a/n: this update is for Ann. wherever you are now, may you have found peace.

Chapter 2 – The Deal

Tadashi doesn't exactly remember how it all happened. But he knew it happened fast.

It was how the second their lips touched an explosion triggered inside of him, setting off fireworks. Their kissing started off as something soft and innocent, until there was a gnawing hunger in their stomachs they couldn't hold back from any longer and their kisses became rough and hungry, small hands tugging on the cotton of his shirt, his own cupping her face delicately.

Stumbling backwards to her room, they spent the night tangled in a mess of limbs and heated passion. And after falling back on her bed, everything else went misty with details. All for goodness sake all he knows was that they hooked up.

Tadashi elicited a dreadful moan as he reluctantly cracked his eyes open to the feeling of the warm sun's rays streaming into the crooked room. His muscles felt fatigued, and he released another throaty groan as he turned to his side.

The bed beneath him creaked, and as his brain worked savagely to recall the events that transpired last night and what was before him, his eyes finally shot open.

His eyes locked down on the goddess beside him, the blanket wrapped tightly around her chest. Her breathing is steady and measured as it barely ghosts over his own naked chest, and her minty breath assures him that she's burning with life.

He blushed profusely at the memory of every action and movement done recklessly last night, sending an unfamiliar beating in his heart. It wasn't anything unpleasant, though it felt surprisingly close to how they described bad cheesy high school romances in clichéd young adult books seemed like.

Everything felt completely normal until Tadashi realized he was watching over Elsa like a huge creep, enjoying how the sun filtered over her bare shoulders and gave her hair an ethereal glow, loose from its braids. When she began to shift in her sleep, he tried to shut his eyes and snore, anything to make her not think he was being creepy or anything.

"Good morning to you, too," the blonde chuckled beside him, pinching his cheeks.

"Uh, morning," he blushingly said, giving up his whole act and lying on his back. "How long have you been awake?"

"I'm not sure," she replies, lying on her own back with sheets clutched to her chest.

A long awkward silence followed, Tadashi knew if he was ever wrapped in any kind of situation like this, he should've just grabbed his pants and left to save her the trouble of kicking him out of new apartment. Oh, gosh. They just did it the second she moved in—he was feeling horrible, embarrassed, disgusted, and—

"How long will this relationship last?" she asks out of nowhere.

"Huh?"

"This relationship… us. What is this?"

Was she trying to give him a heart attack?

"Um… a one nightstand?" he replied dumbly. Because it was. It was all lively bodies and no strings attached, an experience that's supposed to be a long faded memory one of these days. But… was she expecting it to be more? Tadashi was never really in a 'friends with benefits' relationship, hell, they weren't even friends. "I… I should just leave. I'm sorry for everything."

Tadashi finally got up to leave, feeling his face burn red the second she started talking. He found his clothes lying haphazardly on the floor and began to clothe himself before rushing out of the room as he swore he never wanted to be seen by this pretty girl again.

"It could be more."

He froze as his hand was already on the knob. He slowly turned back to find her sitting up, still clutching the sheets to her chest, an unfamiliar fire in her eyes that he'd seen flicker from their affair from last night.

"What… what do you mean?" he asks, throat dry.

"This relationship. It could be more than once."

His hand fell from the knob, in vivid shock. "W-what?"

"Do you want to?" She asks, face straight. "I—no. I'm not that type of girl that goes sleeping around, that's a whore, I know. But… I can see that you seem to be going through something rough and… maybe we can have a little fun."

Fun. That's a funny way of phrasing it.

He has no idea what to reply.

"We can set ground rules," she suggested, her knuckles turning white as she clutched her sheets. It makes him think that maybe it's her first time doing this, too.

"Like what?"

"This whole thing… has a catch."

A catch? He thought, suddenly intrigued. He must've done something funny with his face because she smirked. "What do you mean?"

"We can… start seeing each other, if you'd want. But on one condition," she said, the smirk on her face disappearing. "All I'll ever tell are lies."

"Lies? T-that's… that's…" he trailed, completely baffled. So he could bring her chocolates? A huge teddy bear? Take her out to dinner and treat her like a queen and make this a daily routine in staying in her room only on that condition?

"That's insane," he finished, finding the words. "It's insane."

Her face broke into a wide smile. "Exactly."

He had to catch his breath. Tadashi leaned against the door, watching her for a brief moment. If it meant seeing her like a goddess like that everyday, then yes, he'd do it.

There was something about her. And what they shared last night was not just any ordinary fling. And maybe that's why she's asking him this, because she felt it, too. A relationship built on conspiracies, but he has to find out how further he can take this relationship—whatever he was feeling towards her, in new heights.

"Okay," he agreed, entering into a whole new relationship he'd never expected to be in. He felt himself getting plunged into her, a trap or a safe haven, he has no idea.

"So you're in?"

"Yes."

"I love you."

She was lying.