Lee was very glad the room was dark as Tarin spoke as she blushed bright red she was sure. ”Yeah…I was trying all weekend to pretend that everything that night hadn’t happened…Which was definitely not easy when I kept getting distracted at the gym.”

Yeah, this blush wasn’t going anywhere, was it?

”And then the gym…” She continued. ”I kept getting so distracted anytime I’d look at you. It definitely did not help pretend the night before hadn’t happened.

“Though, I didn’t think you were a disaster at the bar. Maybe uncomfortable, but not a disaster.”

Well now he was blushing.

That day at the gym had been wild.

”I was super distracted too. When you went in on that bag I couldn’t look away.”

As for the bar, Tarin had to chuckle a little bit.

”I was an absolute disaster.” he said, ”I knew you didn’t really want to be going out, and I knew it wasn’t a date but it kind of felt like a date and I kept saying and doing the wrong thing…”

It was a miracle everything had worked out the way it had, but to prove the point…

”By the time we were in the cab and heading back…I was actually looking forward to having Rachel there as a buffer. Glad that didn’t work out”

”You couldn’t look away?” Lee asked, a little embarrassed. ”But…why?”

But then he said that that night at the bar had felt like a date, and Lee just blinked at Tarin for a moment. ”No, I didn’t really want to go out that night,” she admitted. ”But even before everything else happened that night, I was glad I did. And that was before I got lost in your eyes…”

Yeah, that blush. Not going anywhere.

”You…It felt like a date? Like, from the start of the night, or after a while? Though, we know that’s what Rachel was intending it as…”

Then Lee laughed when Tarin pointed out he was glad Rachel hadn’t been there when they’d gotten home that night. ”We certainly wouldn’t have been able to pull off that nothing happened that night if she had been there.”

Tarin shrugged a bit when Lee seemed so surprised that the bar had seemed like a date to him, “You were all dressed up and so pretty the way those little pieces of hair kept falling down by your face and everything had been so…tense that weekend. It just felt that way.” he said.

Then they’d had that moment at the bar, right before it had been Lee’s turn to sing and everything had shifted. He’d been lost too, and was still was in a couple of different ways.

Tarin thought for a moment, ” I’m pretty sure if Rachel had been there I’d have found some reason to go off to my room because I knew that if something happened…” he smiled, the rest had been history.

”But believe me when I say I was a disaster, literally shaking half the night.”

”Well, whether we had planned it or not, it turned out to kind of be a date,” Lee replied. ”And considering that all of my other first dates have never been pre-planned, well, except for the one that Rachel thinks was our first, I guess it shouldn’t be surprising that ours wasn’t either…”

Was that weird? Well, maybe for most, for normal people. But considering Lee hadn’t thought about having a relationship when any of those ‘dates’ had happened, it wasn’t surprising that they hadn’t been planned.

Tarin mentioned that if Rachel had been there that night, he likely would have run to his room. Which really wasn’t very surprising. ”We wouldn’t be able to keep our hands off of each other?” she responded to his words trailing off. ”Because I know I was having trouble with that even before we got home that night…”

First dates were weird and apparently Lee had never been on one that had been planned. That was an interesting little piece of trivia.

They’d have to count the dinner and movie date as their first. For purposes.

Lee kept talking and Tarin had to laugh again, ”And I was worried I was overstepping...” he said. Lee had been the one to close that last little bit of space between them…

”You know…All this talk is not particularly conducive to sleeping.” he said, shaking his head slightly.

”But I’m really glad.”

”And I was worried I was overstepping...”

”Even with everything else that had happened that weekend?” Lee asked in a whisper. Because the bar had not been the only time that something had almost happened between them that weekend. There had been multiple times that Lee was sure they had just about kissed, the only reason they hadn’t in most cases being they had been interrupted in one way or another.

”No, it probably isn’t,” Lee agreed, then grinned over at Tarin as she saw him shaking his head. ”But considering what we’re talking about, we are doing a damn good job keeping our hands to ourselves.” And their lips. And everything.

And they really were doing a damn good job, because the longer that they were laying there talking like this, the more Lee was thinking that maybe she didn’t need to sleep that night…

”Even after everything…” Tarin whispered back. Sure there had been plenty of signs that Lee felt the same way, but right up until they’d been standing in the apartment and and Lee had said yes Tarin hadn’t really believed that it was all happening.

No, this topic of conversation was not conducive to sleep and that grin from Lee was making it even harder.

They’d done a good job of keeping their hands to themselves so far, it was true.

”So….sleep?” Tarin said.

Even after everything that had happened earlier that weekend, the times Lee was sure they were just a second or two away from kissing, after what had happened at the bar before Matt had interrupted them. After all of that, Tarin would have probably run to his room if Rachel had been there. ”I’d say we owe Rachel a thank you card for taking Kevin to her place that night, except that’d tip her off about when we started.”

”So….sleep?”

Lee couldn’t help the sigh that escaped her when she heard Tarin say those words. She had been the one to suggest heading to bed early so that they could fall asleep together, but now…Now she was really thinking she might prefer activities that would end up keeping her awake for the rest of the night.

Why did it have to be a choice? Why could she not just fall asleep after like everyone else in the world? Just because she would end up siphoning more if she did much more than they were currently doing, simply laying near each other in bed holding hands. Just because she had to siphon to have energy.

Except she didn’t have to. Not all the time.

”I. Am. An. Idiot.”

”We kind of do…” Tarin said, still smiling. Just like they owed Robert one for their, “first date.”

Tarin didn’t want to think about Rachel though, and he definitely didn’t want to think about Robert. Nope, he wanted to think about Lee who was mere inches away and sighing when he suggested they sleep.

Still, whether or not she enjoyed it or got much energy from it, Lee did need to sleep.

But she was an idiot?

Tarin frowned at the little outburst from Lee, visible confusion crossing his features. ”Why would you say that?” he said in response.

”Because,” Lee said slowly as she closed her eyes. Focusing, concentrating. And suddenly, with the exception of feeling the pressure and warmth of his hand holding hers, it felt like Tarin had disappeared.

But obviously, when she opened her eyes, even though it was dark, Tarin was still lying there beside her in the bed. ”I’m an idiot,” Lee continued with a smile as she let go of Tarin’s hand, letting her own run up his arm, across his shoulder, coming to a rest behind his head. ”I can’t believe that I’ve never thought of doing this…”

Leaning in, Lee kissed Tarin. And didn’t pull back, slowly deepening the kiss.

Lee closed her eyes and Tarin could tell that she was concentrating. He was still outrageously confused though.

Lee opened her eyes a moment later and spoke and nothing she said did anything to alleviate that confusion. She let go of his hand and Tarin was still frowning a bit as her hand moved up his arm and over his shoulder and he shivered slightly as it stopped at the back of his head.

No sleeping then.

Lee spoke though, and he was still so confused, but then she was kissing him, really kissing him and he slid his free arm around her back and pulled her closer.

”That’s funny because I think about this pretty much all the time…” he said against her lips some time later.

Lee couldn’t help but think, but feel, that this was weird. Oh, the kiss was still damn good, and she smiled against Tarin’s lips as she felt his arm wrap around her, pulling her close against him.

And while she could definitely still feel Tarin, it was extremely strange to be this close to someone, to be touching someone, to be touching him, and not also have the sensation of energy flowing into her body. From his hand on her back, where their bodies were pressed together, their lips, her hand on the back of his neck. All she felt was the pressure and warmth from her sense of touch.

No energy.

When the kiss lessened, paused enough that Tarin was able to speak, Lee couldn’t help but laugh. ”I hope you know that I’ve thought about this. A lot,” Lee said, kissing Tarin again, though much quicker this time.

”No, I’ve really only done it to avoid crashing because it's such a… strange feeling for me. But no siphoning,” Lee punctuated her words with more kisses. ”No extra energy…And no extra energy…means sleep.”

“Like I said. Idiot.”

They were still kissing, and they were going to keep on kissing, but there was a bit of room for Lee to explain what she had meant, since apparently it hadn’t been what Tarin had originally thought.

She thought about this a lot, did she? Good. Tarin was ready for more of that kissing, and Lee seemed happy to oblige while she explained that she could…stop…siphoning?

No extra energy meant sleeping.

No extra energy while they were doing this? And she was just thinking about it because she usually only did it to avoid a crash.

Lee called herself an idiot again and said, ”Nuh uh.” before kissing her again, ”You said it was weird for you to be around an adapted, is this okay?” Not that he wanted to stop by any means, as evidenced by the fact that as he spoke his hand slid down and then back up, under the back of Lee’s t-shirt. ”Because if it is…”

Even in the middle of this, Tarin was remembering that it was weird for her being around an adapted because they stopped her siphoning. And was asking if it, if she was alright with shutting it off. As he was running his hand up her side, under her shirt. And while it did feel very different to her without feeling the siphoning as well, she still shuddered slightly under his touch.

”It feels…weird,” she admitted before kissing Tarin again. ”Not bad, just different. But if it means this…” another kiss, a smile on her lips. ”And still sleeping with you?” Lee's hand closed slightly in Tarin's hair at the back of his head as she kissed along his jaw and up to his ear. ” Then god yes,” she finished, whispering in his ear.