Well, I was going to hell.

I mean, I think so.

I had a lot of opportunities to stop messing around with Terrance, a lot of times to break it off and return to a righteous path, but...yeah, I didn’t. Didn’t even second guess it either.

Every night it just kept getting better since I let go during winter mid terms.

And now I was finishing up my spring semester, and…

Yup.

I was for sure going to hell.

Probably.

Terrance and I usually met up once a week to fool around, nothing quiet often enough to form any permanent bonds because sex was so spread out, but...we talked all the time on the comm he got me, and we messaged constantly, and…

Yeah, I was in pretty deep.

I liked him so much I wanted to vomit, annoyed if we went more than two weeks without him coming by for at least a cuddle, mainly because he got so whiny and obnoxious on the comm the longer we were apart.

He did this thing where he liked to just jump out at me randomly or suddenly appear out of nowhere and grab me to drag me off so we could fool around for a couple minutes on his break. He was really good at finding spots no one would see us, which made it fun and exciting, but the big downside was I basically trained now to get painfully hard every time I was walking alone in some dark creepy place and actually feared for my safety.

Because usually that was when Terrance would jump out and molest me.

It was very problematic, but not nearly as problematic as the fact that I hadn’t seen him in almost an entire freaking week.

I couldn’t even go two weeks now without feeling annoyed that he hadn’t surprised me and bothered me, and lately he had been so busy with work because tourism was way up, that he wasn’t even messaging me as much – he’d only comm me when he was in his patrol, and that was only for a minute or two before he had to go, long enough to complain how badly he missed me and then whine that he wanted to see me.

And that was it.

That was all he would say, four or five times a day, and then hang up.

And I was so freaking annoying.

But today we had actually made plans because I had finished my finals and we were going to spend the entire night together – he was going to pick me up and we’d go to a hotel in the matchmaking district and then watch a movie in bed, and-

And it was going to be a real f r e a k i n g date, which was really, really rare and NEVER happened on purpose. The only other times we actually did anything like that was when we were at his place in the peacekeeper dorms and he was so beat up from work we could only mess around a little before he had to stretch out on a heating pad. I’d usually lay next to him, or on him, or something between, and we’d watch tv or play a video game (which I never go to play before I met Terrance, since the church forbid them).

But Terrance was late.

By hours.

And I was kinda really freaking pissed off.

I was even wearing the new jeans he got me, which was a really big freaking deal.

I stared at my screen as his picture popped up on the comm he got me a while back and I rolled my eyes before I picked up.

“Sorry,” Terrance sighed, “I had to break up a fight between a bunch of tourists that apparently came here just to cause trouble, had some old war time issues they wanted to settle with some locals.”

“Okay, but when are you coming over?” I demanded. “You said you’d come over once I was done with my finals and I sent you a message like four hours ago.”

“Lemme call you back.” He hung up on me and I sighed, rolling my eyes.

I sat up in bed, tapping my fingers against my thigh as I stewed in my annoyance.

I had studied really, really hard for my finals and even did better than passing with most of them, and Terrance had promised if I had an eighty percent average, which was a full twenty points above passing and solidly in ‘competent’ territory, I’d get to fuck him.

I’d done it before – twice, actually – but things had gotten crazy and we usually only got quickies, or we were too tired, or he got called into work because being a MAN was important, blah, blah, blah.

Anyway, I held up my end and I got grades that were good enough.

And he was late.

By a lot.

My comm rang and I looked down to see his picture and I scowled, flipping it over so it was face down on my bed. I stared at where my suitcase was packed and I got up, feeling restless. I had to go home in a couple days for the Easter holiday, an entire week back with my family, the first time since I was sent to the city.

I had been arguing with myself for weeks about what to do about it-

I wanted to tell them, just rip the band-aid off, but I never wanted to damaged my relationship with my family so bad that they wouldn’t want to talk to me again. My relationship with my family was already strained, but we were still communicating – I talked to my mom a couple times a week, my siblings and I messaged every other day. My grandpa always called on Friday to get an update on my school work.

He had even said that it was okay if I didn’t become a medical doctor as long as I became a nurse, and that was major progress.

But I really wanted to tell them about Terrance.

I wanted to actually court with Terrance, something that we weren’t entirely throwing ourselves into because I struggled with it, but after Easter...I didn’t want to mess around anymore. I really, really wanted to court with him, and if I did that, that meant letting the matchmakers know, and then my family would absolutely know, and then-

Then I don’t know, but I couldn’t bear having any less of a relationship with my family than I had now.

I loved my family.

I needed family.

I loved Terrance, bu-

NNNNONOONOONONNONO.

No.

I LIKED Terrance.

Liked.

Oh Fuck.

FUCK.

Terrance kept calling but I ignored him, leaving my comm behind to grab my wallet as I ran away form my room and all my problems, deciding I was going to go the carnival in town for Easter and get sick on sugar because that seemed like the best idea at the moment.

I hurried out of the dorms, walking briskly through campus as I tried to decide where I was going to lose him. He could follow my scent so he’d be able to track me, not that he liked doing that. He said he much rather have me waiting in bed so he could just pop over for a quickie, but I liked to jerk him around, since he was always the one jerking me around.

As soon as I started to cut through the parking lot a vehicle suddenly pulled up and the door was throw open – I was grabbed by the back of my t shirt and yanked backward into the driver side while the vehicle was crawling alone.

I looked up and saw Terrance grinning, water dripping from his hair and face like he had literally taken a shower and not bothered to dry off. He was only wear sweatpants, his torso and right arm and hand completely bandaged up.

“Where you going?” He laughed as he dragged me over his lap, closing the door as soon as my legs were in. I slid down to sit at the bottom of the passenger side, my legs still hanging on his lap.

“I’m going out to celebrate.” I said stubbornly, “With or without you.”

“Bulllshit!” He said with a bark of laughter, “You’re looking for a chase, but I don’t chase, baby. You know that. If I’m after something, I kill it, I don’t fuck it.”

“You’re no fun.” I mumbled.

“Boo.” He laughed, holding onto my ankle as he drove. “We’re going to my place.”

I pulled a face before he was such a child about his place – he liked everything exactly like he had it and if I left anything out of order, he’d remind me and take me over to point out exactly what I did wrong.

“What happened to you?” I asked as I settled the back of my head and shoulders against the door, eyeing his bandaged chest.

“Told you – I had to break up a fight.” He grinned.

“Are you okay?” I asked.

“Sure, sure,” he said vaguely, smirking. “Ready to get your dick ridden?”

I grinned, “Did you see my test scores?”

“Yes! You did amazing!” He laughed, “I can’t believe your highest score was microbiology! Your horrible at biology!”

“I know!” I grinned, crossing my arms over my chest. “Aren’t cha proud?”

“Absolutely.” He patted my leg. “Are we eating first, or after?”

“AFTER,” I snapped, Terrance laughing loudly at that. “I’ve waited for HOURS – I think I scared my professor with how fast I ran back from my last final to my room to call you, and all I kept getting was – five more minutes and I’ll leave,” I mocked, Terrance grinning big. “I wanna fuck!”

“Church mouse!” Terrance howled, and I rolled my eyes. “I guess I need to come up with a new name for you – how about...kitten?”

“Do I look like a fucking kitten to you?” I said with a snort.

He grinned, lifting a shoulder. “Maybe. What do you think I should call you?”

“How about a lion-” I stilled when he blew a raspberry and then laughed hard, my expression souring. When he caught my look at the next stop signal he just started laughing harder, hard enough for his wounds to start bleeding through on his side. I crossed my arms over my chest and he tried to calm his laughter, but it clearly wasn’t working.

“I’m sorrryyy!” He laughed, “I can’t!” He barked, “I can’t! My little kitten, and lion! Haha!”

I pointedly ignored him then for the rest of the ride, refusing to answer any of his wheezed questions, to busy trying not to laugh to really put much effort into it. When we parked, he got out and while he went around the car, I hurried to get up and try to get to the lock button on the dashboard, but he opened the passenger door and pulled me out before I could.

I elbowed him right in his side wound and he grunted, releasing me so I could walk without him on me into the peacekeeper dorms, ignoring the looks of the other peacekeepers.

By now, everyone in the force knew Terrance and I were courting(ish), so they mostly just ignored us because we were ‘to much to handle’, which was real rich coming from a group of people that got together almost daily to party.

Liliport peacekeepers – specifically the females – were always partying. They were some of the most wild, intense crowd of people, and it made real sense that Terrance fit in very well with them.

Because he was just like them.

The males were more typical and reserved, more professional, but not Terrance. He was always grinning, and the longer I knew him, the more playful I realized he was with people he was close to. We’d done it a couple times in his office so I’d gotten a more intimate look at the inner workings of the peacekeepers and seen a different side then what Terrance showed others, and...yeah, it made sense why the peacekeeper girls loved him.

He’d pick up the female peacekeepers and he’d twirl them around, and he’d shimmy into a room or hold onto the ends of their braids and allow them to lead him around by them.

It was only the males he got professional with, and mainly just the ones that didn’t ‘want to play’ with him, Terrance more relaxed around a few that he could joke with.

It was just, I don’t know, it was nice to see.

And it just made him feel very human, I guess. He wasn’t just teeth, and a war torn face, and – and muscle, lots of muscles, and length, and cock, and-

I stabbed my finger against the up button of the elevator, willing it to hurry up and get to our floor. Terrance came up behind me and grabbed my ass, telling me to forgive him in a whiny little voice.

“If I’m a kitten, your a worm.”

“Not even a snake!?” He laughed, looking shocked as we stepped onto the elevator.

I crossed my arms over my chest, sticking my tongue in my cheek. He stared at me with his wide, wide yellow eyes, mouth hanging open, and I finally said “A small snake.” He nodded, his jaw snapping shut. The doors opened then and I stepped out first, “Like a baby snake.”

“Okay,” He said with a nod, “Okay. I’ll take it, kitten.”

“I don’t like being called kitten.” I snapped, and he stopped suddenly. I turned as he opened his arms, staring at me, half his bandages covered in blood now.

“Cub?” He suggested.

I stared blankly at him, blinking before I went over and reached up to hold onto his jaw, frowning. “Fox.” I murmured, his grin stretching across his face as he leaned forward and kissed me. I frowned, licking my lips as I pulled back, my stomach tightening. “Are you getting taller?”

“I wish.” He said as he gave me a quick kiss, walking me backwards. “I’m wearing different shoes because the ones I had were blood soaked. The only ones they had in my size had horse heels.”

I grunted, giving him another kiss before I turned, walking briskly to his door. I put in his twenty digit code (which he had changed to me my student ID and birthday combined so I would remember it in case I wanted to come by), and when the door opened I entered, hitting the lights.

The first time I had come here, I had a good laugh when he told me that being MAN didn’t mean he got better dorms – everyone got an identical sized dorm which was maybe a little bit smaller than the ‘better’ dorms at my university. The only difference between Terrance’s dorm and everyone else, I was told, was that he got a sticker over his room number – a sticker of his face, so everyone knew what room was his in case they needed him.

His door, of course, was covered in stickers of his face with various expressions, and it took me a few weeks until I figured out it was because he was so popular with the girls in the peacekeepers, and they kept printing out their favorite expressions he made and put it on his door.

“I’m taking a shower.” I mumbled as we walked past a small kitchen and living room and into his bedroom, going to his bathroom.

We were unusually quiet while I showered and Terrance went through the motions of taking off his bandages, restitching up his wounds, and then putting rougher, stickier bandages over them to keep them in place, the ones he used covered in cartoon stars and hearts and killed my freaking boner.

When I got out of the shower, I dried off and went to his sink to pull open his drawers until I found the comb that he designated as mine, since he knew I liked to keep my hair neatly combed back, his own dark brown hair unruly and usually sticking up all over the place, kept just long enough to look unkempt.

“Did you not like it when you thought I was getting taller?” Terrance asked as he rolled his bandages over the muscles of his stomach, watching me as I combed my hair.

So that was why he had been so quiet.