[ sorry it's been a week and a half. was too consumed with my other twisters fics, and I hope Boone can forgive me ]

☆︎

THAT MUST MEAN YOU PREFER ME OVER JAVI.

THE LAST THING BOONE EXPECTED THAT NIGHT WAS A KNOCK ON HIS DOOR. Tyler was gone, after all, and he was usually the one that always kept Boone up late, the two best friends just talking the night away while drinking at whatever bar was closest to the motel they were staying at. But he got up nonetheless, not bothering to throw on a shirt as he answered the door.

Only to regret that and immediately go red when he saw Rio on the other side of the door.

Rio had been looking at her feet and started to speak, but she froze when she looked up. Boone looked good in practically nothing, she thought. He had a softly-defined torso that was all smooth and tanned skin. A pair of sweatpants hung low on his hips, Rio's always so sharp mind malfunctioning for just a moment.

When was the last time she'd seen someone shirtless?

Clearly, long enough to have her a bit flustered.

"Rio?" Boone asked, finally breaking the silence. "It's late. Everythin' alright?"

"No, yeah," she said, nodding her head before actually looking him in the eye. And if the way the corners of his lips turned up was anything to go by, he'd noticed her staring. It made her more nervous. "Um, well, Dani and Lily are still offerin' to share, but that couch ain't all that comfortable. And Dexter is sharing with Ben. I was, well, I thought that maybe you had some extra room. But it's fine if not! I can get a room so long as they aren't out—"

Her nervous rambling was cut off by Boone laughing. "It's fine, Rio. My bed's big enough for the both of us. Come on in."

She passed by him, and she took the time to lean down and kiss his cheek sweetly — she hoped he didn't mind that she was an inch taller.

Secretly, it was one of the things Boone already loved about her.

Then Rio was fully in the room, he actually noticed she was wearing one of Dexter's shirts and a pair of Lily's shorts that were impossibly short given her longer legs. Maybe if he was lucky, instead of her going to buy new clothes the next day, she'd simply ask for one of his shirts.

"Sorry about botherin' you. Hope you weren't asleep already," she said quietly.

"Naw," he said, standing there and not entirely sure what to do. It was like being in her motel room that night they had the pizza all over again, him not wanting to do anything to make her uncomfortable. "You, um, you care which side of the bed I take?"

She looked at him with a small, pleading smile. "Can I have the right?"

"Good, 'cause I what'n't gone give you the left side," he joked, making her giggle. And the sound warmed his heart.

That was enough to get Rio moving. She went to the right side of the messy bed — Boone was wishing he'd made the bed that morning to appear neater than he actually was — as he went to the left after cutting the lights off. A sliver of light came in through the bathroom door, giving them just enough visibility to see each other.

Rio turned on her side to face him, and he mirrored her position, unable to believe he was in this situation so unexpectedly. Of course, it's not how he initially pictured being in bed with her, but still.

"You still upset with Tyler?" Rio asked him. He'd been pouting most of the day for all of their YouTube followers to see.

"He just left," he sighed. "Baby, if someone had upset you enough to run away and I chased after you, I'd have at least brought him with me."

Rio smiled gently at that. "You'd chase after me?"

"'Course I would," he said without hesitation. "You're the kinda gal a man dreams about chasin'. Better than any storm."

The way the compliments so easily rolled off his tongue in that thick accent had Rio blushing furiously. Boone just kept proving how romantic and sweet he was every time he opened his mouth, and she couldn't help but scoot closer in the bed, her nose right in front of his.

"Well, I ain't goin' anywhere yet," she told him once her cheeks had recovered. "Had too much fun with you today to leave."

"That's a relief," he said softly. Then he frowned. "I'm glad, you know, that you had a better day today. Yesterday was hard, and I ain't just talkin' about the tornado, you know?"

"Yeah, I know," she said weakly. "But I know Dex didn't mean to upset me. And it was... a long time ago."

"You ain't gotta talk about it if you don't want to," he said quickly, not wanting her to be uncomfortable.

"I think..." She trailed off, staring into his deep brown eyes. "I think if I were to feel comfortable talking about it with anyone, it'd be you."

Boone knew she had no idea how much that alone warmed his heart — the fact that she'd trust him with something like that.

"I usually didn't even go close to the storms, you know. I stayed back with Javi to look at the data," she explained. "But, well, we thought Kate's experiment was really gone work, and so I went to see how the environment reacted in real time. And it was fine, at first. Then the storm just kept growing, and the only place to go was an overpass."

Boone sucked in a sharp breath, knowing overpasses were the worst in storms, but he bit his tongue to keep from telling her so. Obviously, she knew now even if she hadn't before.

"Praveen didn't even make it to the overpass," she went on. "And Jeb, he was doing everything to protect us from the debris right up until he was swept away too. And then Addy..."

Rio's throat tightened as tears welled in her eyes, and so Boone pulled her close. It felt natural as she burrowed her head in his chest, appreciating how he ran his fingers through her hair.

"What were they like?" Boone asked quietly, figuring talking might be better than crying.

"Praveen was such a dork," she said, laughing a bit as she looked back at him. "And such a fraidy cat. But he was still braver than me for going close to the storms all the time. And he was funny even when he wasn't meaning to be funny, you know?"

"Then there was Jeb. If Javi was like an older brother, Jeb was a cousin," she said. "I think because I was so much younger, he was always watching over me. And even though he was studying meteorology, he was always helping me with my homework. And god, I'd never seen Kate as happy as when she was with Jeb. The Kate y'all know... that ain't Kate."

"She really that different?" he asked curiously.

"Yeah, 'cause Kate loved to laugh," she said with a sigh. "She's got the best laugh, and I ain't hardly heard it in years. She's goofy and playful. This Kate... it's like the weight of the world is on her shoulders, and I wish I could help her carry it all."

"Maybe gettin' back to chasin' will be good for her," Boone suggested.

"I hope so."

Silence fell over them, which Boone didn't dare break. They both knew there was one more person to tell him about, but if she didn't want to, he wouldn't pry it out of her, knowing it was a sensitive subject.

But finally, after a long minute, Rio started talking again.

"And Addy was... she was my..." Her throat felt tight again, and Boone just held her tighter.

"Hey, now, it's okay. You ain't gotta," he told her comfortingly.

But she had to. Rio hadn't spoken about Addy in years, and suddenly, she wanted to tell Boone everything — as if talking about her would let her finally move on.

"She was fearless, Boone," Rio said, biting the inside of her cheek. "And so smart and beautiful. She was wild like you, you know? Got all worked up when the weather was bad. I just know she'd have loved y'all's channel. You'd have been her favorite, not Tyler."

"And she loved to make me laugh. I was always shy around them when Javi wasn't around — they were all older. But she always made me feel more comfortable. And I couldn't believe it when someone like her wanted someone... like me."

"Someone like you?" Boone asked with a frown, not liking how that sounded.

"You know, quiet and timid and always elbow deep in the dirt," she murmured. "And scared of everything. Thought she'd want someone more exciting, not someone so cautious. Though I guess when I was around her, she rubbed off on me. Or at least I wished I was more like her. I still do."

"There ain't nothin' wrong with you the way you are now," Boone told her gently. "I like the Rio in my arms right now, and I know Addy must've loved all those things about you too from the way you talk about her."

She looked at him, her eyes shining. "Thank you, Boone."

"For what?" he asked, tilting his head into the pillow more.

"For listening," she whispered. Then she slid her hands up his chest and wrapped her arms around his neck, pressing up against his bare chest. "For holdin' me. Not freakin' out on me for crying."

"It what'n't nothin' to brave a few tears," he said softly. "Thank you got sharing all that with me. I know it wasn't easy."

"Well, it's surprisingly not hard to open up around you," she admitted. "And that kinda scares me given that Javi can't even get me to talk about it."

He smirked at her. "That must mean you prefer me over Javi, and that's a big win in my book,"

"I might prefer you over him, but only by a small margin," she said with a smile. "And I like bein' around you for a different reason."

"Yeah? What, uh, what reason would that be?" he asked a bit nervously, much more hyperaware of their position than she was.

Her fingers were toying with his hair and her chest was pressed up against his, their legs slowly tangling together. Boone was convinced he could die happy so long as it was in this position.

"Well, I figured I was bein' a little obvious," Rio said, biting her lip nervously, drawing his gaze to her mouth. "Though I've never been good at the whole... flirtin' thing. You seem to be better at that than me."

"Flirtin'?" he asked, perking up quite a bit, looking back at her eyes. "You've been flirtin'?"

"For a both three days now, yeah," she laughed. Then she grew shy. "I thought, well, I thought you were too, but if I misread it as you just bein' nice—"

She moved to pull away from him, but Boone tightened his hold around her waist, keeping her close. "Baby, trust that I've been flirtin' my ass off. Just been hoping I wasn't coming off as a fool."

She hummed and leaned closer, her forehead pressed to his. "Only like five percent of a fool."

"I can work with that," he said, moving until his nose brushed hers. He glanced down once more, his lips parted. "And, uh, would it be foolish of me to try and kiss you right now?"

Rio smiled, her heart beating a mile a minute. She hadn't been kissed in five years and suddenly craved the unfamiliar warmth of lips on hers. "Well, I figure it won't hurt to try."

Boone's movements were slow and calculated, giving her time to back out should she choose. But she remained put in his arms, looking at his lips as they grew closer, thinking they looked incredibly soft.

Then, just barely, his lips brushed hers in the softest of kisses — like he was testing the waters — before he kissed her fully, mouth slotting against hers perfectly. It was short and sweet, and yet still enough to have butterflies swarming inside her stomach and her toes curling in excitement as she kissed him back.

And Boone couldn't help but grin into the kiss, which made her smile too, their teeth bumping and making them laugh as they parted.

"I hope I wasn't terrible," she said, her cheeks growing red. "It's been a long while."

"Well, I'm sure with some practice, we'll have you in good shape," he joked.

She hummed, looking into his sparkling eyes. "We'd better get caught up then."

Boone beamed before swooping down and quickly capturing her lips in another kiss. It was deeper this time, both of them more confident as their lips moved in sync. And in one smooth move, Boone rolled her onto her back while sliding his tongue against the seam of her lips. She parted them happily as he hovered over her, letting him deepen the kiss, exploring her mouth slowly. The way he rolled his tongue against hers was perfect, drawing a low moan from her chest.

When they needed to breathe, Boone pulled back, resting his forehead against hers for a moment before leaning down, placing quick, chaste kisses to her jaw and neck, his facial hair making her giggle.

"Fuck, I think I must really love you now," Boone admitted, only partly joking. And it made Rio laugh hard, him adoring the sound, thinking she was so perfect like this — happy and a smile on her swollen lips.

And Boone knew then and there that he'd do just about anything so long as it kept that smile on her face for the rest of his life.