He Looked Back

by Hollandaise, Melissa

“Your lips are cold,” I laugh.

  “Sorry,” he says into my skin and we both laugh again.

  He nips at the skin on my neck, bringing blood to the surface of the skin, creating red and purple blooms. I feel completely happy in that moment as his lips return to mine, slipping his tongue gently into my mouth.

  The temperature seems to rise in the room as I play with the hem of Dylan’s shirt—a Panic! At The Disco shirt. I feel him smile as he sits up and removes it, tossing it to the floor.

  My eyes travel up his torso, marveling at the ink marking his body. Two swallows are drawn on his chest, and smaller tattoos dot up his arms. I see a letter L for Leah, and a letter A for Anne. Each of the designs seem mean something to him, and I want to know what each one means. I reach up and trace each of the swallows on his chest with my fingertips, in awe at the sheer beauty of them.

  “You like the swallows?” He asks, his voice husky from our kiss.

  “Yeah,” I say. “They’re beautiful.”

  “I have yet to see your tattoo, Katie.”

  I smirk, remembering I boasted to him that I indeed have a tattoo when we were stuck in the elevator together.

  I pull my shirt over my head, tossing it by Dylan’s on the floor. I turn so he can see the back of my shoulder.

  I feel the tips of his fingers touch it softly, tracing over the design.

  “A rose,” he says, almost sounding in awe.

  “It’s so I never forget who I am,” I say, turning back to look at him. “There have been a few times when I have, so I got this when I turned eighteen to remind me that I’m Katie, and that’s who I’ll always be.”“That’s...beautiful,” he says, lowering his forehead to touch mine. "And I admit, I still thought you were bluffing about having a tattoo."

  I laugh and so does he, the sound of our laughs together one of the most beautiful I've ever heard.

  His hot flesh on mine sends fire through my body as we kiss again, my arms wrapping around his neck. I could kiss him forever.

  In the next few minutes, my jeans are pulled from me, along with Dylan’s. I tell him I’m cold and he laughs, pulling me under the comforter with him. He presses his lips back to mine before asking me what I want to do.

  So I tell him I’m his.

  He kisses down my neck again and tells me he loves me against my skin, causing goosebumps to arise on the surface. I tell him I love him too and he smiles at me, a radiant, iridescent smile. I play with the curls at the base of his neck as he disposes of our remaining clothes. He lowers his lips back to mine, and I am truly his.

  “Shut the fuck up. Pam and Jim are meant for each other.”

  “I’m just saying, Roy seems like a decent guy.”

  “He almost punched Jim in the face!”

  “Jim kind of deserved it. I mean, he stole Roy’s girl.”

  “He didn’t steal anyone, Dylan, you’re delusional.”

  Dylan and I lay in bed, arguing over the Office as we wait for the commercials to end. We put on pajamas to keep warm and Dylan went back to his apartment to grab us a couple Snickers before cuddling up next to me again.

  “If anyone’s meant for each other, it’s Micheal and Holly.”

  “Alright, I agree with you there,” I say, twisting my finger in one of Dylan’s curls. He lays on his back and I lay facing him, propped up on my elbow.

  “Katie,” he says.

  “Hmmm.”

  “What are you doing for Christmas?”

  “I honestly haven’t thought much about it.”

  “Are you going home?”

  “Well, I probably was, but I don’t know now after the whole divorce.”

  “Oh.”

  “But I could stay here, too.”

  “No, you should see your family.”

  “Well...you could come with me. If I end up going, that is.”

  “I don’t know.”

  “It would be fun! We could go to Central Park, and the EmpireState...”

  “You sound like a tourist.”

  I laugh. “It would be fun, Dylan, you know it.”

  “I’ll think about it,” he says, propping himself up to be eye level with me.

  “What do you normally do on Christmas?”

  “Go to the zoo and party with the sea lions, of course.”

  I laugh again. “Party animal.”

  “Literally.”

  We both laugh at the horrible pun.

  “It’s two am,” I state, looking over at the clock.

  “Eh, it’s Saturday tomorrow.”

  “Thank God.”

  “I know. Sex in the middle of the week is not as fun.”

  I roll my eyes at him and lay back, smirking.

  “Do you want to sleep now?” He asks me.

  I respond with a yawn and he smiles, reaching over and turning off the light. I switch off the TV and nestle into his arms.

  “Katie,” Dylan says.

  “Hmm.”

  “Was I...your first?”

  I flush. “Yeah,” I answer.

  “Good.” I can hear his smile.

  “Why is that good?”

  “I wouldn’t want to share you.”

  I laugh at his response.

  “I used to hate you, you know,” I say into the dark.

  “Did you now.”

  “Yeah. I always thought about how rude you were to me, and how I wished I had never met you.”“I know, I’m a douche.” He half smiles.

  “A total douche.”

  We laugh again.

  “I never thought I’d fall in love with you,” I say, then flush.

  “I didn’t, either.” He turns onto his side to face me. “But I do now.”

  “How even?” I ask. “You hate love.”

  “I do,” he agrees. “Just not with you.”

  My heart warms and I burrow my face into his neck, sighing as his arms wrap around me.

  “What are we going to do about Alec,” I groan onto his skin.

  “We’ll figure it out,” he says softly, his delicate fingers running through my hair. “But for right now, we’re safe.”I shut my eyes and nod.

  So much has changed between Dylan and I today, and a lot of things are left unsolved with Lyone. But we’ll figure that out in the morning, because for now, neither of us wants to dwell on the foreboding danger that presumably lies ahead.

  Chapter Sixty Four

  My eyes flutter open to see white.

  I blink a couple times, then realize I’m facing the window, and it snowed overnight.

  “Dylan,” I say, nudging him.

  He groans.

  “Dylan,” I say again.

  “What.”

  “Look outside.”

  He sleepily sits up, turning his messy head of curls to look out the window. He sighs, flopping down again. “Fuck, it snowed again.”“We should go out in it.”

  “What are you, five?”

  I roll my eyes at him, lying back down next to him. “Don’t shit on the party,” I mutter.

  I see him fighting a smile, and smirk.

  Events from the night before swim through my mind.

  Dylan loves me.

  Dylan loves me.

  It still seems hard for me to believe, but I don’t question it. I’m lucky, so lucky to possess his love.

  His arm wraps around me, and I scoot back so I can admire the tattoos on it.

  I trace over the star, and then the lock and key farther down on his wrist.

  A childish giggle escapes from him.

  “That tickles,” he says, his eyes still closed but his mouth smiles.

  I smile and scoot back to him, nestling my body into his chest. His other arm tightens around me, and he sighs sleepily.

  “It’s almost ten,” I say.

  “So?” His voice is raspier from sleep.

  “Don’t we have things to do?”

  “No.”

  I roll my eyes. “Are we just going to pretend that we didn’t get that threatening
text from Alec last night?”“Don’t shit on the party, Katherine.”

  I sigh, fighting a smirk. He sees and laughs lightly.

  “We’ll figure it out,” he says more seriously. “I’ll call Oliver about it later.”I swallow and nod.

  A moment later, Dylan’s phone buzzes from the nightstand.

  “For the love of God,” he groans, pulling away from me and reaching for the phone.

  “What,” he snaps into it, running a hand through his hair.

  A frown forms on his face. “Yes, we both got the text...yes, she’s here...no, no one’s tried to come here...alright, see you soon...bye.”He drops the phone onto the bed, rubbing his eyes in stress.

  “Who was it?” I ask.

  “George,” he says. “They all got the text, but that doesn’t make sense.”“How could Alec have known?” I ask.

  “He couldn’t have,” Dylan says, sitting up. “Unless...” He clenches his jaw.

  “Unless what?”

  “They’ve got an insider at Crane.”

  I furrow my brow. “Who?”

  “I don’t know, but we need to be more careful.”

  I nod, chewing on my lip.

  “Anyway, we have to be at Oliver’s in an hour,” Dylan says, pulling himself out of bed.

  I groan and get out of bed, too. “I hate Alec,” I say.

  Dylan smirks at me from across the room. “Join the club,” he says.

  I catch sight of his phone in his hand. “Your phone is still cracked?”He looks at it. The screen is still cracked from the day I told him I loved him and he dropped it in shock. “Yeah,” he says.

  “Why didn’t you get it fixed?”

  “I don’t know, I just couldn’t,” he replies. “It reminds me of what you said that day.”I smile like an idiot and look at the floor.

  “Now you go get in the shower and I’ll make breakfast, let’s get this show on the road!” Dylan claps his hands twice and points toward the bathroom and I laugh at his mock leadership.

  I shower quickly and change into a lace shirt and dark pants, putting my hair up. I meet Dylan out in the kitchen where he’s dressed in a black sweater and jeans. He must have gone home to change.

  He slides a plate of eggs and toast toward me, leaning over his phone.

  I eat quickly, watching Dylan.

  “What are you thinking?” I ask him.

  “Multiple ways to kill Alec,” he replies.

  “Hmm.”

  “So far the best is choking him with the fake plants at Ivory.”“I like that one.”

  “As do I.”

  We smirk and I put away my empty plate.

  “Alright, let’s go,” he says, grabbing his jacket from the couch.

  “Wait,” I say. “I need to ask you something.”

  He turns back to me expectantly.

  “What...what are we?” I ask, shifting my weight.

  “We’re humans, Katie, now let’s get going.”

  “No, I mean...where do we stand?”

  “Oh.” He raises an eyebrow. “Well, I love you, and you love me, so as long as you’re mine, I’m yours.”I smile. “Okay,” I say, nodding.

  He smiles back, stepping toward me and hooking his arm around my waist, kissing my lips softly.

  “Now, we have to get going,” he says, handing me my jacket and I nod, still smiling widely.

  Dylan puts on the Panic! At The Disco CD again in the car, and I know he’s trying to lighten the mood. Alec’s threats hang heavy in the air, and I can tell Dylan’s worried, although he won’t say. I feel so connected to him after the other night, and if I couldn’t bear to see him hurt before, it would kill me to see him hurt now.

  He finally turns into Oliver’s apartment lot, pulling the car to a stop.

  We stare ahead for a few moments, silence engulfing the car.

  Dylan’s jaw is clenched, his eyes a darker green. I look at him, and he looks over to me, catching my eye.

  “You alright?” He asks and I nod.

  He nods and gets out of the car, me following suit.

  I pull my coat tighter around me as we walk through the snow blanketed lot, Dylan’s hand resting on the small of my back.

  We don’t speak as we take the elevator to Oliver’s floor, Dylan knocking in Morse code on the apartment door.

  Oliver opens it, a grave expression on his face as he beckons us inside.

  Everyone else is already seated, solemn looks on their faces.

  Dylan and I sit on the couch, my nerves on high.

  “So we all got the text.” William breaks the silence.

  “Fucking Alec,” Ethan snaps.

  “I don’t understand how he could have known,” George says.

  “There must be an insider at Crane,” Dylan says. “Either that, or Crane confronted Alec and he just assumed it was us.”“That was a mistake, making Crane talk to him,” Oliver says, shaking his head. “We should have had him suspect Alec little by little instead of just confronting him.”“I agree,” Ethan says. “We should have been smarter about this.”“Well, we can’t go back in time,” Dylan says. “Now we’ve got a pissed Lyone Enterprises on our hands.”“The sooner Alec throws the party for Crane, the better,” George says. “We can use the party as a front to infiltrate the enterprise.”“He’s right,” Dylan says. “The party could be the key.”“We need to figure out what Alec is planning,” William says. “But none of us can, because Alec’s after us all.”Dylan smirks. “Then we need to find someone who can.” He pulls out his phone and dials a number, putting the phone to his ear.

  “Ed,” he says into the receiver. “A favor.”

  Twenty minutes later, a patterned knock sounds at the door and Oliver answers it to the red haired guy that I met when Dylan took me to play poker. He nods to everyone and Dylan stands to shake his hand.

  “Thanks for coming, mate,” Dylan says as Ed takes a seat in an armchair.