❝You can, you can knock me off my feet
But I won't stop now, you can take a seat
You can, you can knock me off my feet
But I won't stop now, you can take a seat❞

I was never going to live down the fact that I'd drunkenly kissed the pizza thief.

The morning sun filtered through the curtains, assaulting my tired eyes like a thousand tiny daggers.

Groaning, I pulled the pillow over my head, vowing never to leave the cozy sanctuary of my bed. I had a pounding headache and a deep-seated sense of dread that I couldn't shake. And no, not even playing Shake It Off would help.

Migraine was a mild term for what I was feeling. This was a full-blown, epic hangover, the kind that made you regret every questionable life choice you'd ever made. As I shifted, even the rustle of the sheets felt like a live grenade had detonated in my skull.

This was precisely why I didn't do shots. Last night, I'd apparently forgotten that critical piece of information.

What had gotten into me?

Oh right. The alcohol.

The hazy memories of the dance floor, of being thrown around like a ragdoll by Megan, and the kiss...the goddamn kiss-those were the ghosts of a drunken night, haunting me like a bad horror movie.

There was a distinct problem.

Aiden.

I couldn't face him. No way.

He'd witnessed my drunken shenanigans and succumbed to wild Harper. I couldn't remember if he'd kissed me back. I couldn't remember much really but giggling and smiling a lot, enough to make my face muscles hurt this morning.

I'd almost convinced myself to retreat further under my blanket fort when there came an insistent knocking at my door. It had to be Aiden. He was out there, probably still cool and collected while I wallowed in my misery.

"Go away!" I croaked, cranky. Then added, "Please," hoping my voice conveyed the appropriate level of 'I am suffering, do not enter.'

The knocking continued, relentless. I considered hiding in my closet. It wasn't the most heroic plan, but it seemed like a solid defense against the embarrassment I was certain awaited me.

But then Aiden's voice drifted through the door, casual and disarming.

"Inks, come on. I've got a hangover cure for you."

My curiosity piqued, and my pain-wracked body mustered enough motivation to stagger to the door and open it. Aiden stood there, looking obnoxiously put together as if he hadn't been a part of the same chaos I'd experienced last night.

His messy head of black curls was alarmingly tamed, combed back with some of the stray waves tucked behind his ears. His face looked a little more flush than usual but I realized that had more to do with his morning run than him standing here at my threshold.

In his hand was a small glass filled with a strange green fluid. He offered it to me with a smile, one eyebrow quirked in a reassuring 'I've got you' manner.

"That looks like troll food," I remarked, squinting at the glass.

"Aka the best hangover cure in the world," he proudly claimed.

I eyed the green concoction skeptically but took the glass anyway. It smelled like a mix of vegetables and something unidentifiable, but if it could put an end to the ongoing drumline in my head, I was willing to give it a shot.

As I gingerly sipped the strange elixir, Aiden's gaze never left mine. If he had anything to say about last night, he didn't. I wasn't sure if that was a good sign or a bad one but eventually, we moved to the kitchen, where the sight of Megan broke the seriousness that had crept in between us.

Megan was sprawled out on the couch like she'd been hit by a tranquilizer dart. Her snores echoed through the apartment, resembling the engine of a jumbo jet trying to take off.

There she was, my blast from the past, partner-in-crime, and co-conspirator from last night's escapades, now reduced to a snoring heap on my precious couch.

Our precious couch.

Aiden chuckled, the corners of his mouth quirking up in a way that was disconcertingly attractive, given the circumstances. I couldn't help but join in, my own laughter mixing with Megan's thunderous snores.

The hangover cure Aiden had provided had already worked wonders on my headache and as I got comfortable on the kitchen stool, we slipped back into our defined routine of Aiden cooking up some breakfast while I gave him company.

It was comfortable. It was safe.

The kitchen had become our sacred no drama zone, a place where Aiden and I could coexist without the looming threat of awkwardness. Aiden, ever the domestic hero, was in his element as he whipped up breakfast, and the scent of sizzling bacon began to work its magic on my grumbling stomach.

The prior night's shenanigans had already been sentenced to the realm of hazy memories as I watched him move around the kitchen. At least, I thought so until the resident Energizer Bunny of chaos awoke from her slumber and stumbled into the kitchen with all the grace of a sleep-deprived sloth.

Her disheveled hair and crumpled dress screamed 'wild night' and she couldn't resist tormenting us as she ambled up to my seat, putting an arm around my waist.

"Well, well, what do we have here?" she chimed in, wiggling her eyebrows. "The new lovebirds sharing a cozy breakfast."

Aiden's face turned a shade of crimson that rivaled the bacon he was frying. I, on the other hand, couldn't help but chuckle, finding refuge in forced humor as I tried to hide my own awkwardness.

"Megan, you're delusional."

Oh yes, the gaslight route. Not a great one to take but it was my only option.

Megan rounded the island and snagged a piece of bacon from the plate Aiden was piling them on, savoring it with such exaggerated gusto it could have earned her an Oscar.

"Oh, don't mind me, darling A," she taunted as he glared at her. "Just continue with your breakfast romp, please. It's a nice sequel to the Rumpus Romp's activities."

"Rumpus Room," I corrected before I could understand what she was even referencing.

Sensing the drama she had very happily stirred, Megan finished chewing her stolen bacon and patted down her hair and dress with all the grace of a modern-day princess.

"Well then, I gotta dip."

"Please do," Aiden quickly retorted, turning from the stove and carrying the last of the bacon and omelettes over to me.

"Dip where?" I asked, almost hoping she'd stay just so I could use her as a buffer with Aiden. But who was I kidding? She'd probably take every opportunity to make the situation worse.

"Home. Errands, chores, life awaits."

Megan smile and blew me a morning-breath laden kiss while she smacked an actual one on Aiden's cheek, leaving him gobsmacked. She left in a flourish before he could process it and murder her, clicking the door shut behind her.

Aiden heaved a sigh of relief and bent over with his elbows propped on the table, letting his face fall into his hands. His flustered demeanor made it clear that Megan's teasing had landed some unexpected blows. I would have comforted him if I knew how. Instead, I quietly reached for the plate of food he'd set up for me and started to eat.

I don't know at what point Aiden had looked up at me again. I don't know at what point he'd left the kitchen even and brought me my iPad. I'd been too focused on keeping my head down and feeding the starving pit in my body to notice the notifications going crazy.

"You might want to check that," he said and gently pushed my iPad in front of me.

I was halfway through unlocking it and pulling down the notifications bar when Aiden's next words damn near made me fall off the stool.

"Pretty sure it's for Forbidden Lillies."

I felt like I'd just been slapped with a wet fish - both startled, stunned, and slightly suspicious by Aiden's declaration. He, who I'd assumed knew as much about my writing as he did about quantum physics, had just outed himself.

"You know about Forbidden Lillies?" I blurted out, struggling to wrap my head around this revelation.

Aiden's cheeks reddened ever so slightly, and he nodded, his voice tinged with embarrassment.

"Yeah. I started reading it...a while ago."

"Define a while."

He was running into tomato territory.

"Anyways," he continued, dodging my question, "You...uh, had a um, passionate moment last night. Something about not letting your fans down as they were waiting for an update and then you published a pre-written chapter I think, the moment we got home."

My face flushed with a mixture of chagrin and curiosity.

"But," Aiden was quick to speak again, "I have to say, it's surprisingly good."

"The new chapter or the story?"

"Both," he said, his lips fighting a smile. "I can't believe I'm saying it but yeah...you don't write porn Inks. You write love."

Be still, my virgin heart.

"And well it seems like the rest of the world is only catching on this morning," he gestured at my iPad before throwing a kitchen towel over his shoulder and turning his back to me as he got to work on the sink piled with plates.

I was at a loss for words as I stared at his broad back get to chores. Nevertheless, stifling all the questions I had, I turned to the iPad and was met with hundreds of likes, comments, and messages on the latest chapter, exactly as Aiden had predicted.

"You were right," I admitted, my voice still tinged with disbelief by the speed at which the love was pouring in for this new chapter. My followers must have all woken up in a good mood. I looked up and saw Aiden, grinning smugly as if he'd cracked the Da Vinci Code.

"I know all," he said, his tone dripping with playfulness, and then refocused his attention back to the sink.

I started to clear the neverending notifications when when I spotted one I'd almost missed amidst the barrage of comments and likes - an inbox message from with a subject line that made my heart give.

OFFER OF REPRESENTATION-FORBIDDEN LILLIES

I found myself in a deep stare-off with Aiden's paintings hung in the living room. My exercise mat lay ignored as I sat still on the couch behind it, my eyes locked in a riveting duel with the abstract splatters of color.

That's when a rogue throw cushion came flying in from my peripheral vision, swatting me square in the face. Startled, I snapped out of trance and looked to the side, still partly dazed but not from remaining traces of a hangover long cured.

Aiden's voice rang out from the open kitchen, his tone a mix of amusement and concern.

"What's got into you, Inks?" he called out, filling himself a glass of water from the sink before turning to look at me with an amused smile. "Pull a wrong move during Pilates and give yourself brian damage?"

"The what?"

Aiden put the glass down with a clink, giving me an intense stare that zapped the last remnants of the daze out of me.

"You are aware its nearing dinner time, right?"

It was 8 p.m. already? I tored my eyes back from the clock on the wall to Aiden who still weighed me up. Hiding any remnants of a deep crisis from my eyes, I forced a tired smile to my lips instead.

"Oh, right, the whole food thing."

Aiden leaned sideways against the kitchen archway and crossed his arms. I did my best to ignore how fitting his full-sleeve shirt was on him, especially around his biceps.

"You've been staring at my paintings far too long for it to be out of appreciation. What's eating at your soul, Harper Collins?"

I tilted my head and contemplated the art, then confessed with mock solemnity, "I've been reflecting on the grand mystery that is Aiden Mitchells. Where did he come from? Where will he go?"

"Cool it, Cotton Eyed Joe."

I grinned, glad he got the reference.

"Well, I've had my fair share of cracking grand mysteries today," he muttered, straightening his back and taking his phone out of his back pocket. "How about we put our deep thinking on hold and order in a pizza?"

"A double pepperoni?" I piped up, feeling the hunger hit my body like it was only just beginning to process human sensation once again.

"You know it."

I smiled, feeling a bit of relief that though Aiden had been holed up working in his room all day, he was still around.

"Sounds good to me, Pixels."

The pizza didn't take long to arrive. The idea to finish the movie Zodiac took even less to settle on. Before I knew it, Aiden and I were snuggled up in our respective spots, watching the remainder of the movie. We weren't even ten minutes in when Aiden jerked at the slightest sound effect and spilled a bunch of chilli flakes and ketchup like confetti all over his white sofa seat.

I stifled a laugh at his expense, but it was hard to contain when I realized the level of detail visible from my new vantage point.

Aiden had moved to sit on the floor in front of my seat, his back leaning against the couch. This offered me a closer view of the back of his neck and every flicker of emotion that danced across his face as the movie played out.

The on-screen tension was palpable, but my own distraction was more personal. My eyes kept wandering to his lips and I kept beating myself up for not remembering how they'd felt against my own.

It was during an especially intense scene, as Aiden visibly held his breath, that my restlessness got the better of me.

"I'm sorry about last night," I blurted out, my voice loud and unprompted against the pin-drop silence of the living room.

Aiden nearly jumped out of his skin, more in fright at the sudden speaking than the movie itself. He frantically hit pause on the film and turned to look at me from his spot on the floor, bewilderment on his face.

"I'm sorry, what?"

I fumbled for words, feeling my cheeks heat with embarrassment.

"I...I'm sorry I kissed you last night," I confessed, my words tumbling out in an awkward, frazzled rush. "I didn't mean to make things weird or uncomfortable. I mean, I don't even remember if I did, but I have this vague memory of, you know, leaning in and kissing you and then things got really blurry, and...well, I didn't mean to lead you on or-"

Aiden interrupted my rambling with a gentle smile, his eyes warm and reassuring.

"Harper, it's okay."

I stopped talking.

"It's okay?"

"Yeah."

"As in...kissing you is okay or-"

"No, no."

He chuckled and turned fully to look at me from up on the ground, his face only inches lower than mine. Close enough for me to make out the fact that the tips of his ears were pink, unlike the rest of his confident visage.

"You didn't actually kiss me, Inks."

I blinked.

"What do you mean?"

"You kissed my hand."

I continued to blink.

"What do you mean?" I repeated, stupidly.

"Megan's going to murder me for telling you this but..." Aiden sighed then continued, "You tried to kiss me. I covered my mouth with my hand. You low-key made out with my palm then went back to the bar, took some more shots, came home and danced like a maniac some more while Megan was already asleep on our couch. I eventually carried you to your room-"

"And then I kissed you?" I piped up.

Aiden's lips twitched.

"...no. You refused to go to sleep until you published the next instalment of Forbidden Lillies. So I helped you with that and then put you to bed."

"Ah," I let out my breath. "And then you kissed me."

"Harper!"

Aiden laughed and grabbed my shoulders, shaking me comically.

"There was no kissing! Not mouth to mouth anyway."

"Right," I realized, starting to recall a rather salty taste to the memory. "Just lip to sweaty palm."

"Bingo," he said.

I stayed quiet for a moment, looking at Aiden, who had been wearing a reassuring smile that was slowly slipping away. His eyebrows knitted together, he finally asked, "What's wrong? Are you mad?"

A hesitant smile crept onto my lips.

"No, I'm relieved, actually."

The atmosphere in the room shifted palpably after my words. Aiden's expression darkened as if I'd just thrown a bucket of ice water over him.

"That makes two of us," he muttered then turned back to face the screen, angrily lifting the remote control. He was about to hit play but I didn't let him, hopping off my couch seat and onto the ground with him, fast enough to snatch the remote.

"What's eating you?" I pressed, searching his expression for an answer. One he wouldn't give as he angrily reached for the remote in my hand which I held up higher.

Aiden merely grunted and reached for the final slice of pizza from the box. He angrily munched it like a child and ignored me for a good minute.

"Aiden-"

"Why are you so relieved that we didn't kiss, Harper?" Aiden's voice was barely audible through a mouthful of pizza but I understood it well enough, more suprised by the unexpected annoyance.

I was too stunned to react, let alone find a suitable response. Nothing better than what came out, equally confrontational as his tone.

"Why are you?"

I didn't get an answer. All I got was Aiden abruptly standing up and starting to walk away.

Déjà vu struck.

Frustration and confusion gnawed at me, and without thinking, I got to my feet and shouted after him, "Running away AGAIN, Aiden?"

He stopped.

Turned.

And pinned me to the spot with the sharpest and most accusing glare he'd given me yet, and for a moment, I feared I might have gone too far. But I refused to back down, my gaze locked with his in a battle of wills.

We stood there, a few feet apart, the room charged with electric tension. It was a precarious moment, teetering on the edge of something neither of us had dared to address because deep down, we both knew this was about more than just a kiss.

Aiden's eyes bore into mine and just when I thought he was going to do the classic thing of storming away from me, he broke the silence, his voice low and filled with intensity.

"The only thing I regret is stopping the kiss, Harper."

The fight in me gave out, my mouth falling open and not even in a flattering way. I full out gawked at him like a choking penguin.

"Especially considering the fact that I've wanted to kiss you from the moment you ran me over at the grocery store."

Now, I might actually be choking.

A hand fluttered to my throat as if to check for invisible ice that had been wedged in there. The room felt colder, the air around me getting chillier by the second as if getting hit by sudden confessions could do that. It was a momentary chill, though.

Because Aiden walked closer to me.

He bridged that space between us until he was standing right in front of me, staring me dead in the eyes with all the fire a man could muster from the depths of his soul.

"That's not the only thing I regret."

I closed my open mouth and gulped.

Never show weakness, Harper.

If this was some kind of ploy, I wasn't going to fall for it. But every speck of light in Aiden's gray eyes told me this was far from an act. His steel orbs were clearer than they'd ever been, like the ocean on a calm, radiant night, revealing deeper depths than I'd ever thought to exist.

"I also regret what I said to you that night about your work," he said softly and brought his gaze back to mine. "You're not a sell-out, Harper. You're an inspiration."

I kept my gaze level with his, trying to breathe evenly. Trying, being the key word.

"I think you do push boundaries with your work and explore the human condition. Just...in a different, very intimate way. I think it's beautiful."

He smiled and it was like all the weight in my chest released in that one moment.

Aiden leaned in and I stilled, almost ready to close my eyes for the second time in twenty four hours. But all he did was take my hand and squeeze it, before pressing his lips near my ears.

"And I think that's the kind of beauty that can only be written from a person who embodies it entirely, ErosInk."

It wasn't just my vagina that somersaulted.

It was my whole fucking existence.

Aiden moved back slowly, his breath fanning my face as he lingered close to me for a beat longer. I sucked in a breath when he leaned forward again, only to swipe something from the bottom corner of my lip.

"You've had half a pepperoni stuck to your face this entire time, by the way."

"What?"

He grinned and stepped back, enough to lift up his thumb and show it to me.

Sure as shit, there it was.

He brought it to his lips and sucked the last particles of meat onto his tongue. I almost died at just the sight of it. I would have fully fainted, if not for the sheer embarrassment that consumed every nerve in my body.

Had he just said all that to me while I gawked at him like a penguin with a pepperoni on its beak while having an aneurysm?

"Harper?"

I snapped out of my self-mortification and blinked, taking him in again.

"Yeah?"

Aiden smiled and walked backward into the hallway, giving me a little wave.

"Never give up on your words, okay?"

The color returned to my face and with it, a wide smile.

"Okay."

Aiden disappeared from view, wishing me goodnight.

I waited until I heard the click of his door before turning back to see the still unfinished movie, empty plates and Papa John's box on the center table.

Bringing my hand to my lip, I sighed, still feeling the gentle buzz of his touch there. That, and pizza grease.

Yeah, I was never having pepperoni pizza ever again.

_____

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Song: Knock Me Off My Feet by SOAK

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