25 Chapter 24*

Haley walks towards Daru, not even a foot gap between them. She stops, almost freezing, as if her body is still moving forward but something is restraining it.

"Do you really want to say it out loud?" she said, holding that leaning position. "Are you clueless and don't know about the birds and the bees?"

"Ha," Daru chuckles.

"What did I strike a nerve?" Haley asks, opening her doe-wide eyes to show her innocence, contrasting it with a chagrined expression.

"I know what this is about, but are you sure of what you are doing? Because… I am still part of the family." 

"Not by blood, and even if you were, we are so far apart it wouldn't even matter." 

"But if you want to, I can call you uncle." 

Unfreezing, she walks deeper into his circle, tiptoeing to reach his ear. 

"Or do you want me to call you… daddy."

Daru knew that she was getting the itch; he didn't have any inhibitions dealing with her like he did with Gloria.

Hypocritical 'yes,' does he care 'no.'

He was never one to just be on the receiving end, and don't forget he was never a good guy to begin with.

'If she is throwing herself onto me, who am I to stop.' 

He snaked his hands around her waist and pulled her to his body. "Uh," she exclaimed into him, but then flicked his ear with her tongue like she expected this. 

Daru cupped her supple butt; it was springy with youthful elasticity. One could plow this dough for days. 'I can't wait to hit this from the back.'

Daru looked at her as she did into him; both their eyes took each other in, no hesitation, they hungered onto each other's lips.

From the top lip to the bottom, taking in small sips out of each other.

For one, two, three… ten seconds.

In sync, they turned their heads a bit to the side to latch their whole mouths onto the other. French fish kissing, they exchanged spit.

All while Haley felt up his body, his waist, his pecs, his back, then circled her arms around his neck.

And Daru mushed her ass into different shapes, as lightly as he can, putting only enough pressure to not make it painful.

Haley bit into his lower lip, sure to leave a bruise.

'Feisty.'

Out for a breath, then they go back in; Daru roams his hand all around her.

From her ass to her waist, moving onto her breast.

He gropes her handful breast in his palms; Haley moans into his neck, kissing and biting it, leaving marks she knows would be visible.

She has almost a feline habit to mark her mate. Like the red she was leaving on Daru's shoulder, her body too was burning up; her nipples were hard.

She jumped onto him, wrapped her legs around him. Now she looked down on him with his body as leverage. She cupped his face and moved back down to his lips.

"Haley!" Alex screamed after walking in, facing Daru's back as she saw Haley coiling her legs around him, with her face buried into him.

Haley jumped off Daru like a nimble cat, looking across his back like she was caught with her hand in the candy jar.

Haley was a free spirit; everybody had a good guess of how she was, her mother knowing it way better, like looking at her younger self. As Haley doesn't make an attempt to hide it, it is a totally different issue to be caught with your pants down by her family.

'I guess she is not as deviant as I thought.'

Both sisters looked at each other with shaky eyes for different reasons and strung emotions. Haley was in a faux panic; her mind was going into overdrive, her hands looked for something to do, her chest heaved lightly, shivers running down her body.

Daru took all this in, but he was more worried for Alex as she looked to be far more distraught. Alex's whole body was showing a variety of emotions and feelings. And it had hardly much to do with Daru. He is the trigger for sure, but these things have been building up in her for a long time. Daru was her major crush right now for sure, but it was just a bit over the top, nothing like fiction.

The major contributors though were her insecurities and the bad space she has been in for most of her life. The neglect that she has been through from her family. It was always about Luke and Haley. No matter how she consoled herself that she was just so smart enough to take care of herself that her parents didn't care so much about her. But it hurt deep down.

The bad breakups in every relationship she ever had. She knew it was bad when she was accepting of the first kiss she ever got from a boy even if it was non-consensual and forced; she kept going back to him, even though he was not even close to her type. Friends only after her notes or how she could help them with their studies. But she held onto these thorny bushes even if it hurt her. To not feel alone, not to be alone, yet it has been the most constant part of her life. [AN: canon]

Haley, with her charm and ever-present group of people around her, was not helping her inferiority.

These liquid emotions have been churning and bottling inside her and pressurizing inside her, leaving cracks in her psyche she has been filling with cold logic.

It was a mix of these recurring themes and not truly fitting anywhere for most of her life that has been pushing her to the end.

If only all this came to her as easy as science did, or just interesting like the wonders of new theories and concepts in breakthrough science. But it was not, so it left her with the dreaded feeling and fear of what her sincerity would ever give back.

Daru wanted no part in this, so he just sidestepped out of there. 

[AN: Sorry didn't post yesterday, I will post a bonus chapter because of that tomorrow with the regular update.]