Like a Dream Come True

“So, kids, what’s the plan?”

“Any part of your body that touches mine,” Sin said in a cold, hard voice to Zip as she watched him go to throw his arm around her shoulder. “I will tear off and beat you to death with.”

Pulling his arm back, Zip smirked. “So hostile, Sin,” he told her. “There’s no need for that. Come on, we’re all friends here,” he motioned towards the small group in the hallway of the club.

Rolling her eyes and not saying anything to Zip in response, Sin turned to Lianna and Joseph. “Well, the asshole has a point,” she motioned towards Zip, who just laughed at her openly aggressive attitude. “Are you guys just planning on going home and going right at it, or are you up for hanging out for a while?”

Blushing, Lianna looked at Joseph. “I say we hang out,” she replied. In truth, everything was spinning inside Lianna’s head. The kiss had been amazing, innocent and wonderful, and she had meant what she said; she did forgive Joseph. Hearing him tell off Frankie and describing Lianna in such a tender way made her feel like he really did love her. Still, she didn’t know what was going to happen next. Not even thinking about the band’s tour in January, Lianna was just concerned at the moment with more immediate issues, like what it was going to be like to be intimate with Joseph again after all they had been through and after months of being apart.

“I agree,” Joseph smiled at Lianna, squeezing her hand. The look of total happiness that was spread over his face made her stomach flip. “None of us have seen you in ages, Sin,” he turned his attention to the girl across from him. “We’d all love to hang out and have you catch us up on your exciting life down under.”

“Well, I want to catch up with you, too,” Tavian turned to Sin. “But unfortunately my girlfriend is going to give me enough shit when I get back to her place about letting these two get back together, so I’m not going to push it any further with her tonight.” He leaned over and gave Sin a hug. “But you have my number, so use it, ok?”

“Okay,” Sin grinned at Tavian as she released him from the hug. “I will, because I want to meet this sympathetic girl that feels sorry enough for you to have sex with you on a regular basis.” She turned her head a little and groaned. “Fuck, that means I’m stuck with Zip when these two start making out like teenagers, as we all know they will,” she made a face at Zip.

“Thousands of fans out there who would do just about anything I asked of them right now,” Zip motioned down the hall towards the main area of the club. “And I’m going to spend the evening with the one person who wishes my testicles would be involved in some sort of freak blender accident. I must be a masochist.”

“First of all, you’re a cocky bastard, not a masochist,” Sin put her hands on her hips. “Second of all, I don’t remember asking you to spend time with me, so please feel free to go fuck whatever barely-legal, fake-titted groupie you want. And finally, while the blender accident would definitely put a smile on my face, know that I don’t waste any of my time thinking about you or your balls.”

“As I remember,” Zip’s dark eyes were dancing. “The blender accident isn’t the only thing I could do that would put a smile on your face.”

Glowering, Sin let out a disgruntled groan. “You are such an asshole,” she shook her head. “Come on, guys, let’s at least get me to a place where I can pound hard liquor and try to forget that he even exists, or at least forget the fact that I was ever stupid enough to let him see me naked.” Turning, she started heading down the hallway. Zip followed, flashing a smile over his shoulder at the group as he called out to Sin about doing a lot more than just seeing her naked.

Looking at Tavian and Joseph with raised eyebrows, Lianna laughed. “I don’t know,” she told them, shaking her head in amusement. “I was feeling kind of bad there for a moment, Tavian, knowing you’re going to get shit from Madison when you get home. But after seeing that, I’m wondering if I should let you go out and I’ll deal with Maddy. She’s certainly less scary than Sin.”

Chuckling, Tavian couldn’t argue. “Yeah, Maddy’s like a cuddly kitten in comparison to Sin,” he told her. “And there’s nobody in the world who puts Sin in a more aggravated mood than Zip. You guys have fun!”

After Lianna and Joseph said their goodbyes to Tavian, they waited a moment before going to find Zip and Sin. Joseph was just looking at Lianna’s face, a small goofy smile playing on his lips. “You have no idea how much I love you,” he said suddenly.

“Well, I’m expecting you to show me,” Lianna told him softly. “And if you fuck up like you did again, I’m sending Madison AND Sin after you this time, okay?” She smirked a little at her last comment.

“You don’t have to worry about that,” Joseph reached up to stroke her cheek, no sign of joking in his expression. “I won’t ever fuck up like that again. I promise.”

Tears began to fill Lianna’s eyes again, so she just nodded in response, afraid that if she tried to say something just then, she would begin crying openly yet another time. “Well, we should probably get going,” she finally said. “Before Sin kills Zip, and we’re left with having to help her dispose of the body.”

Nodding, Joseph smiled at her. “Yeah, let’s get going,” he told her, wrapping his arm around her waist. As they headed down the hall side-by-side, he kept stealing sideways glances at Lianna, causing her cheeks to heat. He kept looking at her like he couldn’t believe she was actually there.

-----

The foursome had managed to find a little hole-in-the-wall bar with barely anyone in it besides the bartender and a couple older regulars. It was a good thing that no one was in there, too, because while Joseph had donned his stereotypical ‘hiding from the public’ clothing, Zip wore exactly what he had been wearing on stage earlier that night. Any Broken Dynamite fans would have immediately recognized him from a mile away.

“Do you always have to be the center of attention?” Sin asked Zip with a sneer when they all settled themselves into a booth at the bar, pointing at his black leather pants and dark gray torn t-shirt. “You’re a textbook case of a narcissist – completely in love with yourself and wanting everyone around you to buy into your self-preoccupation.”

“And there goes the two semesters of freshman psych you took six years ago,” Zip rolled his eyes. “Well, if you want to go all Freud on me, you might note that the kind of outward hostility that you are showing me is often a mechanism used by people to avoid dealing with deeply intense sexual desires for another person – namely me.”

“Okay, okay,” Joseph put up his hand to stop the argument before Sin got the chance to offer a scathing reply to Zip. “It’s a tie. You both have humungous balls. We get it. Now let’s talk about something else.”

Throwing one last dirty look towards Zip, Sin turned her attention back to Joseph and Lianna across the table from her. “Okay,” she said. “Well, Lianna, since you’re the only person I don’t know at this table – unfortunately – tell me about yourself. Where are you from? How did you two meet?”

The conversation became easy and relaxing, Lianna telling Sin about herself, and Sin telling everyone about her time in Australia. Before they knew it, the bartender told them it was last call. “I can’t believe it’s so late!” Lianna exclaimed. They had been at the bar for over two hours. “We should get going. I’m pretty rocked right now.” The group had split several pitchers of beer throughout the night, and although Lianna had been the only one to not also down a couple shots, she was still pretty intoxicated.

As everyone put on their coats and assorted winter accessories and headed outside, Lianna looked at Joseph and became suddenly nervous. What were they going to do now? Would he expect her to go back to his condo? Could she? After all, the idea of going back there, knowing Joseph slept with Frankie there, turned her stomach. If they went back to her apartment, would he expect them to have sex? Lianna knew for certain that she had no interest in having forgettable drunk sex the first time after they got back together. She decided to talk to him about it once Sin and Zip were gone.

“Do you guys want to grab the first cab?” Zip asked Joseph and Lianna. “Then Sin and I can take the next one.”

“Why would we take the same cab?” Sin’s soft gray eyes turned to slits as she glared at Zip. “You don’t know where I’m staying, and I know you’re not stupid enough to think we’re going home together.”

Giving Sin a sexy grin, Zip raised his eyebrows. “Oh, you sure about that, babe?” he asked. “I mean, one more night, for old time’s sake…?”

“Not if you were the last man on earth,” Sin replied. “Remember, I’ve been in Australia for the last three years; I may not have been inoculated against the many diseases you are most likely carrying thanks to your less-than-discretionary view on choosing a bedmate.”

“Ouch,” Zip put his hand to his heart, but he was still grinning. “Fine, fine. Still, you did say you were staying in the Upper East Side, and I live on the way. So we can split a cab without it meaning that we’re going to fuck. Although, once we’re alone in the backseat, you may start remembering how incredible I am in bed and change your mind.”

“Highly doubtful,” Sin said, turning to Lianna and Joseph. “Well, it was great to meet you, Lianna,” she told her sincerely. “And you,” she pointed at Joseph, frowning suddenly. “You do anything to fuck up things with this one again, and I will personally give you an adult circumcision.”

“I’m already circumcised,” Joseph told her.

“Yeah,” Sin smirked. “So imagine how much another one would hurt.”

After seeing off Sin and Zip, Lianna turned to Joseph. “So…”

“So,” Joseph repeated. “Where do we go from here?”

Suddenly, it hit Lianna. “I’d like it if you spent the night at my place,” she told Joseph. “I’m not really ready to sleep at your condo yet, if that’s okay with you. But I also don’t want to have sex tonight. I’m drunk, and I don’t want to be drunk the next time I’m with you like that.” That was it. That was the mistake she had made the first time through their relationship – not telling Joseph what she really wanted and needed – and she wasn’t going to repeat that mistake.

“Okay,” Joseph gave Lianna a small grin. “That all sounds great to me.”

On the cab ride back, Lianna curled herself up against Joseph, her cheek against his chest as he gently stroked her hair. This was the last thing she had expected to happen that night – that they would be back together and on their way to her apartment to simply cuddle in bed together. And she couldn’t think of anything that would have been better.

-----

It was nearly noon when Lianna woke up, but of course they had been out until four am the night before and even after that, she and Joseph had spent a couple hours curled up beside each other in bed, talking about their relationship. There were a lot of things that would have to be talked about further, but it was a good start. Lianna felt like they actually had a chance now to make things work between them.

Noting that it was probably the smell of coffee and bacon that woke her, Lianna looked to the other side of her bed and confirmed her suspicions. Joseph had gotten up before her to make her breakfast. Smiling to herself, Lianna leaned over and breathed in the scent of the other pillow. It smelled like Joseph, and it made goose bumps rise on her arms.

Silently padding into the kitchen in her socks and flannel pajamas, Lianna stopped at the entry to look at Joseph for a moment undisturbed. His back was to her as he scrambled eggs in a frying pan on the stove, humming softly to himself. He was in the jeans he had worn the night before, but with no shirt, and Lianna admired the way the tattoos that covered his back moved slightly as his muscles flexed. “Morning,” she finally said from her spot leaning against the wall.

Turning around, Joseph gave Lianna a nervous grin. “Morning,” he responded. “I wish you hadn’t woken up. I was planning on serving you breakfast in bed – or brunch, at least. What time is it?”

“Almost noon,” Lianna told Joseph as she walked up behind him and slipped her arms around his waist. Resting her cheek against his back, she closed her eyes and reveled in the coolness of his skin. “It was really sweet of you to get up and do this for me,” she finally said.

Turning the heat off the burner on the stove, Joseph turned around in Lianna’s arms so he was facing her. Looking down into her eyes, he seemed to be trying to figure out the words to say. “When I woke up this morning,” he began. “I completely expected to be alone in my bed. I expected last night to have all been a dream, because I’ve been dreaming about being with you again for months. But when I opened my eyes… you were there. You were so beautiful, with your peaceful expression and your head on my chest. I could hardly believe it, that I was getting a second chance.”

Searching Joseph’s deep green eyes, Lianna could see that he meant every word he was saying. “Well, believe it,” Lianna gave him a small grin, although her eyes were glassed over. “You’re getting another chance. Actually, we’re getting another chance. I made a lot of mistakes the first time around myself. And while I didn’t sleep with the devil incarnate,” Lianna said pointedly, smirking at Joseph’s sheepish expression. “We had other problems before that. I just hope we can learn from what we’ve gone through, you know, and rebuild this relationship from the ground up.”

“That sounds great,” Joseph told her in a soft voice, reaching over to push some loose hairs behind Lianna’s ear. “And I’m going to work so hard to make this work this time. I love you, Lianna.”

“I love you, too,” Lianna said to Joseph. Raising herself up a little, she closed her eyes as she tilted her head, and she soon felt Joseph’s lips on hers. He kissed her gently, slowly, luxuriating in the moment. When they finally pulled apart, Lianna looked up at him with a smile. “Are you going to be insulted if we let the brunch you made wait for, let’s say, an hour or so?”

“Screw the brunch,” Joseph grinned at Lianna. “I’ll take you to IHOP later.”

Laughing, Lianna took Joseph’s hand and led him toward her bedroom. She was nervous as they began kissing again, but she was also excited. It had been over two months, and after all, Joseph had never been lacking in skills when it came to sex, even when things between them had been at their worst. So she couldn’t wait to see how they would be when things were going well again…

-----

“I am so calling in sick tomorrow,” Lianna said later that day, out of breath and covered in sweat as she lay back against her pillow. “You are completely exhausting me. And no, that’s not a complaint. And no, I don’t want you to stop.”

Grinning, Joseph climbed above Lianna and lay down gently on top of her, resting his weight on his forearms and leaning down to kiss the tip of her nose. He was also short of breath and glistening with a thin sheen of perspiration. They hadn’t left the bed in four hours – and they hadn’t slept at all in that time. “You don’t have to miss work on my account. I know your job is important to you. Besides, it’s still the afternoon. You’ll be fine by morning.”

“So you’re planning on stopping completely as of now?” Lianna teased as she traced her fingers over Joseph’s back. “That’s a little disappointing… Anyway, I want to take off tomorrow. I haven’t missed a day of work since I started there, and there’s nothing pressing going on this week. Besides, my boss and I still get along really well. I don’t think she’ll mind.”

The feel of Lianna’s fingertips drawing swirls down his spine was making Joseph’s length begin to twitch again, to both his surprise and his delight. No one had ever been as attractive to Joseph in his whole life as Lianna was at that moment, and his body was putting up no fight at the opportunity to be inside her over and over. “Well, if you insist,” he smiled at her, closing his eyes and dropping his mouth to hers. “You have become quite the insatiable one, haven’t you?” he whispered against her lips.

“Two. Months.” Joseph couldn’t help but chuckle as he heard Lianna’s slow, determined response. But the laughter died down quickly as he felt Lianna’s hips start grinding against his and one of her hands buried in his hair. Kissing her deeply for a minute, Joseph began moving slowly down her throat, reveling in the salty taste of her skin on his tongue. Kissing the hollow of her neck, Joseph focused his attention downward even more, letting his lips flutter over her breasts and causing Lianna to arch her back in pleasure.

As Joseph took one of her hard nipples between his lips and began pulling on it gently, sucking and flicking it, Lianna let out a soft moan. How many times had they had sex that day? Three? Four? Lianna couldn’t keep track at this point. All she knew was that the moment Joseph had first moved into her earlier that afternoon, Lianna had felt an overwhelmed. It had been more than physical; it was a connection that brought tears to her eyes.

Kneeling between Lianna’s thighs, Joseph kissed down over her stomach until he reached the patch of hair between her legs. Running his hand over her inner thigh, Joseph passed his tongue over the entire length of her lips, from her entrance up to her clit, tasting her arousal mixed with his come from earlier, and not caring although he had never gone down on another girl after he had come in her. The soft cry of pleasure that Lianna let out as he took her clit between his lips and tormented it with his tongue was reason enough for him to do it.

Sliding two fingers into her warmth, Joseph began a steady rhythm of moving in and out of her as he sucked at her. By this point, Lianna was already moaning, her body oversensitive from their fervor earlier. Pulling his hand back, Joseph sat up kneeling in front of Lianna and stroked his now fully hard erection. “Come here,” he beckoned softly.

Rising onto her own knees, Lianna reached for Joseph, kissing him deeply as her hand rubbed the back of his neck. His arm wrapped around her waist and pulled her to him until she was straddling his thighs, his erection pressed against her stomach. Moving her hips forward in a rolling motion, Lianna felt Joseph groan into her mouth. Taking him in her hand, she led Joseph to her before sinking down on him.

Joseph closed his eyes and began kissing Lianna’s neck and shoulder as she moved above him. Her movements were paced perfectly, not so slow as to be torturous, not so fast as to lose the intimacy of the moment. They were able to continue this for a long time, each relishing the closeness of their bodies. When Joseph finally felt Lianna speeding up, her breathing growing erratic and her fingernails scraping over his back, he took hold of her hips and began rising hard to meet her thrusts. He watched with pleasure as she threw her head back, her eyes closed, and let out a cry as her muscles tightened around him, causing enough pressure to bring him to climax as well.

As her orgasm slowly subsided, Lianna let her body collapse towards Joseph, her head resting on his shoulder. It felt so good to be this close to him again, to have him back in her arms, to have him telling her he loved her, to feel okay never wanting to let him go. It all just felt so good.

-----

By Tuesday morning, Lianna’s whole body was sore, but she didn’t regret it for a moment. Joseph had stayed at her apartment straight through for the first two days back together, and had even gotten up with her that morning, making her coffee before she left for work.

Walking into Sandy’s office, Lianna smiled widely at her boss. “Good morning,” she greeted Sandy happily. “Did I miss much yesterday?”

“No, nothing much. And it looks like the personal day you took yesterday did wonders for you,” Sandy laughed. “Let me guess… you finally came to your senses about that Eddie person.”

“Nope,” Lianna sat in a chair across from Sandy’s desk. “The opposite. Joseph and I have decided to try again to work things out.”

Wrinkling her forehead, Sandy looked thoroughly confused. “But I thought… Eddie just seemed… and the reporter had those pictures…”

Feeling like her blood had turned to ice, Lianna looked at Sandy. “The reporter?” she asked. “What reporter?” When Sandy dropped her gaze and didn’t respond, it all clicked in Lianna’s mind. “My God, it was you, wasn’t it? You were the one who gave that reporter all those quotes about me. How could you, Sandy? How could you do something like that to me?”

“I, um, I mean, he, he twisted what I said,” Sandy looked stricken. “I just thought that you and Eddie… and he seemed nice… I thought it might push you to start something with… God, Lianna, I’m so sorry.”

Leaning back in her chair, Lianna crossed her arms over her chest and shook her head. She didn’t know what to say. Closing her eyes, Lianna took a deep breath and tried to sort this all out in her head. “Well, it’s over,” she said to Sandy as she opened her eyes again. “The story was printed; people read it. I just… I’m just hurt, I suppose. But I’ll get over that.”

“Lianna, I am sorry,” Sandy told her earnestly. “You’re my friend. I had no right to do that. I don’t know what came over me.”

I know, Lianna thought to herself. Since dating Joseph, Lianna had seen it quite a bit – people who came close to fame and the power it offered, and couldn’t stop from reaching out to claim a tiny bit of it for themselves. “Sandy, you’re my boss, first and foremost. I like this job – a lot – but maybe… maybe we should leave our relationship on a professional level for a while.”

Looking saddened, Sandy tilted her head slightly. “Well, you’re an excellent employee,” she said softly. “I don’t want to lose you, either. But I wish we could keep up our friendship as well.”

“Yes, well…” Lianna didn’t mean to sound so cold, but in truth, she saw Sandy differently now. She wasn’t even angry with Sandy; she just thought she was sort of pathetic. “Maybe in the future…”

Nodding, Sandy looked resigned. “Okay, then,” she gave Lianna a small smile. “Well, we both have work to do, so I guess…”

“Of course,” Lianna stood up and straightened her suit. “I’ll have those reports on the car dealership website to you by lunchtime.”

“Sounds good,” Sandy said, and then watched Lianna leave the office. Inside, Sandy felt a knot in her stomach. She had known she shouldn’t talk to that reporter that night, but he had made her feel so important… And then, the way he had turned around the things Sandy had said to make Lianna look like a weak tramp had been shocking. In honesty, Sandy couldn’t blame Lianna for her reaction. In fact, she was quite impressed with how professional she had been. Unfortunately, that didn’t have any bearing on the friendship they had shared over the past few months, which was now nonexistent.

-----

“She’s going to hurt me, isn’t she?” Joseph asked as he and Lianna approached Madison’s door on Friday night. “She’s going to open the door with a kitchen knife in her hand, right?”

Laughing, Lianna shook her head as she shifted the dish in her hands. She had already seen Madison on Wednesday for lunch, and had talked to her about everything. And while she had her reservations, Madison was above all a wonderful friend. If being with Joseph made Lianna happy, than Madison would (begrudgingly) accept it. Still, she was likely to make Joseph sweat a little during the dinner they had planned for the four of them that night.

“Guys, come in,” Tavian answered the door, taking the dish from Lianna. “What is this?” he asked, lifting the foil off to peek in.

“Garlic rosemary mashed potatoes,” Lianna told him. “Joseph made them. I’m lucky if I can boil water.”

“Hey Joseph,” Tavian gave his friend a smile. “Here, Madison’s in the kitchen. You should bring these to her.”

Looking nervously between Tavian and Lianna, Joseph reluctantly took the dish. “Okay,” he said. “But if you hear any screaming, or I’m not out of there in ten minutes, I want you to call the police and tell my mother I loved her very much.”

Laughing, Tavian and Lianna sat on the couch when Joseph left the room. “So how are things going?” Tavian asked gently, in a way that was not pushing for personal information, but did offer the opportunity for Lianna to share if she felt like it.

“Things are good,” Lianna smiled happily at Tavian. “Things are very good. We’ve still got issues to work through, but… I don’t know. Things feel different than they were the first time around. I feel like we’re in a partnership now, not a situation where one of us gives up everything.”

“I’m glad to hear that,” Tavian said sincerely. He had spoken to Joseph a few times that week, and couldn’t help but note how much his best friend seemed to be back to his old self. And Tavian knew that was all due to Lianna. Love does funny things to people, he mused to himself just as Madison walked into the living room. Seeing the white-faced expression on Joseph as he walked in behind her, made Tavian burst into laughter. “I take it you two talked?” he reached out his hand to Madison, who walked over and placed herself on his lap.

“Yes, I think Joseph and I have come to an understanding,” Madison shot a meaningful look at Joseph, who had taken a seat beside Lianna, who still looked a little shaken. When he saw her expression, Joseph just nodded. “See, we’re all good now.”

Everyone began to loosen up after a while, and the four of them ate dinner together amiably, although Joseph kept stealing nervous glances at Madison across the table. “What did she say to you?” Lianna finally whispered into his ear when they were in the kitchen, putting the dishes into the dishwasher.

“I’m not allowed to say,” Joseph told Lianna. “But let’s just say that I’m not going to be able to sleep without having vivid nightmares for a few nights.” Looking at Lianna’s smirk, Joseph smiled back. “But it’s fine. She had every right to threaten me. She was smart enough to always know what an amazing person you are. I was the ass that took six months to really figure it out.”

Leaning over to kiss his lips softly, Lianna grinned. “I love you,” she whispered.

“I love you, too.”

-----

ONE MORE CHAPTER LEFT! WE STILL HAVE TO SEE HOW EDDIE’S GOING TO REACT TO THE NEWS, WHAT’S GOING TO HAPPEN WITH FRANKIE AND WHAT THE FUTURE HOLDS FOR LIANNA AND JOSEPH. THANKS TO ALL WHO REVIEWED. A FEW NOTES:

PAPERMIRACLE, CU-KID, SOUTHERN, AND CARIAD: THANKS FOR THE COMMENTS ABOUT SIN. I’M DEBATING WRITING MY NEXT STORY AROUND HER. ANY THOUGHTS?

KALI: THANK YOU FOR MAKING SPECIAL NOTE OF THE SUPPORTING CHARACTERS. I OFTEN FIND THEM THE HARDEST TO WRITE FOR.

MEMORY CHASE: I HOPE YOU HAVEN’T STARVED YET!

LADY RAIN: YOU GAVE ME AN INTERESTING IDEA FOR THE LAST CHAPTER… THANKS!

SPECIAL THANKS TO ADAEE, INUODEN, KIRSCHE, SESSHY_LOVER, AND DARK DRAGON. YOUR COMMENTS MAKE ME WANT TO KEEP WRITING!