NEW COVER.

The XX's new album is just... I can't even... Apart from that I hope everyone enjoys this as much as iiii did ;)

_______________________________________________________

She hadn't told Harriet. She hadn't even told Evie. All she wanted to do was keep Monday a secret. And she had. It's been two and a half weeks since she'd last seen John.

And her glasses.

Well, she'd caught a glimpse of him from afar on her breaks and he'd simply look at her as if she weren't even there. And lucky for her she always had a spare but they were her old prescription and they didn't really help her in class. So she didn't have a choice now. She braved the rest of that week and another, and half of another just in case she'd get used to them but she realised she couldn't handle it anymore. Okay, she could have asked Evie to get them for her but that would have opened a line of questioning surprisingly enough.

It was Saturday, her day off and apparently everyone else's too. Evie called her earlier that morning asking for her to join her and Michael at some market that came around every few Saturdays. 

So here she was, standing in front of John Harris's huge house in the middle of nowhere half an hour before she was due to meet them. The cab she'd called seemed pretty reluctant to drive down some long road outside of Burnaby but he didn't exactly say no. John didn't know she was coming... But she assumed he did now; how else could she get his street name without asking Michael? 

"Okay, thanks."

"Do I need to know why you're going?" Michael had asked obviously amused.

"It's a long story but dear God don't tell Evie. Thanks again." And then she hung up.

Amy swallowed before walking up the steps to his front door. Didn't he understand privacy? The whole bottom half of his house was windows, but some were curtained. Then again she sort of did just contradict herself because his house was located at 001 Nowhere Lane. Still...

Just as her finger hovered over the doorbell his words plagued her thoughts; they have been for eighteen days. Eighteen long sleepless days. 

'For me these next few months are an opportunity...' 

She blew out a breath and pressed the bell.

'...My proposition still stands but if I find that opportunity I will take it.'

Why was she here? She should have just asked Michael plus she didn't leave John on the best of terms. He looked like she'd just slapped him in the face and later on that night she'd felt the tiniest bit guilty. Only a tiny bit. So maybe she could apologise... But what for?! He propositioned her--

The door opened, bringing her back to reality. He looked so dishevelled and oddly tired. He was dressed in a baggy, creased green t-shirt and a pair of running shorts. It looked like he'd just rolled out of bed. And judging from his hair and the way he squinted from the sun, he probably just did. It was almost two though.

After a yawn his tired hazel eyes focused on her and immediately hardened. Oh, great. His jaw clenched before he opened the door wider and gestured her in. She hesitated at first but she needed those damn glasses.

John shut the door and ran a hand through his hair. "It took you two and a half weeks." His voice was croaky, deep and husky.

"I've been preoccupied." She mumbled.

"Mhm. Follow me upstairs, I put them in my study."

Study? How big was this place?

Three floors it seemed. The bottom floor which was the one she entered from, the middle floor which was the living room, kitchen and exit to the backdoor and upstairs which was apparently a study, bathroom and bedroom. And also home to a massive grand piano. 

"I think they're in here," He mumbled more to himself. "You can sit."

She glanced at the piano and the book cases before sitting on a comfy couch. "You have a lot of books."

"I read in my spare time."

He reads? I wonder what he reads... "And you play?"

There was no answer; just a few mumblings to himself and then he left the room. He was gone for quite a while. But she hardly noticed because she couldn't take her eyes off the beautiful piano placed in front of the window. She stood and walked toward it, her gaze glancing at the door he'd entered through before standing in front of it. If she sat down, she'd be gazing right out of the window at the moving trees, the bright blue skies and the ground below. 

Her fingers grazed over the smooth varnished wood. 

"What are you doing?"

She spun to where he was standing, his now combed short hair flat draping over his forehead. He was in a pair of tight fitting dark blue jeans, a dark blue t-shirt with dark red Aztec patterns and a burgundy cardigan. He didn't seem too upset to find her next to his piano but his eyes were still hard, almost guarded.

"Just-"

"Touching something you shouldn't." He interrupted strolling toward her. 

"It's a lovely piano." 

He stopped in front of her. "Yes, it is."

"When do you play?"

For some reason he looked surprised by her question. It wasn't as if she asked him if he'd ever slaughtered a cow or something. 

"You know what I mean. When do you play? I once read somewhere that the most aggrieved players only ever touch the keys of a piano when they're at their most pained. And vice versa for when they're happy."

At first he just watched her as if she were the hardest puzzle he'd ever come across. But then he shook his head and held his hand out to her, the one containing her glasses. He didn't answer her questions so she assumed he wouldn't.

She lifted her hand to take it but he moved it from her grasp still glaring at her.

Well, it turned out she did need to apologise. But what for? Telling the truth? 

"What do you want me to say? Sorry?"

"No."

"Then what? I haven't done anything wrong."

His eyes suddenly softened and he sighed. "I suppose you haven't."

"Right. Now give me my glasses." 

Finally, that mischievous smile of his lit his face. Although it was one of those smiles that grated her nerves she had to admit she missed it. John held his palm out to her. Watching him, she slowly picked her glasses from his hand however she wished she'd gone faster.

He curled his hand around hers and stepped forward. "You know how easy it would be for me?"

"I'm sure it wouldn't be that hard," She tugged on her hand but he didn't let go. "But unfortunately, I'm short on time. I'll have to leave in five."

His smile broadened. "I'm not stupid. I know you left half an hour to get your glasses before you had to meet Evie and Michael at the market. And before you ask how I knew, it's because I am joining you. No, I didn't know you were going until Michael told me no more than ten minutes before you got here."

She swallowed.

"Ah, have I outsmarted the genius?"

"No," He chuckled at her quick answer. "And I'm not a genius."

"Hmm..." Another step and now his other hand was playing with her hair. 

A small shudder started from her stomach and vibrated upwards... Vibrated... Wait... "John you're vibrating."

He let it vibrate for another ten seconds as he watched her before it stopped. "I didn't notice." 

Now, that made her snort.

"You know," He let go of her hand and she gripped onto her glasses.  "This is one of the things I was talking about: an opportunity. Think about it this way, Amy." Her breath hitched when his hand rested on her waist and pulled her body flush against his. "You're in my house. We're alone. No one can walk in. No one will disturb us. All that is stopping me is you."

The way he was positioned was perfect for him to land a swift or even a long passionate kiss to her lips. She could feel his quiet heart beating against her chest, fast but oddly quiet. And his breathing, almost erratic. What was hers like? She felt like she was having a heart seizure. This had gone so wrong. Half an hour seemed long enough for absolutely nothing to happen. 

Boy had she been wrong.

Her hands pressed to his biceps as she tried to push her torso away from his. Her hair slipped through his fingers as she did so. "My God, Jonathan you're so... Forward."

"You're repeating yourself now." 

"Well, how else do I describe you?"

She jumped a little when the vibrations began again. But this time it was her phone. His hazel eyes darkened and his lids lowered. "Oh look. You're vibrating, Amy."

She inhaled and blushed when a very prominent part of his anatomy angled against her. Oh, my.

"Something wrong?"

She couldn't blame the vibrations anymore; she was actually shaking with desire. "Yes." Her answer came out breathless. "You." Once again someone's phone vibrated and once again it was hers. "Let me answer it... Please."

"Are you sure?"

Amy hesitated.

"That's enough of an answer for me." And yet he stepped away from her with a satisfied smile and walked downstairs. She stood there surprised and only a little bit disappointed in herself. She'd hesitated. He'd seen it and he got the answer he wanted: her almost submission. This was all one big game to him wasn't it? Well, he needed a new tactic because this cocky asshole one wasn't working for him.

"Hello?" Her voice came out shaky as she spoke down the phone.

"Hey, are you on your way?" 

"Yeah, I'll be there in half hour I'm running a bit late."

"Alright. Listen, I may have forgotten to mention that John's coming."

"Oh, really?" Too sarcastic, she thought. "Okay fine. See you in a bit, Evie."

"Come on Amy we don't want to be late!" John's voice sung from downstairs. 

***

She exited John's car, rubbing her forehead as she did so. A headache. That was what she was developing. Too much excitement and anger all within an hour. 

Evie watched from the other side of the lot with open fascination. Without so much as a glance toward John, she walked over to her.

"Thanks for telling me he was coming by the way." 

"I didn't want to." She winked after patting Michael's arm to go ahead. He smiled at Amy before strolling over to his friend. "It's interesting to watch you two, Amy. And why did you get a ride with him if you didn't even know he was coming?"

"So did you invite him and because he, um, turned up at my house."

"No, I didn't invite him," She answered, outraged. Then she added, "I invited you. And I don't believe that for a second but I won't quiz you on that now."

"Oh. Excellent." 

"Come on Ames, you can't say John isn't beautiful."

"Of course he's beautiful." She admitted easily. "I mean seriously look at him, if any woman  can say he's ugly then they're obviously half blind."

As if he'd heard her, he turned his head and smiled in their direction. She scowled back.

Evie laughed and Amy's smile was forced as they met the men halfway. John's eyes were now shaded by a pair of sunglasses she didn't remember him picking up before they left.

Before she could even begin to protest, Michael was pulling Evie further into the market leaving her standing opposite John. Curse her best friend and her boyfriend.

"It's us for the day, it seems." He said as he smiled. 

"I'd rather be thrown in a pit with snakes." She voiced, turning to enter the market. 

"That would hurt a lot."

"I'm sure I could handle it." 

"High pain threshold?"

Despite her best abilities, her lips curled into a smirk. "Definitely."

"That's convenient." 

"Sure is," 

They walked side by side through the market in silence. Amy stopped at a few stalls smiling at the salesperson. Every so often she'd pick something up like a small useless trinket or an old book and John would watch her. It was very unnerving but she tried her best to ignore it. After half an hour of surprisingly comfortable silence between them, she'd bought an old copy of The Great Gatsby, a few new books she hadn't heard of and a little bracelet.

"Aren't you buying anything?" Amy asked as they moved through the baked goods and back to the main market.

"There's nothing I need."

"Never mind that fact, but what about things you want?" 

He shook his head. "I've been coming to these things for years. There isn't anything I want."

"Really? Nothing at all?"

"Nope. Not on these stalls anyway." He smirked at her and pulled his sunglasses off to tuck into his t-shirt stepping forward in the process.

Her hand flew out to the table behind her as she turned around when something sharp sliced her thumb. 

"Ow."

"What? Did you cut yourself?"

She looked at her thumb and frowned. "I'm fine," Just as she was about to put her hand behind her back he grabbed her wrist and brought it up to his face. 

"Just a scratch." He smiled at her. "Come here,"

She didn't have time to respond because he was already pulling her over to a nearby bench. He sat her down and started walking from stall to stall obviously asking something because most shook their heads with a no.

The side of her thumb was only bleeding a little bit but it was stinging. What did she slice it on anyway?

John was still walking from stall to stall but finally an older woman glanced at her, winked and went into her bag to pull something out. He thanked the woman before walking back and planting himself next to her. 

"Give me your hand."

"Why?"

"Stop being a baby," His hand gently cupped hers as he turned to face her. "I've got some wipes and a Band-Aid."

She was shocked to say the least. She was even more shocked however when he took the most care into wiping her wound and dressing it. She watched his face as he did so. The concentration was astounding. His eyes narrowed and widened as he finished wiping it. The way his thumb brushed back and forth against her knuckles as if this were hurting her and he was soothing her; It was stinging but it wasn't unbearable. And when he finally put the Band-Aid on he smiled triumphantly and lifted her hand to his lips. 

He pressed a warm kiss to her knuckles and muttered, "Good as new."

To say this side of John wasn't a sight to see would be an understatement. Because as he smiled so carelessly at her and he held her scratched hand, she sent him her first real smile. This morning at his house seemed lost to her; he'd been pushy and cocky. But right now he was being sweet. Had he taken her silent advice and gotten a new tactic? Or was this the real John Harris?

"I thought you said you had a high pain threshold?" A grin broke out onto his face as he stood.

A small laugh passed through her lips. "I guess I was wrong."

"You guess? I was afraid you were going to cry." 

"No teasing, I'm not that much of a wimp." She joined him.

His fingers skimmed across her cheek before he stepped back and gestured for her to follow. She inhaled deeply; his touch did odd things to her... And she was starting to like it.

As they walked they settled on idle conversation. Nothing too drastic, mainly about her. Still, she didn't know a lot about him other than the simple facts she'd seen like he played the piano.

"How long have you been playing?"

"Playing...?"

"Piano."

Silence. No answer. She looked up into his face and watched as his mouth curl in discomfort. But he finally replied, "I started at ten." She waited for more and he glanced at her and sighed. "My father taught me."

"Oh, was it your choice?"

"Not really. Everyone in my family was taught an instrument."

"Do you have many siblings?"

Yet another pause but this one was a lot longer. "Five sisters."

"Must have been a handful." 

"Yeah." He sighed as if admitting any of that was the hardest thing he could ever do. There was a light rumble of thunder above causing most of the salespeople to murmur. "We better go. Vancouver's first thunderstorm in a while this evening so it'll start raining soon."

But already it was starting to drizzle. John's hand pressed between her shoulder blades as he led her to his car.  Michael's car was still across the lot so she text Evie that she was going on home. There was traffic on the way back to her house so by the time they pulled in, it was raining hard, it was already dark because of the thick grey clouds, the thunder rocked the ground and lightening lit the sky.

"I'll walk you to the door-"

"It's raining so hard; I couldn't let you do that."

"I insist. You'll be wind swept away if I let you go out there by yourself." 

They both ran through the torrential rain, making it to the covered porch within seconds but she still managed to get soaked. Her glasses clouded her vision so she whipped them off and tucked them into her damp t-shirt. John's wet hair was flattened to his forehead, his eyes were wild with excitement and he was panting with a grin on his face. Why'd he have to go and be cute today? After almost two months of knowing the man he'd been cocky, pushy and annoying. This oddly sensitive side... She didn't know how to-

"Thank you for staying with me today." He interrupted her thoughts.

"Thank you for... Not being an asshole today minus this morning of course."

"I tried." 

"And you succeeded. Congratulations."

"Why, thank you."

"I guess I'll see you later." She said but surprisingly she didn't move. 

"Okay." He nodded but also didn't move. 

Was today a one off? Michael and Evie's words about John not being a bad person once she got to know him echoed through her mind. Evie or Michael wouldn't lie about that and today proved they were telling the truth.

And now suddenly she had an urge to agree to his previous proposition. She was surprised to learn John was attracted to her in the first place; the opportunity as he so boldly put it was here and now. 

"You're still standing here," He murmured stepping forward. 

Amy was suddenly aware just how small her cousin's porch really was. But then again John was a large testosterone filled man. A beautiful, large testosterone filled man.

"I'm deliberating."  She murmured.

"What?"

"A lot of things." 

"Give me a clue and I'll tell you if I can help you."

"If I'm honest, I think you're the only person who can help me."

The shock registered on his face for only a split second before the hunger overtook. "Tell me how I can help."

"I don't know if I can tell you."

He raised a brow. "Yes, you can."

I can...?

Just like before he cupped her cheeks and just like before her treacherous hands slid over his damp chest. He was holding himself back; she could see it clear within his eyes. Amy couldn't bring herself to say the words. Up until this point she'd been as shy as a mimosa pudica, that sensitive plant that folds in on itself when touched. She was that plant. And now here she was, seconds away from kissing the one man she'd never thought she'd ever consider kissing... in reality; it wasn't like that. Life wasn't simple. If she kissed him, what happened afterwards? After this chase, would he move on? Would he carry on perusing her? Would the desire between them grow stronger?

She had a feeling it was the latter but the confirmation like any hypothesis was needed.

"Please ask me, Amy." He begged. 

And that was it for her. That answered her question. The desire between them both would grow until it was sated. And one measly kiss wouldn't do that, even he must know that. So finally, she closed her eyes, nodded and whispered, "Kiss me."

Her words faded away and his mouth touched hers. Amy stilled, holding her breath for approximately five seconds before the riot of sensations within her body swirled into a tornado and overtook her.

She was highly aware of his hands caressing her cheek and neck. More than aware of the way his soft perfect lips brushed back and forth against hers in a teasing way; that's what he was, a tease. He always teased her. But in this form, she enjoyed it more.

He didn't push for a deeper kiss; he kept his previous promise and continued planting sweet brushes upon her lips. But she didn't want him to. She wanted all of him. Her palms trembled as they made a move to slide further up his chest.

But a surprisingly loud crack of lighting broke them apart. 

And a tree in her neighbour's garden across the street burst into flames.

__________________________________________________________

DUNDUNDUUN.

Gotta save something for the next chapter!

what could happen now I wonder...? Especially after the lightning hitting that tree... hmm...  

Drop me a comment guys, I read every single one of them as they come straight to my phone :)