Flirtatious And Feelings

The rest of my insanely stunning covers, by c0l0rful_RaInb0wz. Thanks again love 😘😘

So how's life treating y'all?

Y'know, did you have a fun summer, party all night, made new friends, suck some dick, jus wondering... *shrugs*

**~**

I get a present for both my parents then walk around with Arthur for a little bit, checking out stores and stuff. Only, Arthur insists on buying everything else I look merely interested in. More than once I had to drag him away from a display simply because I stared too long at something that was shiny and caught my attention.

Arthur's a huge goof when it comes to shopping. He'd take women's clothes to the cashier and ask how much it cost, with the tag on it, then presumed to ask if it would look good on him. I swear I've never laughed so much in my life. A few workers were seconds away from kicking us out and I wouldn't blame them.

Thankfully, he hasn't done it in the last fifteen minutes and he's been looking at things that he's actually interested in.

"What about this?" Arthur pulls on a red polo cap after pushing his hair off his forehead. I forgot what store this one is, but that happens when I'm having fun!

"Mmm, try this one." I get up from the seat across from the wall of headwear to take down a black snapback that has'king' written in small, white cursive letters on the front. I replace it with the red one, brushing his hair under it like he did before. "There."

He takes a few steps to his right to look at himself in front of one of the many full-length mirrors built into the wall. He grins. "You're so corny."

I roll my eyes. "You asked my opinion."

Despite what he said, he goes back to the lineup and grabs the cap that was next to the one I picked. A white one with'queen' written in black cursive. "Guess who this is for?" he teases, shaking it in his hand playfully.

"Your mom?"

He gives me a bored look, dropping his hands as if this is his tenth time asking and I got the question wrong. "My mom doesn't even wear these."

"My mom?" I drag out hesitantly, twisting my expression with enough confusion that he falls for it. I like messing with him, it's so easy to get under his skin. Then again, it's not like he can't get it for my mother. She likes caps, hats, sombreros, you name it. She has so much she can't even count them.

"You, Grace!" he exclaims, throwing his hands up in exasperation. I grin in response. I take it from him as his expression turns knowing and he shakes his head slowly.

I head to the same mirror he was before and end up getting distracted by how good I look. I have to stop a couple of feet away. "Ooouu, look at you!" I cover my mouth with my hand. "Oh, okay! Who dat?" I say to myself, taking small cautious steps forward. "Pause-" The girl in the mirror stops. "Pose-" she strikes a diva pose. "You look good, girl. God did you well, ain't he? Praise him! Thank you, Jesus." I raise a hand above my head, the other on my chest as I close my eyes with my head bowed for a moment of silence.

At the sound of snickering that seems to be coming from multiple places and not Arthur, my eyes snap open. But I keep my head down as my eyes do a paranoid sweep of the grounds. It doesn't help because I don't move my head, so I can't see anyone in this position. At the same time, I'm scared to see people watching me. I despise getting carried away in public.

When I finally look up and turn around, there's a young teen discreetly but not so discreetly recording me, making my face heat up. Arthur's where I left him, only he's watching me like everybody else. His arms are crossed and if his smile was any wider, his face would crack.

I cross my arms over my chest also, making my way to him. "You couldn't tell me I had an audience?" I hiss, cheeks burning. This is horrible.

"What? You were enjoying yourself." He shrugs, enjoy this. "I'm sure they all agree with you. I know I do." He hums and lets his eyes rake down my body. "You do look good."

I roll my eyes, feeling my ego boost a couple hundred points but he'll never hear it from me. "Yeah, well, I know that." I lift a shoulder in a half-shrug.

Arthur chuckles, but there's that look in his eyes again that makes me blush for a whole other reason.

"Stop looking at me like that." I laugh, holding my hands up to my face.

"What?" He pulls my hands away a second later, humor in his voice.

"Um, excuse me, have I seen you somewhere before?"

A brunette is staring at Arthur when he glances over his shoulder then steps aside so we can both pay attention to her. I glance between them while he stares at her with creased brows as if he's trying to remember. I take her in. Long curly hair, she's shorter than me (but who isn't), with grey eyes, a button nose, and light makeup but she looks perfect.

"Arthur... Kingsley?" she asks, seeming sure despite the hesitation.

I refrain from narrowing my eyes. What does she expect from coming over here?

"Yeah..." He trails off in a, 'why are you talking to me', way. His sass is immeasurable.

"Don't you remember me? Anna?" She smiles with her teeth, it lights up her face.

From Frozen? I stop myself from making a face at her.

"Yeah, sure."

I look over at him so fast my neck almost break off its hinges. You do?

Keep your cool, Grace. You always keep your cool.

"Wow." That one-syllable, three-letter word, is breathy and packed with compliments. So is the once-over she offers up for free. I clasp my hands together, slotting my fingers as I stare at her blankly. "You changed a lot."

She's just gonna act like I'm not here...

Instead of giving her a verbal answer, Arthur lets out a knowing huff laced with amusement. A second later, he snakes an arm around my waist but I don't break my gaze from her face.

"Let's get out of here," he says next to my ear, snapping me out of my deadly haze. He coaxes me away, large hand splayed against my hip.

I catch little miss thangs eyes for a second, seeing the disappointment on her face when she finally sees me. That's right you na-

**~**

"So... who was the frozen girl?" I ask casually, popping a piece of my cinnabun into my mouth.

Arthur shrugs but I see the way the corner of his lips pull up. "Old friend." He says it in a way that doesn't convey old friend. So someone has to be lying.

"Mmm..." I hum, acting indifferent when I want to jump across the table and attack him. But that's not how I role. It's not like he did anything wrong.

After we'd left little Anna standing in the middle of what I found out was one of the many shoe stores, we went on to check out a few more stores but haven't bought anything since. I made sure to call my parents and tell them I was going to be late, before Arthur and I stopped at Cinnabon and took one of the tables in the open. The entire time I've been trying to forget the whole altercation and not to let it get to me. Obviously, I failed. I hate that I'm feeling so possessive over him when we're not even together. But then again... he's mine and I'm not sharing. He wormed his way back into my life and house, so he signed up for this.

"Oh." Arthur leans forward, smiling sweetly. "Are you jealous?"

My stare goes blank but I'm sure she can see my annoyance because I can feel it. "Why would I be jealous?" You're already mine.

He's grinning now. Smiley little-

Arthur reaches across the small table between us, pinching at my cheek. "You're so hot when you're being all possessive."

I snap my teeth at his hand, making him pull back abruptly, laughing loudly. I reach into the box, take out another cinnabun, and shove half of it into my mouth.

"Okay," Arthur starts, sitting back to get comfortable. As comfortable as he can on these ugly chairs anyway. "We went to the same middle school." My chewing slows. "Long story short, I had a crush on her, asked her out and she humiliated me in front of everyone on purpose."

"Whamn?" My voice comes out muffled as I try to clear my mouth quickly. How is that even possible?

"I was a scrawny kid, babe." He still says it with a smile. "Braces and all." His smile turns crooked, charming.

I swallowed. "So you weren't always like this?" I look him up and down. "Not even a little bit?"

He shakes his head. "Not even a little bit. I was what they called 'a nerd'. I had the glasses, the braces, the lanky arms, and I was probably the shortest kid in my year." He seems to think about the last part, then gives up with a shake of his head.

I clasp my hands under my chin, probably looking at him with heart eyes because I can almost see the vision and he's so cute! "Awwww," I coo and he purses his lips though the smile is still there. "Do you have a picture?" I ask.

"There's no way you're seeing that." He shuts my joy down so effortlessly, that I question whether he cares for me at all.

"Why not?" I almost whine. "You probably looked adorable."

He blinks at me, unwavering. "That's exactly why."

I let out a laugh, turning my attention back to the box between us. "I would've dated you," I tell him honestly. If we went to the same middle school, and he was the sweet kid he described, I'm positive I would've said yes if he asked.

"Sure you would," he drawls.

"I'm serious."

He meets my eyes and we stare at each other for a moment. The air feels thick and crackly. It's enough to turn my stomach fizzy and make me have to wait to take another bun.

"And I would've asked you out," he says suddenly. I look away first because I feel like I'm about to burst out of my skin. We're both smiling like losers, but this is easily one of my favorite moments of us.

After a minute or so of silence, Arthur breaks it. "We can shop more after this." He bites into another bun.

"You know, I can pay for my own stuff-- and do you need all those caps?" I eyed the new dark red Jansport bag that he bought to put them in. He's ridiculous.

"Well, I want to pay for your stuff. And half of these are yours."

My eyebrows raise. "Really?" He smirks at me. "You're lucky I like them, but my mom might snatch them from me one by one." I bit my lip at his deep chuckle.

**~**

I roll over the back of the couch, landing on my dad, making him let out a grunt.

"Can't a man watch Boondocks in peace?" He glares at me. My dad loves The Boondocks, and when I say love, I mean, he'd watch it every day if he had to choose among anything else. He settles with rewatching the series once every other year or so. It's his comfort show.

I ignore him, taking out the box from behind my back and placing it on his thigh. "I'm sorry for lying to you and letting John into your house," I say softly. I patiently wait for him to open it, but all he does is look from me to the box, then back to me. This goes on a few more times until I can't take it anymore. "Dad, just open it!"

"Well damn, you ain't got no patience. It's my fuckin' gift so I'll open it when I want to, the fuck." He eyes me, disgusted with my attitude.

I make a stank face at him, but not subtle enough that he doesn't notice when he finally unwraps his gift. He stares at the watch without any kind of reaction, and I anticipate his response by tapping away at my knee.

Then he looks at me. "Couldn't you make me be mad at you for at least a week?"

I light up at that. "So you like it?" I ask hopefully.

"I love it." He pulls me into a hug and kisses my forehead. "Got me in my feels and shit," he mutters under his breath. I giggle as he rubs his eyes dramatically. He takes a deep breath and gets the watch from the box. "Now," he hands it to me and holds out his right wrist, sticking his fingers out, "put it on," he orders, nose in the air.

"Are you kidding?"

He widens his eyes at me challengingly. "Well if I was the one that bought you like a necklace or something, you'd want me to put it on."

He does have a point there...

I take the accessory and slip it onto his wrist. After clipping it in place, I drop my hand to my lap to watch him admire his new friend. "Well shit," he says, holding his arm out and tilting his head as he watches the silver glisten under the lights. "Wait till I go back to work. Niggas gon be envying the watch that my daughter got me." He grins, probably picturing it in his head.

Dad hasn't been to work for a couple of weeks since the baby's birthday is coming up and Mom has already put in her sabbatical. He had a few months of vacation so that he could be with her during the last few weeks of her pregnancy and the time after. He worked constantly, and hardly took sick days or vacations over the years, so it was no surprise when the law firm gave him the elongated vacation without complaint. In the past, they didn't get to do the same thing with me because I was conceived when they were in undergrad.

"Where's mine?" Mom comes out of nowhere, pouting

"I can't have shit," Dad mutters.

I reach for the other box that's been hiding behind me on the couch and hand it to her. It was a gold chain necklace with a sky-blue crystal pendant. I hand it to her, watching her glow when she opens it.

"Ooh, shiny!" She lowers herself onto the couch carefully with Dad's help, resting the necklace on her large belly, and playing with the crystal. She turns to me, reaching across her husband to pat my cheek softly and make kissy noises. "Thank you, baby."

"You're welcome." My heart is so warm right now. My family is perfect, I think as I watch Dad help her put it on.