As I stepped into the lobby of the Union Station, dragging my suitcase behind me, I automatically spotted his flock of neatly combed orange hair. The building was packed on this late morning of New Year's Eve, yet Arthur was unmissable. It was like my body just knew where he was. Yuck. I ignored the sickening feeling that followed this realization. I knew very well what it meant to be constantly aware of somebody's presence – or absence, for that matter – and I did not want to go down that road.

I had managed to get a few days off work and had spent Christmas and the week after that with my parents, down in San Diego. They had moved south when I'd started college, having no more reason to stay in LA, which was too expensive for them. I was not very close to my parents, nor particularly not close either. We saw each other for a couple days every few months and we had the occasional phone call. For Christmas, though, I always made the effort to stay a bit longer. They lived in a Latino area – well, pretty much every corner is a Latino area in San Diego – and got along well with the neighbors. We didn't have family in the US, but friendly neighbors were the closest thing. Celebrating Christmas with fellow immigrants from around the block was something we'd always done since we'd moved to this country, to compensate for our lack of relatives.

This year had been Eduardo and Leticia's, the young couple from two houses down the street, turn to host the Christmas Eve dinner. A garage, two boards the size of a door, a few trestles, everybody's garden chairs, and, voilà, we'd had a party. Everybody had brought some food to share with the others and, like every single year, we had ended up with at least three times too much food. Latinos did not joke when it came to feeding friends and loved ones. Christmas day had been spent nursing a hungover and eating the leftovers.

Arthur spotted me much later than I spotted him, but when he did, it's like I had turned on the light inside a dark building. His smile was dazzling and his eyes twinkled with joy. Great. Look at us, straight out of a romcom. Blech. He made his way towards me, his smile growing bigger with every step, while I tried my best to smile back. I wasn't unhappy to see him, but I was unhappy to be so happy to see him and to realize I had missed him.

When he finally reached me, I thought I was hallucinating when he went for a kiss on my lips. Then he changed his mind at the last second and went for a hug instead, but then he decided the hug was still too much, so he stood there awkwardly, one foot away from me, not knowing what to do with his arms and the rest of his body. He settled for a couple light taps on my shoulder. The cringe was real.

"Erm . . . Welcome back, Abril."

I tried to hide my disappointment. The truth is, I was dying for a kiss. I should have known better than to expect one in the middle of a crowded train station.

He took the suitcase from my hand and I let him. He escorted me to his car, put the suitcase in the trunk, and then we drove off to his place. He was hosting a New Year's Eve party, something that Arthur's friends had heavily insisted on and he'd caved. I had volunteered to come to his place earlier, both have some alone time with him and to help with the hosting. Talk about playing house . . .

Arthur took me by surprise when he laced his fingers with mine over the center console.

"I've missed you," he said simply and that made me smile. I squeezed his hand tight in response.

We made it to his house and, as soon as we passed the threshold, I essentially pounced on him. My lips assaulted his, my arms locked around his neck, and my chest crushed against his. He chuckled at my eagerness and kissed me back, he let go of the suitcase he was carrying for me and respectfully put his hands on my waist, not daring to explore more. I slammed the entrance door shut with my foot and all but dragged Arthur to his bedroom. I wouldn't have minded doing it right there on the couch but I knew he would have.

Unfortunately, he did not let me drag him upstairs. When my hands started to be too adventurous, he grabbed them, broke the kiss, and stepped away from me.

"I cooked lunch," he announced, "let me just bring your bag upstairs and I'll heat up the food for you. It'll be ready shortly."

Without another word, he grabbed my suitcase and dashed upstairs to his room. We had never discussed our sleeping arrangements. The switch had just happened. Now I always slept in his bed when I slept over, and I wouldn't have wanted it any other way. When he came back down, he ignored my attempt at cornering him for a cheeky kiss and took place behind the stove.

My frustrated grunt made him chuckle.

"Later, darling. I'll take you to bed after lunch. I promise."

I almost blushed at such a promise. He went totally red. Neither of us was used to such a graphic – per his standards – language from him. He must have really missed me.

He cleared his throat. "That is, if you want to, obviously. We don't have to do anything at all. I'm perfectly content just—"

"Cari, you're rambling. I'm dying to have sex with you. If it were up to me, we'd already be going at it on your kitchen island."

He threw one of his typical looks at me. A mixture of shock, bewilderment, and a bit of exasperation. "That surface is for cooking and eating, Abril."

I could not resist making the obvious joke. "I can be a meal."

He rolled his eyes and ignored me, returning to his cooking.

The food he had prepared was tasty, as always, although not extravagant. A nice, simple meal. After dessert, I went to put away the dishes in the dishwasher but he beat me to it. I wanted to rip his clothes off as soon as he pushed the button to start the machine. However, I didn't. For his sake, I had to exercise restraint.

When I would have wanted him to sweep me off my feet and take me to bed for one very much needed tumble in the sheets, he did what he always did. He grabbed my hand affectionately, pulled me close to him, and gave me a tender kiss on the lips.

"I've missed you so much," he murmured in my ear, his hand squeezing mine a bit tighter.

As much as it made me choke me to admit it, I had missed him too. It was ridiculous. I had only been gone for a week, and it's not like we saw each other every day when we were both in LA. With our respective schedules being quite busy, we pretty much saw each other only on the weekends and sometimes we would meet again once in-between.

Yet, as I wrapped my arms around his waist and nestled against his chest, it felt like we hadn't seen each other in months and finally got to be reunited. His lips, which had migrated to my neck, were gentle and tender, taking their time to ignite every single one of my nerve endings.

His hand that was not holding mine landed on my butt and squeezed it firmly. I huffed.

"What?" He asked, slightly distressed, pulling his lips away from my skin momentarily. "Is something wrong?"

"On the contrary, cariño, everything is just fine. I don't remember you ever touching my ass like that."

"Do you like it?"

I looked at him from below my lashes and slowly nodded. In a surprisingly bold move, his hand snaked down my leg, past the hem of my dress, then back up again so it could slide under the garment, then into my panties, to finish its course on my bare butt. He squeezed again, this time with even more intent. I almost purred.

A playful smile grew on his lips, and when he stopped squeezing in favor of just lightly grazing my skin with the top of his fingers, his smile became outright predatory. My insides instantaneously melted in response.

"Be careful with what you're doing, Arthur," I warned. "Or I will become addicted and you'll have no other choice but to keep doing it forever."

His eyes lit up like a Christmas tree. How topical. "Forever, huh?"

I forced myself to ignore the heavy feeling on my chest. It was just a joke, I would not allow myself to overthink that. Period.

I still made sure to set the record straight. "It's just a figure of speech, I'm afraid. I wouldn't want to get your hopes too high."

He had a half-sinister, half-endeared laugh. "With you, darling? Never."

My laugh echoed his and we killed it by joining our lips.

Arthur made good on his promise to take me to bed. We went to his bedroom and had slow, sweet sex. The kind that I had not had in a million years. I came once, thanks to a combination of his penis inside me, his mouth on my breasts, and my own fingers on my clitoris. It was not wild and passionate, it was steady, comfortable, and safe. Then we moved to the bathroom and showered together. We both came under the hot water.

We lay on Arthur's bed, clean and in our underwear, blissfully tired from our earlier exercises. I was ready to close my eyes and have a strategic nap. I just had one thing to do first.

"By the way," I said, getting off the bed and scavenging into my suitcase, "merry Christmas!" I handed him a box wrapped in silver paper and a black bow. It rattled when he took it.

"Oh, wow." He looked genuinely surprised. "That's very thoughtful of you." A pause. "I didn't expect anything, thank you very much."

His words pulled at my heart. I couldn't blame him for having such low expectations of me, but it still stung to hear it. "You know," I retorted, "I'm not half the coldhearted bitch you seem to believe I am."

"Abril . . . That's not what I meant, I—"

"It's fine." I plastered a smile on my face. It was fine. I knew he didn't mean it that way. And even if he did, I deserved it.

He sat cross-legged on the bed and placed the gift on his thighs. He undid the bow and, with his fingernail, he carefully removed the tape and undid the wrapping instead of, you know, just tearing off the damn thing.

The look on his face when he took in my gift was worth a million dollars. It was obvious he hated it but he was forcing himself so hard not to show it. I wish I'd been smart enough to take my phone out and record the scene.

"Erm, that's lovely, thank you."

I burst out laughing. My gift was a five-thousand-piece jigsaw puzzle. The image that was meant to be recomposed was the loudest, most colorful design I could find. It wasn't tacky but it was definitely not in Arthur's taste. The picture was a painting of a bright circus scene, with all sorts of animals, clowns, acrobats, and other artists wearing vibrant clothes. It was an explosion of colors and the scene was aesthetically messy, almost illegible. I loved it. And it was the perfect gift. There was no way Arthur was not a puzzle guy and his house desperately needed colors. There's only so many shades of black, white, gray, and beige one can put in their home.

"How did you know I like puzzles?"

What was I saying?

"Just a hunch," I replied with a shrug. It was nicer than inviting him to look in the mirror and see for himself that he was the archetype of a puzzle-loving nerd. "Your house is too cold for your own good, I was hoping to give it a bit of warmth."

"I find the temperature of the house to be exactly comfortable."

I rolled my eyes. He did have the bad habit of taking everything literally. "No, honey. I don't mean the actual temperature. I mean the colors. Everything in here is white and black and—"

The insolent smile on his lips stopped me in my tracks. "That was a joke, darling. I understood what you meant."

My jaw fell open. "You made a joke?"

"Why do you sound so surprised? I'm not the emotionless robot you seem to believe I am."

The room fell silent in the span of a microsecond. What had just happened was the real life equivalent of a UNO reverse card. My hypocrisy had just been called out. I didn't know what to say. He thought I was an asshole, I thought he was an asshole, we probably both were assholes. What's more to add to that?

He got off the bed and walked inside his closet. He came back out carrying a large box wrapped in white paper and a red bow. He handed it to me. I accepted it, although I wasn't sure whether it was the right move considering our recent interaction.

"For the record," he declared, "I do not think you are a . . . whatever it is you seem to believe I think you are. I assumed that you would think it was too early for us to give each other Christmas presents, and I didn't want to scare you off by offering you one. I also didn't want you to feel guilty if I offered you something and you didn't get me anything. What I said earlier just meant that I was relieved, and happy, to find out that we are on the same page Christmas gifts-wise."

I bowed my head. If there had ever been the shadow of a doubt, that was the confirmation that he was the nicer one of the both of us. Quite the irony, frankly, if we remembered how we'd met. He had been a jackass, back then. A polar opposite to the sweet, insecure man in front of me right now.

I sighed, annoyed at my own behavior, and got started on the wrapping paper. The box was large and heavy. Whatever was in there felt solid, and surely pricey. At least I knew it wasn't jewelry.

And for sure, it wasn't jewelry. It was much better than that. It was the best gift ever. It was too expensive, and way too much for a relationship that had lasted what? Two months so far? Officially that is. And a non-exclusive relationship at that. I didn't deserve that guy.

I didn't take the time to open the box and take out its content. I set the gift to the side and I kneeled up to kiss Arthur as ferociously as I could. I had no idea how to show my gratitude any other way. I pulled him by his neck until he joined me on the bed, sitting on his heels and wearing as little as I was. I parted my knees and invited him between them. He was confused by my sudden eagerness, but he said nothing. His hands rested on my ass while mine just cupped both sides of his face and kissed him with as much affection as I could muster. And that's all I did. Kissing. My instinct was to give him one hell of a blowjob, or to ride him until he forgot his own name. But Arthur was not into sex. Arthur liked romance and tender intimacy. So that's what I tried my best to give him.

"I take it you like the telescope?" He asked, panting from the intensity of our kiss.

I nodded frantically. I liked it very much. I loved it. I had never had one, although I had always wanted one. It was the kind of purchase that I could not really justify and kept postponing for when I finally had money to spare. I was not familiar with the specific model Arthur had picked, but one look at the specs told me everything I needed. That wasn't the crappy telescope one used to spy on the naked neighbors in their garden. That was proper, semi-professional equipment. It was even better than the ones the department of Caltech Astronomy lent their students for their research. It was worth several thousand dollars, for sure.

"The salesperson advised me on the model, I hope their input was good."

Again, I nodded, too stunned to speak.

"Will you know how to make it work? It didn't seem as straightforward as just pointing at the sky and look into it."

I let out a chuckle. "No, indeed. It's a bit more complicated than that. But I'm confident I can make it work."

"Do you want to go and try it now? The sun is about to set."

Yes. But no, there was something else I wanted to do first. Somehow, I needed to show this man how thankful I was for the gift.

"Later," I replied as I leaned against him and brushed my lips against his. "I'd like to thank you properly first."

I pushed deeper into the kiss . . . only for him to lean back and stop me from kissing him.

"Darling, do you really not know me? Nothing would make me happier than seeing you enjoy the telescope. I don't want a 'thank you' kiss, and I even less so want 'thank you' sex."

"But how can I properly thank you, then?"

"You don't have to. It's a gift, it's my pleasure. But if you really insist, most people at least say 'thank you'."

I laughed. Caught in my emotions, I had not even voiced my gratefulness in the most basic way.

"Thank you, Arthur. I really love it."

"You're welcome. I'm very happy you love it. But now, if you really are desperate to find a special way to thank me, you could always agree to be exclusive with me."

A dark cloud instantly obscured the mood. He chased it away with a playful laugh.

"Don't look at me like that! It was a joke. Let's get dressed and try this telescope, shall we?"

* * *

"I have to say," Val said to Arthur and me, although it sounded like he was announcing it to our entire group, for he was talking very loudly. We were all several drinks in already and it was still long before midnight. We would all suffer the consequences of that night the following morning. "You guys make a very cute couple. I'm happy you're finally officializing things."

I felt Arthur tense next to me, but it was nothing next to how tense I was. What had Arthur told his friends? We had officialized nothing, the only person who knew about our arrangement was Sigrid, and that's because it sort of was her idea. I highly doubted Arthur would admit to anyone that he was in anything else than a serious, monogamous relationship. Had he told his friends that I was his girlfriend? Was he lying about us behind my back?

"You couldn't be more wrong, my friend," Arthur rectified in a fake playful tone that could almost have fooled me. "Abril doesn't date. There is nothing to officialize."

"Come on! You're hosting a New Year's Eve party together, it's the most couple-y thing one could do! You have to be fucking at the very least!"

I relaxed immediately. Val knew nothing and was just making drunken assumptions to rile up Arthur. It was working. Had Arthur not mentioned to his friends that we were, indeed, fucking?

"Language, Valentine," he scolded him. I was pleased to note that I wasn't the only person he told off for using swear words. "And that's none of your business."

"Don't be so stuck up, Art! There's no need to keep secrets, we're all happy for you. You really are cute together!"

The funny thing was that Val truly meant those words. He was just a happy, cheerful drunk who wanted to mess around and spread his joy. Too bad he didn't realize the muddy waters he navigated in. Arthur was tight as a bow string next to me. Which, now that I was reassured about what he had or had not told his friends about us, I found funny. It seemed that, the more on edge Arthur was, the more determined Val was to be an ass to him.  He earned a glacial glare from Sigrid for that – I swear Sig and Arthur had somehow become best buds or something.

As if on cue, Val started singsonging, "Arthur has a girlfriend! Arthur has a girlfriend! Arthur has a girlfriend!"

I could have laughed, and I did, in fact, giggle a little. Val was so hammered. But then Arthur let out a joyless, sinister laugh that chilled me to my bones.

"I can assure you I don't. Abril is the furthest thing from my girlfriend. She doesn't want to be, and we are not even exclusive."

Arthur's friends' heads turned towards us all at once, a deadly silence suddenly occupying the room.

Theo, who was sitting on the other side of Arthur, was the one who broke it. "Excuse me, what?"

I couldn't think of what the correct thing to say, or to do, was in this situation. Arthur must have been pretty wound up, or pretty drunk, to spill his dirty secret in front of his friends. I was fine with people knowing about our arrangement. I wasn't sure he was. As much as I wanted to spare him future embarrassment, there was not much I could do now that the cat was out of the bag.

When she realized she wasn't getting an answer, Theo continued. "No because we're all happy to pretend that you guys are not together if that makes you happy – no Abby, we do not know about it because Arthur told us behind your back, we know about it because you're about as subtle about it as a couple of teenagers," she added when she saw my face turn white. "But I can't keep up with this charade when I'm hearing such things. You guys are seeing other people?"

A bit more of that awful silence. Until Arthur chimed in. "Well . . ."

"Yes, we are," I said, saving him the trouble of having to say it himself.

"You can't be serious," she said to him. "There's no way you would ever agree to that. You're the most monogamous person I know."

"People change, Theodora."

He earned a slap up his head for using her full name.

"Right. How do you like sleeping with multiple people?" She snarked.

"I don't. Only Abril does."

He could have replied to that in so many ways, but throwing me under the bus was apparently the option he had deemed the most acceptable. Bastard!

As she turned towards me, Theo's slanted eyes squinted like a cat who had just locked in its prey.

"Oh really? That's interesting," she said, her cheerful tone as fake as Kim Kardashian's ass. "But surely you wouldn't mind if Arthur saw other people, right? It can't be a one-way street."

"What kind of person do you think I am? Yes, of course, the arrangement goes both ways," I retorted.

That was true. Arthur was free to sleep with whoever he wanted, and I had told him so in multiple instances. In fact, I would feel less guilty for imposing this relationship style on him if he did actively partake in it.

"Then you won't mind if I kiss him, right?"

I did mind. Very much so. She was one of his best friends, and I was right there. It wasn't like she was a nameless individual I'd never know about. I had no desire to see Arthur make out with somebody else, thank you very much.

I was suddenly very aware that we had an audience. All our friends' eyes were locked on me, expecting my reply. And because I wasn't one to back down from a challenge, I said, "No, I don't mind."

Because that's what it was: a challenge. Theo was not interested in Arthur, and even if she were, she would not do that to me. To us. I was calling her bluff. And on the off chance that she was not bluffing, then Arthur would say no. He was way too respectful towards me to go through with it, and definitely too shy. Hell, he didn't even kiss me in public.

Theo put her hand on Arthur's neck and brought her mouth next to his. If he startled slightly from her touch, he didn't push her away. As she was about to touch his lips with hers, his head snapped to the side to face me.

Take that, bitch! Arthur would never—

"Are you sure about that, Abril?"

It felt like a block of lead fell in my stomach. Surely, he wasn't actually considering it. It was a test, or a challenge, or whatever you want to call it. He had to be in with Theo on it. That had to be a sick plot to get me to confess to some feelings so I would agree to be exclusive with him. The Arthur I knew would never do that, I was sure of it.

"Yes, I'm sure," I replied in my most assertive voice.

He turned to face Theo again, who just shrugged and placed her lips on his as the room went dead quiet. He didn't pull away.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

A/N: It can't just be easy with those two, can it?

Next chapter on Wednesday, please vote and comment if you like this story.

Love,
Charlie.