© Jojo B 2018

All rights including those in copyright in the content of this story are owned by Jojo B. It's Illegal to steal and/or copy.

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Snakes and Splinters

7

I heard shouting through my sleep.

For some reason it unsettled me. I could feel a lot of anger behind it and I couldn't open my eyes. All I could hear were sounds of great aggravation and I felt like it was wrapping around me in a dark fog. I couldn't breathe, but I only started to really panic when I smelt that familiar scent. It was always so real, even though I knew deep down that there was no way it could be. However, when half asleep, it was hard to make sense of what was reality and what wasn't.

"Coral. Coral, calm down, you're okay."

"Walter?" I frowned, pressing myself closer into his body.

"Yes, it's me," he said soothingly. "Relax. You're okay."

I hadn't even realised I had been whimpering. I slowly opened my eyes and blinked in the darkness. Walter was looking down at me with a crease between his brows. I knew he was worried. I hadn't had a nightmare in a while.

"What's going on?" I clung onto him, still hearing the shouting from downstairs.

"It's Phoenix," Walter said as he rubbed the space on my back, right between my shoulder blades. "He's mad about something."

"About what?" I pulled back from his chest to peer into his face.

Walter's eyes glinted in the near darkness of his room, "I don't know."

Yes he did.

"Walter, tell me," I said. "You don't need to give a lot of detail, I just want to know. I've never heard him this angry before."

Downstairs I could now make out Landon's voice too. It sounded like he was trying to calm Phoenix down. Unsuccessfully.

Walter sighed and rubbed my tangled hair, "Some of his men were killed."

I widened my eyes and started to sit up, "What do you mean? Who are...who were they?"

"Just people who worked for him," Walter said. "The people who dealt the product to our clients on the streets."

"Oh my gosh," I stared at him. "How many were killed?"

Walter frowned and pulled me back down so I was lying, facing him, "I honestly don't know and you shouldn't either. I don't want it to upset you."

I didn't even know how many men Phoenix had in the first place but the fact that he was this mad meant that either a lot of them were killed, or that he had very little to begin with. Hopefully it was the latter. Death wasn't a nice thing, no matter the circumstances. People would always be left with pain. I'd never really put faces to the drug dealers that Phoenix had working for the Simpson gang, but hearing this shocking news I started to wonder how old they were, if they had families, how they'd died, who'd been responsible.

"I don't think it was the Santiagos," I said to Walter. "If they wanted to kill Phoenix's men, why would they wait until now after all of these years?"

Walter, to my surprise, nodded in agreement, "I don't think so either. It's never happened before, not to us and not to them. Neither side shoots to kill."

I sighed deeply and snuggled back into his warmth, "I hope it gets sorted out."

"Yeah," Walter murmured.

As I closed my eyes once more, I said a little prayer in my head for those who had died and those left who would mourn them. Drug dealer or not, they had been people too.

***

In the morning the house was very quiet. I had a free day and so did Walter, as he usually spend two or three days of rest after a bout. It must have been pretty early because I didn't hear Eli or the triplets getting ready for school. I looked up and saw that Walter was already awake and he lay on his back with one arm behind his head and his other wrapped around my shoulders.

I leaned up and kissed the bruise under his left eye, "Are you alright?"

He smiled and nodded, "Did you sleep well? Phoenix took a while to calm down last night."

"I slept okay," I said to him and sat up. "Let's have breakfast before the triplets wake up."

Walter grinned and nodded, "They're so damn loud and annoying, right?"

I smiled and shrugged, "I just feel like some peace and quiet."

Getting out of the bed, I went to the bathroom to freshen up before heading downstairs. Walter had brushed his teeth at the same time as me and he didn't bother putting on a t-shirt as he followed me down the stairs. It seemed the kitchen wasn't empty. Landon was sat topless at the dining table, eating a bowl of cereal as he looked at his phone. It was fairly cloudy outside and the sun hadn't risen yet. The kitchen was bathed in a muted grey colour that I found quite soothing.

"You okay?" Walter grunted at Landon as he walked to the fridge.

Landon nodded and rubbed the back of his dark haired head, making the tattoo on his right bicep shift as his muscle flexed.

"Are you sure?" I looked at him when he didn't give us his usual goofy grin.

Landon raised his eyes from his phone to look back at me. He smiled slightly.

"Yeah, I'm fine," he replied. "I was just looking at a picture of Melody. I haven't seen her in a while now."

I mirrored his smile and sat down next to him, "Can I see?"

Walter came to look over his shoulder as Landon showed me his phone. Melody, the cheeky little toddler with her fluffy brown afro, was grinning at the camera and I smiled back widely. She was adorable and looked even more like her father Landon than she had before.

"She has nearly all her teeth now," I said.

"Yeah, she's three now," Landon smiled at the picture.

Walter roughly 'ruffled' Landon's hair (which was move like grabbing a fistful of it and shaking his head from side to side) before he slapped his brother's bare shoulder.

"You'll see her soon," Walter assured him.

Landon nodded and put his phone down on the table. I wanted to ask him about last night and if Phoenix was okay, but I knew I wouldn't get a straight answer.

"Who wants English breakfast?" I stood up and said cheerily.

Landon carelessly slid his half eaten cereal to the side and beamed innocently at me, "I do."

Walter rolled his eyes at him and started getting eggs out of the fridge.

"You sit down, Walter," I said to him and pointed to the chair at the table sternly, knowing he was refuse otherwise. "Let me do it."

"Alright," he gave in with a smile and sat down.

I looked at the two brothers sitting in the pale winter's morning light and started frying some sausages and eggs on the stove, whist listening to Walter and Landon's conversation. They spoke about Melody and when Landon could go and see his daughter again. When the eggs and sausages were cooked, I started with the tomatoes and mushrooms before I put bread into the toaster.

"We're out of bacon," I turned to tell the boys. "But apart from that and hash browns, it's basically a full English breakfast."

"That's more than good enough for me," Landon only smiled widely.

"I'll do the tea," Walter got up and put the kettle on.

"Do four," I said to Walter as I plated up the food. "I figured I'd make Phoenix some."

"Alright," Walter said with a one-sided shrug.

Once I finished the four plates and left some extra in the pan for any of the other boys, I placed Landon and Walter's down on the dining table. Landon glanced at Phoenix's heaping plate of hot food and sighed a little.

"That's nice of you, but he's up in his room. He won't be coming down for a while," Landon said.

I swallowed, determined to try and cheer Phoenix up this morning.

"Do you think I can take it up to him?" I asked. "Or is he sleeping?"

"I don't think he's asleep," Landon replied and glanced at Walter who was eating his eggs.

"Yeah, he wakes up pretty early," Walter mumbled after a gulp of tea. "But if you ask me, just leave it down here and let it get cold. If he wants breakfast he can come down and get it like everyone else."

I rolled my eyes at him with a smile, "Of course you would say something like that. If you're jealous, I could always surprise you with breakfast in bed sometime."

He smiled at me, "Or I could do it to you."

"I'm trying to eat, so could you two stop being so smooshy?" Landon said through a mouthful of baked beans. "Oh and this is really good, thanks Coral. It's been forever since I've actually had breakfast like this."

"No problem," I replied and then put Phoenix's plate on a try with some tissue, cutlery and his mug of tea.

I took a quick breath and tried not to look as nervous as I felt. I really didn't want to catch Phoenix in a bad mood. Hopefully he would see that I was just thinking about him. I climbed the stairs carefully so I wouldn't spill any of the tea, and then walked along the hallway and stood outside Phoenix's room. I gave it a knock and waited.

"What do you want?" I heard Phoenix mutter.

"It's me," I called softly, not wanting to wake anyone else up.

There was a lengthy pause and then I heard Phoenix utter a 'come in'. I didn't even attempt opening the door, I knew I would drop the tray.

With an anxious laugh, I lowered my voice even more, "I can't really open the door, could you get it for me?"

Now I must have gotten him even more annoyed. I could picture the scowl on his face when he would wrench the door open and stare into my soul through those dark eyes of his. With my heart hammering, I waited and looked up when Phoenix slowly opened his bedroom door. He looked down at me with a confused frown and I forced myself to let go of the breath I was holding.

"I made breakfast," I pushed the tray out towards him.

His eyes fell on the plate of hot food and he widened them slightly in surprise. Phoenix gently took the tray from my hands and he stood aside slightly. It took me a few seconds to realise that he was allowing me into his room. I walked in and Phoenix let the door close behind me. On his bed I saw that he had been dismantling his gun and the pieces lay neatly on top of his made sheets. I stood awkwardly, not sure what do to or say. Phoenix placed the food on his bedside desk and straightened up to face me. I didn't often see Phoenix topless and I think I actually forgot how powerfully built his body was each time. I glanced quickly at the long scar that ran down his side and the gold chain around his neck. I didn't think he ever took it off.

"Thank you," Phoenix mumbled, looking at me with a face that was neither frowning nor smiling.

"It's okay," I sent him a smile and knotted my fingers together at my front.

Phoenix arched a brow at me, "Is there something wrong?"

"Um...I heard you were a bit mad last night....I was just wondering if everything's okay," I mentally cringed. Of course everything wasn't okay.

Phoenix sighed and he sat down on the edge of his bed. He moved the gun parts aside and I raised my brows when I understood that he was probably telling me to sit down. I joined him on his bed, sitting about half a meter away from him and looked down at the carpet.

"I lost some people last night," Phoenix murmured, resting his elbows on his knees and looking into space. He balled his hands into fists. "The gang has never been threatened like that before. I need to know who did it."

"I'm sorry," I said gently.

Phoenix shook his head slightly and sat up again, "You had nothing to do with it, don't bother apologising."

"If it helps..." I said hesitantly as I looked over at him. "I can ask Carlos if anything similar has happened to the Santiagos. The area is small, maybe they were affected last night too."

Phoenix raised his brows a little bit, surprised that I was suggesting something like that. Since I'd started getting close to the Santiagos, I'd never been told anything about their gang matters, most likely because I was part of their rival gang. I didn't know if Carlos would tell me anything, or if whatever he told me would even help, but it was worth the try.

"That could be helpful," Phoenix answered and then he gave me a ghost of a smile. "Thanks."

I smiled back and stood up, "It's okay. Enjoy your breakfast."

He nodded at me and I made my way to the door, feeling the gang marks on the outside of my pinkie finger. It was moments like this with Phoenix that made me feel like I could somehow play a part in the gang he'd accepted me into.

***

Eventually the triplets woke up, late for school of course, and the house was momentarily filled with chaos. Eli didn't bother waiting for his brothers. He just got himself ready and left without them. Landon left the house to go and do his own thing and Phoenix went down to work out in the basement. Walter and I watched TV together for a while, me tucked under his arm and him playing with strands of my hair.

"What do you want to do today?" he asked me. "It's only noon, the possibilities are endless."

I chuckled lightly, "How about you take me to Paris?"

"Will Calais do instead?" he asked me.

"Walter, I was kidding!" I lifted myself off him so I could look at his face, a shocked look on my own.

"I wasn't," he shrugged with a growing smile on his perfect lips. "We better go now though or we'll run out of time."

"Are you serious?" an excited grin broke across my face.

"Yeah," Walter got up. "Let's have dinner in France and make it back in time for bed. I don't want you to be too tired for art school tomorrow."

Without listening to any more, I jumped to my feet and ran upstairs, hearing Walter laugh behind me. I changed out of my lazy clothes and got into some jeans and a thick, navy woollen jumper. Walter dressed in his usual dark, slim fitted trousers and a white t-shirt before putting on a hoodie and his black leather jacket over it. Downstairs, I pulled on a pair of shoes and grabbed my coat just in case it was colder than I expected.

"Ready?" Walter asked as he came down the stairs.

I nodded in excitement, "I've never been to France before."

"I know," he smiled fondly at me.

"Do you have any Euros?" I asked him.

"No but it doesn't matter if I'm paying by card, even if it's international," he replied.

"There are probably more British people in Calais, than there are French," I chuckled.

"Probably," Walter agreed and then he went to the kitchen to grab some water bottles and a few snacks. "The drive from London to Dover is like two hours, but I'll make it in one."

"You'll make it in two," I said to him with a knowing smile. "Speeding is dangerous, Walter."

He smiled and rolled his eyes at me before heading for the door. We got into his car and started the drive, heading out of London. It took us just under two hours to reach Dover where we drove our car onto the train that would take us across the English Channel and to France, via the Eurotunnel. I sat in suppressed excitement as we chilled in the car. It didn't even feel like we were moving. The journey across the channel was about an hour and a half and then we were driving out of the train and onto French soil. Well, French tarmac.

"So the time is 3:30pm in England and 4:30pm in France," I checked my phone. "What time should we aim to get back by?"

Walter shrugged with a laid back smile, "How about back on the train by 9:00pm French time?"

"Sounds good," I said.

That would be about four and a half hours in France. Not bad at all.

"What first?" I leaned back in the passenger's seat and looked at Walter lovingly as he drove on the right side of the road as opposed to the left.

"We'll just drive around and stop when anything catches our eye," he replied. "I don't think any of the restaurants would be open now anyway."

"Yeah," I nodded in agreement. "They'll probably be open by six."

So we kept driving and entered the town of Calais. Walter drove us down roads lined with rows of cosy cafes and convenience stores. I watched as people went about their daily business and counted over ten different bakeries and patisseries in the span of about five minutes. The trees that stood on either side of the road were bare and I imagined how beautiful they would look in summer when they were in full bloom.

"I feel like walking around...you know, in a park or something," Walter murmured when as we followed the road, slowing down in traffic.

"Should we ask for directions?" I asked, peering out of the window.

Walter scoffed, "I can't speak any French and I know for a fact that you can't either."

"Hey," I looked at him with a grin. "You've never tried me!"

He turned to smirk at me, "Go on then, hit me with it."

I paused and grinned, biting my bottom lip.

"J'ai....treize ans," I managed to get out.

Walter frowned at me, "What does that mean?"

Stifling a laugh, I shook my head, "That's all the French I remember from when I studied it in Year Eight."

Walter laughed, "Well it did sound basic."

"Why are you laughing though?" I laughed myself. "You still didn't know what it meant."

"Probably because you said it wrong?" he said with a side smile.

"I said 'I am thirteen years old'," I told him.

"Yeah, that was definitely a while ago," Walter teased me.

"I still know more than you," I smirked and leaned back.

He chuckled, "See if you can spot any directions to a park, I think we're getting closer to the town centre. I bet there'll be one around."

"Alright," I said, looking out of the window and trying to decipher any of the road signs we went past.

"Park in French is Parc," I said. "I saw one. Take the second exit on the roundabout."

Walter nodded and followed my directions. It wasn't long until we spotted the park that looked a little emptier than I thought it would be. Well, it was January. It wasn't exactly very warm. Walter would prefer it to be quieter anyway.

We found a spot to park and then got out of the car. It felt good to stretch our legs and it wasn't even as cold as I thought it would be. Leaving my coat in the car, I decided my jumper would keep me warm enough.

"Let's go," Walter walked round to my side and looped his arm around my waist.

We walked together through the park entrance and a giant fountain came into view. The water was spouted into the air out of the mouths of metal fish and I saw a couple kids walking around the edge of the fountain. A few other people walked up and down the wide paths and I saw quite a lot of runners going round the park too.

"This place is pretty big," I said, looking to the far end to see what looked like a big mansion. It was most likely the museum I saw on the road signs.

We took one of the quieter paths and we strolled aimlessly. Big branches hung over us, being tossed lightly in the cool breeze and in the distance I could hear the busy motors of the road we'd left behind. I smiled at the lady who was walking up the path in the opposite direction to us. She said something in French that I guessed meant good day and I tried to repeat it.

"What did she say?" Walter looked down at me after she'd walked past.

"I think it was 'good day'," I replied with a shrug.

He smiled at my uncertainty and then turned his head in the direction of what sounded like ducks.

"Is there a lake through there?" I murmured, following his gaze through the willow branches that hung down and brushed the ground like leafy curtains. Well there weren't plenty of leaves on them, this time of the year.

"Let's go and see," Walter said, letting go of my waist to take my hand instead.

I threaded my fingers through his and we walked off the path and onto the grass. Walter pushed the willow branches out of our way and we saw that there was indeed a lake. It was a murky green colour and ducks swam about on the surface, chasing each other and ruffling their feathers. There were people sitting on the banks of the river. Some were eating picnics and others just watched the birds that swam serenely across the water. I heard both French and a little bit of English, amongst a couple other languages.

Walter and I walked along the lake edge hand in hand. He had a small smile on his face. I sensed the sadness he was feeling before he even opened his mouth to talk about it.

"There was a lake in a park like this one near our home when I was a kid," Walter said to me. "We used to go there all the time, the eight of us."

I smiled sadly, "You miss it, huh?"

"Yeah, sometimes," he said, tightening his grip on my hand. "Going to the park was a nice break from being at home. The only sad thing is that it reminds me so much of when Eunice was still here."

I hugged Walter's middle and he laughed softly, coming to a stop. He put his arms around me and I listened to his breathing. His muscles were tensed, as he still had the death of his sister on his mind.

"You can talk about it some more if you like," I looked up at him. "Maybe it will make you feel better, remembering the good times you had with her."

He shrugged, looking over my head at the water with a vacant expression. A smile tugged itself onto his face.

"One time I actually pushed Eunice into the lake. She was annoying me," he was chuckling now. "Eli tried to push me in after but I ended up shoving him in too."

"You were such a mean kid, Walter," I grinned.

It must have been fun messing around like that with many siblings. The boys hadn't stopped messing around with each other, but it was obviously different now that they were older. Now they had other things to take care of, especially Phoenix. I imagined that when they were young, there was nothing to worry about.

"Phoenix shouted at me for getting them soaked, but I didn't care," Walter smiled. "It felt good to get back at the twins. They used to play pranks on me all the time."

Hearing Eli being referred to as a twin made my throat tighten. I missed Eunice and I'd never gotten to meet her. I couldn't imagine how much more her brothers missed her, whether they talked about her or not.

"But hey," Walter swallowed and looked down at me. "Let's not think about the past right now, this is about me and you."

"I don't mind," I smiled at him. "I like hearing about your past. The good times."

Walter smiled faintly, "They weren't always good."

"I know," I said.

Walter sometimes had nightmares like me. He'd pant and grip the closest thing in his reach, usually his pillow but sometimes me. It hurt, but I knew he didn't mean it. I would wake him up and calm him down. He never really told me the details, he would only say that it was about his parents. I already knew, from all the boys, that their parents hadn't been the friendliest type.

I reached up and kissed Walter on the lips to try and dissolve his unease. I didn't think about anyone else by the lake, I just thought about me and Walter. Walter's hands found my waist and he pulled me closer as he kissed me back. His lips were urgent and he started to kiss me harder. I touched his chest and then looped my arms over his strong shoulders, playing with the hair on the nape of his neck. I pulled back when I heard someone cough pointedly and Walter opened his hazel eyes.

I turned to see a man, who was passing by, looking at us with a smirk. He mumbled something that I guessed meant 'find a room' in French and I could tell that he was just teasing. Walter, however, didn't take it that way.

"What the hell do you want?" he hardened his jaw and took a step towards him, fists balled by his sides.

"Walter," I put my hands on his chest, stopping him from going further.

The man only raised his brows and continued on his way.

"Let's keep walking," I smiled up at him and took his hand, walking us in the opposite direction the man had taken.

Walter calmed down after a couple minutes and he started talking again. We spoke about learning languages and where we'd want to travel to someday. The two of us walked around the whole park, passing by many bronze statues and smaller fountains. By the time we got to the entrance, I was truly famished.

"I'm hungry Walter," I pushed my bottom lip out like a child would.

He brushed his thumb against my lip and smiled, "I'm going to take you to an expensive restaurant. We don't really do that often, do we?"

"We don't," I nodded in agreement and smiled at the thought. "I don't know anything about French food. I wouldn't know what to order."

"We can eat snails."

"Walter," I laughed. "There's more to French cuisine than snails."

He shrugged with a smile on his face, "We have to try it."

Less than twenty minutes later, we found a nice looking restaurant to have dinner at. It was fancier than we'd usually go to and it was clear Walter wasn't holding back on cost. There were chandeliers hanging from the ceiling and glasses so polished that they looked like they were made of diamond. Even the waiters had black waistcoats on and bowties.

A waiter with a small, neat moustache approached us as we entered the restaurant. He smiled and said something in French that neither of us understood. Before we could even say anything, the waiter spotted that we were English and he asked us if we'd made any reservations.

"No," Walter answered. "But you can find us somewhere to sit."

It wasn't a question.

"Of course," the waiter smiled warmly. "Follow me Monsieur, Madame."

We followed his brisk strides to a table for two near the back of the restaurant. It was a nice spot, intimate and not too out in the open. The waiter smiled and graciously handed us two menus before asking us for our drinks. I ordered the wine of the day and I recommended that Walter try the pink lemonade. He didn't like wine and he was driving anyway, so it was best if he drank nothing alcoholic.

"Does he think we're married?" I whispered to Walter once the waiter had left.

I felt very underdressed in my jeans and jumper. The few other female diners were wearing dresses, expensive looking ones. The men were wearing button up shirts or full on suits. Walter didn't look like he could care less about the leather jacket and hoodie he had draped over the back of his chair. He sat forwards in his chair and I glanced at his muscles through the white t-shirt he had on.

Walter smiled, "Aren't we a bit young looking to be married?"

I lifted and dropped shoulder, "He didn't call me Mademoiselle. He said Madame, which is like saying Mrs instead of Miss."

Walter shrugged, "It doesn't matter. You'd be a perfect wife."

I didn't think he knew how much his words meant to me, but at that moment I couldn't stop myself from smiling so wide I thought my face might break.

"Let's choose our starters before the waiter comes back," I said to him, picking up one of the menus.

"I won't be able to read it," Walter said.

"They probably have English translations," I said, scanning the pages. "Oh...maybe not."

Walter laughed and the waiter came up to our table with my glass of wine and Walter's pink lemonade.

"Have you had a good look at the starters?" the waiter smiled at us after placing our drinks down.

He had a lovely French accent and pronounced 'have' and 'had' as 'ave' and 'ad'.

"What would you recommend?" I asked him with a smile.

His eyes lit up and he beamed, "I would definitely recommend the Coquilles Saint-Jacques. The scallops are sourced locally, fresh every day."

"Scallops," Walter murmured, glancing at me questionably.

"I haven't tried them before, why not?" I smiled back. "We can share, just in case one of us doesn't like it."

Walter nodded and looked up at the waiter "We'll have that then."

"Thanks," I added once the waiter had jotted it down.

"And for your main courses?" he asked. "It will come later, but it's best to order now. I could give you by recommendations again, if you would like."

"Go ahead," Walter said. "I'd like something with meat. No vegetarian courses."

"And no fish," I smiled at him, knowing Walter didn't like the bones very much. "But for me, I'd like a fish main."

"Okay," the waiter smiled and held his hand out for my menu. "May I?"

"Sure," I handed it over to him and his eyes ran down the numerous dishes.

"For you Monsieur, I would recommend Blanquette de Veau, which is veal cooked with carrots and other vegetables and served with a white sauce," he said to Walter.

"Sure," Walter nodded indifferently. "I'll have that."

"Excellent," he noted it down and then turned his grey eyes to me. "And for you Madame, perhaps you would like the Sole Meunière. The sole is caught fresh, like the scallops. This dish is one of my favourites."

"Sounds good," I said. "Thank you."

"It's my pleasure," he nodded and then looked between us. "Would that be all?"

"Snails," Walter remembered suddenly. "Give us some of those too."

"Escargot," the waiter smiled. "Of course. I will bring them with the Coquilles Saint-Jacques. Both should be out shortly."

"Alright," Walter nodded.

The waiter smiled and walked away with our orders. I picked up the very classy looking wine glass and sipped on the white wine. It was nice, but nothing special. Most likely overpriced, but I wouldn't know for sure. I wasn't a wine expert.

"Do you want to try," I tilted it slightly towards Walter.

"Okay," he held his hand out.

I passed him the glass and he took a drink. He screwed his face and then straightened it up and bit back a smile, tucking his bottom lip into his mouth and chewing on it slightly. I grinned at his reaction.

"Not really my thing," he replied, unable to hold his smile back any longer.

"I could tell. How's the lemonade?" I asked him.

He tried some and nodded, "You were right, the pink lemonade is better than regular lemonade."

I smirked, "See? Who cares if it's 'girly'? It tastes good."

He smirked back and let me try some. The taste was sweet and a little bit tangy because of the raspberries. It was delicious. As the waiter promised, the starters didn't take long and he soon came to our table with a plate of nice looking scallops and a plate of snails, served in their shells with some sort of garlic sauce.

"Bonne appetite," he said with a smile before leaving.

"Finally, something I understand," Walter said before he looked at the dishes in front of us.

The scallops too were served in their shells and were topped on a mushroom gratin before being garnished with some herbs. Walter and I picked up our cutlery and started with them. I raised my brows once I'd tasted it.

"This is better than I thought," I said to him.

I could tell that Walter wasn't feeling it as much as I was.

"I don't even like fish that much," he said. "At least there are no bones."

"Aw," I teased him. "What's a big bad boy like you afraid of a couple fish bones for?"

Walter arched a brow and tilted his head forwards with a sultry smirk on his lips. I almost choked on my mouthful as my throat went dry so quickly. I managed to swallow my food without making a scene and I sent Walter a look.

"Don't do that to me," I said, taking a drink.

Walter only smiled, "I don't know what you're talking about."

I shook my head at him and we continued with the scallops, me eating three out of the four of them. I was hungry. Walter picked up one of the snails and used the little pick to dig the meal out of the shell. It dripped with the green garlic sauce, but there was nothing very freakish about it. It just looked like a little piece of meat.

"How is it?" I asked Walter after he'd put it in his mouth.

He nodded as he chewed, "Good."

"Here I go," I said dramatically and did the same as he did.

The taste was like any other meat, yet something I hadn't tried before. I liked it. Walter and I finished the snails and talked a little bit more as the restaurant filled up. Again, I was reminded of how underdressed we were, but I decided it didn't matter. Appearances weren't everything and Walter and I were having a good time, with or without the looks from some of the other diners. Our main meals came a little while later and both dishes looked impressive. The presentation was immaculate.

"How's the veal?" I asked Walter as he started to eat.

"Succulent," he winked at me.

I chuckled and squirted some of the fresh lemon slices over my sole before I tasted some of it. It was pretty delicious.

"Good?" Walter asked.

"Good," I nodded.

The night went on and Walter and I both got refills of pink lemonade to wash down the tasty food. By the time we were done with the mains, I was feeling quite full, but the dessert menu looked so promising.

"You feeling something sweet?" I asked Walter. "I don't know if I can finish a whole dessert though, so do you want to share one?"

"Yeah, sure," he said. "Should we just pick a random one?"

I smiled, "How about Tarte Tatin? It's like an apple pie."

"Sounds nice," he said and caught the waiters attention.

Walter ordered our dessert and the waiter took the empty dishes away. When the Tarte Tatin came, I almost drooled. It looked like a work of art rather than food. The tart was cut in a perfect triangle and there was a drizzle of sweet sauce across the plate, as well as a curl of vanilla ice-cream. I was about to pick up my spoon but Walter shook his head.

"Allow me," he said with that sexy look on his face again.

I smiled and watched as he spooned some of the dessert and held it out towards my me. I felt my cheeks warm as I leant forwards across the table slightly so he could guide the spoon into my mouth. Walter smiled and licked his lips as I tasted the dessert and started to chew. It tasted as good as it looked.

"And the ice-cream," Walter said, doing the same thing again.

"It's really good," I said once I had tasted it and picked up my own spoon. "You try some."

Walter opened his mouth and the two of us laughed at ourselves before feeding each other the rest of the dessert. It was cheesy, romantic and probably something we wouldn't have done at home, but we were somewhere completely different and it was fun and new.

We finished and paid the bill, leaving the waiter a nice tip in Pounds. Walking out of the restaurant with a filled stomach and a cheerful smile, I held Walter's hand as we walked to the car park. It was dark now and the night sky was clear and sparkling. Before we even made it to the car, Walter stopped and kissed me. It was as if he'd been holding back the whole evening. I eagerly kissed him back and let him slide his tongue into my mouth. Walter kissed me until I got dizzy and I pulled away with a breathless laugh, looking up at the skies again.

"It's really beautiful out," I murmured.

Walter followed my gaze upwards and wrapped his arm around my shoulders, pulling me into his side.

"I love you, so much," he said, leaning down and kissing my cheek.

I looked back at him and saw how his eyes danced with delight. I could never stop loving him.

I kissed him gently on the lips, "I love you too. Thanks for tonight. I had a really good time."

Walter chuckled, "Don't thank me. We both had a great time. I think we should go on dates more often."

I nodded in agreement and grinned, "Definitely."

We found our way to Walter's dark car that was parked in the corner of the car park, despite it being less than half empty when we'd gotten there. Walter liked privacy and tended to stick to quieter areas. He didn't like his car out in the open where it would catch people's eyes. He knew how criminals thought and he also knew that his car was a very nice one.

Once we were back in the car, the kissing started again. I didn't know what it was, but it was like we just couldn't keep ourselves away from each other. I found myself on Walter's lap, kissing his neck whilst he held my hips. Soon his hands went even lower and just like the time in the boxing club, I didn't mind. It was progress.

"Walter," I pulled away from his neck and rubbed his chest through his t-shirt. "Can we take it off?"

He complied straight away, pulling his shirt off his head. I ran my hands down his abs and Walter murmured quietly in pleasure. The illumination inside the car was off and we were tucked away in the corner, out of the glare of any of the car park lights. Walter and I could see each other, but no one else could see us. Not unless they came right up the windows and peered in.

Suddenly I was feeling a rush of confidence. I wanted more than just kissing. Breaking away from Walter's lips, I pulled my jumper off over my head. Walter's eyes filled with desire when he gazed over me in my bra. He softly kissed my chest and I shivered as I curled my fingers in his thick hair. Walter ran his hands slowly up and down my bare sides and I started breathing even heavier.

"You're so beautiful," Walter whispered, kissing my neck gently.

I smiled and led his hands down to the zipper of my jeans. I felt Walter stiffen and he pulled away to look at me with serious eyes.

"Are you sure?" he frowned.

"We're not going all the way," I said with another smile. "Not in a car."

He smiled, "Of course not. I would want it to be very special."

I blushed. In all the time we'd been together, Walter had never been so direct when speaking to me about sex.

"But Coral," Walter said, looking at me seriously again. "I want you to be comfortable. Are you sure you want this?"

I wasn't sure exactly what 'this' even was yet, but I nodded. I wanted his touch down there and I was sure of that. Walter leaned into me again, planting hot kisses down my neck to my shoulder as his hands unbuttoned and unzipped my jeans. I inhaled when I felt his hand feel me at my front.

"W-Walter," I said and he stopped. I smiled. "No, it's not that. It's what Landon said the other day...are you really a virgin?"

He kept his lips by the crook of my neck and shoulder, "No."

"Are you going to tell me more?" I asked, having thought as much. Landon had just confused me a little bit.

Walter pulled away from my skin and looked at me, "Do you really want to know, right now?"

I shook my head with a smile, he had a point.

"Okay, not now," I replied and kissed his jaw, whispering near his ear. "You can keep going."

I felt Walter smile and then he slipped his hand down into the front of my underwear. I gasped and moved my hips slightly against his gentle strokes. Walter made me experience feelings I'd never felt before and well, in shorter words, it was the best end to one of the greatest dates we'd ever had.

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REALLY LONG chapter! What did you think?

J

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