• Is, ah... PG-16 a thing? •

The next morning when Fiona woke up, she couldn't remember the last time she had slept this great. But she knew exactly why she had slept well.

Adam still slept soundly next to her, his arm wrapped around her middle section as it had been almost all night. She remembered waking up once and finding him pulling her closer to him when she had somehow managed to scoot away on the already cramped bed. He had gently kissed her shoulder, but then drifted off to sleep again.

It was such a strange feeling. She felt giddy and infinitely calm all at once, like she wanted to jump his bones but at the same time she wanted to lay there for another whole decade. She was exhausted from yesterday, but it had been the greatest night of her life.

Smiling to herself, she snuggled closer to Adam and laid a hand on his chest, feeling his steady heartbeat thump all that potent love he kept in there. He was such an amazing person... how did she ever get lucky enough to be here? Why did he even like her? Would she ever be enough for him? How could she ever match his energy and emotions? Whatever this was, would it even... last?

She had just started overthinking things when Adam suddenly stirred and mumbled something incoherent. Slowly shifting, he then opened his eyes and looked around until he found her. And then, just like yesterday, a tired grin evolved on his whole face.

"Holy shit, it's a good morning," He said and rolled on to his side, capturing her face with his hand. Fiona grinned back, but for some reason blushed. It was so weird... being here with him, like this. But it felt so nice.

"Uhm... good morning to you, too," She whispered back and covered her mouth to hide her morning breath. Adam chuckled and grabbed that same hand and dragged it away.

"You've gotta be kidding yourself if you think I'm not gonna grab a stinky morning kiss from you. It's part of the experience. Get used to it."

"Ew, Adam, nooo..." She protested, but couldn't help but laugh when he did. He moved closer and kissed first her cheek and then the other, but then moved down and covered her lips with his own.

Fiona's eyes fluttered shut by themselves, and she couldn't help but give in. She was still so new to kissing, but Adam made it all so... easy. He kissed her gently and swept her tangled hair away from her face, rolling her onto her back to kiss her properly. Fiona shivered and wrapped her hand around his neck, pulling him closer as the kiss deepened. She almost didn't care that they both probably had terrible breath. He was right. It was what it was, but it was needed.

An involuntary wince then went through her when his body started pressing down on hers. Her bra, which she had slept in, was digging right into her ribcage and the clasp was gnawing between her shoulder blades. Adam noticed her discomfort.

"I'm sorry, am I hurting you?" He quickly pulled back, removing his weight from her body. "I didn't mean to squash—"

"It's my bra," She told, shaking her head. "Not you."

"Oh," He looked relieved for a moment, but then glanced down. "Do you want to change? I have a shirt you can borrow."

Fiona shook her head. She was so nervous, but... she didn't want to borrow a shirt from him.

But she did want her bra off.

"Will you help me with this?" She nervously whispered. It was strange. She wasn't shy as such... or maybe she was? Or maybe, it was because of the reaction she was scared of getting. Being rejected, or being told he didn't want to...

"You want me to...?" He looked down at her bra strap, then slowly wrapped a finger around it.

She nodded. She was so nervous, but she knew what she wanted, even if it felt so... sudden. She just knew she wanted to be closer to him, close in a way that... that made her feel even safer with him. Even if that seemed impossible at this point.

Adam brushed her cheek tenderly, but then leaned down to her lips. His eyes were so deep, so... God, the way he looked at her made her feel so special. It made her shy, but somehow made her want him even more.

He slowly brushed his lips against hers, pulling her neck up to arch her lips. She breathed shakily, but then felt as the anxiety vanished into thin air as her arms wrapped around him and held him close. He kissed her deeper and let a strangled sound escape his lips as she lifted her chest up to him.

His hand sought under the gap beneath her back, and with a bit of fumbling, he managed to unclasp her bra. She felt the instant relief as the tight device was unstrapped from around her chest and let her ribcage exhale freely. It really had ached.

With some awkward maneuvering, she then carefully pulled her bra off of her shoulders and slipped it onto the floor, and as Adam pulled back to look into her eyes, she felt a nervous flutter in her stomach. But the really good kind.

"I won't look if you don't want me to," He said, keeping his lips inches away from hers.

Fiona gulped. She wanted him to look. Wanted him to... God, she was crazy.

Arching her chest up slowly, she ran a hand through his soft hair, but then pulled his lips against hers. His eyes shut, but his lips parted with a low sound and kissed her back. Fiona shifted beneath him, and with some more awkward maneuvering, she managed to fit his body between her legs and wrap them around him.

Adam moved closer and rested his weight on his forearms, just as his lips slowly moved down her neck and took a tentative path down her neckline. Fiona curved her neck up and let herself just focus on the feeling of his lips against her skin. Hot, slow kisses, moving down her chest... her cleavage...

She bit her lip to hide a small moan when she felt his lips touch her breast for the first time. He circled the areola, tracing it with light kisses, before finally... he closed his mouth around it and made her toes curl.

Her throat released a moan she hadn't authorized, but at the sensation of Adam's mouth gently sucking on her nipple, she couldn't help but mewl quietly and cup her mouth to stop more embarrassing sounds from escaping them. Her body burgeoned at his touches, and before she could prepare herself, she felt his hand grasp around her thigh when she was practically clinging to him, arms and legs.

"I don't know what the fuck you're doing, but I'm losing my mind over you," He suddenly breathed hotly between kisses. Fiona bit her lip when he moved up and feathered his lips against hers again. "You're so going to make me break my celibacy streak."

Blushing, Fiona felt him smirk slowly against her lips before kissing them. She hadn't exactly planned on making him break any promises to himself... but she was glad that he did.

Nestled beneath him, Fiona let herself get completely absorbed in Adam's kisses that he couldn't stop giving to her lips. She hardly sensed anything else but him, and she had a feeling he was a goner, too, purely from the depths of his kisses.

And she suspected that was the reason why neither of them heard any footsteps before the door to his bedroom was suddenly opened.

Fiona screeched and quickly pulled the covers up to her chin, while Adam cursed under his breath and awkwardly cleared his throat. Then, turning his head, he gave a sheepish grin to who Fiona had to assume was... "Hiiiii, grams."

An elderly black woman with white hair weaved up into a bun stood in the doorway in a vintage kanga with a floral print. She wore a set of thin glasses and simply shook her head as she looked upon Adam and her. She had a stern face, but the way her eyes sparkled told Fiona she wasn't one you wanted to be a fool around. She would whop your ass.

"Adam, give that poor child a chance to have some breakfast," She then said, and Fiona now realized she also walked with a cane. She pointed it shortly at his messy floor, then shook her head. "And don't think I can't see this mess you still haven't cleaned up. I told you to get that done last week."

"Sorry," Adam mumbled, dipping his head down into Fiona's chest. "I'll do it today."

"Mm-hm. Now you two kids get dressed, and then you come introduce this lovely girl to me," She told, giving Adam a last reprimanding stare. "And then I believe some church time is in order."

She walked off, muttering under her breath, but then shut the door and left them be.

Fiona was embarrassed... to her very soul. "Oh... my God." She couldn't walk out there. She just couldn't. The woman used to be a nun for crying out loud! And she had just walked in on her trying to corrupt her Christian foster child.

"We better get up," Adam chuckled and pecked her lips one last quick time. Fiona remained frozen. "I promise you she's not that bad. She's actually really excited to meet you. Might've mentioned you a few times."

Fiona could still feel her cheeks burning when Adam slowly untangled himself from her and left her with the covers. He grabbed his pants from the floor and dragged them on before standing up.

"Do you wanna borrow the bathroom first? Get dressed?"

"Uhm... yes," Fiona carefully said, still very reluctant to move. If the earth could just swallow her, that would be real nice. "Please."

Offering her a clean t-shirt, Adam then turned around like a gentleman while she slipped it on, even though he had already... seen everything. Fiona then slipped out of bed and tip-toed over to the door that led to the bathroom.

Once locked inside, Fiona caught herself against the sink and cupped her cheeks. Dear lord, how was she going to face going out there and talking to his grams? What had she even been thinking, asking him to take off her bra when it was morning time?!

Shaking her head, mortified at herself, Fiona then lifted her eyes and then had to hold back a shriek.

Her hair... looked hideous.

Thanks to the rain, it was an absolute mess, and with no help from Adam's touchy hands, it was a complete tangle. Her curls stuck out everywhere, and she didn't even have anything to detangle it with. Dear God, why did God hate her? Not only did she get caught in bed with a boy, but she now also looked like a complete mess. And had nothing to fix it with.

Deciding that water was her best option for now, Fiona tried her best to slick her hair back and used the hair tie around her wrist to pull it back into a somewhat decent bun. Then, quickly using the toilet and cleaning her face with another quick splash of water, she came back out into his bedroom, ready to face the horror of meeting his grams.

But instead of finding Adam getting ready, she saw him sitting on his bed, elbows on his knees. He wore a dark expression.

"Adam?" Fiona approached him with a terrible gut feeling. His face was all wrong. "What's wrong?"

Adam slowly lifted his head and looked at her, and it was right then he lifted his hand as well and revealed... her phone.

– The phone she had kept in the pocket of her dress all night, the same phone she had kept on silence ever since... ever since she lied to him about getting her mother's permission.

"It was ringing on the floor," Adam said with a detached voice. "So I answered it. You had 32 missed calls."

Fiona felt all of it slip and slide inside her. "Adam—"

"Your mom wants you to come home straight away," He said and stood up, handing over her phone. "She's not happy, and neither am I, Fiona."

"Adam, I'm sorry," Fiona tried, feeling her gut tear when just shook his head and turned away. She saw his chin jut out as he clenched his jaw. "I wanted to tell you, but I just—"

"You lied," He said. He turned and looked at her with a confused, but hurt face. "Why lie, Fee? What were you actually thinking?"

"I was thinking she wouldn't have let me go, and I really wanted to go with you," Fiona explained with a shaky voice and walked up to him when he turned away again with a disappointed look. That look almost hurt more than the face she knew her mother would greet her with. "Adam..."

"We could've gone out any other day, Fiona," He said, shaking his head. "I wouldn't have minded waiting if she said no. I never wanted to let her think I was stealing you away. Did you ever think how that would make me look?"

"Adam—"

"I think you should go home and solve it with your mom," He said, shaking his head. "And I should come too so I can apologize. Christ, Fee, you didn't even let her know where you were. You had her sick with worry, she was fucking crying on the phone!"

Fiona felt the tears burn in her eyes as well. She had never meant to cause this much trouble. She knew what she had done was wrong, but she had never thought... never expected it to go this far. She knew her mom would've been worried... and she hadn't cared anyway. Just for one night, she hadn't cared.

"Get dressed," He said, giving her a last look before going up to his door with a tired face. "I'll go explain to grams why breakfast will have to wait."

"Adam, I'm so sorry," Fiona whispered. She felt sorry with all of her heart.

Adam looked at her for a long moment before sighing and walking out. "So am I."

~~~

Fiona had barely reached the perimeter of her house before she saw her mother bursting out of the front door. She had probably been waiting by the window, waiting to see her coming down the road.

"Fiona Eluka Torrence, who the hell do you think you are?!" She shouted. Fiona cringed already and felt the tears well up in her eyes. "You get inside this house right now, young lady! You are grounded!"

"Mom, please," She feebly tried, but she didn't even get a chance to break through. 

Turning her attention to the person walking behind her, her mother glared at Adam who silently looked back. She pointed a hefty finger at him.

"I don't ever want to see you come around here again," She snapped, and despite all that Fiona knew had been waiting for her when she came home, she never expected that.

"No! Mom! Please, it's not his fault," Fiona said and pleaded her mother. "He didn't know—"

"Fiona, it's okay," Adam said, making her stare up at him in horror when he just accepted that he wasn't allowed to see her anymore. What? "Ma'am, I want you to know how sorry I am. I take full responsibility, I shouldn't have—"

"Adam, stop, you didn't know I—"

"—taken her out before asking you personally," He said, looking at her mom remorsefully. "I apologize, and I don't expect you to forgive me. I just wanted you to know that."

"Duly noted," Her mom replied, shortly. Then grabbed Fiona's arm and pulled her towards the front door. "You get inside right now, missy."

"Mom!" Fiona cried and twisted to look back at Adam who stood with a sullen expression and watched her get dragged away. "Mom, please! He didn't do anything!"

"We'll talk about him later," She snapped and dragged her inside the building. Shutting the front door, she then let go of Fiona the second they were inside the kitchen, safe from the outside. But unsafe from all that followed.

Tears caught in her eyes, Fiona sat down on one of the dining chairs and watched her mom pace back and forth in the kitchen, gearing up to what she was about to say. She could see the fumes practically coming off of her, steaming out through her flaring nostrils.

"I can't even find words to begin," She then slowly started, turning towards Fiona who kept her head down. "to explain how much you hurt and scared me last night. When you didn't come home, I assumed the worst. You don't even leave as much as a text message?! Do you have any idea how damn scared I was, Fiona? Do you?!"

"I'm sorry," She cried, hiding her face away in her hands.

"You don't get to be sorry!" Her mom yelled. "The child I raised did not act so irresponsibly and careless! She didn't worry her mother who already lost one person she loved! You don't ever do that to me again, Fiona!"

Fiona was sobbing now. At the mention of her father, it all just ripped inside her. Like a suture rupturing, she felt all the pain inside her run loose inside her veins.

"I lost him, too," She whispered, still crying uncontrollably. "I miss him, too."

Her mom cupped her forehead, but then shook her head. "I know you do, but that doesn't excuse your behavior last night. From this day on, you're grounded until further notice. That means no more dancing, no more friends, no more ballet audition."

Fiona's head flew up at the sound of that. "What?"

"I want you to go to your room and clean yourself up," She said and gave her a stern glare. "And then I want you to take a damn pill so I know you didn't do something so foolish last night, I—"

"Stop!" Fiona screamed. It all just burst inside her, ringing through her ears. She clenched her eyes shut and felt the tears stream down. "Just stop! You don't even care! If you did, then you would've seen how good Adam has been to me!"

"That's how it starts," Her mom scoffed back. "But all boys his age are the same. I don't care what you say, I don't trust your judgement after last night—"

"He's been helping me!" She shouted, refusing to let her insult him. She had done everything wrong, but by God, she wouldn't let Adam take any of the blame. "He's been so sweet and understanding, and he's helped me in ways you won't ever understand!"

"Well, that's mighty kind of him, but you're my child, and I'm the only one who needs to help you," She stated. "Now get into your room and start—"

"God, will you just listen?!" Fiona screamed and broke down into tears. She let her face fall into her hands as she sobbed helplessly. "He's... been... there... for... me... when you... weren't."

A brief silence fell, but it was broken shortly after. "What the hell are you talking about?" Her mom said, harshness tainting her voice.

Fiona sniveled and tried to collect her words. She dried her eyes and then slowly looked up at her mom. "I couldn't... I couldn't... I couldn't dance before Adam helped me," She whispered, feeling more tears well over the rim of her eyes as she remembered that first day where he stepped up behind her and supported her leg. "He helped me... move on." And just move.

"What are you saying?" Her mom knelt down when Fiona kept hiding her face. "Sweetheart, what are you talking about?"

Fiona took a deep breath. She had to get all of it out now. It was due time.

"I haven't eaten... in months," She quietly whispered. She saw her mom's eyes widen and her lips part. "I would throw up... because I didn't deserve it..."

"Fiona..." Her mom's voice broke in half. "Baby...?"

"I couldn't pirouette," The tears rolled down her cheeks, and she closed her eyes. Her breath stuttered in her chest. "I was scared to dance every day, but if I didn't, then dad would've died in vain, and that's why I had to get the into the company, because if I didn't—"

"Fiona," her mom said and immediately cupped her face. She swept her cheeks with her thumbs and looked into her wet eyes. Fiona looked back and saw her mom look completely lost at her. "My sweet baby, why haven't you told me any of this before? Why have you been hiding this from me?"

"Because then you would've been disappointed in me, too," She squeaked, barely audible. Her mom let out a broken sound, but then abruptly pulled her into a bone-crushing hug.

"Baby," She whispered and stroked her over her hair. "Oh, honey. How could you ever think that? Your father and I love you very much. We could never be disappointed in you."

"...Not even after last night?" She reasoned.

She heard her mom sigh deeply. "No, baby. Not even then. I was so angry and concerned about you, but I could never be disappointed in you. You make me proud every day you live and breathe. You're my beautiful baby."

She heard her mother's voice crack, and as if she wasn't crying enough herself, she now heard her mother hiccup, which made her cry even more. "Mommy..."

"I love you so much, Fiona," She gave her a hard kiss on the side of her head, and then pulled her tighter to her body. Fiona shakily brought her own hands around her as well. They hugged each other for what felt like minutes.

"I love you, too," She whispered back, brokenly. "And I miss dad... so much," She cried and buried her head in her neck.

Her mom cupped the back of her head and softly stroked her back. "Me, too, baby. Me, too."

They sat like that for what felt like a whole hour, an hour wherein Fiona didn't let go of her mom and her mom didn't let go of her. She couldn't remember the last time she had gotten a hug that lasted that long... and had felt so strong and full of love.

Not even Adam could top this one. Her mom's hugs were the best thing in the world.

"I'm sorry I yelled at you," Her mom then said, after a long moment. "You just scared me so much last night."

"I'm sorry I didn't say anything," She replied, sniffling a little. "I never meant to scare you."

"Promise me you'll never do something like that again."

"I won't," She promised, but then glared out of the kitchen window, down the street where she and Adam had come from. He was long gone. "But mom... Adam really didn't know. He's only ever been good to me, you have to believe that."

Her mom gave a deep sigh and finally pulled back. Her eyes were a little shiny as well, but she mustered up her stern face. "I'll choose to believe that for now. He did seem like a good kid, but I just don't trust boys his age, sweetheart. They're all up to one thing."

"Adam's not like that," Fiona said, honestly. She smiled faintly at the floor as she remembered how he had pulled away last night right when it seemed like things were going to move too fast... "he doesn't want to do any of that. He just..." She almost said something she realized she wasn't sure about.

They had kissed... but what exactly did that mean for them? They hadn't even had a chance to talk. Things had been so crazy and hectic, they never got a chance to sit down and figure out what this new step in their friendship meant... if friendship was even what you could call it anymore.

"Please don't tell me I can't see him anymore," She begged and saw her mom press her lips tightly together. "Please. He's helping me eat, he's eating with me every day, and he's helping me dance better, and I've gotten friends thanks to him, and—"

"Alright," her mom held up a finger and took a deep breath. "I need to have a serious talk with him, and I think you and I need to talk about all this eating business too, but... until I figure out how to punish you for what you did... you can continue seeing him," She said, making Fiona's heart race. She nearly jumped out of her seat right then, but her mom raised her hand again, "on the condition that we drive over and see him right now, and talk this whole thing out. If he's helped you as much as you say, I believe I owe him the benefit of the doubt."

"Thank you," Fiona surged forward and nearly tipped her mom backwards when she jumped her with a hug. She clung to her and almost shook to her bones in happiness when despite it all, she would still get to see Adam. If he still wanted to see her, that was...

~~~

They had driven to his house where his grandma had told them he had taken off to be at the DanceDec. They had briefly exchanged a few words with his grams too, where Fiona's mom got a few words of peace as well, regarding Adam. It was just like Adam had said; his grams wasn't all too bad. She was mostly just talk and sass.

They had then driven to the DanceDec, after saying goodbye to his grams, and pulled up at the front. Fiona had then asked her mom if she could get just a few minutes alone with him first before she came in with her. She just needed to talk to him alone before they even started anything else.

Allowing her a few moments, Fiona therefore found herself ascending the stairs alone and walking towards their usual studio. She could feel her heart pounding in her chest, already emotionally spent enough. She wasn't sure she could handle two trips down the emotional lane...

Twisting the doorknob quietly, she silently peaked in and found him all alone.

He was practicing a few new steps, but from the looks of it, his concentration was somewhere else. When the door opened, he looked up and spotted her through the mirror. He sighed deeply, but his face then softened, probably from looking at her swollen eyes. When he smiled faintly, it gave her just the inch of hope she needed.

Walking inside slowly, she closed the door and watched him abandon the dance floor. He slowly came towards her as well, his body seeming as exhausted as she felt herself. The last 24 hours had been a crazy mess.

Stepping forward, Fiona then looked up in surprise when Adam suddenly wrapped his arms around her and pulled her to his chest. Fiona nearly broke down crying again and clung to his shirt. He didn't hate her. "Hey."

"Hi," She shakily whispered back. They stood like that for a few moments before Adam pulled back.

"Did you talk things out with her?"

Fiona nodded. "Yeah." And then some.

"Did you tell her everything?"

She nodded again and looked up at his eyes. "Everything."

A relieved look slid over his face, and he then pulled her into his body again. Pressing a faint kiss to her forehead, he sighed. "Good."

"Adam, I'm so sorry," She whispered, hoping he understood how much she truly meant it. She never meant to lie to him, but last night had meant so much to her, she couldn't even tell if she would've done the same again. "I'm so sorry I lied to you."

"Don't do it again," He whispered quietly and softly pecked her head again.

"I promise," She whispered back. She was done with lying.

"I like you more than you know, Fiona," He said and suddenly pulled back a little to look into her eyes. His jungly green ones were an array of emotions. "I don't want there to be any lies or secrets between us, not if we're going to do this."

"Do... what?" Fiona felt her heartbeat slowly speed up. Was he talking about...?

His lips twitched a little, and with his thumb, he brushed her cheek. "I hope you don't mind dating a white guy. I still twerk better than you."

Her lips split in a wide grin. Did he just...? "You're so stupid."

"That's girl for shut up and kiss me," He grinned, just before leaning down and capturing her lips. Fiona rolled her eyes, but couldn't help but grin back and wind her arm around his neck when he pulled her real close into his arms.

Feeling his lips kiss her tenderly, but passionately, Fiona threaded her fingers through his hair and felt his body tense up against her. He slowly pulled his lips back, a little out of breath.

"Any chance you think your mom will let me take you out again tonight on a proper date?" He then said against her lips.

When he gave her a cheesy grin, Fiona chuckled dryly. "I think that might be pushing it. But speaking of my mom..."

And as if on cue, that was when the door opened behind them and her mom cleared her throat loudly.

"Shit," Adam cursed under his breath.

That made them two for two.

• • •

Third time's a charm.