AUTUMN LEAVES

“Sid, we haven’t done anything but eat and have sex all day”, Autumn said as Sidney turned her around so that she was facing the tiles of the walk-in shower. With his hand between her legs, he dipped his fingers inside of her and stroked her gently. “So?”, he whispered sexily from behind her as he lifted her leg and replaced his fingers with his dick. “I can’t walk anymore”, Autumn whimpered.

With the warm water cascading over them, Sidney started pumping inside of her. “Do you want me to stop?”, he asked, his voice strained from the exquisite feeling of her around him at this new angle. “No! Never”, she cried.

Autumn felt him pick up speed as he grabbed a handful of her ass and squeezed. The throaty moan that escaped her spurred him on as he gave her ass a gentle spank, and then another one. When she came, Sidney sat her with her knees on the bench, away from the shower water. He pumped his dick with his hand as he admired the view that was Autumn’s round ass from behind. She was at a perfect angled for him to fuck her doggy style, but he had other ideas. Instead, he squeezed her butt as his other hand stroked his dick hard and fast until he came and spilled his hot cum all over her red ass.

He steadied himself against the wall as Autumn looked back at him surprised, still in the same position. “Sorry, I couldn’t help myself. Your ass does things to me. I’ll get you cleaned up”, he said a bit embarrassed, as he tried to steady his breathing. “Perv”, she said chuckling, earning a pinch on her already red butt. Once Sidney lathered her skin with warm soapy water, the couple hugged tightly under the shower, enjoying the warm water and swaying to the soft music playing in the cabin.

“Did I exhaust you?”, Sidney asked as he wrapped Autumn in large fluffy towel. “Just a tad”, she said, her cheeks hurting from smiling too much. “Go settle down, I’ll make dinner”, he suggested. Autumn huffed and beat him to the kitchen to prepare dinner herself, “I don’t feel like eating pasta”, she joked at his lack of cooking skills.
Once the couple finished eating, they settled on the couch under the large afghan clutching a glass of wine each. “Isn’t it weird not having a television in the living room?”, Sidney contemplated. “Am I boring you, babe?”, Autumn looked up at him, batting her eyelashes. Sidney put his wine glass aside and gave her a long sweet kiss. “Nate has some board games, but I think they all require more than two players”, Autumn said. “Let’s play 21 questions”, he suggested. “We’re not 15”, Autumn said, rolling her eyes. “No, we’re thirty”, Sidney said as he wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.

Autumn shook her head and laughed at his antics. “Unless you prefer to go back to bed”, he added with a wink. “Fine, you start.” Sidney’s eye lit up before asking his first question.
“First kiss?” “Jordan, third grade”, Autumn answered. “That young eh?”, Sidney said smiling. “FYI, Jordan is a girl”, Autumn added. Sidney eyes widened as he almost spilled his wine with surprise. “She started it”, Autumn commented. “And you did not stop her”, he said, smirking widely. “I did, silly! Your turn”, Autumn said pinching him. “Well, I was maybe 11 or 12. It was a girl too, by the way”, he said with a smirk. “Okay, next question”, Sidney spoke despite Autumn’s objection. “Nope, my game, my rules, Scott,” He said firmly as Autumn mumbled annoyed.

“First time you had sex?”, he asked cheekily. Knowing Sidney, Autumn expected the questions to escalate into that direction. “Freshman year in Boston”, she spoke briefly, trying to put a quick end to this topic. “Who was the guy? You’re not getting off the hook that easily, baby”, Sidney stated. She rolled her eyes at him, of course he would pick up on that. Her cheeks flushed and she looked away unsure whether she wanted to tell him. Sidney’s interest peaked at her expression. “We need to know more things about each other moving forward. If you have murdered that lucky bastard for his lack of skill, you can tell me sweetie”, he joked as he stroked her red cheek.

“It’s not something I’m proud of. I was a lightweight back then and got drunk at a party. I don’t even remember what happened. I woke up the next morning in bed and…”, she spoke embarrassingly. “Typical college kid behavior”, he said, shaking his head with fake disappointment. “That’s why I chose not to go to college”, he joked. “Your fans had you believe that you’re an actual saint, huh?”, she scolded him.

“Tell me about the guy, who was he? Did you even get his name?”, he asked curiously. When she turned her face away from him, Sidney erupted in laughter. “Nice! A little slutty, baby, but nice. Oh boy, I wish I knew you back then,” he mused, chuckling at the look she gave him. Autumn did not laugh with him though, her face remained as stoic as ever. “I know his name. This is the embarrassing part,” she said with a low voice. Sidney frowned but waited her out. “This is the story of how Nathan McGraw and I met”, she whispered. “Hold on! Nathan McGraw? As in your friend Nate?!”, Sidney exclaimed standing up.

“You’re telling me that you lost your virginity to none other than Nate, your closest friend! Are you fucking serious?”, he asked agitated. “Is he like an ex-boyfriend?”, Sidney asked, as he towered over her. “No! it was a mistake, a one-time thing. I had just met at that party. He was a guitarist and a pianist. We chatted all night, talked about starting a band. We got drunk and slept together.But I was never interested in him in that way and neither was he.We became good friends and played on the same band throughout med school. We stayed in touch even after he finished his MBA and moved here”, she told him their story which failed to appease Sidney.

“So that makes your BFF the same man who took away your virginity. That’s rich, real rich”, Sidney spoke dryly. “Took away my virginity? We no longer live in the stone age, Sidney”, Autumn retorted.

“Although it was just a one night stand, Nate and I see it as the beginning of a lifelong friendship”, she answered, a little irritated by his reaction. “A one night stand”, Sidney mumbled under his breath but she heard him.

“You’re the one to talk, Sidney.” Ignoring her comment, Sidney said, “can’t you see how disturbing this is for me? He’s like your closest friend, you spend so much time together, and now I know that he’s seen you naked and…”, Sidney couldn’t finish his sentence, the picture of any man touching her burned him. What made his skin crawl is that he knew this man, he could almost call him a friend even. Same things goes in case of Mario, he thought bitterly. Then it clicked in his head that Nathan may not consider his friendship with Autumn as platonic.

“What about Nathan, does he consider you as just a friend? He was ready to murder me few days ago. He’s always been so overprotective of you that now it’s all making sense”, Sidney spoke, his hands at his waist, waiting for her to respond. “Don’t read too much into it, Sid. He’s like a brother to me. He treats me the way he treats his two sisters. That’s the last things I’m saying about this subject”, she firmly said, as she stood up and went to pour out the rest of her wine in the sink.

“Autumn, I’m sorry but I’m not gonna pretend that it doesn’t bother me to know that you’re friends with a man you’ve slept with, the first man you’ve ever slept with. How would you feel if the tables were turned?”, he asked, trying to get her to understand how he felt.
“You have the audacity to say that! You forgot that you slept with my SISTER?!”, Autumn yelled furiously at him. “And what did I do? I lived with it, I let it go because I chose to believe what you and Tiff told me about how it meant nothing. Would you do me the same favour here?”, she added, looking him in the eye.

Sidney gulped and nodded faintly, knowing that what she had just said was completely true and fair. While it didn’t help him to feel better about the whole Nate situation, he had to let it go, there was nothing else he could do about it.

“I’m going to bed, I’m tired”, Autumn grumbled as she passed by him. Sidney followed her to bed and watched her change out of his t-shirt into one of her tank tops, not bothering with pyjama bottoms. She covered herself with the large blanket and slept to the side of the queen size bed. Sidney tried to be patient as Autumn was overreacting. If anything, he was supposed to be the upset one knowing how close she is to Nate, a man she once slept with.

“I guess we’re even in a way”, Autumn spoke after a long silence, almost startling him. “How so?”, he asked quietly as he stared at the ceiling. “I know two of the women you’ve slept with and you know two of the men I’ve been with”, she said, more calmly this time. Sidney had to chuckle at that. “The unfair part is that you now know half the men I’ve been with, plus you of course”, she added. Sidney realized then that she’s been with a total of four men. He squeezed his eyes shut and prayed she wouldn’t ask him about his numbers, which will surely appal her.

“is the fourth that boyfriend you had during your residency?”, he asked as he turned to look at her. She nodded and it was her turn to stare at the ceiling. “I hate it when we fight. It’s been a few days and we’re already bickering at each other like an old couple.”

“I know. I guess we’ve been friends for a while, both assuming that we knew everything about each other”, Sidney said with a heavy sigh. “I’ve never been in a serious relationship before, but you do know this. I guess what I’m trying to say is that, this is new to me, Autumn. You know that I don’t deal well with uncertainty. I love you so much that every little thing that may come between us scares me. I know I can act possessive and unreasonably jealous at times. It’s just… The possibility of losing you terrifies me”, Sidney confessed.

Autumn turned towards him and placed her hand on his cheek. “Sid, you don’t sound like yourself. Where is all this insecurity coming from?”, she spoke gently as she stroked his cheek. “From here”, he whispered as he removed her hand from his cheek to place it over his heart as they shared a loving kiss.

“Nothing is going to come between us, Sid. Not even my marriage to Mario was able to do that. I doubt that there will ever be an obstacle that big, baby”, she whispered reassuringly. Sidney smiled at her as he played with the hem of her tank top. “I like you better in my clothes.”

*****
The next morning, once the couple enjoyed some time in bed followed by breakfast, they decided to go outside. It was a sunny day, the temperature was perfect for a hike, according to Sidney. They went snowshoeing on uncharted trails which made Autumn uneasy, but she trusted Sidney with her life. She knew he’ll keep her safe no matter what. “Hey, do you hear that?”, Autumn said stopping in her tracks. “You and your heightened sense of hearing when you’re scared!”, Sidney dismissed her comment only to stop as he heard something moving.

“Oh my god Sid! Look! It’s a wolf”, Autumn shouted hiding behind him. As Sidney focused on the animal that was stalking them curiously, he exhaled a sigh of relief when he realized that it was just a Siberian Husky, not a wolf. Suddenly, the idea of a wolf was almost more appealing as he gathered that they were not alone in that forest anymore. “It’s just a dog, calm down baby”, he said with a low voice, as he stretched his hand towards the blue-eyed dog.

Few seconds later, they heard the footsteps of the presumably dog owner. To their surprise, it was an old woman wearing snowshoes and holding a hiking stick. “He’s very friendly dear, don’t you worry”, the old woman spoke a perfect English signaling that she was a tourist just like them. “He seems like a sweetheart”, Autumn said smiling at her but terrified that she may recognize Sidney any second now. The woman called her dog to her side and he obeyed. “You two aren’t from here”, the woman concluded eyeing the couple for disturbingly too long.

“No. um… We’re here for just a few days,” Sidney said scratching his neck with his gloved hand. “You must be related to the McGraws then. Wonderful neighbors. My husband Jacques knew them for the longest time. I myself am new to this town”, the woman spoke sweetly, telling them her life story of how she got married at an old age, about her newfound love for Quebec, her new home. Autumn and Sidney relaxed when she did not seem to recognize who they were. “My god, aren’t you two a beautiful couple. Forgive me, but I can’t help but picture how beautiful your children must be”, the older woman spoke, giving them the kindest smile. The couple were both unsure how to respond. “Oh, in that case, the children you will make together”, she winked. The McGraws nosy neighbor, Autumn thought as she felt Sidney’s arm snake around her shoulder and squeeze her to him, before planting a kiss on her temple. He looked down at her with a serene smile that she has never seen before.

“They will surely be, if they were to take after their mom,” Sidney spoke confidently and sincerely as he held Autumn’s gaze, his words and evident joy taking her by surprise. She felt her heart jump out of her chest at the thought of having his children. She has never allowed herself to entertain those thoughts before, knowing that they need to overcome so many hurdles before even thinking about starting a family together.

Sidney had seemingly decided that he wanted to have a family with her, something that made her experience an indescribable amount of happiness. “Oh dear, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to make you cry”, the woman said apologetically before she wished them a nice stay and left with her dog. Sidney clutched Autumn’s face and asked her if she was okay. “Did you mean what you just said?”, she asked him between sniffles. He smiled widely at her and said, “of course I did. I have not given this topic a serious thought yet. But damn, when she said, ‘your children’, my stomach did a flip. It made me realize how much I wanted it. I want a family with you, one day.”

“I want that too, Sid. I love you,” Autumn said as she hugged him to her tightly. “so much dear”, she added mockingly. “It’s not polite to make fun of an old lady”, he said with a smile as he secured her to him, making sure they didn’t trip on their snowshoes. “She was hitting on you! She even touched your bicep! She’s the age of your grandmother for god sake” Autumn said incredulously, scrunching her nose.

As they walked hand in hand towards the cabin, Autumn couldn’t help but replay their conversation in her head. Sidney’s words and the look he’s given her when he talked about their future, made her realize that she has never felt truly loved up until that moment. That moment was everything to her. Sidney was everything she’s ever wanted. She wouldn’t want anyone else to be the father of her children. She will be content to live the rest of her life in a secluded cabin with him, away from the whole world and its problems, from people and their prejudice, from all the envy and the hate, and mostly, away from remorse, the ugly inevitable remorse that may chase them forever.

Notes

Thanks for reading :)

Charlie