new ground and happy thoughts

Who: Gabe and Roxie
Where: in the woods
When: late evening

Warning: NSFW

The whole thing had been a good idea. Probably the best idea Gabe had had in a long time. As the fire started to putter out he pulled Roxie closer, arms around her as she leaned back against his chest. They’d made dinner over the fire, s’mores and were now both full and happy. He nestled his head a little closer to hers. “Having fun?” he asked softly, voice close to her ear.

Roxie was feeling a little like she was in some sort of fairy tale or some sort of country music video. And it was really cute. And now he was closer to her ear and Roxie was getting ideas that had her half nervous, half excited. "I am. Lots of fun. Are you having fun?" She asked, looking up into his eyes when she could get see them again.

“Of course, best night in a while.” He wondered if it could be like this, them traveling around together, camping, being close. When she turned he smiled, looking at her eyes just as much as she had her fixed on his. It was easy, just kissing her lightly with her this close.

Roxie leaned into him, hands on his jacket as she pulled him closer. She was surprised at herself that she was unzipping his shirt a little, wondering why she was doing it. Partially it was probably because she was cold but then again, maybe she just wanted to be closer to him. Either way, she tried not to dwell on it as she leaned into the kiss.

Gabe had his hands in her hair, holding her against him as he kissed her, but the shock of cooler air against just the old t-shirt he had brought what she was doing to the surface. Pulling away a touch he spotted her hand on the zipper of the hoodie he had on under his jacket, confusion creased his features. They’d shared a bed before, he’d been down to just his boxers around her before, but she didn’t usually make that first move. He wanted to ask about something, but didn’t have the right words to say.

She glanced up at him, blushing a little as she faltered on the zipper. "Just..thought you'd be warm and I'm a little chilly and..." She was starting to feel a little embarrassed because he was looking at her that way. So instead of unzipping the rest of the way, she started to zip it back up. "Sorry..." Whatever had come over her was apparently the wrong choice.

Gabe shook his head, catching her hand before she could zip it back up.”I am a little warm,” he said, smiling. “And if you’re cold...” Then by all means she was more than allowed to undress him. Just to prove that he was fine with things he kissed her again, pulling her back towards him.

She pulled herself closer to him when he tugged her though she was hesitant to unzip his shirt again. But he was hinting that she could and so after a few more kisses, she had his shirt undone and her hands inside, feeling the warmth of his skin between his jacket and hoodie.

He gasped just a little as her hands touched him, flinching at how cold her hands were. It didn’t stop him though, turning her more towards him as he kissed her just a little harder. This was only somewhat the direction he’d expected things to go in, but he wasn’t complaining. Not at all.

Roxie pulled back a little to catch her breath, scooting closer to him just to feel some more of his warmth. Plus it was nice to just be close to him. "Sorry my hands are so cold..." She said softly, looking up at him. Her hands were cold but her cheeks were, flared in a blush that wouldn't go away. Whatever was happening right now, Roxie was deciding not to fight it. Maybe this was the right time, maybe this was where it should happen. She'd have to see.

He was shaking his head again, not caring at all. “Doesn’t matter. Probably needed to be cooled off a little.” He could just barely see the blush on her cheeks in the firelight. He was quiet for a moment, considering what should come next. “Fire’s almost out...can call it a night if you want.”

Call it a night. Her heart jumped a little and she nodded again. "Yeah, let's..let's call it a night. Sounds like a plan." She stood up, reaching out for him with her hand. It was going to take some courage on her part, but she was already deciding to embrace whatever happened tonight.

Gabe kicked a little dirt over the fire as he got up, to keep it from burning up anymore before taking her hand and leading them back the few steps to the tent. It was a pretty simple tent, nothing super fancy, but that made sense for Ben. They’d loaded their things in it already, including a pair of sleeping bags as well as the two blankets from Gabe’s truck. He gave her space to get settled before joining her, hesitant about rushing things and wanting her to keep making decisions about things. “Not bad huh?”

Roxie settled on her sleeping bag, having unzipped it but not pulled it back over her. "Yeah, it's really nice here. Quiet and peaceful and it's nice to just get time to be here with you. Just the two of us..." She looked back over at him, feeling her heart kick up. Maybe she should just mention it? But did people ever just come out and say it? Or did they sort of just dance around it until it happened? Either way, she looked back at Gabe, pushing her hair back. "Plus camping is fun. I didn't ever really go camping when I was little."

Gabe made sure the tent was closed up good and tight before shucking his jacket and joining her. “That’s probably the best part, being just us,” he said, touching her chin a little, eyes on his hand. At her place there was always her parents and it wasn’t like he had a house of his own.

Roxie found herself looking up at him, taking in his eyes as he spoke. He was right. There was just them here and no one else. No distractions, no interruptions...and as thrilling as that was, it was a little nerve-wracking too. And finally she decided it was dumb to not talk to him about this because they talked about everything. “Gabe...I...ok, I gotta be honest. I’m a little nervous...because I kinda think this is perfect for us and I’m a little nervous because...you know..I’ve never done this before...”

It took Gabe a moment to catch up. Sure he was thinking about that but he wasn’t sure they were talking about it until she was almost done speaking about it. When he did clue in though he nodded a little, reaching for the zipper on her hoodie, just like she had with his. “We don’t have to. We can do stuff, but we don’t have to do that. Not if you don’t want to.” As much as it pained him to say it, he was still willing to work at Roxie’s pace, rather than scare her off.

Roxie bit down on her bottom lip, looking back up at him. “I don’t..I don’t not want to do it. I’m just...a little nervous. Weren’t you nervous your first time?” She asked, reaching for his hand to wrap her own around it. At least there was comfort in that.

Gabe tried not to laugh, settling in a little more. “You really want to know about that?” he asked, feeling like that was just asking for talking about exes or other girls he’d been with and that was bound to be sticky.

She shrugged a little. "Might make you seem a little less perfect and a little more human..." She said, glancing up at him. She knew this was her major fault here and she was doing her best to try and get over it with his help, but she was still getting there.

That really had the laugh slipping out as Gabe shook his head. “I am totally not perfect. Now I know you’re just making stuff up.” He smiled more, using the hand that was holding hers to pull her into a kiss. When he pulled back he settled in a little more. “I was nervous, but not terribly. Though that was more a result of being high and possibly drunk too. I didn’t quite realize where it was going until it was happening.”

Roxie kissed him back, at least feeling comfortable doing that. "...Well, I'm not drunk or high and I kinda know that this is gonna happen, but I think I'm just nervous about it. And I think it's ok to be nervous, but just..don't expect me to not be nervous." She said, biting on her lip again. "Should we try?"

It felt weird to give that sort of precursor, to say ‘we should try’, but Gabe wound up nodding. “We can just see where things go....if it goes there?” He shrugged a little, thinking that was fair, less pressure and such.

That was fair. That was better. That felt a lot better. Nodding, she scooted closer to him and smiled a little more. "Ok. We'll just see where things go then..." She said, shifting closer to him with her sleeping bag so she could rest her head on his chest.

Gabe wrapped his arms around her, pulling her up to kiss her, something a little harder than before, with more intent behind it. If they were going to do something, he wasn’t going to stop things now that they’d talked about it.

And Roxie followed, wanting to quell the nervousness in her. If she focused on the moment and not moments ahead, she might get by. So instead of freaking out, she leaned in and kissed him back, reaching up with one hand to rest it on his neck gently.

Gabe reached for the zipper on her hoodie, sliding it down then trying to work the sweatshirt off her shoulders. His hands ducked under the hem of her sweater, gently touching the skin along her lower back as he pulled her closer again, ducking his head to kiss her neck.

Ok, yeah, this was totally different than the kisses they'd had before. Her sweatshirt hung off her shoulders, the sweater under it still clinging to her but getting shifted and moved under Gabe's hand. When he broke off and started kissing her neck, she felt her breathing hitch a little and she sort of just hung onto his shirt, gripping the fabric a little tighter.

The hitch of her breath seemed like a good thing and Gabe kept his hand moving up her back, thinking he was doing things right, but when she clung to him like that he wound up pulling back a little looking for her eyes. “You okay?”

Roxie felt him pull back and was surprised that she didn't want him farther away from her than where he had been moments ago. Looking back at him, Roxie nodded. "Yeah, yeah...totally fine..." She said as she leaned in and kissed him back again, fiercer than before.

The ferocity of the kiss caught Gabe off guard for a half step but after a moment he was answering it with his own, struggling out of his hoodie before reaching for her again, alternating between wanting to hold her cheek and start getting her clothes off. Already it was warm in the tent, already Gabe was just a little short of breath.

And Roxie was already thinking sentences of nervous words in her head but she was really trying not to get so scared that she backed out. She shifted a little bit and tugged at his own sweatshirt, trying to get it off just so she had something to do during the kiss other than worry.

After a moment he was down to just his t-shirt and she just the sweater as his hands slipped under it again. It was starting to register that this wasn’t every other time he’d sloppily crawled into bed with someone he met on the road, that it might be more than that. In all honesty, Roxie was his first real girlfriend, the first girl he’d loved and in a way, this was just as much his first time as hers. He broke off the kiss, eyes finding hers as he lifted her sweater up a little, waiting for her to give the okay to pull it off, fighting off the nerves that suddenly had his stomach doing little flips.

Roxie was kind of hoping not to catch his eyes but when she did, it made her stomach flop a little. He was staring right at her, trying to pull her sweater off and she was just watching it. Shifting a little, she steeled her nerves and shifted, helping him help her out of the sweater, even if she was feeling more nervous as she went along. Once the shirt was gone, she was thankful the tent was warm because just in her plain, white bra, Roxie was feeling a little exposed and was at least taking comfort in the heat generated.

Gabe was with her, but as soon as her shirt was away he lost his breath for a moment. Reaching out for her he touched her collarbone lightly, where it met her neck. “And you thought I was perfect,” he said voice soft. Leaning in he kissed the spot he’d just touched, the moved further across her collarbone, pulling the bra strap out of the way.

Perfect. He called her perfect and that was surprising to her. He was kissing her skin and it was making her own breath a little shakier as she rethought his words. Perfect. Smiling, she ventured forward as she wrapped an arm around his neck, hoping to keep him there for a while.

As she held him where he was he resigned not to go anywhere. Gently he eased her onto her back, making it easier to keep up what he was doing. He was working slowly as he could, pulling at the straps of her bra, then the fabric of it, paying attention to every inch of skin he exposed.

It was a lot and a lot to be nervous about but Roxie slipped backwards and closed her eyes, trying to just feel. It was harder than she imagined, but somehow she managed to win out over thinking to feeling, even if only just a little bit. She felt her hand slip into his hair, surprised more, though, at the little sound that she made when he kissed at her collar bone.

Gabe was doing the same, ignoring all thoughts and just going with what felt right. The little noise she gave him spurred him on, mouth drifting lower as he pulled more at her bra, reaching behind her to unclasp it, even if that took a moment. One hand touched her stomach, running up her side slowly, the other grazed across her chest, hoping she was still with him and not stopping this.

Nervous nervous nervous...mostly because she felt the bra loosen. She felt his hand slip up her side and as she felt him touch her, Roxie tried to think of something other than how nervous she was. Like why was she so nervous to begin with? She loved him and he loved her and wasn't that the whole thing she'd been waiting for? Lifting up a little, she moved her arms and tugged off her bra, taking a moment of confidence to do that although she felt it waver when she was on her back again.

Gabe moved away to give her space, pulling off his own t-shirt and setting it aside. Grinning he leaned over her more, skin against bare skin as he kissed her mouth. There was a fleeting thought that he couldn’t turn back now, not at this point, not with her under him like this.

Roxie gripped at his shoulders as he kissed her, one hand drifting to his hair. This she could do. She could totally kiss him like this. And the most she did, the less nervous she was about actually going further. Because they were going slow here, building up to it, getting ready and she was starting to get used to it. Besides, he was topless now too so it was fair, sort of.

Gabe stayed where he was kissing her for a long while. As much as he wanted to push things forward, there was no rush to do that. They had all night after all. Eventually he moved one hand to her hip, dipping along the waistband of her jeans, testing the waters for moving forward.

Roxie felt her heart kick up a beat again, feeling like she was just floundering if she sat there and didn't do anything. So instead of just letting him touch her, she let her hands drift down his sides, thinking that even if it was lame, it was something. One hand scratched along the side of his hip, though it couldn't compete with his hand.

The small scratch got a contented noise out of Gabe as he moved his kisses to her neck. The hand on her jeans popped the button easily, working down the zipper before smoothing back across her lower stomach, wrapping around her hip.

Her hips lifted with his hand and she was surprised because she hadn't really meant for them to, they'd just done it. Closing her eyes, she gripped a little harder on his skin when he kissed her, exhaling hard. She craned her neck a little, holding onto the back of his head to keep him there or maybe close to there. To just keep him kissing.

Gabe stayed kissing her, guiding her pants lower when she lifted her hips into his hand. Thought was completely lost for him at this point, focused instead on the warmth of her skin under his hands and the need to touch more of it.

Thought wasn't lost on her though Roxie was doing her best to shoo it away. She felt her jeans tug down a little and realized then that there was no going back. That this was going to happen and she wanted it to happen, but the nervousness was still there. Needing something to do with her hands, she went for his jeans, unbuttoning them too because she didn't want to be jeanless and him still have his own.

Her undoing his jeans had him putting more effort into sliding hers down and he shifted awkwardly to kick his shoes off. Once they were gone he pulled her jeans down properly, leaning back to pull her shoes off first. He hadn’t stopped smiling, looking down at her as he tossed her shoes over his shoulder and pulled a her jeans.

She felt a lot on display and it had her looking up at him, confused about why he was smiling. She watched him, wiggling her legs out of the jeans and suddenly realized that there was nothing in this that said she couldn't have fun with it. That was the whole point, right? And maybe if she laughed, it'd be more...easily handled. "Why're you so smiley?" She asked, watching him.

Gabe’s grin got bigger as she spoke, unconsciously happy to see her relaxing some. He pulled her jeans away then managed to awkwardly get out of his before falling back next to her, rolling on his side, and propping himself up on one elbow to look at her. “I dunno, I like being here.” He reached for her, pulling her into kiss her again. “Like being with you. You’re perfect.”

Roxie rolled a little bit closer to him, kissing him back when he kissed her. She smiled, leaning her head against his for a moment. " 'm not perfect...but I like it here too. A lot. A lot a lot."

“You are perfect,” Gabe corrected, running his hand along her cheek as he held her closer. In this moment she was, even if it was slightly different for him to admit to. He leaned back enough to see her eyes properly, watching them closely. “You still want to do this?”

Roxie reached for his hand, bit her bottom lip for a moment was she watched him, and then smiled. "Yeah, I want to do this. Let's do this." She leaned closer to him, pulling him in for another kiss as she laced her fingers with the hand she was holding.

Gabe nodded, kissing her back before guiding her under him again. Breaking off for a moment he reached for the bag over her head, fiddling with it until he found the condom he’d packed, setting it within reach. That taken care of he focused on her again hands trailing along her sides until his fingers hooked in her underwear.

She wanted to call him out on the condom, just to make her feel more comfortable when he got a little flustered, but then his hands were elsewhere and she wasn't exactly thinking straight anymore. Back to thinking in circles and being nervous. Her heart fluttered again, kicking up its pace as he hooked in her underwear and Roxie, not sure what else to do, lifted her hips a little to help. Because she was doing this. Point blank. Nervous or not.

Gabe pulled them down when she moved, slipping them off her legs. Once they were gone he watched her eyes, running his fingers down her hips and lower, pressing small movements against her. His free hand brushed at her brow, tangling in her hair.

She took in a shaky breath, closing her eyes as she lifted a hand to hold onto his wrist, the one in her hair. Then she tried to quell her thoughts as she slowly opened her legs a little, reassuring herself that she could do this.

“Just breathe,” Gabe whispered, wanting to close his eyes too, but forcing himself to focus as he moved his fingers further. He had enough memories of other people's first times to know that watching her was necessary, to make sure he didn’t hurt her or push her too far too fast. Still, he was completely caught up in the feel of it himself and the memories were quick fading for reality.

Roxie took the advice, taking a deep breath and exhaling again. It helped a little, calming her down enough to have her really just sort of relax into the sleeping bag. Leaning her head into his hand, Roxie shifted and kissed his wrist, waiting for the next step, for the next thing to be nervous about. She felt his fingers and her breath hitched, though she told herself to breathe and was starting to get better at remembering it. As the moments passed, Roxie felt the awkward feeling fall away and slowly get replaced by something exciting, something she'd been hoping to feel. Eyes still closed, she smiled but tried to hide it by kissing his wrist again.

The soft kiss against his wrist had given him motivation for the tiny ministrations of his other hand, wanting her to be less afraid of everything but sure he was going to lose his head before too long. If he’d been looking away he would have missed the smile, but he did catch it, echoing it in his features. “Ready?” he asked again before pulling his hand away.

This was it and Roxie glanced up at him when his hand moved away only to give him a nod. "Yeah..." She managed to get out, not feeling awkward that they were talking and she was clothe-less and he still had something on. She had to stop this. She had to stop feeling this way and the only way she was going to was by biting the bullet and getting over her nervousness. Because she wanted to do this with him. "Yeah," She said more definitively.

Gabe nodded. “Yeah,” he agreed trying not to sound too eager but failing. Pulling away from her he held up one finger for her to give him a minute. He grabbed the condom and turned for a second. Once he was ready he went back to her hand on her hip as he moved over her, guiding her where she needed to be. He kissed her again, pushing inside her as slowly as he could manage, hoping to hell he didn’t hurt her.

Maybe hurt wasn't the word, but something was. It was uncomfortable, definitely, and for a good few moments she was wondering why anyone really did this. Why it mattered enough to anyone to put themselves through this discomfort. She reached for him, pulling him closer so she could press her head into his neck. Shifting her legs was a reaction, something that would hopefully lessen the discomfort.

Gabe couldn’t help the small groan as she moved her legs, and he moved one hand to them, pushing them to open them more. When he started to move it was as slow as he could manage, gentle as he could manage, holding her against him.

Roxie tried not to make a sound but the uncomfortableness hadn't quite left yet and she was wincing a little. When he moved, she bit on her lip a little and focused on Gabe and hopefully not just the pain. The little noise he made was something, hoping maybe she'd be able to give him one better than the winces she was trying to hide. But as moments passed, she relaxed and closed her eyes, gripping harder onto Gabe as she moved her legs again, giving him more space.

He only half caught the winces which had him slipping, leaning in to kiss her again as he tried wait longer between thrusts. When she relaxed finally he felt it, another noise slipping out as he went back to a normal rhythm, trying to get more than just relaxed out of her.

More than relaxed was on its way. Thankful that he'd waited longer, Roxie adjusted easier to the rhythm this time and was gripping onto his shoulders a second time. She was surprised when she gave a sound herself, something timid but there definitely, as she leaned in to kiss his neck.

The sound from her brought a sureness to his movements, less timid about hurting her and able to focus on making her feel good instead. He was gripping at her leg, her side, anywhere he could hold on to just to feel her there.

It was all so new that Roxie was sort of caught up in it from the start. She closed her eyes and pressed her head against his neck, managing really not to think about it from now in and just feel it. She gripped harder at his sides, another little noise coming from her as he moved.

Gabe kept moving at a steady pace, only picking it up when she made that noise. He wanted to keep her making those noises. He cooed something, though it was half moaned, maybe her name or something else, but it wasn’t understandable.

Roxie was still getting used to all these new, weird feelings, most of them good, and soon she was kissing down his neck as he moved, smiling as a little sound came from her again when he cooed at her. Shifting, she lifted her leg a little, surprised at the sound that came from her when their positions changed a bit.

Gabe pulled her leg up more, saying something again but not sure what it was. He was starting to groan himself, with every few moves he made against her. There was sweat building along his brow and his breathing was far more ragged.

Roxie gripped harder at him, surprised again at the totally new, building feeling she was experiencing. She bit her bottom lip, a louder noise coming from her as her eyes shut and she held onto him harder.

He didn’t stop, speeding up as she held on to him, as her noises got louder. This time it was her name as he groaned, one hand coming up to twist in her hair.

Roxie hit the edge, eyes open wide as her nails dug into his shoulders and the sound she made gave went louder than the other ones. She clung to him as the sensations flicked throughout her, electric little currents, and only relaxed when they passed and she sort of slumped into the sleeping bag.

Gabe finished with her, crying out with so that his voice mingled with hers. He hadn’t expected it from her, not like that, and as he shuddered through it, it took everything in him not to collapse against her. Instead he just managed to pull her towards him, head buried against her neck.

Roxie went with him, feeling the strange feelings of this incredible calm mixed with a little bit of soreness as she moved. She caught her breath as he held her, the feelings subsiding into something else now. Now what? What did they do? Was it awkward if she moved? Or was she supposed to?

He lay there for a moment more, then as if he could feel her starting to think again, he shifted. It came with a low groan, moving off her, but eventually he did, taking a second to clean himself up before reaching for her again. After she was back in his arms Gabe kissed her lightly. “You okay?”

She curled closer to him when he kissed her, nodding a little just after it. "I am," She promised. "I'm great." Her voice was a little gruff because it was all still a bit surreal. Like...she'd just really had sex with him and she'd wanted to and it was great, but it had happened. It was something she'd not really thought was going to happen and here it was. And it was just surreal. "You ok?"

Gabe threaded a hand through her hair, nodding with a light laugh. “I’m great as well.” Beyond great. His whole body felt like it was tingling. Reaching for the nearest blanket he pulled it over them, already starting to feel the cool against the sweat on his skin. “Just wanted to make sure that was fine.” That she wasn’t upset about it or instantly regretting it. Again he wished he had his reads back, though it seemed like in hindsight they were clearer and more directed than they really had been.

Roxie leaned into him, definitely more used to this sort of interaction. She closed her eyes while he touched her hair and smiled a little, nodding. "I'm great," She said again, reaching to touch his hand. "Just..it's all new so I'm just getting used to it," She promised. "That was more than fine. You were great," Roxie said as she glanced up in his eyes. "Was it...worth waiting?"

“You’re allowed to take some time,” Gabe said feeling like that was the right thing to say in that moment. When she looked up at him he shook his head. “I think you were great. I could have probably been better. He nodded and kissed her once more. “Of course it was. You too?”

Roxie nodded a little, leaning into him and kissing his neck gently as she smiled. Time was nice. Time was kind of what she needed. She closed her eyes and took a moment, just trying to quell her thoughts. "Yes, me too," She promised, looking up at him. "Wouldn't have wanted it to be with anyone else."

Gabe propped himself up on one elbow, looking down at her. “Me either,” he agreed, though it didn’t really make sense. What mattered was being here with Roxie. “Glad you’re okay with it. I was...uh... a bit worried you might not be.”

Roxie watched him, reaching up to tangle a hand in his necklaces. "I wouldn't have done it if I didn't want it," Roxie assured him, giving him a little smile."Thinking I'm gonna be sore in the morning. That normal?"

“I think there’s a difference between doing it because you wanted to and still being okay with it after the fact,” he said, giving her a small smile. “Totally normal.” He smiled again then laid back down, pulling her closer to him so she could lay against him. “I’m so happy with you,” he said, voice quiet, as if admitting it was a surprise to him.

It was a surprise to Roxie, actually. She'd thought he was happy, but hearing it put her in a whole new place. She smiled, scooting closer to him as she wrapped an arm around his chest. "Right back at you," She said gently, leaning in to kiss him.

Gabe kissed her back lightly, glad she agreed. He’d not felt like this, especially not in the moment he was in. Lying here with Roxie after that he had no interest in being anywhere else. He wasn’t thinking about being on the road, or out in the world. He was thinking about being right here, with his arms tight around her, not leaving her side. It was almost as if, for the moment, the wanderlust was sated.