Why don't you lay here with me...

[axeslade]

Next chapter of I Should Tell You. I've decided that there's going to be one more chapter after this.

"Mommy, hurry up!"

Mandy froze in putting on her lipstick, smiling in the mirror at her daughter. It was just a little after eight, but Kim had been up since five that morning and had been dressed since five fifteen.

"Calm down kiddo. Curt's probably not even awake yet."

Kimberly sighed heavily, dropping down to sit on the floor near her mother's feet.

"Well *still*, you're slow" Kim whined. "You've changed your clothes three times."

Mandy smiled more and reached for her mascara, still looking at Kim through the mirror as she spoke.

"You were the one who said he was nicer than my other boyfriends, Kimmie. I want to look nice for him," she said, grinning as Kim's expression changed from annoyance to shock to pure joy.

"I was just kidding when-...you're really dating him!?" Kim exclaimed, standing.

Mandy laughed, turning as she picked up her coat to kiss her daughter's forehead, ruffling her hair.

"We've got a lot to talk about later, sweetheart. C'mon, we should probably get going if we want to get a cab."

Luckily for Mandy, the same annoying receptionist who had been on duty three days earlier was working again, and she didn't even look up from her magazine as Mandy led Kim to Curt's room.

Despite the fact that she had a pretty strong hold on the little girl's hand, the instant Mandy opened the door Kim slipped from her grasp, making a dash towards Curt. Curt, who had been sitting pensively on the edge of the bed, came back down to Earth immediately. He smiled, then laughed and wrapped his arms around the little girl.

"Hey Kim. Didja miss me?" he asked, a joking smile shining in his crystalline eyes and on his lips.

Kim nodded enthusiastically.

"Yeah. And Mommy did too. It took her two hours to get ready 'cause she wanted to look pretty for you."

Curt rose a brow at this, looking up to look at Mandy. When she blushed, he gave her a slightly wry smile and stood up, still holding Kim in his arms.

"C'mon, lets get outta here. I'm so tired of hospital food, I'd even eat your cooking," he said with laugh, pulling back when Mandy tried to slap his arm. It took all his power to just roll his eyes and step out the door when she stuck her tongue out at him, instead of pulling her to him and kissing her until she couldn't breathe.

It was weird. Any moment now, Mandy was expecting to have all of this taken away, to wake up alone in some stranger's apartment, naked and hung over. After all, her luck had never been good. What she was seeing now- Kim and Curt on her living room floor, wrestling like two wolf pups and laughing-that couldn't be real. It was too good to be real. She thought about pinching herself, but then Curt looked up for a moment, shaking his head to toss his hair out of his eyes, and gave her a wolfish smile far more heartmelting then anything she could have dreamed up. She smiled back, hoping she wasn't crying.

At some point, she forced herself to pull her gaze away from Kim and Curt to glance at the clock. When she saw it was after ten, she sighed.

"All right you two. It's way past Kim's bed time."

The two froze at the sound of her voice, and Kim turned to give her a pout.

"Aww, Mommy-"

"Uh-uh. It's a school night. Go on, go brush your teeth. Light's out in five minutes, you hear me?"

Kim pouted again, then turned to Curt in hopes of back up. He shrugged.

"Sorry Kim, your mom'd kill me if I went against her wishes."

Mandy bit back a laugh when Kim stood up with a little huff, then hugged her and Curt and trudged towards the bathroom. Curt laughed a little and stood up, rolling his shoulders.

"She's like that all the time?" he asked with a grin. Mandy nodded.

"Yeah. Why do you think she gets into fights all the time? Maybe with you around she'll be able to burn off more of that energy so I only get called twice a week because she's in the principal's office."

Curt laughed again, shaking his head.

"She's almost worse than me. I think I may owe the entire human race an apology."

Mandy smiled, then furrowed her brow a bit when Curt stretched out on the couch, looking as if he planned on staying there for awhile.

"What are you doing?"

"Oddly enough, after wrestling with that kid for the past few hours, I'm tired."

Mandy rolled her eyes, sitting down at his feet.

"What I meant was why are you sleeping here?"

Curt smirked.

"Well, if you want I could sleep on the floor or-"

Mandy shook her head, reaching out to put a finger against his lips.

"My bed's plenty big enough for two, Curt."

His brilliant eyes widened, grey irises filled with uncertainty. "Mand, we don't have t-"

"I know," she whispered, crawling forward so her legs were tangled with this. "We don't have to. But I want to. At least, if you still want-" she cut off when Curt cupped a hand to the back of her neck, pulling her a little closer.

"Don't you ever," he whispered, pressing his fingers deeper into her flesh to drive home the point, "ever think that I don't want you. I just thought that with...with everything that's between us still, you might not be ready yet."

Mandy felt the tears slip from her eyes onto her face, felt Curt's fingers reaching out to wipe them away. She closed her eyes for a moment, licking her lips and trying to force herself to stop shaking so she could speak clearly.

"Curt," she said finally, opening her eyes and running her fingers through his hair. "When...what happened after the concert...I was too hurt by Brian back then. I couldn't see past that hurt, couldn't understand that the two of you were different men. That even if you had slept with that boy because he looked like Brian, that it didn't mean you didn't love me. I was too bitter to even think about allowing you a moment of weakness, even though I'd had plenty myself," she drew in a sharp breath, calming herself, before she continued. She leaned closer, so her lips brushed against his cheek.

"It's been a long time, Curt. I've had time to think. Now, if I had the chance, I'd go back and slap myself for letting some stupid boy with a bad dye job come between us. Okay?"

Curt stared for a moment, then smiled, sapphire eyes glistening with love and lust.

"Okay."

Mandy grinned and kissed him deeply, slipping a hand beneath his neck to pull him up against her. She held him like that, mouth bruising his, tongue dancing in his mouth, until she couldn't breathe. She held on a moment longer, then pulled back and stood up. When Curt gave her a bewildered look, she turned her gaze to see that Kim's light was off, then grabbed his hand and pulled him up.

"C'mon, you'll put your neck out if we do it here."

Curt smothered what would have been a rather loud laugh, and let her drag him to her bedroom.

"Kim's a hard sleeper, right?" Curt asked, only half-jokingly, when they tumbled onto the bed. Mandy smiled and nodded.

"She could sleep through a hurricane. Most of the time," she added as a slightly-nevous afterthought. Curt smirked.

"Well, I guess we'll have to be a bit quieter then a huricane, then," he said as he started unbuttoning her sweater. Mandy laughed, slipping her hands up under his dark t-shirt and shoving it over his hair. Once she tossed the garment to the floor, she started tracing his lightly muscled chest, fingers shaking as she did.

"Oh God...I'd forgotten...I mean, I dreamed, but..." she swallowed, gasping as Curt, having gotten her sweater unbuttoned, unhitched her bra and started circling her nipples with a finger.

"It doesn't live up to the reality," he finished for her in a husky whisper, leaning down to kiss and lightly bite her neck. She nodded jerkily, biting her lip to hold back a moan as he knelt between her legs, pressing their still-covered waists together. She couldn't stop herself from opening her mouth and gasping, though, when Curt kissed and nipped his way down her neck and shoulders, then started on her breasts. Trying to distract herself a bit so she wouldn't start moaning, she slid her fingers down, trying and failing to get his pants unbuttoned.

Feeling her fumbling, Curt looked up from her chest and smiled wolfishly, sliding his own fingers down to guide hers in undoing the button and yanking down the zipper. After he'd kicked off his own pants, he grinned again and lowered his head. Given a moment to cool down, Mandy started to ask what he was doing, then she realized that he had managed to unbutton her pants with his mouth and was now yanking down the zipper with his teeth. She laughed, shaking her head.

"You haven't changed a bit, have you?"

Curt pulled down her pants and knelt between her legs, looking down at her with a grin.

"Nope," he said proudly, leaning down to kiss her temple. "And from what I've seen, you haven't either."

"Curt..." she whispered, running her fingers down his arm. He smiled, grabbing her fingers and kissing them quickly. When he let go of her wrist, he moved his fingers to the waistband of her panties. As he did, Mandy reached her right arm out to her nighstand, pulling open the drawer and fumbling around for a moment until she felt what she was looking for. She tossed the foil square at Curt.

"Until we can be sure our fun times haven't left us with anything."

Curt nodded, quickly rolling on the rubber before he knelt between her legs. He ran a tender hand through her hair, cupping her cheek.

"I love you Mand."

"Love you too," she whispered, pulling him down for a kiss as he pressed inside her. She moaned softly into his mouth, arching up against him, wrapping her legs around his waist. She gasped as he put his hands under her knees, lifting her legs a little harder so he went even deeper inside her. Oh God...

Curt let out a low growl, slipping a hand under Mandy's back to hold her tighter against him as he felt her tighten around him, forcing him into climax at the same time. Through all the nights he'd spent dreaming about being with her, it had never been this good.

When he was spent, Curt reluctantly slipped out of her, removing the condom and collapsing beside her. He felt her lean her head against his shoulder and with a smile he wrapped his arm around her.

"So?" he asked softly, mouth against her hair. She laughed, kissing his shoulder.

"Do you even have to ask?"

Curt smiled, kissing her forehead.

"I don't know, figured after all this time you might be faking to flatter me."

Mandy shook her head, smiling up at him as she kissed his cheek. He sighed, stroking her cheek with his fingers.

"But that smile sure isn't lying. You were great too. More than great," he assured her, kissing her foread.

"Mm, thanks," she sighed, laying back down beside him. "G'night Curt."

"Good night Mand," he whispered, closing his eyes. "Sweet dreams."

Comments

[spacequeen.livejournal.com]

Kim and Curt on her living room floor, wrestling like two wolf pups and laughing-that couldn't be real. It was too good to be real. She thought about pinching herself, but then Curt looked up for a moment, shaking his head to toss his hair out of his eyes, and gave her a wolfish smile far more heartmelting then anything she could have dreamed up.

*CRI* :'D

At least, if you still want-" she cut off when Curt cupped a hand to the back of her neck, pulling her a little closer. *Heart racing*

She tossed the foil square at Curt.
"Until we can be sure our fun times haven't left us with anything." Just right. Doesn't seem forced or annoyingly PC.

Beautiful tender love scene.♥

[axeslade.livejournal.com]

I knew you'd comment on the condom ~_^ See, after reading your rant awhile ago, I didn't want to be overly PC or anything, BUT at the same time, I know those two ~_^ I had originally had Curt brining up the condom issue, but for some reason it didn't work, it was just too smarmy. So I had Mandy say it and it came out much better, much more...Mandyish ~_^

[axeslade.livejournal.com]

Wow, I ~_^'d a lot in that last one...weird...

[spacequeen.livejournal.com]

Well, of the two, Mandy will, IMO, always be the more practical one. So, yeah, it was better to have her bring it up.

There's not always a rule about when condoms fit into a story, but in this case I believe it was appropriate.

[spacequeen.livejournal.com]

LOL, it's ok.

[axeslade.livejournal.com]

Well, of the two, Mandy will, IMO, always be the more practical one

Yep. See, when I tried to have Curt bring it up, it was...well, it was a very Curt thing to say, he just say it in a very female way if that makes any damn sense. If I could have made it a little more lighthearted/gruff/whatever Curt would've said it. But I couldn't, so he didn't.