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Covetous | Chapter 4

Rating: E (I changed it for the whole fic, it is not specific to this chapter)

Pairing: Macelle (Father MacAvoy x Belle) or Nostelle (Nosty x Belle), who is to say which

Summary: Father Joseph MacAvoy wakes up in a library across town with no idea of how he got there. When the kind librarian doesn’t kick him out immediately, he considers that maybe there’s more to life than alcohol.

[chapter 1] [chapter 2] [chapter 3]

tws: alcoholism, homelessness. If I missed a warning, I’m so sorry–please let me know and I will add it ASAP!

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Belle parked as close to her building as she could, hardly seeing the curb as she searched for Nosty. She’d given him her address and he promised to meet her here after she dropped off Joseph. A small part of her thought he’d bail again, but too big a part of her had hope.

He wasn’t outside, but then, she didn’t actually know how fast he could walk. Maybe he hadn’t made it yet.

She climbed the stairs to her second floor flat, watching out the window even though that wouldn’t help. If Nosty was going to show up, he would make his presence known when he was ready. He wouldn’t just wait for her to find him.

As she unlocked the door, she half expected him to jump out and surprise her from inside, but her flat was as empty as it had been when she’d left that morning. Deciding to have hope, she locked it behind her—it would have been in character for Nosty to sneak in if it was unlocked—and shed all of her work clothes on her way to the bathroom.

She touched up her hair and lipstick, then added another layer of mascara before looking for an outfit. She wanted to wear something more special than she wore to work, but she was prone to wearing all her nice clothes to the library since she had nowhere else to dress up. All of her coworkers wore jeans most days, leaving Belle as the only one in heels and skirts.

Someone knocked while Belle was still standing in her underwear in front of her closet, and she felt like she could float out the window. Was he here? Was it really him?

Making a quick decision, she grabbed a dress with no zipper and yanked it over her head as she jogged to the door, careful of her makeup and hair.

“Coming!” Along the way, she picked up her discarded clothes and shoved them into her dad’s room—the spare room, now.

Standing in front of the door, she smoothed out her dress and swallowed. If it really was Nosty on the other side, this was about to change their relationship forever. It was almost a bigger step than the first time they’d kissed.

If it wasn’t Nosty, she wasn’t sure she wouldn’t cry.

She straightened her back and took a deep breath before opening the door. The hall was empty, but she had no time to process this because then Nosty was there, real and true and solid, lips tilted up in his affectionate sneer.

“You are here!” She opened the door wide and he sauntered in, taking in the room.

“In the fucking flesh.” His gaze lingered on the window, and she wondered if he was calculating his exit options. “I was eavesdropping on your neighbors. Fucking nutters.”

She couldn’t stop her giddy grin. He was here, in her apartment, and he hadn’t been trying to hide from her—he’d just been drawn in to her neighbors’ loud conversations.

“If you’re here long enough, you’ll probably hear them having sex,” she said.

He finally turned back to her, raising both eyebrows. “What’ve you got, some fucking perv hole to listen?”

“Our bedroom walls adjoin.”

He wiggled his eyebrows, and then slung an arm around her shoulders. “All right, give us a tour then. Can’t believe it took you this long.”

“My sincerest apologies.” She ducked out from under his arm so she could take his hand, surprised when he followed her to the kitchen with no protest. She showed him the fridge and where the cups were, hoping he’d feel free to eat and drink as he pleased, and then he let her tote him back out to the living room.

Before her father died, this flat had been his. She’d lived in a studio to save up money after grad school, but once he got sick, she moved back into her childhood bedroom, and then when he passed, inherited the whole thing. When he’d owned it, the only real decorations were family photos—mostly of Belle in various life stages. Now, she had taken down most photos of herself except the ones her dad had loved the most, and the walls had blank gaps waiting to be filled with art. She’d added rugs to the living room, a bookshelf that covered most of the wall, and replaced the old threadbare furniture with a plush red couch and reading chair.

Nosty let go of her hand and sidled over to the bookshelf. At one point, it had been organized by genre, but she couldn’t just reorganize the whole shelf every time she added something, and with no family or friends, most of her disposable income went toward new books, so it was haphazard. Some places even had books in a stack instead of shelved neatly.

“Who’d have fucking thought.” Nosty chuckled, running his finger over the spine of a fantasy novel.

“What?” She chewed her lip. She’d been called all manner of things for living in books her whole life, even by her own loving dad, and while nothing bothered her anymore, she wasn’t sure she could take any cutting words from Nosty.

“Me on a fucking date with a nerd.”

She had to laugh because Nosty was still touching the spines of books like he couldn’t quite believe how many there were, and because now, after months, she recognized the tint of affection to his voice.

“Don’t you want to see the rest?” she asked.

“I’m self-guiding it now.” He left the bookshelf, wandering over to a cluster of graduation photos. Some were the professional headshots taken by the school, and some were pictures of her and her dad or her and her grandparents.

He zeroed in on one from her undergrad graduation where she stood between her two roomates, all three of their arms around one another. It was the only photo with anyone in it who wasn’t family.

“Who’s this?” he asked.

“My old college roommates,” she said. “I haven’t talked to either of them in years.”

“Why not?”

She shrugged. She didn’t really know why she kept the picture up, except that it reminded her that she had once had friends, people to spend time with outside of work.

“We lost touch.”

He took her hand then but kept his eyes on the photo wall as they meandered toward one of the blank spaces she’d left.

“What was here?”

“Nothing. My dad had way more photos up, so I took some down thinking I’d hang art or something.”

He touched the blank space, then moved on, brushing his hands over one of her throw pillows as they passed her reading chair.

When they reached the hall that led to the two bedrooms, he stopped, and she thought he would say something, but he just looked between the rooms, then pulled her toward hers.

“Another bookshelf?” He dropped her hand, heading for the small shelf she kept by the bed as a nightstand. It contained books she was currently reading, books she planned to read soon, and some of her favorites.

“I thought it looked nice,” she said, and as Nosty rushed past her bed without a glance, she had the sudden realization that not only had Nosty actually come to her home, he was now in her bedroom.

Maybe he realized it at the same time she did, or maybe this had been his plan all along, because he spun and sauntered toward her. She’d never been barefoot with him before, and he dwarfed her this time when he pulled her to him by the hips.

“So, how long do we stay here before we hear anything interesting?” He jerked his head toward the wall she shared with her neighbor.

Her arms rested on his chest as they always did, and she was about to answer when she realized it wasn’t as soft as it usually was, and something poked her in the wrist. She moved her hands back and found buttons. Buttons.

“What’s this?” She traced a finger down the crisp white seam, marveling that it had taken so long to notice.

“What’d you think took me so long to get here?”

Something caught in her throat. She traced the buttons, blinking and blinking and blinking because, if she didn’t, she was going to cry, and she didn’t want Nosty to think he’d done anything wrong.

“Belle?”

She slid her hands up his chest to trace the lapels and the bit of Nosty’s chest exposed by the open collar.

“You dressed up for me.”

“What, was I supposed to wear some manky old tshirt on our first date?”

He’d probably stolen it—that was probably what had taken so long—but she found she didn’t much care. The system had failed Nosty so much that he lived on the streets. She didn’t begrudge him a shirt, especially since he’d stolen it because he was taking their date seriously. Their first date.

“You look good.”

“Yeah?” His fingers trailed up her side and then her neck until he could lift her chin. “How good?”

His wolfish grin told her exactly what he wanted, so she kissed his collar bone, then stood on her toes to kiss his lips. He cupped her cheek, holding her close, but then she leaned away.

“Oi, that’s it?” he asked. “One little kiss? I’m wearing a fucking collar.”

“Aren’t we supposed to be going on a date?” She couldn’t stop smiling, and even Nosty’s grin didn’t wane.

“What, this isn’t good enough for you, hey?”

“I thought we were going to the cinema.”

He groaned dramatically, letting go of her waist so he could take her hand again and lead her out of the bedroom. “Fine, let’s go.”

“Any requests?” she asked, tugging on his arm so he’d pause for her to get shoes.

He considered for a moment, eyeing her closet with interest while she pulled a pair of sandals out. “Nothing violent,” he finally said.

There was not a lot about Nosty that could have truly shocked her, but his admitting that he didn’t want to see violence did it. She ducked to hide her smile while she slipped her shoes on.

“That’s perfect,” she said. “I don’t like violence either.”

Before he could make another move, she stood on her toes again and grabbed his face, kissing him like she’d spent all day waiting to be kissed. Then, just as he was responding by gripping her hips, she pulled away.

“What was that for?” he asked, sounding, for the first time, a little breathless.

“I just really like you,” she said. “That’s all.”

His eyes jerked back and forth across hers, like he was quickly reading a disclaimer, but then he settled. “Lucky me.”

****

Nosty didn’t hold her hand on the eight blocks to the theater, and he walked like he was afraid someone might steal the sidewalk from him. This was probably the closest to seeing him in his natural habitat that Belle would ever get, so she didn’t complain, just kept up while she told him all about a school visit she was planning for next week. She might have worried she was boring him, but they spent much of their time talking about the library and Belle’s life, and he always had insightful questions. Sometimes Nosty told stories, but she could tell he altered them, made them more palatable to a sheltered woman like her.

When they arrived, he eyed the growing Friday night crowd.

“Need a smoke.” He pulled a cigarette out of the inside pocket of his jacket and a lighter from his kilt.

“I’ll go get the tickets?” she offered.

He nodded, still scanning the sidewalk as he lit up. She squeezed his forearm before heading to the box office, trying not to stare at him as she walked away. He was just smoking. He wasn’t going to bring her all the way here only to abandon her while she was buying tickets.

Since they didn’t have a plan, she chose the movie that would be starting soonest, which happened to be a romantic comedy. It was better than the slasher film starting around the same time.

Nosty was still waiting for her, cigarette finished, looking no less antsy.

“Popcorn?” She handed him his ticket and it vanished between his fingers like a magic trick.

“Aye, if you want.”

She couldn’t help feeling guilty that brash, cocksure Nosty felt so out of place somewhere as basic as the cinema, but that made it even nicer that he’d come at all. He’d changed his shirt, calmed himself down, and now he was standing in line with her to get popcorn and sodas.

The moment they sat down in the dark theater, she felt him relax. Even so close to the showing, she’d managed to get an aisle seat near the back, so Nosty had the open air on one side and Belle on the other.

He popped the foot rest out. “Jesus fuck.”

“What?” she asked, following suit.

“Last time I went to the cinema, it was all fucking folding chairs compared to this.” He reached across the arms and tapped her on the belly. “I was gonna be romantic and put me fuckin’ arm around you, but I guess this is all you get.” He pinched her this time and she laughed, scooting out of his reach when he wouldn’t let up.

“You can romantically put your arm around me later,” she said. “How’s that?”

“Might need convincing later,” he said. “Now that I know you took me to the cinema so we could sit a meter apart and take a fucking nap.”

“We can still hold hands.” She offered hers to him, palm up. “And then later, we can sit at a romantic corner table in a candlelit restaurant and talk with our heads close together.”

“Not the same,” he said, but he took her hand anyway.

****

MacAvoy thought he was going to take a few sips of the vodka and pass out immediately, but he hadn’t counted on his body being used to pushing itself until he was more alcohol than human. He laid in bed fully-clothed, wishing he had something more than this to drink.

His monthly stipend wouldn’t be coming until next week, and he didn’t have much money left to live on. A smart man would take the money and buy cheap, shelf-stable foods to eat. MacAvoy considered, as he lay in bed trying not to wonder if Belle would be frightened of Nosty’s monstrous cock, that he could be a smart man. If he knew what a smart man might do, he had the capacity to be one.

In fact, he was counting on being smart enough to remember that Belle didn’t work tomorrow.

So he dragged himself out of bed and found one of his stashed-away tenners. He ignored the glares he received at the grocery as he added tinned beans, bread, and eggs to his cart. He could have added a few more things, but if he used money he actually had on alcohol, he’d be less likely to get kicked into a gutter, so he bought the cheapest handle of gin they had.

Impressed with himself, he lurched his way home and put everything away, then flopped back on the bed and gulped more vodka.

“Belle, I hope you’re okay,” he wheezed into the empty room. He still had her phone number in his pocket, and he caressed it with shaking fingers.

She’d said not to call tonight, but what if his deviant fantasies weren’t images sent from Satan but visions sent from God? Visions that, were he to ignore them, foretold Belle’s horrible fate?

He only needed one more sip of vodka to convince himself of this, to imagine Nosty with fangs and claws capable of ripping out Belle’s poor, devoted heart.

When he called, though, it went straight to voicemail. He didn’t leave a message; he just shrugged out of his shirt and closed his eyes.

****

It wasn’t the best movie Belle had ever seen, but she and Nosty both laughed, holding hands through most of it. They sat in the theater through the credits until it was mostly empty, then Nosty stood and offered his hand.

“So, was it everything you hoped?” he asked while he helped her up.

“It wasn’t bad.” She picked up his trash, stuffing his empty popcorn sleeve into hers and then adding the empty soda cups.

“I mean our date, hey?” He wiggled his eyebrows, but there wasn’t the same swagger in it as usual. He wasn’t just talking.

“Is it over?” she asked. “I don’t want it to be.”

With his free thumb, he reached up and wiped something underneath her eye—probably some rogue mascara from when she’d teared up near the end.

“What’s next then?” he asked. ��I’m no fucking romantic, so you’ll have to lead this one.”

Privately, she felt that he was wrong, he was a fucking romantic, but she didn’t say anything. “I’m hungry. Do you want to go out or eat in?”

He started down the steps to the exit, still holding her hand but no longer looking at her. “There’s no restaurant dark enough to keep people from seeing us together.”

“So?” Was he embarrassed of her? He probably thought she was embarrassed of him since she always insisted on secrecy in the library—but that was her job. She could be fired if she was caught making out on the clock.

“So, I’ve got bad table manners.” He let go of her to skip down the rest of the way, whirling at the bottom of the steps to watch her descend with his arms folded. When she reached the final step, he grabbed her hips, putting them at eye level.

“No you don’t,” she said. “We’ve eaten together loads of times.”

“You keep forgetting, sweetheart.” He kissed her on the throat. “I’m an animal. The monster you invited over your threshold?”

“Maybe I like monsters,” she said. “Maybe I don’t believe that monsters are exactly what they seem.”

He kissed up her neck until he could tug on her earlobe with his teeth, and as her knees buckled, she was keenly aware that not everyone had left the theater.

“Fine, love,” he hissed into her ear, and she thought she might faint. “Let’s go.”

Dinner was a quick affair. Without reservations, there was no way to get into a romantic, candlelit restaurant, so they went to a little burger joint, and Nosty relaxed a fraction.

Belle leaned toward him. “Are you afraid of me?” She popped a chip in her mouth, raising her eyebrows.

“Wee fucking bird like you?” He took a gulp of his beer. “Fat chance.”

“Why are you so skittish tonight?”

“Not fucking skittish,” he said. “Just alert, hey? Don’t want you to get fucking snatched or summat.”

“Don’t trust me to defend myself?” She jabbed a chip toward him like a sword, and he swiped it from her and ate it with a teeth-baring grin.

“I’m sure you’re a fierce bint when its called for,” he said. “But a fucker what sees me’s not gonna try anything with you.”

She watched him with narrowed eyes, then took a bite of her burger. “I don’t think that’s the whole story.”

“Yeah?” He leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms. “Tough shite, that’s the best you’re getting out of me.”

“I think that you’re nervous because you think I won’t like you out here in the real world,” she said. “That’s why you were jealous of Joseph. Because you think if I had any other option, I wouldn’t pick you.”

“S’a fine fucking tale.” He drained his pint. “You spin it all by yourself?”

She plucked a chip off his plate to make up for the one he’d taken of hers, feeling as on top of the world as she’d felt all night.

“It’s not true, you know,” she said. “I could have hundreds of options, and I’d still pick you.”

He watched her from his leaned-back chair, over his crossed arms, down his nose through narrowed eyes. “You don’t know that.”

“I do know that,” she said. “I knew it as soon as you kissed me the first time.”

He turned his head, watching the restaurant, and then glanced at her out of the corner of his eye.

“Hurry up and finish.” He picked up the bit of burger he had left and gestured for her to do the same.

“What’s the rush?” she asked, even though she obeyed.

He plunked his chair back down, resting his elbows on the table. “I’m tired of not being alone with you.”

****

The closer they walked to Belle’s flat, the more Nosty touched her. He started with one arm slung across her shoulders, and by the time she was unlocking the front door, he had one hand across her stomach, one in her hair, and he pressed open-mouthed, toothy kisses to her neck while he held her against him.

Somehow, despite this, she got the first door open, and then climbed the stairs without losing any contact with his hands, and as she fumbled with her own key, he closed his teeth around her pulse and she whimpered.

“You’re mine tonight,” he growled, and she didn’t even know if she’d be able to unlock the door, but then his hand was on hers and he was taking the key from her. She blushed at how helpless she became whenever he focused his full attention on her.

“Nosty,” she said as he finally got the door open and they stumbled in. “I don’t think we should—tonight.”

“That’s okay, sweetheart.” He shut the door behind him and pressed the key into her hand before sliding his other hand more possessively around her waist. “Some days, I don’t even fucking know where I’ve been.”

She didn’t have much time to be relieved that he understood because her brain and body wanted to focus more on the rough sound of his voice in her ear. “We’ll get tested together,” she managed.

“Whatever you want.” He nudged her forward, toward the couch, and then at the last second, sat himself and pulled her on top of him.

He shifted to hold her across his lap, and she wrapped her arms around his neck.

“Will you stay tonight?” she asked.

“I’ll do whatever you want, Belle,” he said, and she thought he might have meant it. “You want me to fucking strip naked and sleep at your feet? Fine.” He kissed the apple of her cheek, then her earlobe, lowering his voice to his quiet growl. “You want to lie back and spread your legs so I can eat your cunt ��til dawn?” He licked her ear and she thought she might die. “Just say the fucking word.”

“I want you to hold me.” She brushed her thumb down his jaw. “Just hold me.”

He cradled her head in one hand and brought the other to her cheek, brushing his thumb across her lower lip.

“Nothing else?”

She shook her head. “I feel safe when you hold me.”

He kissed her lips, then down her neck, and she thought he might bite her again, mark her as taken for anyone to see, but he just kissed his way back up to her ear.

“Safe from everyone but me.” He tightened his arms around her and she hoped he never let go.

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