The Adventure Continues

[abrightboy]

For thatsfascinating.



The villa Malcolm rented was in the Languedoc, not far from Marseilles, south of Avignon. It was a very historic region, though Malcolm was particularly not interested in visiting Marseilles again. There was a charming village nearby the villa and if they were going to go to an historic city for a day, he'd rather make the trip over to Montpellier, where he'd never been at all, much less with Dr Whitly.

The villa had six bedrooms. As the driver brought their luggage inside the bright and spacious main room, Malcolm handed him some folded Euros and thanked him and shut the door behind him.

"First choice of a room is yours," he told Edrisa with a smile. "But you might want to explore first."

Comments

[thatsfascinating]

She pressed her lips, nodded, then threw her arms around him, hugging him tight.

"I love you, Bright," she said, burying her face in his neck. "I want you to be happy. That's the most important thing to me. I will be so, so happy to marry you today. But if you're happier getting married in New York, with your mother and sister there, I will be happy to do that, too. I don't want you to regret marrying me, ever."

[abrightboy]

He clung to her.

"How could I regret it? It's what I want. And I want to do it today. I just... don't know how to handle what's coming after today. But that's not about you or about what I want for us. It's about my anxiety and the problems with my brain."

[thatsfascinating]

She held onto him tightly.

"Whatever happens, we'll face it together. Your mother loves you, Bright. She might be upset at first, but at the end of the day she wants you to be happy, too. We can tell her together, first thing once we get back to New York."

[abrightboy]

He nodded, pressing his face against her temple.

"Okay. ....Okay. We'll... go over to her house and... tell her."

[thatsfascinating]

"Okay." She turned her head and kissed him gently, then pulled back to give him a smile.

"I should take a shower. Want to join me?"

[abrightboy]

A hint of a smile was starting to ghost back onto his face. He nodded, then looked at his watch. "Do we have time?"

[thatsfascinating]

She loved that smile so much, and beamed back at him.

"Assuming people aren't really early, I think we do." She stepped away, taking his hand and tugging him in the direction of the bathroom. "Come with me?"

[abrightboy]

"I'll go with you anywhere," he told her, letting himself be led. "And when the doorbell rings, I'll get it. The bride should have the extra time to get ready."

[thatsfascinating]

"I don't know," she said with a grin, leading him into the bathroom. "Your suit is pretty fancy. You might need a little extra time too!"

She let go of his hand and pulled off her shirt, tossing it aside.

[abrightboy]

"I am very well practiced in putting on even the most fancy of suits," he pointed out. "I grew up in fancy suits," he reminded her, pulling his own shirt over his head and shuffling out of his sweatpants.

[thatsfascinating]

"You must have been so cute!" she said as she shed her own pajama pants and underwear. "I'm going to have to ask your mom to show me some pictures!"

She turned on the shower, feeling the water and climbing in when it was warm enough.

[abrightboy]

He followed her in, grabbing the shampoo bottle, because he was still acutely aware of their limited time.

"You first," he told her, leaving her the room under the spray to wet her hair.

[thatsfascinating]

She grabbed the soap and worked it in her hands as she got her hair wet in the spray.

"Gil and Dani and JT are going to be excited for us, I think!"

[abrightboy]

"I hope so," Malcolm told her, threading shampoo through her hair with his fingers. "I want everyone to be happy and excited for us. I'm concerned they'll be mad at us. Tell me I'm being a hopeless paranoid whose trust issues are impeding his happiness."

[thatsfascinating]

She started soaping up his front, her hands moving soothingly over his skin. "I don't think they'll be angry. They might feel disappointed they weren't part of this, but this is our time."

[abrightboy]

He huffed a laugh.

"Edrisa, none of those words were 'you're being a paranoid lunatic, Bright' or 'stop it'," he noted.

[thatsfascinating]

"Nope!" she said cheerfully. "I'm not going to call you a paranoid lunatic. And telling someone not to feel something never works."

She leaned forward to kiss him.

"Maybe it's just best to remember your family and friends all love you."

[abrightboy]

"But not as much as you do?" he teased, giving her a coy look, his spirits improving.

[thatsfascinating]

"Not even close," she confirmed with a smile, and leaned in to kiss him again.

"But, to be fair, it's an extremely high bar."

[abrightboy]

That made him laugh lightly, the ghosts of his concerns finally chased from his face.

"Rinse," he told her, reaching for conditioner.

[thatsfascinating]

Her smile widened, happy to see him happy. She loved being able to ease his worries.

She obeyed, pulling back to step into the spray, closing her eyes as the water washed the shampoo from her hair.

[abrightboy]

Once the water ran clear, he tugged her closer to him, pressing a kiss to her lips before massaging conditioner into her hair.

[thatsfascinating]

She smiled into the kiss, and kissed him again as he massaged conditioner in her hair, wrapping her arms around him and soaping up his back. Once she had soaped up to his shoulders, her hands wandered down to gently cup his ass, drawing him more firmly against her.

[abrightboy]

He smiled broadly as he was drawn against her.

"Are we going to consummate this marriage right before it takes place?" he teased gently.

[thatsfascinating]

She smiled back and nuzzled him.

"Not necessarily. It just feels good to be this close."

She wouldn't object to sex, but they probably didn't have enough time.

With a sigh she pulled back from him. "If you give me the shampoo, I can wash your hair."