Chereads / Primal mates of destiny. / Chapter 3 - A breathe held in waiting.

Chapter 3 - A breathe held in waiting.

Gavin sat there, mentally crapping himself over what he had just said. He swallowed hard and forced himself to look her in the eyes as he reached out to grab her hand, squeezing it gently, and waited for her response. 

Erza sat there, her breath caught in her throat. A million things ran through her mind. It was wrong. It was impractical. It was unbelievable. She watched him grow up from the age of 13. She was a part of every major event in his life. Games. Heart breaks. Success and failures. At what point did he become more than just a kid she baby sat? She definitely didn't keep ties with any of the other kids after they got to a point. 

Thinking back, he was at all of her major events, when her ex broke her heart, Gavin brought her flowers and offered to be her date to senior prom so she didn't have to go alone and see the jerk with his new bimbo at the dance. That was one of her best nights of high school. He was always there being her knight in shining armor and she just didn't realize it. Suddenly it dawned on her, since that night at prom, she hadn't gone out with anyone else since that douche. She hadn't gone on a single date since Gavin gave her such a wonderful evening. For 3 years she's been solo, except for a certain young man that somehow wormed his way into her heart in the most unpredictable ways. 

She felt Gavins' sincere words, and his light grip on her hand as she looked up and saw him looking genuine and directly at her, still blushing, beet red, but determined to say what was in his heart. She squeezes his hand in return, offering a shy smile at him. "You know, I realized something during your hour-long confession," she teased him before continuing. "It dawned on me that you've been at every major life event I've had, even when I've long cut ties with other kids I used to babysit for. You went to my graduation and cheered even louder than my parents and brother when I walked across the stage. You helped me study whenever I was with you and had a final to cram for. You made me flash cards when I was struggling with history", she gave a soft chuckle and continued. "You bought me flowers when my douche of an ex broke up with me 2 days before prom for some skank, then offered to take me to my own prom, so I wouldn't have to waste the money on the dress i bought. In fact, I remember you saying "you spent so much on the dress, you deserve to look like the most beautiful lady at the dance". She smiled and laughed as she remembered how special he made her feel that night. Like no one else mattered to him. And apparently, no one else still mattered to him. 

She turned fully to face him, chairs brushing right up against each other. She reached up to gently stroke his cheek with her finger. "I realized since that night at prom, and how magical you made me feel, I haven't gone on a single date with anyone. Not even looked or considered dating anyone. In fact, I've turned down a few at college that asked me out after that" she whispered softly, looking into his eyes.

Gavin's eyes raised, his brown furrowed. "What do you mean? What is it you're saying, Erza?" He asked her quickly, breath caught in his throat and made it almost impossible to swallow. His heart was beating so fast he didn't dare let a sliver of hope creep into his heart. 

She smiled softly, a glint of joy in her warm yellow eyes, "I'm saying, you dense dunse, that I think I feel the same way about you" she said, barely above a whisper.

Gavin sat there, dropped his fork and just sat there in stunned silence. It couldn't be. His girl of his dreams. His goddess. His definition of perfection and best friend and partner just admitted to feeling the same way he did. The only thing he could do was sit there in stunned silence. 

Erza blushed even harder at his silence. Surely he should be happy, right? I just said that I liked him too, have for a long time, in fact. But is he not happy? She wondered to herself, her inner demon monologue running rampant before he suddenly leaned over and wrapped his arms around her tight. He pulled her close and held her for a moment. 

"You can stop that inner monologuing. I just wasn't expecting you to feel that way as well, Erza" he whispered in her ear, knowing how little confidence she actually had in herself. 

Erza smiled as she hugged him back hesitantly, a bright blush spread across her cheeks. "You think you know me so well, don't you?" She challenged him.

"I do, I doubt just about anyone else knows the real you. I bet your inner monologuing was going on thinking you were wrong and shouldn't have said anything back. Am I close?" He said with a knowing smile on his face as he called her out. 

Erza smiled and pinched his nose. "Oh u hush, smartass" she whispered as she just held him for a moment. "Now that we got all that mushy stuff out of the way, you need to eat your food before it gets cold". She chastised him before she stole a bite of his waffles and ignored his protests as he tried to pull his plate out of her reach.

"So, not to shoot myself in the foot... but does this conversation mean..." he asked and trailed off, pointing between the two of them.

She sat there for a moment, and thought of how to answer him in the best way. Grinning, she came up with a brilliant idea she knew would make him crazy. "Does this answer your question? " She asked before he could respond. She leaned in to steal a quick kiss from his lips, swiping her tongue over his lips before she pulled back with a bright smile on her face. 

Gavin only sat there, dazed with a brilliant smile on his face, he gently touched his lips with his fingertips and looked at her before grinning like a wild man. "I'm not sure, you might have to give me another answer again," he told her, hoping for another kiss.

She laughed loud and full before she shook her head at him. "Nice try, but we still got a proper night of celebrations to go through after an early dinner, you know." He grinned at her response and finished eating his home-made waffles and took his plate to the sink. While he washed the dishes, he noticed Erza as she finished her food. She hummed happily as she sauntered to the sink, her hips swaying from side to side as she placed the plate.

"Okay, so dinner is done, and a miracle happened with a confession. So far, today's been a pretty magical celebration." Gavin commented as he wondered what else was next. 

She laughed as she pulled him into her arms and held him close, as she rested her head against his. "Whatever you want to do, handsome" she whispered softly, content to just explore what was happening between them. 

Gavin relaxed in her embrace, feeling at peace for the first time in a long while. The stress and pressures of the exams, internal struggles with where to go to school to finish years, and even keeping his feelings for Erza locked away in his heart. All of that melted away under her warm soft embrace. He looked at her and asked "What do you have planned tonight?" 

She thought for a moment before she responded "Well, there is a new b-level sci-fi horror flick at the theater downtown. I figured you'd wanna go see some creature type movie" she said, as she thought out loud.

He perked up at the mention of his biggest guilty pleasure. He loved bad horror movies. It was like Crack for him, he couldn't get enough of the groan-inducing bad acting movies. He grinned wide at her and asked "Lagoon monster from outer space 3?" 

"Thats it! That's the one!" She answered with mirth in her voice. "You wanna go?" 

"Hell yeah!" He answered as one of the dogs, a great golden retriever, walked into the kitchen at that moment chomping his jaws at them. 

Erza laughed and said "Okay, okay Duke, I'll let you out to the bathroom before we go. Finish the dishes, Gavin, while I go tend to the dog, and we can leave to make the 8 o'clock show" she told him as she walked away. Her dog barking happily as he went outside to go to the bathroom. 

Gavin nodded and washed the plates and pans while she disappeared out the back door of the house and as he stood over the sink he couldn't help but have a giant smile on his face, shock still registering on how things changed so quickly that night. He was drying the dishes with a towel when she came back in, Duke running past and heading to his bed for a much-needed puppy nap. 

She picked up her keys as she said "Ready to go?" As she walked towards the door.

"Yeah, I just gotta shoot my parents a quick text that you're kidnapping me" he said jokingly. 

"Oh they already know you won't be home tonight" she responded quickly, waving a hand over her shoulder as she led him out the door.

"Wait. What??" He asked, stunned at what she hinted at.

"Yeah, I sent them a text on my plans for you tonight when I let Duke out, they said give you their love, and they will see you tomorrow. Told them you're gonna help me dog sit tonight and be home on Sunday. So you are all mine this weekend" as she finished. He didn't notice the glint in her yellow eyes promising something wicked planned for them. 

She realized she enjoyed teasing him. In truth, after his confession she didn't know what to do. Her original plan was dinner, a cheap horror movie and driving around town listening to music just chilling. But now, she wanted to think of something special, maybe a way to treat this as their first date night together. His parents already knew that he was going to spend the night at her house. So time isn't a worry. 

As they drove through town to the theater, her phone went off. She answered it when she noticed the ID. "Hey Aria, what's up?" She listened in on the phone while her best girlfriend chatted about the music project, freaking out. "And the client wants an update on the project status by morning and sent over," she said in a panicked voice. 

"Hold on a sec" she said and put the phone on mute before she asked Gavin. "Hey, the girls need help getting part of the music project done by morning. I'm so sorry, but do you mind if we run by real quick, so I can save the day? Maybe we can go see a later showing or something else?" 

"Sure I don't mind." He responded, then softly said "I just want to spend time with you, so I don't care what we do" with a slight blush in his cheeks, still getting used to the thought of having a girlfriend. 

She smiled and turned the speaker back on, "Yeah we are heading that way now" she told Aria.

"OMG. You are a lifesaver!" She replied before hanging up. 

Erza changed lanes to turn around and head back in the opposite direction they were going, to go towards the studio they used for various music projects they were contracted for. "I hope it won't take long so we can enjoy our date night" she said without thinking. 

Gavin's heart soared at that comment. "When did this turn into a date night?" He teased her. 

"When you confessed," she said simply, with a hint of mirth in her voice. She reached over and held his hand while she drove, listening to bad pop music on the radio. 

"So what is this project anyway?" He asked her as they pulled into the studio parking lot.

Erza sighed tiredly "some big name band asked us to do an animated music video mashing some of their biggest songs into one elaborate video. It's been a pain in our butt though" she said as she got out and locked the doors before heading towards the building, hand in hand with Gavin. "I warn you though, I know you've met both Aria and Lila before, but when they are in work mode... they can be a bit… much" she finished trailing off as they walked through the door and up the stairs to their studio floor. 

Erza opened the door and led Gavin inside the suite. Inside there was a multitude of equipment; various electronics, computers, screens, motion and video capturing equipment. Off to one side was a small kitchen and dining area and a hallway that led to rooms further back. Immediately, Aria and Lila turned around with panic but happy smiles on their faces as they saw Erza enter, which quickly turned to confusion and stunned looks as they noticed the hand holding. 

For a second no one said anything, then Lila burst out laughing and smacked Aria in the shoulder. "Ha! You owe me 20 credits" she said. 

Aria grumbled about losing some kind of bet and fished the credits from her bag on the floor, her brown hair falling in loose waves around her face. "No fair" she muttered. 

Gavin, confused as can be, awkwardly let Erza's hand go before he asked "What just happened?" 

Lila grinned like a kid on holiday before she responded. "We had a bet, on how long after graduating that you would confess, and yall would start dating. She said 2 weeks. I said the day of finals", Lila laughed as she put away the credits in her pocket before she looked at the annoyed expression on Erza's face. "Oh come on sis, we all knew how the kid felt about you, and you yourself haven't dated since he swept you off your feet that night at the dance" Lila responded teasing her best friend. 

"Oh shut up" Erza snapped in annoyance, her eyes narrowed slightly. "Now, explain what was so important that you had to bother me on my night off, before I decide to leave you to your struggles".

Gavin understood Erza's annoyance, and said with a sigh, "My friends had a similar bet. Tessa bet on weeks end, others apparently by the end of summer." He just stood there awkwardly waiting to see what was their reaction. 

"What??" Erza asked spinning to face him as he other two girls burst out laughing again. 

"See everyone knew bout you too and expected yall to get together" Lila said in laughter tears falling down her face. She whipped at her eyes before she calmed herself down. 

Aria looked between the two of them, then said "The band wants a rough edit of the video by morning so they can make suggestions and request to change anything. Said there is an extra 10% bonus if we can deliver it by 8 am, but the problem is, that we are only about 70% analyzing and connecting parts of the videos and synchronizing them up with the animation and music. So we really need a third hand to help connect everything and animate it." Aria placed her two tanned hands together in a begging gesture. "Please won't you save our asses and help us get a nice fat bonus. You can use your part to spoil your new boo" she said teasingly. 

Erza's eyes flashed in annoyance, but she perked up at the mention of a bonus paid out tomorrow. "Fine, I'll help so long as it doesn't take all night", she said as she gave in before she looked at Gavin, "I'm sorry, but do you mind, you can chill here, or I can run u home or to a friend's house or something" she asked her new boyfriend. Yeah boyfriend. She was still getting used to that term now, it had been so long. 

Gavin thought for a minute and smiled "if it's cool, I'll just chill here. I can watch you guys work, stay out of your way, or if anything do you got a TV in a room I can binge some shows?" He responded as he reached out to give Erza's hand a gentle squeeze, "It's no biggy" he said reassuringly to her.

Lila spoke up, "There's a main room down the hallway with a vr set hooked up, and a TV to watch shows on" before she turned back to the screens and started typing away with the program controls. Erza sighed and took off her jacket before she tossed it over a chair and took a seat in-between the two females. "Okay, where are we at?" She asked as she immediately got to work, looking over the current progress and took notes over what was left to accomplish in about 15 hours. 

Gavin smiled, watching his hot girlfriend get to work, all thoughts of play and fun pushed aside when her team needed her most. He quietly slipped from the main room and went down the hall, the lights automatically turning on as they sensed his motion. He found the room Lila mentioned and was happy it had a comfy looking red couch, and decided to plop down before grabbing the remote to find something halfway decent to watch. As he sat down, exhaustion hit him like a freight train. The days and days of running on 4 or 5 hours of sleep, of cramming everything he could into his memory for the exams. The stress of worry about whether he would pass or fail. It'd been weeks since he had a full night's sleep.

He yawned, the peace of the afternoon washed over him as he settled on the couch and stretched out fully. He placed a cushion under his head and just let his body fully relax. 

Erza typed furiously at the computers, uploading software and live video, programmed the ai code to take the information and digitize it, from the backgrounds, to their movements, facial expressions, clothes, and the vocals into digital information and uploaded it into the algorithm to easily, in theory, transform everything into a animated form of whatever style was chosen. She then, with the help of the others, opened the holodeck application and sensors and projectors appeared from the walls and using the live action user interface began to snip, cut, combine and hash all the different major music videos into one giant bash, flowing lyrics from all the songs and into one massive 15 minute song mega video. The entire process took several more hours to complete. 

About halfway through she stood up, massaging her aching shoulders and looked around to find Gavin. "He must have gone to the TV room" she said, excusing herself to go check on her boyfriend. 

"Puppywhipped" she heard one of the girls mutter as Erza disappeared down the hallway to find Gavin passed out on the couch. She stopped and stared at him for a moment and paid attention to his handsome features. He really came into his own, a strong jawline, gorgeous black hair, beautiful blue eyes. His body was athletic and toned without being super muscular. A result of his days with different sports teams. In short, his build was lean and meant for speed, it seemed. She smiled and walked over to the cabinet and pulled out a warm soft blanket and wrapped it over him as she lowered the TV volume so it didn't wake him. She brushed a lock of hair behind her ear as she leaned down and placed a soft tender kiss on his lips before she left the room, to return and finish the job. She glanced at the time on her phone. It was 10:30 pm and it showed brightly. 

"Damn it," she muttered. She was very unhappy at how long this project took them so far. They were close but still another couple of hours remained in order to meet the deadline. "So much for going on our first full date" she angrily muttered, her amber eyes glowing softly. 

She walked back into the kitchen and Aria asked "How is your boo?" She turned around in her chair to look at Erza, taking a short break and standing up to stretch, her arms stretched up high over her head as she groaned from muscle cramps. 

Erza replied somewhat coldly "He's passed out on the couch. He hasn't slept much over the last few weeks. He's been trying to study every minute he could. He wanted to pass with good grades this year." She told her girls, before she sighed "This is probably the first moment of no stress, anxiety or worry he's had in weeks." She worriedly said. 

"Oh don't worry sis, I'm sure he will be full of energy and life in the morning," Lila said, coming over to hug her friend tight around the waist. Lila might be loud and proud, but she was a full head shorter than Erza. 

Aria snorted before she responded as well "Yeah maybe he will have too much energy for you to handle?" She winked as she said that and giggled softly.

Erza blushed and shook her head. "It's not like that. We haven't gotten anywhere near that. What we have is so brand new and shiny that I want to take our time exploring and learning it." She said wistfully, a smile creeping over her face. 

"Well, I have a feeling when you guys finally do it, you're going to break a bed or two" Aria said teasingly before she walked to the fridge and grabbed a couple cans of energy drinks and brought in 1 for each of them to push through and finish the project before catching any sleep.

Erza grumbled something and ignored the comment as she cracked open the top and downed half the drink at one shot. She went and sat down back at her station before going over what was completed one last time and the final edits for that section. She grabbed the last 10% of footage and began the digital transferring of the information while the girls added the special effects, and connected the music bits, lyrics and ensured the flow of the entire project. 

They kept at it for a few more hours between programming, editing, connecting segments and final edits. They finally agreed it was done and sent it off around 6 am Saturday morning. Barely shuffling their feet, they each found a spot to pass out and get some much deserved sleep. Aria just laid her head on her station and closed her eyes. Lila went to the spare bedroom and flopped on the bed passed out almost immediately. 

 Erza walked back to wear Gavin was asleep, and curled up on the couch, between him and the cushion. She pulled another blanket over her and laid down, her eyes barely open as she wrapped her body around his and quickly passed out the long day soon a distant memory in her dreams.