The Punchline Ch. 03

We just kept watching episodes of the show. It wasn't great, and she had made a comment about how most people said the manga was much better written than the show, but it was interesting enough to keep us watching. And slowly, as we did move through the season, Callie became more and more relaxed to the point where she was lying down behind me, peeking over my shoulder and holding onto it with her hand. Some of her body was pressed against me at that point and really, I wish I was in her position right now. I could use some kind of relief down there at this point. Anything, really. At this point you could rub a cactus against it and that would be acceptable right now.

We had finished all twenty-six episodes, almost thirteen hours of anime at pretty late at night. It ended in a shitty way. But, besides that, at this point, Callie was leaning her chin on my shoulder and her whole body, except for her torso, was pressed up against me. I sighed, knowing this time was over, and grabbed the remote, turning the show off and getting back to the Netflix homepage.

"All right, time for bed," I muttered, turning onto my back. Her face followed as I turned and she was now leaning on my chest, almost as if we were cuddling.

Well, we would be cuddling, if I wasn't such an awkward asshole and was holding my arms up in the air as if to say 'I'm not touching! It doesn't count!'

"Too lazy to go back to the couch..." She mumbled. "Can I stay here? Just for tonight?"

"No," I told her and she immediately turned to give me a big pouty look. I just sat there with a shit-eating grin before she bunched her face up in a frown.

"Fuck you, I'm not leaving," She turned around and pulled the blankets over her shoulder and laid her head down on one of my pillows.

"Ugh, god, all these pretty girls who just won't get out of my bed. Life can be so sucky at times," I feigned anger as I, myself, got comfortable and turned the television off.

The thought crossed my mind that this was weird that we were sharing a bed. It wasn't that there isn't a lot of room on my bed, it's a king size, it's just... like we weren't together or anything. And we weren't kids either (although I would argue I am a man-child but that's beside the point). It was just... a little odd.

So we kind of lied there for a while and I was sure she had fallen asleep at one point. But I heard her voice, oh so softly, come out from behind me.

"Hey Gray?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you still think I'm beautiful?"

I turned my head back to look at her. She had turned herself around at this point and was staring at my back. And as I turned around, her eyes moved slowly up to meet mine. I don't think I've ever seen anything as cute and as lovable as that look in my entire life.

"Yeah."

"Oh. Well I was kind of hoping for something with a little bit more thoughtfulness and kindness, but sure. Whatever."

I let my shoulders drop and she giggled, hearing me sigh. She moved a little closer to me. "You're not that bad yourself, Gray."

I smiled warmly and then she moved away and onto her side. I was a bit disappointed, as she was really warm and soft, but I sighed again and allowed myself to fall asleep after a while.

At least until sometime in the middle of the night, when I was shook awake. My eyes fluttered open to see Callie trying to situate herself under one of my arms. I immediately grinned. I didn't mean to, and I might've seemed creepy, but when I saw her with her slightly messed up hair and a little pout on her face as she was trying to snuggle me without me knowing.

"I... I had a bad dream and..." She tried to explain herself, but I didn't let her. I wrapped my arm around her stomach and pulled her into me.

I will admit, I sort of regretted doing that specifically because she was a fucking heat magnet and I was already kind of warm, but in every other way, it was perfect. Her body fit perfectly into mine when we spooned and she was so fucking soft. It was like hugging a pillow. A really snuggly pillow that had a butt.

And for those wondering, yes, my dick was pressing into her ass. But I was so tired at this point, that I barely noticed. Like I was probably hard, but I don't really know, man.

After a little while and both of us making content little sounds of happiness and warmth, her little tired voice popped up again.

"Gray?"

"Yeah?"

"Who's your favorite character in Rosario + Vampire?"

I chuckled a little bit. "Ah... Mizore. Because she's a little bit weird. I kinda like that."

"But I'm a little bit weird."

"I know."

I swear, I couldn't see it but, I think I felt her smile.

She nuzzled herself a little closer to me. "My favorite is Tsukune."

"Oh the one recurring male character on the show? I wonder why..."

"Not cause of that, idiot," She huffed. "It's because he reminds me of you. A lot."

I don't really have women crawling all over me, but the sentiment was nice anyway. And when she said this particular thing, I had finally accepted or at least come to the realization of something that I should have come to a while ago.

"You kinda like me, don't you, Callie?" I asked her.

She shook her head. "I really like you, Gray."

I had to smile slightly at the slight variation of the hot and beautiful thing that I did a long while back, during the first show that I ever did about my second act.

"I really like you too, Callie."

The two of us stayed silent for a while, just kind of feeling each other breathe. I was beginning to think she fell asleep again when she popped up again.

"Gray?"

"Yeah?"

She fidgeted a little bit.

"I was thinking before I went to sleep... why did... why did you become so sad when your ex left you? Like... you've completely become depressed and... and sad and..." She trailed off, probably rambling because she was tired.

I thought about it for a moment. And I came to a pretty solid conclusion.

"Callie? Have you ever loved someone so much that it consumed your entire life?"

She stayed silent.

"Where all you think about is her and how happy she makes you? Where the only thing you want is to make that special someone that you love happy? And you tell yourself that no matter what, no one will stop you from doing that?"

She stayed silent for a few moments but she piped up. "I think so."

"Now imagine that person told you they didn't want you anymore."

Another moment of silence.

"I'm sorry, Gray."

"I'm sorry, too."

And shortly afterward, she fell asleep. And to tell you the truth, now? Being not alone? I didn't feel so afraid to go to sleep again and see my ex's face in my dreams anymore. In fact, I was pretty confident there was only one girl I'd see in my dreams.

And she was lying right here in my arms.

To Be Continued in Chapter 4...

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Hey Guys!

I'm really happy with the support I'm getting on this, I actively made this chapter longer than the rest just because the last two have been pretty short in terms of length. The fourth one is most likely going to be double this length. Don't quote me on it, but it looks like it will be.

I've taken a lot of feedback into this story and hopefully answered some questions? And please, I ask you to actively read these chapters, as some of this is a bit more subtle than usual.

So the next chapter will have more erotic elements in it. I know I promised this one would but it just didn't seem to make any sense to add a sexy thing in other than a bit of teasing. Just more sappy romance bullshit.

I hope you guys like this a lot, there's a whole lot more coming.

Thanks!