The drive back from Jay Pritchett's house felt quieter than usual.
Not awkward.
Comfortable.
Haley sat turned slightly toward him in the passenger seat, one bare leg tucked beneath her while music played softly through the car speakers.
Every few minutes she smiled to herself for no reason.
Gael noticed eventually.
"What?"
Haley looked over innocently.
"What what?"
"You keep making faces."
"I'm thinking."
"That's normally my thing."
She laughed softly before looking back out the windshield.
"I still can't believe Grandpa likes you already."
"He threatened twice."
"That's affection."
Honestly?
She probably wasn't wrong.
The city lights slid across the windshield while warm night air drifted through the cracked windows.
For a while, neither spoke.
Then Haley reached over casually and intertwined her fingers with his on the center console.
Gael looked down briefly at their hands before squeezing hers once.
The gesture made Haley smile again.
"You know what's weird?" she murmured.
"That sentence has historically damaged my peace."
"My family acts different around you already."
Gael glanced sideways at her.
"How?"
"Relaxed."
Interesting.
"You're imagining things."
"No." Haley shook her head lightly. "Usually, whenever I bring a guy around, everyone gets…" She waved vaguely. "Prepared."
"That sounds threatening."
"It kind of is."
Gael smiled faintly.
"And now?"
"Now my mom asks if you're coming over before I do."
That sentence affected him more than it should have.
Claire asking about him was becoming increasingly common lately.
Nothing inappropriate.
Nothing even close.
Just small things:
asking if he'd stay for dinner,
calling him directly when Phil broke sothing,
including him naturally in conversations.
Normal behavior.
Still, Gael noticed it more than he probably should.
"You're thinking again," Haley said.
"I'm driving."
"You look suspicious while driving."
"That's not true."
"Yet."
Twenty minutes later they stepped into the penthouse together, both quieter than before.
The apartnt greeted them with dim city light spilling through the massive windows and the faint hum of Los Angeles far below.
Haley kicked off her sandals near the couch before turning toward him.
For a second, neither moved.
Then she smiled slowly.
"What?"
"You survived the full family experience."
"Barely."
"No emotional breakdowns. No running away."
"I considered it during the poetry conversation."
"Manny does that to people."
Gael laughed quietly while loosening the collar of his shirt.
He felt strangely light tonight.
Relaxed in a way he still wasn't fully used to.
The family barbecue should've exhausted him socially.
Instead, he kept replaying monts from it in his head:
Jay's reluctant approval,
Phil treating him like part of conversations automatically,
Claire laughing at his jokes,
Haley looking genuinely happy beside him all afternoon.
Dangerous.
Because he was starting to care too much.
Haley walked closer slowly until she stood directly in front of him.
"You know," she said softly, "my mom was watching you today."
Gael blinked once.
"That sounds ominous."
"Relax." Haley smiled faintly. "She watches everybody."
Haley's fingers slid slowly along the front of his shirt.
"You also did this thing again."
"What thing?"
"You listened."
Gael laughed softly under his breath.
"That's apparently becoming my personality now."
"No." Haley stepped closer. "You make people feel important when they talk."
The sincerity in her voice hit him unexpectedly hard.
Because she said it like it mattered.
Like he mattered.
Haley tilted her head up slightly before kissing him.
Gael's hand settled instinctively against her ass while she got closer imdiately, fingers curling lightly into his shirt before removing it.
The kiss deepened naturally after that.
Not rushed.
Just familiar.
Every week together had made them more comfortable with each other's bodies:
the way Haley leaned into him,
the way his hands found her ass automatically,
how she sighed softly whenever he kissed along her neck.
Gael backed her gently toward the couch, aligning his cock to her mouth.
Haley rubbed it softly against his mouth.
"You know," she murmured, "we almost acted like functional adults tonight."
"That sounds temporary."
"Definitely."
He kissed her again before she could say more. He shoved it in her mouth, drawing a quieter breath from her lips as she settled onto the couch beneath him while sucking him off.
The city lights painted soft gold across the apartnt around them.
Warm skin.
Quiet breathing.
The distant sound of traffic far below.
Everything narrowed piece by piece until only Haley remained.
Her fingers slid into his legs while Gael thrust down her throat, lingering enough to make her breath catch before ejaculating inside her mouth.
"Gael…" She said after swallowing it all
He liked that sound far too much.
Especially when she said his na softly like that.
Haley pulled him back to let him penetrate again, deeper now, one leg sliding naturally around his waist as the tension between them slowly sharpened.
Nothing hesitant anymore.
The nervousness from their first ti together had faded over the past weeks.
Now there was familiarity.
Trust.
The quiet confidence of already knowing how to make each other unravel.
Gael's hands slipped beneath her ass while Haley arched slightly into the touch, smiling faintly as he slamd it deep inside her at once.
"You know what I realized?" she whispered breathlessly.
"What?"
"You get quieter when you really want ."
That earned a low laugh from him.
"Observant."
"I pay attention."
Clearly.
Haley tugged him down into another kiss before either conversation or thought mattered much anymore.
The rest of the night dissolved gradually into tangled sheets, soft moans, whispered teasing, and slow intimacy illuminated by city light spilling through the bedroom windows.
Not rushed.
Never careless.
Every touch lingered.
Every kiss deepened.
Every mont felt less like novelty and more like choosing each other again.
Later, long after midnight, Haley lay half-asleep against his chest beneath the blankets while Gael stared up at the city skyline beyond the windows.
Her fingers traced lazy patterns against his skin sleepily.
"You know what's dangerous?" she murmured.
"What?"
"I think my family's getting attached to you."
Gael looked down at her, one hand moving slowly through her hair.
"Your dad already texts investnt advice," he said quietly.
Haley laughed softly against his chest.
"Oh my God. You're never escaping now."
The apartnt fell quiet again after that.
And sowhere between the city lights, the tangled sheets, and Haley stealing all the space beside him—
the penthouse finally stopped feeling empty.
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