23 | temptation got the best of me

Tony

"Am I dreaming or did you just admit that you lack something?"

I have been looking forward to training with her since the moment I laid on my bed and fell asleep. I like spending my morning training with her. It's like our shared bond. We connect more when we're training. Therefore, ever since I realized that I'm developing feelings for Andrea, I began to look forward to everything we would do together.

God, I sound like a lovestruck high school idiot.

"It's either I admit that now or we find out later when I'm six feet under." I said. Don't get me wrong, I've already become even better at fighting. But compared to the gigantic men I saw back at Triad, I don't think I'd be the last man standing.

"Fair enough." she said after shrugging her shoulders. "But let's not use fighting sticks today."

I could not help but look at her with pure confusion on my face as I halted playing with the fighting sticks. But I was nailing this one!

"Why not?" I whined.

"Well, you're gonna need to learn how to fight without those. Hand-to-hand combat." She explained.

"But I'm really good at this." I pouted while holding up the two fighting sticks in my hands.

Fuck, I'm pouting now? What has this girl done to me?

"That's why we're moving on, because you're already good at that." She said.

Hold up. Let's rewind that. Let's just...Did she just compliment me? Like, for real? She straight up praised me. Oh boy, my heart needs to calm down.

"My ego thanks you, Spunky." More like my heart.

I'm squealing because of how cringy I am becoming.

"Mine despises you, Snarky." Andrea retorted.

Snarky...That nickname is starting to grow on me.

I threw the sticks out of the way and stretched my limbs, cracked my knuckles as I neared the center of the porch, meeting her halfway.

"No Dracula tricks yet, okay? Oh, and nothing on the face. Ladies dig the face. You like the face, right?" I said.

"I hate the face."

"You like the face."

"No, I don't."

"It's irresistible."

"It's...very not."

"It is."

"Tony, training." She pointed out.

But I like joking around with you.

Fuck! Pull yourself together, Tony! Since when have you become this much of a simp? I'm a man who doesn't simp. I don't do simping. People do that because of me.

"Right." I said after nodding once.

She then began to pull her hair up in a ponytail.

Stop doing that. I'm trying not to simp here, for the love of God.

"I just wanna know—"

"Do you want me to break the face?"

"Don't like it, got it."

Andrea and I began to take our positions and prepared ourselves for training. But if I were to be honest, I'm not at all ready. I'm still stunned because of the scene with her tying her hair. It's surprisingly attractive. How can tying her hair be that hot?

"Ready?" She asked me.

I craned my head from side to side to stretch my neck before shaking my hands and balling them into fists.

Yeah...no, that's not working.

"Actually, no—" I was not able to finish my sentence when she suddenly swung at me with her right fist, coming straight at my face when I specifically told her not to go for the face!

If I didn't move away in time, I would've gotten a broken nose.

"I said nothing on the face!" I exclaimed.

"Temptation got the best of me." She responded with a mere shrug of her shoulders.

So, we're talking about temptation right now? She said that word, in front of someone who has been tempted to admit his feelings for days now. I see...

"Well, then, if we're talking about temptation..."

My heart was racing. Everything went by so fast, I hardly ever noticed anything that happened until the part where I already have her pinned on the ground, my hands placing hers above her head while I hover above her.

Wow, I actually won a fight against her.

But I don't think I should be focusing on that.

We were so close together, I could feel her breathing against my face. It sent shivers down my spine, but in a good way. I was staring right into those blue eyes of hers that I've always admired ever since I bumped into her

Or rather...ever since I bumped into her with my car.

But that wasn't my fault!

Anyway, as I gazed into her eyes, I made the mistake of looking down at her lips Because when I did that, everything was starting to pull me towards it. The urge to feel her soft lips against mine was so strong, I was already giving in. The fantasy of tasting her lips was so close. It was an inch away.

But that was all it was, a fantasy.

The next thing I knew I was fucking flying in the air before landing very, very horribly on the sandy ground which I assure you, feels harder than it looks.

I groaned in pain as I laid on the ground, trying hard not to move so much as the pain began to spread throughout my entire body.

"Don't like it, got it." I grunted.

Then I heard Andrea's voice.

"Are you okay?" She asked.

Woman, do I look okay?

"Physically, yeah, kinda. My pride? Not so much." I just answered.

"Do you want me to—"

"Nope. I got it. I'll just...I'll—uhm..." I tried to stand up. But that idea seems to be too far to reach at the moment so I let myself just lay there again with no intention of moving in the next half an hour. "Lay here for a couple of minutes."

Well, that's one way to say she doesn't like me. Not only does my heart hurt, but my entire body seems to feel worse.

—

I'm once again in my bedroom, tending to myself, treating the wounds and the bruises I got because of the fact that Andrea sent me flying 15 feet away from her. I have no idea if she did that on purpose or if it's just an accident like the last time.

Liking a tribrid is really complicated.

I was going to the basement right after I've gotten a little bit better from the incident earlier, but the basement also has another room which is the gym. When I heard some pretty loud punches from the inside, I already knew Andrea was in there.

Opening the door, I leaned on the door frame and saw Andrea just attacking the punching bag like there's no tomorrow. I'm pretty sure that she's about to send this one flying too.

I have been standing here for a few seconds, but she has not said a word to me. I know she knows that I'm here. She can literally sense my arrival even if I was still making my way down the stairs. Is she ignoring me?

"What did the punching bag ever do to you?" I asked, finally checking if she's ignoring me or hse just doesn't know how to start a conversation after what just happened.

"Nothing." She just answered. I can tell she's being as dismissive as possible. Oof. Is she mad at me?

"Okay, what did I do to you?" I asked as I took a few steps towards her.

Unlike earlier, it took her a bit longer to respond. As if she was actually thinking about it. But when she finally answered, the same thing came out of her mouth.

"Nothing." She repeated.

She said that, but seeing her punches become stronger and faster as seconds pass by, I beg to differ.

"Are you sure it's nothing?" I asked. I'm afraid that she'll have another episode if she doesn't open up. I can't help her if she's keeping things from me. That's the last thing I want.

"Easy there, Snarky, I might actually think you care about me." She joked, a small smile briefly tugging on her lips.

"So what if I do?" I shrugged.

Because I do. I really do care about you.

With that said, she stopped her punches mid-air and looked over to me. I didn't smile or smirk or anything. I simply stared at her as she stared right back. If she could see the sincerity in my face, maybe she'll finally say something.

But I was wrong. For some reason, I think that made her close up even more.

"I'm fine, Tony." She said, going back to punching the hell out the punching bag.

"You don't look that way to me." I argued. No one would ever believe a word she's saying for a second. She's clearly not okay. And if she keeps going at this pace, I'm afraid we'll have part two of what happened in the venue but in my house. I have a lot of valuable things in my house.

"Goddammit, Tony, I said I'm fine!" She snapped.

And when I said snapped, I mean, she really snapped at me. Because for the second time today, I was sent flying in the air only to hit the wall with my back. Not even a second later, I collapsed to the ground with a groan and another wave of pain surging through my entire body.

"Yeah...I can feel that." I groaned, not bothering to face her as I laid face down on the floor because clearly, I'm having a hard time moving again.

That's the third time. I'm like her personal piñata.

After a few minutes of rest, I finally regained the strength to stand back up, and when I did, I saw Andrea with her hands tangled in her hair, clutching her head. Her eyes were closed and her breathing was shallow, as if she was having a hard time controlling whatever it is inside her.

With caution, I approached her, my hands up in front before slowly placing them on each of her arms.

"Andrea." I called.

"No, stay away from me, I might hurt you again." She said, trying to push me away but I remained adamant. How can I ever stay away from you?

"Just trust me. Come on." I said.

She looked at me with her troubled and scared blue eyes and tried to reassure her with my brown ones. I then led her towards the beach, which was not an easy task because my whole body was still aching from this morning and what happened just now.

"I have an idea." I looked at her and witnessed the oblivious look on her face.

"As much as I enjoy being your human punching bag, I have a feeling that fourth time's a charm. One more and I'm officially done for." I'm not kidding. I really feel like the next time that happens, she's really going to end up killing me. "So, let it out while I'm still out of the way."

She pushed her eyebrows together. "What do you mean?"

"Let it out. Scream. Punch the air. Abracadabra some shit. Just let it all out." I suggested.

I thought she was going to laugh at my face or just straight up refuse to do my suggestion. But instead, she stood there staring at me, like she was actually considering it.

And she did.

She stared at the view ahead, the sun setting, the waves splashing, the birds flocking. She stared a tit and clenched her fist, her chest rising and falling at a rather uneven pace.

The next time she opened her mouth, I thought I lost my hearing.

She was like a banshee weeping, that's how she sounded and to be honest, I'd say that's a pretty accurate description because her scream is the embodiment of her pain and suffering the last couple of days, if not, the last couple of years.

When I became brave enough to open my eyes, I glanced at Andrea with still my hands clamped over my ears. For the second time, I didn't feel like I recognized the place. Like what she had done to her room when she had a nightmare. This time, it was much different.

Her scream somehow made some sort of sonic blast that it cut through the ocean, dividing it in half. Bits of sand were floating around us, suspended in mid-air and in slow motion. And the flock of birds, well, they've gone crazy.

When she stopped screaming, the world suddenly felt like it was too quiet. I stood there, stunned about everything that I just witnessed, stunned about realizing how powerful she actually is and I have a feeling that that's only a part of what she can do.

The next thing I knew, Andrea collapsed on her knees as sobs erupted from her throat.

I immediately moved from my position and kneeled in front of her. The sight of her shattered expression broke something inside me and the need to make her feel better was stronger than ever.

"Andrea, hey, shh." I didn't know what else to do, so I embraced her, took her in my arms and let her fall apart and cry on my shoulder. "I'm here." I told her.

Whatever happens, I'm here.

When we pulled away from each other, my heart lightly raced finding our faces once again inches apart. I placed my hands on her face, lifting it up to meet my gaze. Her face was damp with tears. I could still see the trails her tears had made.

I wiped her cheeks with my thumbs before my eyes once again looked down on her lips. She was right there. Within reach. But that doesn't mean I should do it.

She was so close that I started to get drunk on her coconut-scented hair. She's so perfectly imperfect, I feel like a nobody next to her.

I was waiting for her to push me away or to send me flying again. But when that didn't happen, there was no obstacle left to overcome other than lean in.

And I kissed her.

Her lips brushed against mine and it felt like my entire being just ignited, as if I haven't been entirely alive until this very moment. It's like all the walls I've built around me came crashing down. And for just one kiss.

I was going to say 'one perfect kiss'. But it wasn't. Because it was missing something; the part where she actually kisses me back.

When I pulled away, I saw her just sitting there, stunned, unable to know what to do next because I just basically revealed what I feel about her. And I don't think she agrees to it.

"I-I'm sorry." I muttered before I got my strength back and walked away.

I'm so stupid. I'm so fucking stupid! Why did I do that? She won't talk to me again. She'll think I'm crazy. She'll ditch me again. You just can't control yourself, can you, Tony? Everything will go downhill from this moment on. Remember that. It's your fault.

"Fuck!" My shout was muffled when I buried my face onto my throw pillow as I locked myself in my bedroom.

"I caught that on video." J.A.R.V.I.S.'s voice came from the speakers of my bedroom and I immediately shot up from my bed with a petrified look plastered across my face.

"You what?" I asked.

"Surveillance Camera no. 7 got a perfect view of you and Ms. Andrea on the beach, it's now saved in the Spunky folder...if you want to reminisce about this embarrassment."

"Since when did you become disrespectful? Is that how I raised you?" I said, standing up from my bed and pointing at nowhere.

"I simply evolved from the programming you created, Mr. Stark." He answered.

"And you evolved into...what, recording sex tapes?"

"With all due respect, sir, but...you can only wish it was a sex tape."

Should I plug-in F.R.I.D.A.Y. instead?

—

Less than 4 hours until 2022. Happy New Year in advance, everyone! I love you all 3000 <3