F I R E Â M E E T Â G A S O L I N E
   He hadnât thought sheâd apologize. Something dipped in his stomach and he nodded as she went on, a thoughtful expression settling on his features. Relaxed afterglow faded into tension and a vague, uncomfortable sense of dread quicker than he wouldâve thought possible, because what if his answer wasnât good enough? He heard how it all fucking sounded, but he didnât have anything other than the truth to give her, so he guessed heâd just have to fucking hope; an action he considered ridiculous and naĂŻve in any other context. He didnât hope; he fucking acted.
  âI donât.â She wasnât looking at him anymore, so Arin directed his gaze at the ceiling as he continued, focusing on his thoughts. On trying to get the words to make sense. Formulating his fucking shit. âWhoever the fuck talks to me, thatâs what they get, causeââ the corners of his mouth dipped, and he drew his shoulders up in a half-shrug, âfuck âem.â He took a breath, searching his thoughts. âI donât like people. They donât fuckinâ make sense to me, theyâre full of fucking shit, and as far as Iâm concerned, they can call get fucked. I wanna be left alone. Since I can fucking remember. So I made it fucking hard to be around me, and I make people feel like shit, because honestly even whatever motherfuckers Iâve been straight with end up realizing Iâm a fucking asshole anyway, so whatâs the fucking point?â
  âYouâre the only one whoâs different.â He glanced at her finally â at her beautiful face, framed by messy lavender waves, and his chest fucking ached with adoration. âWe talked in that bar and⊠I realized I didnât wanna do that shit to you. I felt⊠I donât know, fucking drawn, and I wanted you around. Never happened before. You just⊠get it. And I fucking love you, and I never thought it was fucking possible to fucking have that. So thank you.â A pause, and he couldnât help a small, amused smile when he spoke again, fading into a more earnest expression as he went on: âAnd I sound like a sappy fucking prick right now and I kinda wanna punch my own teeth out, butâ youâll never fucking know how much it fucking means to me. How much you fucking mean to me. I canât fucking put words on it.â
   She heard him. She knew she had; sheâd heard him but all she could comprehend was the new opening in her chest, how it began to consume her. Somewhere, in the midst of it, her heart was hammering along, giving more power to the cavernous, glowing core that could barely contain what she felt for him. He hadnât answered her question â and maybe he didnât have the answer, maybe that cunt was simply a parasite, and proximity was all it took to get bitten and burrowed into â but she was able to forget it. It was consumed along with everything else that wasnât him; that wasnât them. Their love.Â
   Queenie was clutching his face barely seconds after he got the words out, kissing him deeply, her legs tightening their hold around his waist. âI need you so fucking much,â she murmured between kisses, and even though theyâd fucked at least twice already, the everlasting hunger was reawakened by his sentiments. Heâd said thank you and she couldnât put words to it either; she never could.Â
   So she did what she did best, what she was capable of, her hips beginning to undulate slowly against him, her words filled with breathless urgency, âI feel like Iâll fucking die if you stop touching me.âÂ