~~Only mature due to some curse words and description of certain things. Anywho, here’s a new POV. Enjoy, leave a comment and a like if you like the story~~

~~Quinn’s POV~~

Okay, breathe. Just breathe. You’ve been alone with him before, why is now making your heart race like crazy. I feel like I’ve run a marathon. Ugh… and he smells so good.

Internally, I groaned as I gathered the ingredients for a chicken tortilla soup. Riot was quietly cutting up the onions and garlic for the soup. His cologne, or his natural scent who knows, filled the air with teakwood and clove or some type of spice that’s always in autumn scented things.

“How much garlic?” He turned and glanced at me. His forehead wrinkled as he held the garlic head in his hand. Why is he so cute ughhh.

“Oh, uh, like five or six cloves is fine.” I began chopping and de-seeding jalapeños.

Riot nodded and began removing six cloves before staring at the cloves. “How do you mince garlic?”

I stopped and looked at him. “Oh uh, just smash them each with the flat end of the blade, remove the skin and just chop them up. Doesn’t have to be super perfect.” I watched as he tried to smash the first clove and it went flying off the cutting board, luckily towards the wall and not the floor. I couldn’t help the laughter that left my mouth. Riot huffed in annoyance, his cheeks red as cherries.

“Here, I’ll show you.” I gently took the knife and showed him how to mince the garlic. His cologne attacked my sense of smell as I stood so close to him. I could feel his body slightly pressing into me as he leaned closer to watch. Fuuuckkkk, I had to stifle a groan of annoyance as I finished.

“See? Easy.” I smiled and placed the knife on the cutting board.

Riot huffed slightly. “Yeah, but you make everything look easy when it comes to cooking, Quinnie.”

The nickname wasn’t new, but definitely rare. He only used it if he was completely relaxed and comfortable - which is rare for him. A soft smile stayed on my face as I returned to my cutting board with the jalapeños.

“I’ve told you before, it comes with practice and I offered to teach you how to cook.”

“Yeah, but,” Riot began mincing the garlic. “Then you wouldn’t cook food for me anymore.”

My cheeks reddened as I moved on to cutting bell peppers. “Just because you learn to cook, doesn’t mean I’ll stop cooking for you, Riot.” I took a slow and deep breath before continuing. “I like making food for you. It makes me happy.” My voice fell soft as I continued chopping the peppers.

It was silent, except for the cutting of peppers and garlic filling the air.

“Sorry… I didn’t mean to make things uncomfortable.” I struggled to hold the sadness from my voice.

Riot cleared his throat before he spoke, “No… you didn’t make anything uncomfortable. I … I’m thankful that you like cooking. I know you tend to always make something I like more than the others.”

Oh, he noticed … shit. My thoughts were a mess as I stared intently at the bell peppers.

It was silent for a minute. I was so focused on calming my throats and not cutting myself that I jumped and let out a soft gasp as Riot’s arms wrapped around my abdomen. Riot was hugging me.

Hugging! Fuck, calm down heart, I feel I am about to have a heart attack.

Before I could stop myself, I leaned back into his chest, feeling his arms tighten around me. His warmth and his scent drove my mind insane.

“Thank you.” His gruff voice was low as he spoke next to my ear, his breath tickling my neck as he spoke.

My heart raced so loudly I swore he could hear it. And before I could think, his arms unwrapped and the pressure of his body left against mine. I turned my head to see him walking back to the garlic and returning to mincing the rest of it.

I could see his cheeks were the darkest red I had ever seen on him and I knew mine matched. I quickly turned back to the peppers and finished cutting them. Soon, we were both done with the cutting and I began seasoning the chicken and began the cooking process. I was very aware of Riot’s presence either beside me and behind me as I went through the steps of cooking the soup and he watched or handed me ingredients.

Once the soup was simmering, I lowered the temperature and began to wash the dishes. Riot helped dry and put the dishes away. Everything happened in silence. I was confused, worried, and my heart was still racing.

Yes, Riot would hug or cuddle me occasionally, but it was always due to some inconvience, like the sleepover and the movie. Riot’s a big guy and he takes up a lot of space naturally, so it makes sense that he would just sit me on his lap so we were both comfortable. Does this mean he likes me or am I reading too much into our friendship? Being his holder makes it even more difficult sometimes.

“Alright guys and gals, soup’s done!” I shouted towards the group who had begun watching some tv show.

“Hell yeah!” Victoria cheered as she ran into the kitchen.

“Smells really good.” West followed.

Nova came in, helping Blaze as the taller male leaned against the much smaller man.

“Thank you, Quinn, really.” Blaze smiled. He has always been a good friend and I felt a lot of relief knowing he was okay.

After everyone served themselves a bowl of the soup and settled down at the dining table, I had to ask what was plaguing my mind.

“Why is Nova in danger?”

Immediately, everyone glanced at Nova and Blaze. Blaze sighed as he set his spoon down. There was a moment of silence, though the two were speaking. He had put up the sound barrier. Once Nova nodded, the barrier dropped and Blaze started to tell us the story of Nova’s history and what was after him.

“That’s why we’ve been training so much. Nova wants to find his father and, in order to do that, we have to be prepared. For anything.” Blaze finished.

Victoria, as her usual self, loudly spoke, “And you were going to do this alone?”

“Tori, inside voice.” West mumbled out, exhaustion evident in his face.

Victoria mumbled a soft apology before continuing. “We are a group, friends. We help each other. Plus, more numbers means more power and more intellectual ideas.”

Nova shook his head immediately. “This is my problem.” His voice was rough still. His screaming episode immediately replayed in my mind.

“No,” Riot’s gruff voice brought me back. “We are friends. You are in danger and it would be safer to have more power backing you up and more protection. Especially if Blaze is just going to drive himself into physical exhaustion all the time.”

Blaze rolled his eyes, though his cheeks flushed red. Nova’s eyes watered.

“Hey, Nova, it’s okay. Trust me. We are always here for each other and we want to be there for you now. Especially with something like this.” I smiled softly, hoping he wouldn’t cry.

Nova nodded, wiping his eyes quickly. “I just… never had friends before. Sorry.”

Blaze hugged him gently. “It’s okay. Now you have friends.”

“So it is settled. We can begin training properly together and working on teamwork and communication.” Victoria smiled, proud.

West yawned, “Can I nap first?”

“It is kind of late anyways. We should all rest, especially Blaze.” I stated, thinking. “Hey, what if… well, if you guys want. I have amble rooms and space for everyone. And I could ask the headmaster and headmistress to excuse us from classes as we all train to help Nova. And we could all stay here and train in the course in the backyard.”

Nova glanced at the window that showed the backyard, though the curtain was closed.

“If everyone wants to do that, I can give them a call and see what they say.” Blaze stated, which makes sense since he has a better connection with the headmaster and headmistress.

Everyone gave their affirmations or nods.

“Alright, well, I’ll go make sure the bathrooms have fresh towels and the bedrooms are clean, some might not have sheets but I have extras.” I stood up and smiled. I set my empty bowl in the sink and made my way up the staircase to the second floor, where the extra bedrooms were.

I heard footsteps behind me and glanced, seeing Riot following me.

“Riot?”

The man shrugged, “Thought I could help… Plus I would like to talk, privately.” His eyes glanced towards the rest of the group chatting about something funny.

“Okay.” My heart began racing again as worry filled my gut.

I passed my bedroom door and into the first guest room.

“I just realised I only have three guest rooms. Someone will have to share.” I entered the first guest room, thinking of who would want to share.

“Well, actually, two of us would have to share… unless.” Riot’s voice faded as he followed me.

Oh yeah, West and Victoria won’t share a bed. Those two haven’t realised they like each other. Nova and Blaze would have no issue sharing a bed. That leaves Riot with no bed… well, I mean…

I opened the bedroom’s closet and grabbed out a fresh set of sheets and a thick comforter. The room was pretty cold.

“Quinnie?” Riot glanced at me as I set the sheets on a chair.

I glanced at him as I grabbed the fitted sheet. I watched as Riot’s eyes shifted down and then to the bed, unsure of where to look. He seemed nervous, which was strange seeing such a muscular and big man look nervous and almost small.

The man took a huge breath before looking straight at me intently, “Would you be comfortable with me,” his words caught in his throat, before he took another deep breath to relax and he continued, “with me sharing a bed...with you?” His cheeks were red as I’ve ever seen.

I was stunned, frozen. My cheeks felt hot, they were probably just as red as his.

Riot immediately tried to backtrack, probably because I hadn’t responded. “I mean, if not, I can sleep on the couch. Well, honestly that’s probably a better idea. I don’t want to make you uncomfortable. Forget I asked. I’ll sleep on the couch. I didn’t mean to make things awkward. I shouldn’t’ve asked. I-”

“Shut up.” I chuckled softly, a gentle smile towards the man. “Yes, I would be perfectly comfortable sharing a bed with you.” My cheeks were still burning red as I spoke.

Riot visibly gulped, cheeks red, and he nodded. “Okay.” He took a deep breath. “Okay. Well, let’s get the … uh, the bed dressed. Oh, I mean ready.” He groaned, embarrassed. I couldn’t help the soft laughter leaving my lips as I began, with his help, to ‘dress’ the bed.

After we finished putting the sheets and comforter on the bed, I turned the standing heater on and placed fresh towels in the room. The next one was all ready, so I just turned the standing heater on to warm the room up and placed towels in the bathroom. The last room was ready as well and didn’t need anything except the heater turned on.

“You can go and take a shower in my bathroom. I should have some of your clothes from a previous sleepover in my dresser.” I immediately froze and tried to clarify. “I wasn’t keeping your clothes from you. I just figured keeping spare clothes here would be easier for everyone. I have some of the others’ clothes in the other rooms. So it’s not weird.”

“It’s okay. I’ll go shower.” Riot shrugged and went into my room.

I groaned, annoyed at myself, as I went to the staircase railing. “Guys, bedrooms are ready, if you need me, let me know.”

I went back towards my room, hearing the others get up and walk up the stairs. For some reason, whether it was the gods or just my stupidity blessing me, I forgot Riot was in my room getting ready to shower.

I entered my room, shutting and locking my door which I usually do. When I turned around, I was blessed with the view of Riot stretching - shirtless - his back towards me, however that was plenty to get me flustered. His muscles shifted like waves, though they cracked like thunder. He was always sore and never went to a chiropractor like I suggested.

“Sorry.” I dumbly stated as I covered my eyes. He didn’t even hear me come in, why dumb mouth did you acknowledge your presence. Idiot.

Riot jumped slightly and turned, facing me. This did not help me. Riot was a built guy, everyone knew this. Even though he typically just wore the black bodysuit and crimson shorts, his muscles were more defined without clothes covering them. My cheeks erupted with heat and something else responded in kind with the view of a half naked Riot.

“Ah, it’s okay.” Riot shrugged, yawning slightly before heading into the shower. “I won’t take too long.” He closed the bathroom door and a second later I heard the shower start.

“Fuck.” I sat down on my bed, rubbing my eyes. Calm the fuck down, Quinn. Normal reaction, sure, but fuck, I hope he didn’t see that.

It wasn’t that long until Riot stepped out of the bathroom, a towel loosely wrapped around his waist being held by his hand. “Hey, I forgot to ask about those spare clothes.”

My mind went fuzzy, however in autopilot, I went to my dresser and grabbed a perfectly folded set of clothes. “Here.” My voice was soft and sounded distant to me.

Riot smiled and grabbed them with his free hand. “Thanks. You can go shower and I’ll get dressed here.”

I nodded, still in a dream state, I entered the bathroom. Only when I shut the door, I crashed into reality. I had already committed a slightly damp Riot wearing nothing but a loose towel to memory.

I am screwed.

I took a quick, cold shower, hoping it would calm my entire body down. I wrapped a towel around my waist and used another to towel dry my hair as much as possible. I brushed my teeth and did my nightly face care routine. It was at this moment I knew I fucked up. I didn’t bring any of my pajamas before I came into the bathroom.

Oh, I am screwed.