

"And the bruises, can't forget those." He said smugly. He was very content with how much he marked you. "You look like you had the best sex of your life."

"I mean, I kinda did."

"But now you look it." He pat your leg and you could practically see his chest puffing out.

You giggled. "Is it just you who likes the visible marks or is that more of a...." You didn't know what word to use for it.

"Dominant thing? Both I guess."

"Oh, hey, are you guys fixing up the lawn today?" You looked out at the grass and noticed it was getting a tad overgrown.

"Last night didn't earn a rain check?"

"It was great, but I can't have the worst lawn in the neighborhood."

He sighed. "It was worth a shot."

----

Three weeks of pure bliss passed by in a flash. The more often you were intimate with Wire, the more you were able to find you enjoyed very much the same things as he did.

Your makeup skills improved drastically overnight as you learned how to cover the marks for work. Everyone at the station knew you and Wire were a couple and you were sure all the people you ran into on a regular basis were able to see the evidence of your sex life. That was fine with you, covering any hickeys and bruises that showed was strictly so you could keep the illusion of professionalism on the job. Outside of it, you didn't care who saw.

Sometimes Wire would stay the night with you, occasionally you'd stay at his place with the guys but they didn't appreciate the noise that came with it. Turns out it didn't matter how far away the other rooms were or how many doors were closed, sound traveled all too well in that house. But there was always one time or another when you spent nights alone, if only for the sake of making it feel like you two didn't practically live together.

You had a stash of clothes and a toothbrush at his place and he had the same set up at yours. On the occasions when you two kept your hands to yourselves, the guys were never surprised to see you in their kitchen first thing in the morning. If anything, they liked your company.

Killer had taken to showing you some cooking tricks of his. Kid was adamant that you needed to learn how to play guitar. And Heat liked showing you all the different hiking trails he'd found nearby through the years. They were starting to feel like your whole new family and it began to make sense why they all lived together.

Some days you went on with your life without so much as a passing thought of your family or ex. They hadn't made an appearance yet and you were beginning to worry less about them coming by at all. It'd been well over a couple months since you'd left. If they were still counting on you marrying your ex, they had to be desperate. You'd done a pretty decent job disappearing as fast as you did and you felt like it was paying off. It took a while to come to that conclusion, but you were happy with it.

Wire was too. You were a lot more relaxed without having to think about what you left behind and it showed. Bad moods gave way to constant, genuine smiles and an insatiable hunger for trying all the things you couldn't before. You'd happened upon a great time of your life, spending all your free time exploring anything that caught your interest. It had you feeling like a whole different person.

The icing on top of the proverbial cake was getting to see the guys start to get treated like regular people by the town. You guessed the police had somehow spread the word that they weren't half as bad as everyone thought. Smoker probably had a big hand in that. He seemed to be the favorite boy in blue for the locals.

There was no more glares shot over shoulders at them. No more talking behind their backs. People greeted them, some even stopped by to chat when they were out and about. And while they made enough to scrape by with their little auto shop before, business began picking up and suddenly they had more of a disposable income.

Then there were days like today that you couldn't get enough of. Days when you'd visit them and they'd learn something new about you that you had never thought to mention.

"Hold up guys." Kid said thoughtfully.

Everyone was sitting out in their garage at the house, huddled around Heat. He was busy fixing some part on his bike that had needed maintenance for some time now. Their extra income finally made it possible for him to get it fixed up.

"What?" Wire hooked a finger in your belt loop as you passed by his seat, tugging you back into his lap. You were aiming to sit by him but this worked too.

"(Y/n) is a Charlotte."

"Yes, that's been established some time ago." You leaned back and gave Wire a quick kiss on the cheek before anyone could see it and give you shit for it.

"That means you can bake. It's in your blood."

Four sets of eyes stared you down at the sudden realization. Charlotte baking was legendary. All the women in the family specialized in one baked or sweet good or another along with half the men. It was common knowledge.

"What can you make (Y/n)?" Killer asked. He was itching to learn your secrets.

"Nothing special." You shrugged. "Just brownies."

They all groaned. But it was the kind that suggested they really wanted you to make some for them.

"Can you make the fudgy kind?" Heat put his tools down and turned to you excitedly.

"Yep."

"How about the kind that's half cookie?" Kid looked into the distance wistfully, images of sweets dancing over his head.

"Easy."

"The fun kind?" Wire snickered.

"What?"

"Pot brownies." Killer said.

You gave Wire the "really, are you serious?" look and he chuckled. "I'll take that as a no."

"If you guys want I can make a batch. Fair warning though, I haven't made any for a few months. I may be a little rusty."

"Why so long? I thought you guys loved baking." Killer got up and motioned for you to follow him in to the kitchen.

You got to your feet and of course Wire followed.

"We do. And I really enjoyed it but getting engaged kinda made me lose the want to bake. I guess I stopped not long after he and I got together. Trying again hadn't crossed my mind."

"It's nice that you can do something you like again." Wire ruffled your hair as he started grabbing things he figured you could use. Killer joined in, having a better idea of what you wanted since he was the cook of the group.

"Speaking of doing things you like...." Killer started, pushing a mixing bowl in front of you.

"Don't start trying to bring up my sex life." You pointed the spatula Wire handed over at him. "I'll start talking about your lack of one."

"Harsh, but not what I was going for."

"Continue then."

"When are you going to get your motorcycle license?"

"Ummmmm." You wanted to start that process, but not quite yet. "There's something else I have to take care of first that's probably going to be expensive."

Wire perked up at that. You hadn't had the chance to talk to him about it just yet.

"What's that?" He asked.

"Insurance is going to be coming through soon with work and I uh, was thinking about getting sterilized."

"You what?" Kid barked.

He and Heat walked in right as you said that. Now you had to explain yourself to all of them. At least you weren't going to have to repeat yourself to let them know. You didn't really have to fill them in but you felt it'd be mean to possibly be stuck in the hospital at some point and have them not know why.

"I'm thinking about going and getting sterilized." You repeated yourself.

"What made you decide that, if I may ask?" Killer let you direct him a bit on what to throw together. 

Wire bumped into you and gave you an encouraging smile as he bent over the counter. That put him only a little below eye level for you and all the closer to the mixing bowl. He was here for support and brownies.

"I have all the right parts but they don't work like they're supposed to, long story short. I can't have kids so I'm better off doing what I can to curb some of the symptoms that come with all that."

"Oh." Heat's face fell and he looked more sad than usual on your behalf.

"That's a bummer." Killer struggled to say that and you could see him grimace as he decided he didn't even like how that sounded. A little too casual and dismissive to him. But you understood what he meant.

"It is what it is." You snorted as he tried to flick bits of eggshell out of the mixing bowl. He tried to crack an egg and ended up smashing it and half the shell into the mix. "I got over it a while ago and decided it's time to take care of it."

It was silent for a moment until Kid spoke up. "I think we have carmel. Can you add that to the mix?"

The others glared at him but you burst into laughter. Count on Kid to make something less of a big deal. You were glad he treated it like it was almost normal.

"Yeah, I can do that."

"And there's always other options." He growled. "There's plenty of kids out there that need homes. If you get the hankering for one, go snatch one of those little fuckers."

"Ohhhh Wire, he talks sweet like you do." You teased, making your lover blush. Bold between the sheets and a little shy on the streets. Cute.

"How long are these going to take to bake?" Wire asked to steer the conversation.

"Long enough for you two to get it on I bet if that's what you're going for." Kid snickered.

"Please don't." Heat frowned. "I don't want to hear all that again."

"I'm allowed to fuck in my room as loud as I want. I pay my part of rent." Wire defended himself, though you wouldn't say it was a good argument.

"Keep it down and we wouldn't mind." Killer said.

"That takes away half the fun!"

Kid handed you a bag of carmel candies, ignoring the argument that was ensuing because of him. While Wire was good at a lot of things, arguing about why your sex life couldn't possibly be disruptive to others was not one of them. You loved listening to every second of it.

"Next time you should make the kind that's half cookie." Kid mumbled.

"I can do that." You smiled, enjoying the simple chaos of the day.

(A/n)
Couldn't figure out why I have a hard time putting our chapters as fast as I used to and then realized I slowly increased how much I put into them and now write double what I used to. That would explain things.