V

   

Aya wiped her tears with the back of her hands and quickly turned away from the door. She hurriedly marched back towards the car.

Lou was waiting outside his car, leaning against the driver's side door when he heard Aya's footsteps.

She hurriedly got in the front passenger seat and shut the car door.

Lou followed her inside and got to his seat. He can tell that whatever happened there wasn't what she expected.

"Get me out of here, please," Aya said, choking up tearless half sobs. She was staring blankly out the car window. 

Lou started driving. He decided that it was not a good time to ask Aya what happened. He wanted to give her time and mental space to think. She at least deserved it.

Aya felt stupid. She felt so fucking stupid. She wanted to cry, to scream. She wanted to feel angry. She wanted to feel hurt. She wanted to feel. But she couldn't. She just felt numb.

---

"It was him," Aya finally murmured against the car window.

Neither of them spoke for an hour.

Lou didn't know what to say. He of course, from Psychology stand-point, knew what he was supposed to say. But he chose not to. He felt Aya was hurting too much. It made him feel sorry for her. He wanted to take her in his arms, comfort her. But he wasn't sure it was the right thing to do at the moment. He wasn't sure she would want him to.

It was as if she built a wall between them. For herself, for protection.

"I know it's him," she whispered.

Rain started pouring outside. Just this morning, the sky was so blue and clear. As if no rain would ever touch the ground in years, like an eternal spring. 

Lou pulled the car over by the side of the road where there was a forest of barren trees. He couldn't see a thing on the road anymore because of the heavy rainfall, and the wipers did no help with the windshield. It was already four in the afternoon and the sky looked bleak. The rain was pouring so hard it felt like hailstones were hitting the car roof. 

Aya broke down in tears, then into full blown sobs. She buried her head in her hands.

"Hey," Lou gently pulled her to him, his hand caressing her back and the other holding her head.

"I'm so fucking stupid, Lou!" she almost screamed at the top of her lungs, her face was in his chest. But even she couldn't hear herself. The rain was pattering so hard. She couldn't even hear her own crying.

"I'm here," he softly said against her ear, wanting to make sure she hears it.

Aya was grateful for Lou's arms. If he wasn't there, she might've already fallen helplessly to the ground. She pulled away from his arms and rested her forehead on Lou's chin, trying to steady her breathing.

Lou kissed her forehead. 

And there it was again. The charge in the air changed. Both of them felt it.

Aya lifted her head and pulled Lou to her lips kiss him, slowly, eagerly. 

Lou kissed her back. Her lips felt so soft from crying.

Aya started peeling off her jacket, then climbed on top of Lou to the driver's seat. Their kiss was fervent, their breathing erratic. The glasses of the car windows started to fog up. Her hands made their way to unzip Lou's pants. 

He pulled away for a second and looked up at her, her eyes burning. "Aya, you're just upset."

She paused, her nose against his, her eyes still closed. "I think I'm in love with you, Lou", she breathed against his lips. She didn't want to see how he would react. She won't be able to take another rejection.

"I..." he trailed off and thought for a second. "I think I'm in love with you too."

Their lips met again, and Lou's fingers fumbled to unbutton Aya's dress all the way down to her waist.

She unhooked her front-closure bra, exposing her chest.

Lou unzipped and yanked down his jeans and boxers, then slowly skimmed his hands through Aya's bare thigh under her dress, as if he was asking for her permission. She obliged and levered herself up with her knees. He traced his fingers to her inner thigh, and cast her panties to the side with his thumb.

Aya slowly sank herself into him. She gasped at how full it felt. He felt so good, it was heady. She moaned against his ear.

Lou tugged the sleeves of her dress and bra off of her arms, the fabric falling on her waist - like Venus de Milo. He looked up at her closed eyes as she thrusted in and out of him, slowly. His hands were firm on her bare back, meeting her with every thrust. 

It felt different this way for both of them. Different from last night. With the confined space of his car, they moved differently. It felt more real and raw. He can feel her more, every inch of her. And in his mind, he knew he can never ever get enough of her. He wanted to consume her. All of her.

"You're so beautiful," he breathed against Aya's lips.

The rain was still loud, but all she could hear was him, and all he could hear was her.

---

   

It was already dark when they got back to Lou's apartment. The rain had stopped before they reached the city.

Lou can tell Aya was still upset. She went to the balcony and stared blankly at the horizon. He left her alone for a moment, while he prepared dinner. 

It was just the two of them again. 

Bartosz left him a message saying he'll be staying the night at Marta's, and noted on the P.S. for them to enjoy the apartment to themselves. Aya saw the note as well, and it made her light up for a second.

They were watching a German TV show about time travel on Netflix. Both of them didn't have much appetite for dinner so they decided to cozy up in the couch instead.

Aya was just staring at the TV mindlessly for more than an hour. Her mind was so pre-occupied at the time to be reading subtitles.

Lou noticed. He started running his fingers through Aya's hair.

She looked up at him and gave him half a smile. They were both lying down on the couch, her head on his chest. Aya loved the scent of his shirts so bad, she was actually wearing one of his white Hanes crewneck undershirts. They smelled like fresh linen sheets. They smelled like him.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Lou asked, curious.

"Are you talking about the cause or the effect?" Aya replied nonchalantly, her gaze still fixed at the TV. The cause being her meeting with her dad while the effect was them having sex in his car and confessing what they thought they felt toward each other.

Lou shrugged, leaving her to answer her question.

She sighed, pensive. "Maybe it's better not to talk about it."

"That's okay, I understand," he smiled at her reassuringly. "I want to take you out tomorrow, though. If you're down with it."

"Sure," she replied, feeling spent. She's never felt so tired - physically and emotionally.

Both of them were. They drifted into sleep while the TV still flickered in the living room. They slept on the couch with their arms wrapped around each other.

---

   

Aya woke up feeling super warm. Lou was still beside her on the couch, his limbs entwined to hers, the tip of her nose on his chin. 

Her eyes fluttered as rays of sunshine peeking through the glass balcony doors hit her eyelids. She looked up at Lou. He was still asleep. She stirred and leveled with his face. She started tracing his jaw with her index finger. His wavy locks fell on his forehead, covering the beauty mark beside his left eyebrow. 

Lou twitched, feeling Aya's fingers caressing the stubble on his jawline. He slightly opened his eyes and met hers. Her hazel eyes were wide, they looked more amber in color as the sunlight hit her pupils. His hand reached for the back of her waist and pulled her to his hips.

Aya felt his stiffening groin. Lou was already leaning down to kiss her. She closed her eyes, surrendering to his kiss. 

Lou rolled on top of her, effectively pinning Aya down on the couch. His hand traced her waist then the curve of her hips, and clutched the back of her knee to anchor him to her. 

"I love waking up next to you," he smiled against her lips, already yanking down Aya's black lace panties.