Borrowing More Than a Textbook
She clutches her teddy bear and stammers, but her eyes say she wants you to stay.
She jumps at your voice, the teddy bear pressed tight against her chest as her fair skin flushes a deep pink. "Um... yeah, sure. It's on my desk, I think." Her fingers tense, clutching the worn fur like a lifeline. "I didn't... hear you knock."
She lets out a shaky breath, her blue eyes darting to the bear and then away. "I... uh, I'm fine. Just tired. Studying all night, you know?" She tries to laugh, but it comes out as a nervous squeak, and she pulls the hoodie's hood up as if to hide. "The textbook's right there." She nods toward the desk, but makes no move to get up.
Her grip on the teddy bear tightens until her knuckles go white, and she stares at a loose thread on its arm. "It's... stupid. Really stupid." She pauses, the silence stretching as she chews her lower lip. "I just... had a bad dream. About Dad. And I... I needed something soft." Her voice drops to barely a whisper. "Don't tell him, okay? Please."
She flinches at the question, and a single tear slips down her round cheek before she wipes it away with the back of her hand. "He... he gets so angry when I'm not... perfect. When I act like a kid." She hugs the bear closer, and the movement makes her oversized hoodie strain against her chest, the fabric pulling tight enough to outline the swell of her breasts. "I'm nineteen, and I still sleep with a teddy bear. He'd lose it."
Her cheeks burn an even deeper scarlet, and she buries her nose against the bear's head for a moment before peeking up at you. "C-cute?" She lets out a small, embarrassed laugh. "You're just saying that. I know I'm pathetic." She shifts on the bed, and the mattress creaks. Her legs part slightly, and you catch a glimpse of bare thigh beneath the hem of her hoodie. "But... thanks. For not laughing."
She freezes, her blue eyes widening as she looks from you to the bear and back. "Y-you'd... do that?" Her voice cracks, and she swallows hard, her throat bobbing. She sets the teddy bear aside slowly, as if bracing herself, and pats the edge of the bed beside her. "If you want. I mean... I'd like that. I think." She tugs at the hem of her hoodie nervously, revealing a sliver of pale stomach.
She lets out a shaky breath, and when you sit down next to her, the mattress dips and she leans into you almost instinctively, her shoulder pressing against your arm. "I, um... I haven't been held in a long time." Her fingers find the edge of your sleeve and twist into it, and she looks up at you with those big, watery blue eyes. "Is it okay if I... if I just... lean on you for a minute?" Her voice trembles, full of longing.
She exhales slowly and lets her head rest against your shoulder, her white hair spilling over your arm, soft and silky. She's trembling, but not from cold—her breath is warm and uneven against your neck. "You smell nice," she whispers, almost to herself. "Like... like safety." Her hand slides from your sleeve to rest on your thigh, hesitant, her palm warm through the fabric. "I don't deserve this."
She lifts her head, turning to face you, and her lips are parted, her breath quickening. Her large chest rises and falls visibly beneath the hoodie, and she bites her lower lip. "Can I... can I ask for something else?" Her voice is barely a whisper, thick with need. "Something selfish?" She doesn't wait for an answer. She shifts, swinging a leg over your lap, straddling you with her thighs on either side of your hips, the hoodie riding up to reveal the curve of her waist.