"Do you trust me?"
She had come, dark, through the doorway, pushing her way in from the rain. Her hair was a mess and her coat tucked around her jaw and lips. He stood there, one hand at his side and the other extended toward the door he hadn't had to open. Dumbfounded, he stared, and she pulled down the collar of her jacket.
"Do you?"
He hadn't seen her in three months. She'd stormed at him and disappeared, left for underground, and all he'd heard were whispers of her whereabouts and her indulgences. She was beautiful still, but wild, and the rain was streaming down her cheeks like tears, black with makeup.
"I..." he stammered, unsettled and a little afraid. "I don't understand."
She undid the three loose buttons on her coat and let it fall to the floor, around her feet, in the doorway. Underneath her shoulders and arms were bare. She wore a simple black dress but he had always loved her shoulders. "It's a simple fucking question," she said, her lips wet. "Do you trust me?"
He backed up a step and looked down at his hands, now twisting together several inches from his bellybutton. "I... yeah. I do, I mean, you've never given me reason not to."
He looked up at her, his soft blue eyes wide. She looked back and for a moment the hardness in her face broke as a smile slipped through. It was over quickly but her cheeks were more flushed than before. She pursed her lips. "Promise?"
Her voice was low and quiet. Something in him snapped and he threw his arms around her and pulled her close.
"I missed you, Ivy."
She whimpered and pressed her face into his neck, wrapping her arms around his shoulders. "God, I missed you, too."
They clung close and tight for what was at the same time an eternity and only a second. She placed her hands on his chest and pushed him away, hard, causing him to stumble slightly as he stepped back into the couch behind him. Her greenish eyes were angry. She raised a hand and slapped him roughly across the face, her aim off, clipping him in the jaw. His eyebrows pressed down and he glared at her. She raised the other hand, clenching it into a fist, and went for his face again, but he grabbed her tight by the wrist.
"What are you doing?" He whispered loudly, afraid to be too noisy, her wrist still in his grip.
She pulled away from him, twisting out of his grasp. "I'm angry at you!" She whispered, indignant, her eyes and cheeks violent. "Now you listen to me --"
"No," he interjected, grabbing her shoulders. "You listen. I'm not taking any of your shit tonight."
She turned so she was one-quarter facing him, her eyes still on his. "I've taken your shit for too long," she hissed, and leaned forward, biting him sudden and hard on the lower lip. He pulled away with a yelp, sucking his newly-bleeding lip into his mouth.
"You fucking bitch!" He cursed at her. The two stared off for several agonizing moments before he pulled her in and pressed his lips roughly against hers. She refused to return the kiss for a second but soon gave in, pushing her tongue forcefully into his mouth. The kiss was violent and passionate, angry, and she tasted the blood from his lip flowing into her mouth. She pulled back and spit his own blood on his face, angry.