Mia was actually shaking uncontrollably as she paced the floor.

7pm. That's when they said he'd be dropped off. It was 6.58pm right now.

Caleb was sitting on the couch with Elana, talking invigoratingly with her in their ASL language while he made sure she ate her green beans. Zoe was there for moral support as well, sitting in one of the bar chairs with her laptop, typing something. Mia couldn't keep her mind focused long enough to figure out what it was.

6.59pm.

Her stomach was churning. Fiddling with the long sleeves of her black shirt, she managed to pull a thread out and tangle it around her finger. That's when she realized, even her hands were shaking.

Nobody spoke. They were all anxious to seeing Eli again, so none of them really knew what to say. Mia's mouth was too dry to speak anyway.

7pm.

Mia paced to her window and looked out, wanting to see a car or something pull up. But nothing; the street was deserted.

Summoning all her strength, Mia cleared her throat. "Shouldn't he be here by now?"

"Maybe there's traffic. I won't punish them for going one minute over time," Caleb replied, still looking at Elana. "Just try and relax, sit down. Have some water, maybe."

She couldn't even get a substance as easy flowing as water down. She was that nervous. What if they somehow managed to find a loophole in Caleb's contract? What if they'd relocated and taken him away for good? What if—

Plink!

"Who is writing?!" Mia jumped to Zoe's side, grabbing on to the table for support when her head started spinning.

"Jesus, M, chill," Zoe said, looking startled by her jumpiness. She then looked at her laptop. A black box popped up with the single letter A on it. "It's him again."

"What's he saying?"

Zoe opened the message and translated his weird slang. "Your friend is at Low Point. He went there after they dropped him off. – A."

Mia felt her heart sink.

He went straight to the club. No hello's, no 'good to see you again'. Not even as much as a simple text. She understood that he wasn't too pleased to see her, but you'd think he would at least be excited to see Caleb again. But no. He just went straight for the club.

"I'll go down there," Caleb sighed, setting Elana down after placing a kiss on top of her head. "See how he's doing. You alright with that?"

Mia nodded. She wanted to come, but... she couldn't. She was afraid of what she'd find him doing there. She didn't think she could handle walking in on him kissing or sleeping with a stranger.

That thought made her shudder and made tears press in the corner of her eye. What if that was in fact what he was doing?

"How about I take Elana for the night?" Zoe suggested when Mia sat down on her couch, feeling empty inside. "I think maybe, uh... Mia could use a little alone time."

Caleb who had been putting on his sneakers looked up and shot a look at Mia. "What? Oh, right! Sure. I'm sure Elana wouldn't mind, she loves smurfs."

"For the last time, I am not a—"

"Sure you're not, Smurf. I'll swing by to pick her up later. See ya!" Caleb kissed Elana goodbye and then trotted down the hall and left.

Mia closed her eyes and leaned back into the couch.

Why did matters of the heart always extend to the rest of the fucking body? She felt like she was coming down with a virus.

Yeah, it's called love.

She heard Zoe shuffle closer. "Don't worry, M. He'll come around, I'm sure. He just needs to clear his head."

That was the problem. When Mia had needed to clear her head, she had slept with him. She could only imagine what he did to clear his genius mind.

~~~

It was 1am and Mia couldn't sleep. She had been tossing and turning in her bed ever since Zoe left with Elana. Finally, she had decided to take a nice warm bubblebath, hoping it would soothe her soul a little. It didn't. After drying off, she combed through her blonde locks and removed any makeup she might have missed earlier. There was always some.

Looking back at her reflection was a blue-eyed, blonde Pasadena girl she once called herself. Now as she stared at this girl, she couldn't recognize her. She was but a ghost of who she used to be, an empty shell, waiting for something precious to store.

She had called Valenches after they'd gotten back from the facility and asked for a few days extension, on the note that she was going through some tough stuff she had to deal with. After revising it with the principal of the Alexandrettia, she had gotten her permit to be excused for a few days. It was just the thing she needed.

Throwing on a simple white T and a pair of comfortable panties, she clicked off the light in the bathroom and headed back to her bedroom, intent on trying for some sleep again.

But just as she slipped under the covers, she heard the front door go with a wham. At first it startled her, thinking it was a burglar, but when the footsteps targeted straight for her bedroom door, she knew it was someone who knew their way around and had a key to her apartment as well.

Busting the door open to her bedroom, Eli stormed in, shoving the door shut again so the hinges protested. Mia stifled a shriek and jumped up when their eyes met – his raging like a bull.

"E-Eli—"

He went for her, and not in a good way. Backing up, Mia almost screamed when he caught her and pushed her up against the wall, holding her throat. Writhing, Mia tried to get free.

"Eli, p-please—"

"You fucking bitch. I can't believe you."

"Eli, stop, just let me explain—"

"You don't have to, I've heard everything." He grabbed her chin and forced her to look at him, meeting his electric eyes. "Why the fuck did you help me?"

Stilling, Mia blinked up at him, feeling her mouth fall open.

He knew. If he knew, then why was he like this? Unless... "Didn't you want to be saved?"

"I'm not a fucking damsel in distress. I don't need no goddamn heroine to save me like I'm a helpless fucking rich chick in the city without her platinum."

Now she officially dropped her jaw. Mia could smell alcohol and weed on his breath, but even under influence did she ever expect him to react like this and say shit as stupid what came out of his mouth right now; it was plain ego.

Infuriated, Mia pushed at his chest, trying to shove him away, even if it was to no avail. "You fucking ungrateful dick! I don't expect no goddamn roses or sonnet for what we did, but you could at least show some appreciation for the fact that we got you and everybody else out of that facility!"

"You want appreciation? Fine, get down on the bed, I'll show you goddamn appreciation."

He hurled her towards the bed, resulting in Mia shrieking and bouncing atop of the mattress, landing harshly on her back. Not a moment later Eli was straddling her, keeping her locked down with his weight. She struggled to get free. "Eli! Get the fuck off me, I swear to God if you touch me, I'll—"

"You said you wanted appreciation, we'll now I'm giving it to you," He grabbed her arms when she kept punching and fighting to get him off. "What's wrong, princess? Already forgotten what it's like with me? Want me to remind you how I get down?"

He clenched her wrists and made Mia cry in a sharp yelp of pain. "Ow! Eli!"

Frowning at her outburst, he flipped his gaze to her left wrist when he spotted something. He then yanked it closer, making Mia sit up so he could see it. "What the fuck is this?"

Mia looked down at the fresh ink she had gotten on her wrist a few days ago. It hadn't quite healed yet, so it was still sore. She had been wearing long sleeves to cover it up. She wanted him to be the first to see it. "It's a tattoo. I-I got it after... after you..." She couldn't finish the sentence. The words stung too much on her tongue, even after everything he just did.

Eli softened his hold on her arm and brought her wrist even closer so he could look at the delicate pattern in the darkness. It was a compass where the needle was an artbrush, but instead of pointing do north, the needle pointed to a name. A six letter one.

"You got a fucking tattoo with my name?"

Ripping her hand free from his grasp, she clutched it to her chest. "You wouldn't listen to anything I said. You wouldn't believe me when I... I told you... I d-didn't..."

That was as far as she got before her voice cracked and she started crying. She felt Eli climb off her and back away, until she heard a thump. When she opened her eyes an inch, she saw him leaning heavily up against the wall, staring at the floor. Just staring.

She got a good look at him for the first time since... well.

He wasn't wearing that hideous white suit anymore. No, he was wearing a pair of worn-out jeans and a black T that always did something to emphasize his muscular body and beautiful body art. The shirt had a rounded collar that showed off that lotus flower on his neck. In the dim moonlight, she just managed to see it bob.

"You're an asshole." She finally got out on a dry throat. "A big, massive one."

Now he looked up, eyes stormy. "Yeah? Well you're still a bitch."

"No, I mean it, Eli," Mia said, her voice breaking. "How could you think I gave you up? After everything—"

"—after everything I've been through, you should know why I don't trust people!" He roared, jolting off the wall.

Mia's mouth fell agape.

"What the fuck do you expect from me? I've been lied to my whole goddamn life, nobody ever fucking said things straight to me!" He raged, clenching and unclenching his fists. Not a good sign. "And then you come along with your big bitchy mouth. First you mouth me off, then you ask me to trust you – trust, like I thought I could trust those fucking C.E.N.T.U.R.I.E.S people. Trust like I put into my parents one day returning for me."

All Mia could do was stare as he raged on. So many things clicked for her just then.

"I'm done being disappointed, I'm done waiting for trust to be earned," He said, glaring harshly at her. "So that tattoo you got, you might wanna look into getting it lasered, cause I'm not going to fucking to wake up one morning and trust you."

A tear fell from Mia's eyes, only partially for what he just said, but also for what he said a minute ago.

– She could see that little brilliantly smart orphan boy who could figure out the theory of relativity before he was four, but couldn't figure out why his parents didn't want him.

"Eli..."

"Don't look at me like that," He growled. "I hate that fucking look. You wanna pity me? Pity yourself. That tat is going to stay on your skin for life, you know that, right?"

"Eli..."

"How stupid could you fucking be? You think a little ink is going to magically fix this all up? Jesus Christ, woman, grow a fucking brain."

She stalked up to him and pressed her lips to his while crying. His arms caught her and gripped her so tightly, he almost hurt her. Just almost. But he didn't. He never physically hurt her, despite always treating her roughly.

His lips met hers, more hungry and needy than her own. He gripped her hair and kept their lips locked in their wild war of something they both couldn't say with words.

He moved, and then Mia felt herself get pushed onto the mattress of her bed, his hands finding her thighs and pushing them up. Her own hands rested at the nape of his neck, tugging him closer. Despite the alcohol on his breath and the sour taste of weed, she wanted more—needed more. And she would never get enough, she feared.

He tugged her shirt up and off, their lips only leaving each other for a moment before finding each other again. Fumbling, Mia sought out his pants, searching for the buckle. Finally finding it, she felt his hardness behind the material, big and throbbing at her touch, a promise of what was to come.

In the meantime Eli's hands had found her sensitive breasts and were pressing and circling her nipples with his thumbs, making her arch her chest into him. Involuntary moans left her mouth and Mia panted for her breath as she finally got his pants undone and grasped for his length. He grunted when she gently squeezed him.

She begun stroking him, feeling his cock jerk in her hand. He was hard, steel, throbbing. Wetness soaked her own panties as a bead of sweat from his forehead dripped down to her chest. She wanted him, and by the sounds he was making, he wanted her, too. "Eli..."

He abruptly grabbed her hands and forced her to let go of him. He pushed then into the mattress and then crawled in over her properly, finding her lips again. Mia moaned and wrapped her legs around him, bringing him closer to her aching core. She was burning up, the need for him enough to leave her writhing.

"Eli, please..."

He sat up and tugged his shirt off, Mia helping him. He wordlessly went down on her again, and Mia accepted him, wrapping her arms around his neck as their lips met again in a heap of passion. His hand found her core, and with a skillful finger, he pressed her bud, circled it.

Mia moaned and arched her back again. "God, Eli..." She was dying. She had to feel him. Had to have him inside of her – needed to know that they still had this when everything else around them was crumbling. "Eli, please..."

He finally sat up, gripped her panties with both hands and tore them apart. Discarding the ruined material, he leaned down over her again. Their eyes met and Mia couldn't help but just stare.

Eli had so many looks that usually never spread to anywhere else but his eyes. It had always frustrated Mia, since it made him so much harder to read.

But this look... all he needed was his eyes to tell her what he couldn't verbally express.

He slowly cupped her face and leaned down to her lips, their eyes never leaving each other. He placed the most feathery kiss on her lips, barely brushing them. It completely took Mia's breath away.

And then he pushed inside her, catching Mia by surprise and making her cry out a moan. Her nails dug into his back and her grip around him with her legs tightened. As he drew out and pushed back in again, her eyes snapped shut. He was so deep within her – both literally and metaphorically.

She felt drugged up on him, his scent, his lips, his touch and his very person. She never wanted to let go of him again. She couldn't remember when that had happened, but she felt as if she wouldn't be able to breathe if he let go of her.

"Eli..." She breathed, when his lips came down to the corner of her mouth and kissed her tenderly, simultaneously brushing his thumb over her cheek.

He pushed deeper. Mia met his thrusts. For each long stroke that hit bottom inside her, Mia felt her climax build up. Her breaths became shorter and shorter, just as his thrust became faster and faster. Finally, she exploded.

She cried his full name. She had always loved the name Elijah. It suited him. It was Hebrew. Maybe his parents had spoken Hebrew. Maybe that's why he had chosen Judaism as his religion, maybe thinking the same thing. So many maybes.

There was one thing she knew, though; right now, in this moment, nothing but the two of them mattered. Their problems were still there, but right now, this bed was a space of truce. Whatever wars they had, they were left at the edges of the bed.

Finally coming down from her climax, Mia fought for her breath, finding Eli's lips. Gripping on to the nape of his neck, she rolled them over so she was now on top. She begun a rhythm, sitting up and supporting herself with her hands on his chest.

Eli wrapped a hand around the column of her neck, then slowly let that hand travel down the canyon of her breasts, resting on her heart. His eyes were watching her, dark and deep, and... then there was that look.

Mia tilted her head backwards as she felt him sink so deep inside her, it tugged in her belly. Her breath was growing shorter again as she rode his shaft, clenching her inner walls around him.

She heard him grunt and then he sat up, catching her in his arms and pressing his lips to her chest. He sucked her nipple into his mouth and gripped her hips at the same time, making her thrusts even deeper.

Mia couldn't keep it together anymore. She exploded again, scraping her nails down his back in her endeavors to find something to hold on to when it felt like everything was slipping away from her.

Seconds later she felt him erupt inside her as well, and together, they climaxed. His grunts and his silent words she couldn't make out was all that filled her ears, along with her own pants and the dying clasps of their sexes meeting.

Eli pulled them both down, laying himself down, simultaneously with pulling her with him. She ended up lying on top of his chest with him still semi-erect inside her.

There were so many things that needed to be said, but none of them spoke a word. Instead they laid quietly and let the silence do the talking.

• • •

Been a good while since I wrote some... 'action.'