*Mature content*

Fourteenth of February: Valentine's Day

The perks of being best friends with someone for about eight years, was knowing when something was amiss.

It didn't take much to find out Tina was dating a guy; Leah actually got that information out fairly swiftly after her birthday back in November, so that wasn't a plausible explanation almost three months on for secretive behaviour.

She'd met the mysterious Flynn when he had walked into the vet practice one day requesting his mother's dog's medicine, and then experienced his many excuses, and returns, in order to see her flatmate.

Tina's choice in men was questionable, and it was funny how neither of them had been in relationships for very long. Flynn though, with his shaggy surfer haircut and genuine smile, was ridiculously nice, didn't speak about himself in an arrogant manner, and when he looked at Tina, it could be interpreted that he adored everything she had to say.

Flynn stayed over at the flat occasionally, but since he worked in graphic design and sometimes stayed in various cities for a week at a time, Leah didn't have to endure happy couple scenes when the man she loved could only be contacted on a virtual screen.

Steven wasn't really mentioned, definitely not recently, and it became particularly awkward when Tina had blatantly told Flynn about him, because Leah overheard conversations about Aerosmith that trailed off when she appeared.

They were guilty, caught red-handed, and her anger was reasonably bending the trust she had for them.

This strange behaviour had begun probably just a few days after Leah returned from Boston after New Years, and where she had confided in her best friend about the details of the trip and everything else about Steven, it was soon to stop after an average Thursday they were at work.

Apparently, Leah wasn't allowed to mention Steven anymore, but Tina could talk about him behind her back with Flynn, and that was just dandy. So it was no wonder her mood was sour the moment she returned home, because at least work could keep her busy, and conversations, ninety per cent of the time, were professional.

"I'm staying with Flynn for the rest of this week."

Leah slammed her car door shut. A full day in the past would have made her look forward to going home, but now home was a living nightmare, and she couldn't remember the last non-awkward conversation she and Tina had had outside of work.

"That's it?" She was rounding the front of her car, coat being shrugged on aggressively. "This is how it's going to be?"

Tina had cast her eyes on her phone, slowly dropping her bag on her shoulder.

"Uh, what's it?"

Leah stared at the innocently lifting face which had the audacity to look past her to the entrance of their residence parking.

"Are you serious?"

Tina shrugged, phone lowering to her side.

"Serious about what?"

With her car keys denting her palm, Leah had to control the urge to start raising her voice.

"Right, so, you're just gonna skip off into the sunset with Flynn and never talk to me again?"

Finally, she had expressed something that offered some sort of empathy to unlock the expressionless responses.

"C'mon, that's not fair." Tina frowned, flouncing her posture.

Leah ignored it, and pushed on.

"I know you're hiding something from me, and I know it's about Steven," she continued, spiteful with the guaranteed truth. "What, did you read something in the news? Is he, I don't know, married with another kid on the way?"

Three seconds. She had to look into the contorting sympathy, for three, long seconds and listen to the exhaustive sigh.

"No, of course not."

"Then tell me what's going on!" Leah dismissed her initial steady tone, eyes blown wide in desperation. "I'm supposed to be seeing him after his tour, and if you know something that I should be aware of, now would be a fabulous time to share it."

As it happened, it wasn't a fabulous time, because in less than half an hour it would be dark. Dark and cold, and mirroring how miserable Leah had felt every day since being with the man she loved.

"I think you're being paranoid. There's nothing to share."

"Justine, I swear-"

The rumble of an engine had already interrupted her speech, and before Leah could tug back the arm of her unbelievable best friend, Flynn was pulling up in his mint condition classic VW golf GTI.

The passenger window was already wound down, allowing the soft hum of the radio to escape, and it would have been the cherry on top if anything from the eponymous Aerosmith album was being played.

"Hey babe, ready to go? Hiya Leah."

Chipper mood, and a kind wave to acknowledge her presence. The only different thing about his appearance was that he wore glasses to drive.

Cute. Both Flynn and Tina wore glasses.

Tina, with the presence of her gushing boyfriend, didn't need convincing to throw her bag onto the backseats. She leaned through the window and kissed him hello too.

Twitching her jaw, Leah looked away from the affectionate greeting, and slipped her car keys into a pocket so they could no longer damage her palm.

Maybe it was the VW golf's engine chugging away, but she was beginning to feel a bit queasy standing in the proximity, and listening to snippets of conversation. So it came as a surprise when a hand landed on her shoulder, and she was being guided in the direction of the access to her flat.

A glance behind her showed Flynn was respectfully looking at his phone, but the headlights of his car illuminated the stage where she was stopped.

"Look," Tina started seriously, both hands on the shoulders of her coat. "I get it's Valentine's Day and you're probably upset-"

"I don't care about stupid Valentine's Day!" Leah hissed, feeling defensive. She gave up though, because she was tired and didn't have the energy to argue. "I just...I just want my best friend back. Is that so much to ask?"

For a brief moment, Tina's blue eyes flashed with humility, her neat eyebrows twitched up, but as quickly as that emotion appeared, her face blanked.

Leah had lost hope. The cold sent a shiver down her spine.

"I'll text you when I come back on Sunday. See you soon."

There wasn't even a hug, or an attempt at a weak smile. Tina just walked away, opened the passenger door, and got into the car that belonged to her knight in shining armour.

Flynn reversed out, and Leah was alone, wondering what she had done to deserve constantly falling in and out with everyone she knew and loved.

Scoffing into the air, she nodded, mouth pressed to conceal her lips, and half expected an applause from residents poking their heads out of windows having watched the best friend breakup.

Leah trudged to her flat after that, no warmth in her coat, and despite never celebrating it before because it was a dumb day, she wouldn't have minded a Valentine's with Steven. Steven, who she hadn't spoken with for a week because he was presumed to be too busy like she had predicted.

It was easily the shittest day of the year, and now Leah had to think about her rash suggestions about Steven's life. She was guilty of reading the media's headlines on Aerosmith, all the details about the talented singer, two guitarists, drummer, and bassist, and just to show how naïve they were, one of the articles got Steven's birthday wrong and spelled Joey's surname 'Krammer' instead of 'Kramer'.

Such thoughts meant Leah climbed the stairs with tears blurring her eyes, fumbling a grip on her house keys with her head hanging low, but not even blinking away a stray tear so it rolled down her cheek could stop her from noticing the two large, polished black shoes with silver buckles.

A sad smile appeared at the luck of a stranger waiting for his date, but she didn't look up as she scuffed her own shoes closer towards her empty flat.

"I think you've got the wrong door, matey," she said, painfully trying to avoid, but ultimately failing at hiding the wobble in her voice.

Another tear escaped.

"Really? I don't think I have."

Leah was starting to look up anyway, having pinched the correct key between her useless fingers, but the very moment she heard that unforgettable voice, her heart skipped a beat.

Tears glazed her eyes, but she was looking at a man wearing a burgundy suit with a silky, black shirt, and the man wearing those clothes was Steven. Steven Tyler- Steven Tallarico- singing sensation Steven. Holding a bunch of roses in his right hand, tugging the softest, and cutest of smiles that matched his twinkling, brown eyes, dark hair teased and ruffled to perfection, and he was standing outside her door, right now, right here, in England.

"Hey, beautiful."

Leah dropped her keys, possibly before he spoke, ecstatically speechless trying to reciprocate his expression, but really just launching forwards to throw her arms around his neck, and kissing his gorgeous lips that were ready and waiting.

The flowers rustled in their plastic as they rested on the back of her coat, and holding his cheeks in her palms so her fingers were curling over his ears, she pushed onto her tiptoes to kiss him as hard as she could.

It was haphazard before Steven regained the balance, but to Leah it was one of the most breathtakingly passionate kisses she had ever endured.

"What are you doing here?" she asked in disbelief, sniffing her congested nose so it didn't run and ruin the kiss. Really, she needed a tissue, but she needed to do one thing at a time. "Y-you're on tour."

Steven, like it was written in the stars, pulled out a tissue packet from his left jacket pocket. He tucked the flowers carefully under his arm.

"We booked a week off in advance, because I knew I would want to see you," he explained. "I was damn right, because I missed you every single day."

"You did?"

"Of course I did." Steven bent down to put the flowers on the floor. He then stepped closer, encompassing her in his warmth, keeping his smile, and brought his hands up to cradle both sides of her face. "And anyway, I wouldn't miss our first Valentine's Day, however stupid it may be."

Leah was enjoying another kiss that was a lot slower than before, and at his leisure instead of her own. But when tears slipped, compromising the motion of their devotedly connected mouths, she pulled back and hugged him, clutching his jacket across his shoulder blades to make sure he was real.

"It's not stupid," she chuckled thickly, hiding in his hair. "It's not stupid at all."

Steven hugged her tighter.

"Don't cry," he cooed, rubbing the back of her coat. "You don't need to cry anymore."

His embrace was home to her- it made her calm, safe, blanked her mind with him, and that had to mean something. Truthfully, Leah already knew what, and she knew deep down what she was willing to do to make sure there wasn't any more suffering in their time apart.

"They're happy tears now." Wobbling a smile, she pressed a shaky kiss to his cheek. "I promise."

Hug reluctantly falling apart, Steven reached down to grab abandoned keys and flowers.

"Better be, otherwise I'll start crying too," he said, standing up straight.

Entering the flat would have been the simple follow up, if Leah wasn't having to fight against her Valentine's surprise distracting her with neck kisses whilst she was trying to turn the key.

A month to catch up on and make up for, she let his hands explore and ignite the heat, and once that door to privacy was closed behind them, it wasn't hard to figure out what he wanted.

"My god, I missed y-"

Leah put her finger to his lips before they crashed into her own. The squashed shape made her crack a smile.

"Not yet."

Sex was a given- she wouldn't refuse that desire with Steven showing up on her doorstep- but Leah liked the power she had over him, and slipped off her shoes deliberately slowly so she could inspect the burgundy suit of his in a lot more appreciative detail.

To replace the collar on his shirt, a black ribbon was tied in a loose knotted bow around his neck. The shirt itself was tucked neatly into perfectly tailored trousers, and the burgundy colour of his jacket had a standout zigzag black stripe on the lapels.

Once more, Leah was blown away by his fashion sense, and made an escape to the kitchen to pour herself a glass of water to soothe her throat from crying, and to cool herself down before she was caught staring.

"Nice uniform."

With a hand on her hip, Leah glanced over her shoulder. She lowered the glass from her lips.

"Flattering, aren't they."

"Very."

Sarcastic or not, she took another two sips of water, and mirrored the casual lean over the breakfast bar. She noticed the flowers next to his elbow, and more pressingly, the proud tug of his lip between his teeth looking at her.

"You planned this out with Tina, didn't you?"

"No...what makes you say that?"

Leah could probably write an essay on every piece of strange behaviour she had picked up on, but she couldn't be bothered. She kept her million and one questions, held onto Steven's sleeves to pull him closer, and kissed him.

"Are you really here?"

"Yeah," Steven responded softly, pathing a thumb up her face to stroke her cheek. "I'm here."

Leah could've sworn her heart did a full leap. It made her so close to confessing she loved him, because when those brown eyes of his were only interested in hers in a moment like this, there was an urge to reciprocate.

But like always, strong feelings got caught up on the delivery, and she was saved by the rustling of plastic.

"These are for you, because honestly? I didn't know what to get you, so I apologise if you don't like the cliché red roses. But who doesn't? They smell lush."

After an exaggerated inhale of petals to emphasise his opinion, Steven was handing the bouquet over.

"You could have shown up empty handed and I still would've kissed you like that," Leah said, taking them to place on the draining board.

"Mm-mm, can't do that. I have a reputation to build."

That disappointment in herself for being unable to say she loved him, was replaced with a familiar pair of arms appearing around her waist as she found a suitable vase to fill up with water.

"But thank you for the kiss," Steven murmured, burying his face in the side of her neck. "All of them."

To smile was an automatic reaction, like the instinct to lean back into his chest, and when Leah felt the soft exhales from his nose on her skin, she imagined his eyes tracking every movement her hands made to expose the bunch of roses from their plastic, and then place them in the water filled vase.

She did have to admit they smelled lush, they looked pretty, and they were from Steven, which was really the best part of all.

Hands landing on his jacket sleeves, she found the cute face that had been resting on her shoulder.

"You look really sexy in that ridiculous suit."

"Ridiculous?" Steven scoffed, loosening his arms. He stepped away to gesture proudly to himself. "It's called fashion."

"Hang on-" Leah picked up an imaginary phone, holding it to her ear. "-the nineties called. They want their baggy, oversized jackets back."

Steven's mouth fell open, his poor ego bruised for a momentary second, and then went dead serious.

"That's just fuckin' rude. I got this tailored to fit me."

Leah had to bite her tongue, closing the gap between them again. She held onto the boldly designed lapels, indicating the baggy fit of the jacket.

"It's still sexy though."

With the insistent compliment, she left him to recover, stripping off her scrubs top to discard in the laundry basket in the third room which was really a place to hoard miscellaneous shit and a digital piano.

It was barely classed as a room because it couldn't fit anything bigger than a single bed in it, and the floor space was fairly minimal.

"Is that Mark Wahlberg?"

Adjusting the long sleeve top she had been left in, Leah spun around. Steven stood in the doorway with a low finger pointing to the cardboard cut-out of a modelling Mark Wahlberg in his Calvin Klein underwear.

Funny how she was right about him needing to be hidden when Tina got a real boyfriend.

She sighed.

"Yes, and I'm not explaining."

"Wasn't gonna ask. He's hot. 'Nuff said."

A small smile, Leah gently placed her hands on Steven's chest to get him to move. She just didn't expect her wrists to be held, and to almost bump into him because he remained perfectly still, blocking the exit.

"Hang on, you play?"

"Oh, uh..." Reluctantly, she looked over her shoulder, twitching her cheek at his frowning discovery. "Yeah?"

Steven moved into the room, inspecting the music that was open.

"Why did you never say that?" He glanced back with disappointment rimming his eyes, but his attention drifted to flicking through the stack of her musical repertoire. "We talked about music all the time! We had-"

"Music's your thing- your career," Leah interrupted, shrugging against the door frame. She folded her arms, nervously twisting the fabric of her top between a pinch of her fingers. "It's just a hobby for me."

"That's not an excuse! I didn't- you should have said!"

Unable to meet the encouraging lift of his mouth that showed how happy he was to learn something else they had in common, Leah turned to leave. She couldn't though, not when the cover protecting the eighty eight keys rolled back and the power button was jammed on.

"You like Chopin?" Steven asked, sitting down on the leather seat.

The extended jazz chord that tested the volume, made her turn back.

"Yeah," she answered quietly.

"Will you...play for me?"

Letting out a nervous breath of air, Leah looked down at her socks.

"Seeing as you're sitting down, how about you play something first?"

When there was no response, she felt embarrassed by her reckless statement, but found Steven was testing his right foot on the sustain pedal, and spreading his fingers on the keys.

She wasn't expected to be taken seriously.

"I had this...alternate ending to Dream On that I decided to make into a separate song, if you want to hear something original."

Leah pushed herself from the door frame. His vulnerability- a fleeting dip of confidence when she knew how talented he was- she just had to be with him.

"Is it sad?" she asked, perching on the edge of the seat.

"Would that be a problem?"

"No I just-" She fluttered a smile to herself, shaking her head. "If you're going to make me cry by singing, I'd like to know in advance."

Steven looked like he was going to reply from the track of his eyes across her face, but he just cleared his throat, and his fingers began to play.

When the simple intro was finished, the fascination of being drawn to the veins and bones of his hands as they moved, his choice of rings, and the focus of his eyes on what he was playing, hit Leah with a lot of emotion from what she could only assume was the title of the song.

A sense of longing was drawn out as Steven sang the four words of 'you see me crying' in an articulation he had made to fit with the notes. Those feelings carried on, the isolation of the piano and his voice that he was subduing for a private performance, but the fragility of sadness in replacement to those powerful extensions, was a reflection of how he must have felt when he wrote the lyrics.

It was only ever going to be a preview, and after a single chorus, Steven skipped to a satisfying perfect cadence, and it was the best outcome before Leah teared up thinking about the pain she felt when she wasn't with him.

The song mellowed between them, right up until he took his foot off the sustain pedal and cut off the chord.

"Leah, I want to be with you," Steven confessed, fingers slipping off the keys. There was a shift, and a drive for a physical connection. "New Years was everything."

Instead of heartily agreeing that she felt the same way, Leah reached for his face to secure her overwhelming want for him. Palms on his cheeks alone, her breathing quickened, and when she tugged her fingers through his hair to the point Steven was forced to hold her elbows, their serious conversation of the future of their relationship, was put on pause.

"I..." A breathless moan escaped him. "You know what that does to me."

"Yeah, I do."

With her blunt acknowledgement, Leah settled on her knees and swivelled Steven's legs one eighty. He hit a few piano keys with his hands from the impatient movement, but his knees were spread comfortably wide as a result.

It was salivating being eye level with his crotch- in between his legs alone- and when he didn't stop her, she rubbed him through his trousers.

The physical attention was turning Steven on, material straining into her chin with each kiss she placed to encourage his erection, and when Leah deemed them both ready, she was fiddling to unclasp the hook and bar at the side.

"I got it- you just-"

Hearing Steven so lost for words was something extremely pleasing. He held his jacket out the way, fingers curled to keep his shirt up too, and Leah could free his glory by pushing the waistband of his boxers down at the front.

She was careful how she rested a palm on the exposed skin of his thigh, scratching the light hairs that resided there, all while letting the tip of his cock rest underneath her lower lip.

His size should have been intimidating, both in thickness and length, but when she could only see the underside of his jaw, and hear the sweetest of moans as he grew harder, her hand took a comfortable hold.

It was a sight she closed her eyes from whilst encompassing the pink head between her lips, and her tongue was experimenting with the taste of something she had never had the desire to do with any other man. But honouring Steven with a blow job was for more reasons than just him singing a song to her, or as a return for going down on her, because indulging herself in her latest desires was getting a pretty good reaction with the hand finding its way into her hair.

"Leaah," Steven groaned, shifting his hips back. "Nn-fuck. No, stop."

Arousal dipping from such a simple command that denied his consent, Leah detached her lips from his cock and swallowed the rejection on her tongue. It tasted stingingly bitter.

"No, I want to fuck you," Steven amended, bending down to hold her flushed face. "You'll make me cum too quickly if you do that."

"But I-"

She was being kissed before she could start her protest, and had absolutely no recollection of being helped to her feet, or how she ended up stumbling backwards with a hand out behind her so she could feel for the wall that she was eventually pushed into.

Steven let go from the hold of his trousers to touch her again.

"Bed," Leah said, clutching onto the sides of his jacket.

"Too far," he argued into her neck, teeth grazing the delicate skin.

Weak at the knees, Leah worked on pushing the jacket off his shoulders because she had to feel his body under her hands.

Steven was smiling when his face appeared.

"No, you're not throwing another one of my jackets on the floor."

"Why? They look good on the floor," Leah muttered absently, relishing the thigh he pushed up between her legs as he leaned his body back to shrug off the jacket.

Steven chucked it to the left because they were on the boundary to the kitchen-living space, and it just about landed on the arm of the sofa.

"They're very expensive," he returned, as if to scold, but Leah was too busy fiddling with the silver buttons on his shirt.

She got to the last one, realising it was an overhead job to strip it from him, but Steven had already dropped to his knees, hands drifting up the back of her thighs, before she could tug it up his ribs.

Confused more than anything, Leah looked down at the ruffled hair and untidy remainders of his Valentine's suit.

"So you can go down on me, but I can't give you a blow job?"

Steven lifted his head with a lazy smirk.

"I'm prepping you."

Unable to tell him it was unnecessary, Leah had her scrubs trousers yanked down to her ankles, half catching her underwear in the motion, and wasn't surprised about the wet spot when he relieved those down her legs too.

There was no further comment, and Steven's tongue was making her spread her thighs shockingly open so his whole mouth could work its magic. The amount of flicks and languished laps he was capable of with his face buried in her pussy, just showed how much he loved giving when it came to sex.

"Stevenn," Leah moaned desperately, watching his wrist move with every touch he gave himself. "Stevie, I need you."

One last open kiss and he jumped up, suit trousers and boxers bunched around his ankles to match her.

"Do you want me to wear a condom?"

Leah shook her head, surprised she could speak translatable words.

"It's fine, I'm on the pill."

Steven's expression was caught somewhere between a concentrated lust and pure adoration, and with the sides of their noses touching, he was capturing her lips in a slow, yet deeply moving kiss that was the breakthrough for him to push his bare cock into her.

They both moaned at the feeling they had been deprived of, different pitches, but with the same drone of longing for one another lost in a kiss.

Steven's hands held her hips to stabilise his thrusts, whereas Leah's slipped in between the open gap of his shirt to run over his torso. She even managed to untie the bow that replaced the collar and hid his necklaces, and drop it to the floor.

Her thumbs pushed over the subtle bump of his Adam's apple where felt the vibrations when he groaned, but slinging an arm over his shoulder, and fiddling with the back of his hair was always her favourite.

"Fuck, these sounds," Steven panted, top lip dragging down her chin before he marked her neck. "The wet sounds of sex."

Now that Leah was made aware of it, it was impossible not to listen to the next beautifully controlled thrust.

"You're so weird," she breathed out in amusement, breaking into a smile.

Steven paused the rhythm, and then pinned her wrists with one hand above her head. His other returned to her hip, gripping hard, so he could continue the motion of his thrusts.

"You're not supposed to be laughing whilst I'm fucking you."

Leah opened her eyes, and her jaw might have dropped at how hypocritical he was being when his stupid lips were curving and making his happy lines appear in his cheeks.

"What do you mean!? You're smiling!"

Steven mashed his mouth to one side, but it didn't work.

"Shut up."

After the smiles subsided, the fuck wasn't fast or dirty at all, although it sort of was when Steven was biting his lip, flexing his fingers on her skin, and keeping her wrists pinned above her head.

"I can feel how close you are." Steven always found the right words to say, the strain in his voice only adding to the heat burning between them. "I'll cum when you cum."

When he let go of her wrists, Leah squeezed his ass to hold him as close as possible, encouraging him to still deep inside to feel her orgasm, and Steven kept his word by following hotly in pursuit.

The intimacy from stroking hair, blinking eyes that were reserved solely for one another, or the tease of kisses placed on glistening lips, eventually led to a hug that might just have defined love.

"I missed you so much," Leah admitted, swelling with a sensation that made her want to cry. She turned her face into his hair, scrunching up his shirt across his shoulders in her fingers. "So, so much."

"I missed you too," Steven returned softly.

"And Steven?" she pursued, gently pushing him away.

He gave her the space to continue, eyes patiently waiting.

"I did want to see you on New Year's Eve." Her voice shook suddenly, deceiving her, and she had to beg the stinging in her nose away. It was no use, because her vision was already blurring. "I've wanted to see you since I left Sunapee, e-even if you broke my heart in every way possible."

Steven cupped her face, narrowing his shoulders, and his thumbs were ready to catch the tears.

"And I swear I'm going to fix it, but shit, you are not allowed to make me cry."

Leah sniffed, puffing out a tough breath with him, and she blinked enough to see that there was a redness threatening a glaze in his eyes too.

"Make me laugh," she mumbled, an ounce of hope in her weak smile. "Anything- I just want you."

Steven rested his tongue on his quivering lip to stop it moving, and then pulled up his boxers, grabbing her underwear to bring up her legs too. Their fingers brushed in the exchange, they were both trying not to cry, but after stepping out of abandoned trousers that pooled at their ankles, tears naturally fell.

"Don't cry," Leah said, thumbing the wet paths that appeared on his cheeks.

Steven choked on a laugh, shoulders jumping, and bent his knees to lift her up. It wasn't to mask being ashamed- nothing even close- because she knew he wasn't afraid of crying in front of her when the moment encouraged such emotion.

"Entirely your fault."

To make amends, Leah pressed kisses to his lips, small breaks allowing them to make progress to her bedroom, and it was was only when she was laid down on her bed and Steven was crawling on top of her with his shirt hanging open and his necklaces swinging and siding with gravity, that she realised she needed to go to the bathroom.

First, because sex and second, those big hands were pushing up her long sleeve and going straight for her ticklish spots.

"Steven!" Leah kicked out her leg, which bounced on the bed hopelessly, snorting in laughter. "Stooop! I'll piss myself!"

His mouth joined the fun, kissing around her belly button, and all of his attention, from the ghost of his rings, to the gentle exhales from his nose, made her squirm in the shadow of his looming body.

"Well, y'know I've never tried a golden shower," Steven mused, voice huskier from the mutual crying.

Ignoring the gross suggestion, because she needed to focus on not wetting herself, Leah pushed at his shoulders.

"Please, I nee-ed to go."

Thankfully, although with a deep sigh in protest, Steven stopped, and she was scrambling off the bed before her bladder embarrassed her.

Leah took her time, washed her face- although it wasn't as bad as she imagined- but looking at her reflection reminded her of a personal question that had been on the back of her mind for a while.

It was the reason for her serious composure as she pushed her bedroom door almost closed behind her, and carefully climbed back onto her bed where her company awaited her.

She settled, sitting cross legged with her right knee resting on Steven's relaxed leg, because he, in the meantime, had slumped into the pillows with his shirt twisted to expose a nipple, and what would normally be a tempting, resting bulge in his boxers.

"You okay?" he asked, tapering his lazy smile. He stopped twiddling a piece of his hair.

When Leah didn't reply, Steven sat up to read the distant features.

He started by undoing her hair that was practically down anyway, and soothed his fingers through the thickness like he understood it would be heavy and puffy, and the massage to her scalp was on another level of appreciation. And when his index finger pathed down the bridge of her nose, and ghosted around the shape of her mouth, Leah caught his wandering eyes to hold them steady.

She swallowed quietly, plucking up the courage to speak.

"Will you tell me about her?"

Unblinking brown eyes filled her with the regrets that she might have overstepped a boundary, but the pain dawning on his face told her he understood the question.

"You really want to know?"

In a bid to feel, Leah fumbled for his closest hand, the two rings he had on two fingers a cool contrast to the warmth of his palm, and guided it on her knee.

"Yeah," she confirmed softly. "I want to know."

After messing with his bangs, Steven rested that hand on the top of his head.

"I uh...I met Bebe in high school- second day of eleventh grade to be exact." He cracked a weak smile, like he was caught in the fond memory. "Technically, I knew of her since we were in the same year and we had classes together before, but I like to think I met her on that second day of eleventh grade.

"I acted older than the mere sixteen I was- that was the marijuana talkin'- but what I liked most about her- what I had always liked about her, was that she never let guys ask her out. It was no different when I invited her to get high with us because that innocent face wasn't going to fool me."

The hand ruffling his hair as he spoke dropped, and Steven was displaying a proper smile.

"I used to sneak around the science block and catch her doping up with her friends," he said proudly. "But even with that leverage, she still wouldn't talk to me."

Leah leaned back on her hands, continuing to feel Steven's thumb rubbing over her knee in a soothing rhythm.

"I'm not surprised, you were stalking her."

"What? No I wasn't!" He opened his mouth like a cute goldfish. "I was just...I-I wasn't!"

"Checking what she was up to, sure," Leah corrected monotonously, slowing her nod. "I'm teasing- go on."

"Well, uh..." Steven slipped his palm between his shirt, fiddling with his necklaces. "Yeah, so at that point 'us' was Ray, who introduced me to Tom and Joe, although it turned out I'd already met Joe because he served me these orgasmic fries in New Hampshire over the summer. They both moved schools from Vermont so they were the fresh meat for the new year, but it wasn't until Joey joined our clan that Bebe finally took interest in me, because apparently waiting by her locker every morning before class wasn't enough."

"And stalking her," Leah added thoughtfully, tipping her head.

"She intrigued me!" Steven justified, sitting up. "I was desperate to get to know her!"

Teasing aside, she was appreciative he was opening up to her. Maybe it was the way he told stories, but imagining a teen Steven in love was something worth a smile.

"Sure, whatever you say."

"Anyway," he grumbled, smoothing his hand over her knee. "The fuckhead jocks in the football team usually had their way with stragglers or loners, and they tripped up a young Joey Kramer not too far from my perch on top of one of the benches. I had Joe lounging on my left, Ray on my right, and Tom rocking my shoulders behind me- we all saw it happen- and I decided to intervene before there was a crowd. I stormed right over, told the fuckers where to poke it, and what to suck, and after helping Joey up, I turned around for one last bite but ended up getting punched in the face."

"Joey told me about that," Leah said quickly, getting a sentence in before he rattled off into the past. Just hearing the story again reminded her of what she knew. "He said that was the day his life changed, when he met you guys."

"He did?"

"Yeah," she confirmed. "And even though you were all in slightly different years, you met up after school, during breaks, and crashed the music room pretty much daily."

Steven had the cutest smile teasing the corner of his mouth. He was fiddling with his necklaces again too.

"So did he tell you it was him who named the original Aerosmith- him, me, Joe, Ray, and Tom?"

"No? Joey came up with the name?"

"Yeah," Steven said. "When I helped pick up his books- the others had come over by this point- they had Aerosmith written all over them and when I asked what it meant, Joey said that's the name of the band he wanted to be in, and I think you can figure out what happened next..."

But Leah was looking away to the empty side of her bed before Steven had finished. She was reminded of the kindness of Joey's heart to get to know her, and to let her ask about him, whilst the man currently sat opposite her was dealing with his long list of grief.

"He...didn't say that."

"That doesn't surprise me. Joey should take the credit more often. He's the heartbeat of the band, and I fuckin' love him, even if it doesn't always seem that way."

Leah saw the unresolved tension flash in Steven's eyes, that same tension she was caught in the middle of.

"Where was I?" Steven muttered to himself, making a repetitive clicking noise with his tongue. "Right, yeah, so, Bebe and I started dating by the end of the year; we were both seventeen by then, and I don't think the band liked that I had a girlfriend. We sorta broke up for a bit, arguing about...girls, but we had become the school's band, so we had to perform at graduation and events.

"Fast forward a few more years of disagreements and failings out, Ray decided pursuing a music career in a band wasn't for him, but there were no hard feelings when he quit because we had all left school broke and with a dream of being famous. We were in need of a second guitarist, because Aerosmith needs two guitarists, and eventually, we recruited Mr Whitford not long after I turned twenty three.

"Brad was great from the start, understood the style and enhanced Joe's playing, and after a few rehearsals to break the ice, we started to sound really good, except no one would bat an eye at us. We had no money and had to get other jobs, but for me it was never so bad because I had Bebe to mess around with, even if we both constantly cheated on each other.

"I guess everything changed a few days before Christmas three years ago at our apartment on Commonwealth Avenue, which we were about to get kicked out of 'cos we were two months behind on rent, when she told me she was pregnant and the baby was mine.

"I don't think I said anything straight away- I was tripping hard- but she gave me the option to start a relationship as long as I got clean, or she'd move away with the baby and raise them without me.

"We didn't argue, because after I had invited her in and taken her to my room with the intention to say some bullshit about getting clean when she wasn't a saint herself, I just lay down on my bed with her and didn't allow her to move.

"She told me later on I kept muttering I loved her, asked if the baby was definitely mine, and apparently that's what made her stay with me. Smacked out of my mind, falling asleep with doubts that I was really the father, and yet she...trusted me to raise a child with her.

"July first, about seven months later, our daughter was born. Bebe wanted to name her Liv, and when I held her for the first time, that was the moment I promised to kick my habits to the ground.

"We had our love child for six months and unsurprisingly a crying baby and withdrawal symptoms do not compliment each other, but I was good at hiding it, and I didn't relapse once. I stopped drinking too- we both did- and we became an unlikely little family that not one person, except maybe my mother, saw coming.

"Everything was near enough perfect in my personal life by that Christmas. The band was starting to go somewhere and early January was giving us a last minute gig at Nipmuc High School, but it turned out to be the last performance we did. And the thing is, I know I shouldn't have gone. I felt something was off the moment I left the apartment and kissed Bebe and Liv goodbye..."

Steven went quiet, gritting the words through his teeth. Agitated, he dragged his knees up to hug, and the blame was taking over his composure.

"How did you...find out?" Leah asked, cautiously choosing her words.

He fought a nasty silence, and his eyes were tearing up when they lifted.

"Cops came in half way through, which I assumed was a drug bust even though I was sober, but they...they o-only asked for me." He jammed his thumb between his teeth, clamping down hard, but it didn't stop the tear roll down his cheek. "And then they...and then they told me t-to step outssside-"

"Oh Steven." Leah felt her heart drop to her stomach making him cry. She moved next to him, slinging an arm over his shoulders, and touched the side of his damp face to guide into her clavicle. "I'm so, so sorry."

Steven didn't need convincing to reciprocate a desperate hug.

"I'm sorry. I...I didn't- I shouldn't have asked you about it."

"No," he croaked in protest, wiping his face with his wrist. "No, I-I would've told you at some point. You deserve to know."

Leah was responsible for making him dig up buried memories and crying as a result, but it was exactly where her doubt resided; if love could truly be found with such broken pasts.

"Then you need to know I can't replace her," she expressed solemnly. "Because what you had-"

"I know," Steven interrupted, pressing his eyes closed. He was sat up, but remained hunched. "I know, but you- you kept my heart beating when I was completely lost."

"But Steven-"

"No." It was firm, his face didn't quiver with tears, and the bloodshot eyes spoke words to her. "Leah, you make me feel like I'm me again, maybe the best version I've ever been of myself, and I don't want to let that go. I won't. Not again."

She didn't reply, because she was so speechless to hear her words from Sunapee thrown back at her in one way, shape or form, and even though her mind had been transported to the piercing shards of their breakup, the present soon registered the hands that delicately cupped her face.

"I didn't think I could ever feel like I had a real purpose in this world again," Steven said, thumbs brushing on her cheeks. "But you proved me wrong."

With a desperate lunge, Leah kissed him. She was pulled into his lap, Steven mapping out her body with his hands, and when there was only underwear to separate bare contact, every grind and shift was dangerously close to initiating the desire for sex.

So Leah pulled back before the lump she felt growing hard beneath her was too much to ignore, and dragged her fingertips from his cheekbone down to the fascinating plush corners of his mouth, marvelling at his bone structure.

"Come back to Boston with me," Steven said, once more echoing a statement, but this time from the very first time they had sex. "You can work like normal, and we could have a place over here to stay at any point you want, but all I know is that I want you in my life, all the time, and I'll do anything to make that happen."

It was like her dreams were coming true. Wondering what it would be like to live with him permanently, and here it was, an offer, deadly serious, perfect in its theory, but the logistics of her dropping everything and moving away from her home, her friends and family, were always the sentimental counter argument.

Even if they somehow negotiated a plan, it would always end up with her spending more time in America and Leah knew that. She had thought about it profusely in the last month, and deep down a permanent move was something she was willing to do, because she loved him.

It was as simple as that.

And if, either on a European tour, for a holiday, or just for a random week or two during the year, Steven was willing to come back to England for her, because he understood it was her home, then that was more than enough to convince her.

She was just scared of the huge life decision.

"Steven, I-I." Leah caught her breath, shaky with a smile of disbelief. "I can't just leave."

But Steven was peering over her shoulder, lifting up a hand up to gesture something universally known by the motion towards himself, and Leah had no option but to follow the direction of his eyes.

Ordinarily, she might have been embarrassed to be sitting on a guy's lap, but the only thing that she could think about was how Tina was standing in her bedroom with a bag in one hand, paperclipped pieces of paper in the other, and looking like she was about to burst with excitement.

Leah didn't dare glance back at Steven whose hands had returned to her waist, and not even the kiss to her collarbone could interrupt her blinks of shock that were the consequence of not hearing this sneaky woman's arrival.

"What the hell have you done?" Leah demanded, trying to glare, but really just having her suspicions confirmed about the secret communication that had gone on behind her back.

"Hello Devvy," Tina said, perching herself on the end of the bed. She placed her hand on top of the papers, giving it a floaty little pat. "You now have a work visa, and you're going to live with the man of your dreams."

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