With a bright red head, you and JD walked back the way you came. This time, however, you walked side by side.

Again and again his broad shoulder bumped against yours or his hand brushed your fingers.

Every time his warm skin touched yours, a shiver crawled down your spine. It had been quite some time since you've last felt this way. It made your heart beat faster and yet you felt calm. This had not been the case in your past relationships.

This felt different. Maybe because it was JD. He was familiar, the connection between the two of you was different, very emotional. You didn't need to meet his expectations because he already knew how you could be. And he had fallen in love with it despite everything. You could just be normal around him.

That thought made you feel calm.

But at the same time there was this little voice in the back of your head, whispering how disappointing him could mean the end of your lifelong friendship.

You shivered.

Again, his hand brushed against yours. This time his finger locked with yours for the breath of a second.

They were just little touches that could happen by accident. But you knew exactly that it was a simple attempt of him to get you used to it.

Smiling softly, you exhaled deeply and shook your head.
It was cute that he wasn't too pushy, maybe even a little shy. But at the same time, it made it clear that he wasn't going to be easily turned away. He wanted to get his chance.

"Your father made a good man out of you, I see.", you mumbled, reaching for his hand as he glanced at you.

Your fingers locked with his.

Surprised by the gesture, he stopped abruptly. As if enchanted, he stared at your hands before closing his fingers tighter around yours. It felt like he wouldn't let go anymore.

Embarrassed, he grinned. A hint of red lit up on his face. He quickly turned his eyes away from you again and pulled you along with him.

"We- We should go on...", he murmured in a hoarse voice. "A windflare might surprise us..."

Chuckling, you shook your head but did not comment on it. He was already suffering enough, teasing him would do no good.

A loud groan escaped him as he pushed the gate to your lab open and let you go in first.

As you pulled your head in, you gave him a gentle bump to the chest while walking past.

"Hey!", he slipped inside too. "Don't try me."

The gate fell shut. Dust twirled up.

He coughed.

"You should clean.", he said with a nod to the floor on which your footprints were showing.

You placed the samples on your desk and shrugged.

"You're welcome to do so if it bothers you.", you grinned but had to bite your bottom lip as his expecting eyes met yours. "Or... do you want to do anything else?"

Struck by surprise, his eyes widened. His face turned red. But as it came to his mind that you were not talking about such kind of activities, JD had to clear his throat and give himself a hit against the forehead.

"Pull yourself together...", he hissed to himself nearly audible. "Uh, well I am hungry now. How about you make some dinner for me? As a repayment that I showed you the cave."

Sarcastically, you looked at him.

"You pushed me into the lake.", you reminded him with a gesture to your soaking wet clothes. "Wasn't that enough payment for you? You almost laughed your ass off too."

"Well you did look pretty hilarious, if I may say so."

"You may not."

"Like a wet poodle."

"JD..."

"Or a drowning Locust."

"How charming...", grinning, you rolled your eyes and sighed. "I should have drowned you when I had the chance to."

He walked up to you, his hands wrapping around your waist and pulling you closer.

A surprised gasp escaped you. Immediately your hands rose to his chest.

His muscles moved at the touch.

"Or...", with a threateningly broad grin he leaned down, so close that the tip of his nose almost brushed against yours. "You should have kissed me. It would have been the perfect moment to start with."

From the tone of his voice it was clear that he was just joking. But the shimmer in his bright blue eyes told another story. This might have been a joke to him, just one of his many ways to tease you for his own amusement, but deep down inside he wouldn't have had anything against it actually happening.

Breathing heavily, you let your eyes jump over his face. His patience surprised you. And the way he was holding onto you also indicated that he wanted to give you the opportunity to slip away if you wanted.

Yes, he was teasing you. And yes, maybe he was even fantasising about things going his way.

But he had no intentions of forcing anything onto you.

As the realisation struck you, heat made your cheeks glow.

Somehow, this understanding yet demanding behaviour of his made you feel a wave of confidence. All of a sudden you looked at him as if he was another man, so attractive and desirable.

You swallowed heavily.

"Shit...", you gasped and let your hands grab his face. "Fuck it."

Squeezing your eyes shut, you pulled him closer while leaning towards him.

His lips crashed onto yours, soft yet a bit rough and dry from the outside world.

Somehow, he tasted different than you had expected. Instead of raw meat and sweat, he tasted fresh and clean, like toothpaste and mint mouthwash. Despite him being an outsider now he still stuck with the cleanses of a COG soldier.

A pleasant surprise.

Taken by surprise by your sudden courage, JD couldn't help but freeze. With his eyes wide open his brain struggled to make everything make sense.

He had expected you to shy away or play it off as one of his stupid jokes. If he was fully honest, he even had expected you to hit him.

But this was way better. Even better than he had imagined.