From Russia With Love

It was late in the week as Dominika lay sprawled across her bed, legs waving about in the air behind her as she focused her attention on the text in front of her, reading carefully in order to absorb each and every word on the page. Theoretical choreography had never been her strong point and thus she tried to dedicate as much of her free time to it as possible, desperately wanting it to come as easy to her as her practical work. Dominika’s concentration was so intently set on the book she didn’t even notice Gerard slip quietly into the room through the sliding door. He strode over to her silently, a smirk plastered on his face, and without a word of warning leant down to kiss her cheek, startling her.

“Geez, Gerard” she said, exasperated as her hand flew to her heart. She rolled over onto her back and looked up at his face, that signature smirk plastered across his features. He swooped down again to kiss the corner of her lip and chuckled softly as he pulled away.
“I would have thought you’d be used to me sneaking up on you by now”

“Apparently not” Dominika retorted, unable to hide the smile that spread across her lips as she looked up at him, her heart racing in her chest. Attempting to be subtle, his eyes flicked down to her chest, heaving below her thin white cotton t-shirt, and he looked away for a moment, trying to distract himself from the lustful thoughts that instantly clouded his mind.

“Get used to it, kid” he replied, reaching out to touch her cheek with his thumb and forefinger. Dominika blushed under his touch and her skin warmed beneath his fingers. She wrapped her hand around his wrist, her eyes closing appreciatively as he leant down once more to trail gentle kisses up the side of her pale neck, the delicate skin flushing at his lips. A soft moan escaped her pursed mouth and she felt Gerard’s face tug into a smile against her skin.

Without another word he sunk down onto the duvet beside her, spreading out against the fabric. Dominika automatically curled into the crook of his arm, holding him tightly against her as he wrapped an arm around her small body.

“I’m not interrupting anything important am I?” he asked, eyes closed beside her. Fingers outstretched, she touched the side of his face with the tips and internally sighed, realizing she fell more and more in love with him as each day passed. This day was no exception, and her heart swelled in her chest as he looked over at her, deep, soulful hazel eyes searching her own, large blue orbs.

“There’s nothing more important than you” she said quietly, heat spreading through her body to her cheeks.

Gerard seemed suddenly overwhelmed with her words then, his eyes blazing with emotion as he rolled over on the mattress to hover over her body, peppering her jaw line and neck with his soft kisses.

“I love you, kid. I hope you know that”

“I know” she replied in a whisper “I love you too”

That beautiful, brilliant smile she had come to crave over anything else spread over his face and Dominika could not help but return it.

“Mmm” he sighed “now I really don’t want to ruin the mood”

Dominika looked back to him with her eyebrow raised, confused and he laughed quietly under his breath.

“How could you possibly ruin this?” she replied, moving her free arm to curl it around his torso with the other.

Silently, his hands slid down against the fabric of his pants to dig into the deep pocket he found there, the crinkling of foil apparent as he retrieved whatever it was contained inside. He produced a small blister package of pills, marked in colored sections and placed them in one of her palms.

Dominika studied the packet with confusion, with no idea as to what the blister package contained.

“What’s this?” she queried, holding it out in front of her as she cocked her head to one side.

“Birth control” Gerard replied simply, reaching out to take it from her again. He held it out in front of them both, gesturing to one colored section at a time.

“You start here, and work your way around” he said, tracing the line of pills with his index finger “once a day, always at the same time”

Dominika watched carefully, the entire concept completely foreign to her, and for perhaps the first time since she had arrived in America she felt truly naïve. How had she never considered this before? She knew very well that sex resulted in babies, and allowing such a thing to happen in their current situation would be nothing less than careless and irresponsible. Dominika had always pictured her life as a timeline, carefully planned out according to the expectations of both her family and social convention, and becoming a teenage mother was definitely not apart of the bigger picture as far as she had seen it so far.

She took the foil packet in her fingers and studied it carefully, thinking for a moment before she turned back to Gerard.

“I couldn’t already be pregnant, could I?” she said slowly.

Gerard’s mouth tightened to a thin line momentarily, his eyes tracing across her body as she lay next to him before he answered in a confident voice.

“It’s highly unlikely, Domi. You’d have to be really unlucky to get pregnant from your first time. Your body is still working everything out”

She thought about that for a moment, allowing herself to feel at least a little relieved. Her sexual education was fairly limited, but she knew enough to find his explanation convincing. Whether or not that was wishful thinking she had no idea.

“What if I was?” she asked suddenly, not entirely sure she wanted to hear his answer.

“Then we’d cross that bridge when we came to it, together” he said confidently, his voice filled with conviction “but I doubt there’s anything to worry about”

He leaned over to kiss her forehead reassuringly and she relaxed a little, turning her attention back to the little blister package gripped in her hand.

“How do you know more about this than me? And where did you get these?” she questioned, turning her attention back to him.

“I’ve been around” he chuckled “and I have my ways, kid”

Notes

So sorry for such a long time between updates guys! Things have been crazy over here and I haven't been able to write as much as I'd like. Fairly short but sweet, hope you guys enjoy this chapter :)