"I finished g-getting the room r-ready only a f-few m-minutes ago, and I... I haven't g-got any more s-strength to c-clean another r-room r-right now." I let out a hysterical chuckle while nervously moving my hands while speaking as if I had no control over them. "It's just... There are no more c-clean b-bedsheets left anyway. I t-took t-the last ones from Old Sue's w-wardrobe."

My stammering and my awkward hand movements in front of Sigi were obvious signs of how uneasy I felt.

"I wouldn't ask for a different room, Daphne. After what's happened tonight, I couldn't..." he said with determination. "I couldn't bear to spend one more second away from you."

How come he could say such nice things when all I could do was panic, blush, and stammer?!

"Show me your room," he said softly, "if you wish me to stay. I could go to the library downstairs and sleep on one of those old sofas instead." His offer was so gentle and thoughtful that it made me blush even harder.

"No!" I was biting my lower lip. "It's... okay. We can..."

"What?" he asked with half a smile when it was obvious I couldn't come up with the rest of the sentence.

"It's... too cruel," I managed to say. "You. Sleeping. In that old library. D-didn't you notice the huge amount of t-tiny h-holes in the wood? There must be t-termites. No, you're not sleeping with termites!" I was speaking way too fast.

He noticed I was nervous, and smiled at me with mild mischief.

"Oh, so I'm sleeping with you instead?" he asked, leaning his face on mine a bit.

"And Finn."

"Who's Finn?" he asked with a frown.

"My pet dodo," I gently said while trying to convince myself I could assess my feelings and take some action without being so clumsy in front of the guy I loved.

"Oh, yes, the dodo. I remember."

To be honest, what could go wrong? Why were my cheeks on fire? Why was my heart racing to the point I felt dizzy? Why was I feeling so much embarrassment and doubts?

Sigi was the perfect gentleman, and he loved me, and I loved him back, and we'd kissed, and we'd hugged, and he'd made out, and... Why did I fear the next step so much?!

"You don't need to panic, meine Glühbirne," he whispered with so much kindness and love that I was melting inside already.

I took a deep breath and told myself to be brave. I could do it. Sure.

"Everything is making me panic right now. And... Agape will be stark... raving... mad," I whispered back at him.

"Fuck Agape." His serious reply had an undertone of desire as his eyes bore deeply into mine.

"She's your boss."

"And yours."

"Not anymore, Sigi."

He chuckled and smiled softly at me. That was when he said with pride: "Then, why would you follow her commands not to kiss me or sleep with me, Daphne? Let's just... live the here and now. Forget about her, about the world."

"You've... got... a point there," I admitted while I took his hand and led him into the bedroom which I had cleaned up and prepared for me. "Anyway, this is the room. Speak softly. Finn's asleep."

I was feeling more reassured then. His last words had done the trick. That night, it would be just the two of us.

Well, and a sleeping, cute, little dodo named Finn.

"The room is nice. Simple but nice," he whispered with satisfaction. He aimed his phone's flashlight all around the room.

"Your side of the bedroom you share with Gabi is also simple," I replied, whispering as well while standing close to him. "It's kind of obvious that you like it."

We stared at the water pouring over the window panes for some seconds. The music of the rain and thunder filled the room with its hectic rhythm. The storm was getting wilder. However, the rough rhythm of the drums inside my heart was second to no other sound.

Being alone with Sigi in a bedroom, far away from the rest of the world, from Agape's rules, and any potential interruption was having a huge effect on me. Live coals were burning inside me, and it felt nice.

"Well, since you know I like simple things," he whispered gently as if he was testing the waters while he was leaving his phone on the nightstand with the flashlight shining on us and the bed, "why don't you tell me what's on your mind? With simple words?"

He came close to me again with a charming smile. He was standing right in front of me near the bed.

"What's on my m-?! What?!" I whisper-panicked while my inner heat rose from my chest to colour my cheeks wildly once more.

"How are you feeling?" he softly whispered while gently putting a hand on my jaw. "About us, here, tonight."

I realised that I had let him into the room not saying a word about how I felt. I guessed he wanted verbal confirmation.

Come on, Daphne. Say the words.

"I... I..." I couldn't bring myself to form a sentence, as if expressing myself was like trying to say a tongue twister. Love made me a fool.

He chuckled with mildly flared nostrils, and then he sighed in frustration while staring at me. His hand stopped caressing my jaw.

"Your father might've been right about many things, but I don't feel like pushing you, as he had suggested." He looked mildly disappointed but willingly surrendering. "Let's just... let's just sleep. Literally. Okay, dandelion? You take this side of the bed; I take the other."

Oops. I had forgotten about that.

That dandelion-related, poetic thought of mine that Agape had revealed to him the other night. I was a dandelion that was ready to be blown away.

I blushed, convinced that he might have had high hopes about making love.

He walked to the other side of the bed, sat on it, and started to unfasten his boots. The casual way he had spoken was his gentle way to let me know he had no intention to touch me, that I needn't worry. But making a reference to my dandelion comment... Had I let him down?

I sat down as he had done, but on my side of the bed. We were giving each other our backs. I felt uncertain about what to say since I was usually clumsy in such situations. I heard a tick-tock, incessant sound inside me that weighted on my soul like a countdown while we were busy taking off our shoes.

"Daphne, would you..." he started to ask me, and I turned to look at him, only to see that he was standing on the other side of the bed and about to take his T-shirt off, "would you mind if I-?"

I didn't let him finish.

"Sigi," I called softly to him with shivering hands and a knot down my throat.

I had to keep it simple. He preferred it that way, and so did I.

He froze mid-action and let go of his shirt. "Yes," he whispered with a slight vibration in his voice as if he was unsure and waiting for me to say something he was not ready for. His eyes sought mine as he waited.

I knelt upright on the bed, shot my hands at the collar of his black T-shirt, and pulled him to me in a rash movement. I made his lips crash on mine, taking him by surprise with that bold move.

Simple things. I could not handle words properly when it came to how I felt about him. But acting on those feelings? That I could do.

At first, the kiss was rather awkward, probably because I had caught him off guard. It took him some seconds to get over the initial shock. His muscles and his jaw soon relaxed, and that was when I felt him respond to my kiss with his classic gentleness.

I let go of his shirt. My hands danced their way up to his neck while his hands found either side of my chest and travelled down to my exposed waist. The demanding way his fingertips sank into my flesh made me crave him even more.

He gently pushed me to make room for him on the bed. Never breaking the contact with my lips, he slowly knelt in front of me to flush his body with mine. I put my arms over his shoulders and started playing with his hair.

His broad chest finally touched mine as his fingers brushed the waist of my black shorts. The tips of his fingers shyly explored the space between the waist of my shorts and my skin.

I could feel his ragged breaths matching mine by the way my chest and his were heaving, softly colliding with one another in harmonic synchronicity. The round, metal pieces of that top I had borrowed from K8 were jingling once in a while.

As we kissed, my thoughts were travelling far away from reason, but it felt good. I felt safe with him, like enjoying the warm sunlight in a world without worries, as if we were in heaven.

When the kiss deepened and my legs started to feel like jelly, he toppled over me on the bed, also breaking the kiss for a brief moment. My hair was dispersed all over the pillow and the mattress, just like my thoughts. He smoothly leaned over me, and we went on kissing quite absentmindedly.

"Are you sure about this, dandelion?" he asked, whispering in a really low voice.

"Blow me away," I whispered back at him.

Hello, my sugar cubes!

Did you enjoy this romantic scene? :3 I'm a sucker for Romance, but writing extremely steamy scenes isn't really my thing. Besides, I'd like to keep it nice and short. I hope you enjoy it, though!

XOXO

MS