Genre: Romance, fan fiction
Title: Yesterday to Tomorrow: Chapter Thirty-seven, A setback
Author: dreamsinfiction
Fandom: Chris Cornell of Audioslave
Rating: R/NC-17
Warning: violence, language, sexual nudity


Links to Previous Chapters:
Chapter One, Ice Cream
Chapter Two, Waves
Chapter Three, A Breath Away
Chapter Four, Completely platonically
Chapter Five, Don't leave bed
Chapter Six, Not a rebound
Chapter Seven, Kaleidoscope of feelings
Chapter Eight, Shadows of memories
Chapter Nine, Ripe circumstances
Chapter Ten, Domus
Chapter Eleven, Where it all began
Chapter Twelve, A blessing
Chapter Thirteen, Just a quick deposit
Chapter Fourteen, Precious
Chapter Fifteen, A Chest
Chapter Sixteen, Block the bullet
Chapter Seventeen, A test
Chapter Eighteen, Not a Girl's Best Friend
Chapter Nineteen, Nervous Twitch
Chapter Twenty, More every breath
Chapter Twenty-one, Fire in the sky
Chapter Twenty-two, Prickling revelations
Chapter Twenty-three, Baby steps
Chapter Twenty-four, Accidents happen
Chapter Twenty-five, Questions

Chapter Twenty-six, Je t'aime
Chapter Twenty-seven, Sommeil
Chapter Twenty-eight, Insta-family
Chapter Twenty-nine, Moving along
Chapter Thirty, Forever and a day
Chapter Thirty-one, Smiling down on you
Chapter Thirty-two, Always be here
Chapter Thirty-three, Music to the soul
Chapter Thirty-four, Surprise
Chapter Thirty-five, Kisses of passion
Chapter Thirty-six, Among the stars



Waking in the middle of the night, Alyssa froze. Not that she had much choice at all. She couldn't move her legs, at all.

"Chris," her hands poked him. "Chris, wake up."

"Mmmmm," he muttered, turning over.

His hands brushed over her stomach, though without any real intention. It was obvious to her he was still mostly asleep. She poked him again with one hand, the other one arresting his wandering fingers.

"Chris, wake up," she stated more loudly.

Eyes opening, he glanced around, "Baby, it's still night."

"Chris, there's something wrong," Alyssa declared.

Hearing the urgency in her voice, he scrambled out of the bed to turn a light on. Light blinding them, he returned to the bed, stumbling a little before sitting.

"Baby, what is it?" he asked, gently.

"Chris.... Chris...." her eyes met his. "Chris, I can't feel my legs."

Heart sinking, his green eyes went to her legs. He instantly knew it was his fault. He shouldn't have given into his lust, should have pushed her away, should have—

"Chris?" she breathed, tears starting to run down her cheeks.

His eyes snapped back to hers. He moved on the bed to embrace her, his lips touching her gently while he wiped away her tears.

"Don't worry, love. It's probably just temporary," he declared, though his voice wasn't nearly as strong as he wished it to be.

"Chris," she muttered, arms wrapping around him, "I'm... sorry.... I'm... so...."

"Shhhh," his hands rubbed her back gently. "I love you, Alyssa. Come what may. This is just a temporary step back. You'll be fine in the morning."

"You think so?" she whispered.

Chris leaned back to meet her eyes, all the better to convince her, "I know so."

He kissed her gently again, trying to assure her with his touches the convictions of his words. In all truth, he wasn't all that certain himself, but making her believe was far more important than anything in that moment. And so he showered her face with kisses, easing her back down on the bed.

"Rest, love," he instructed, leaving her to turn off the light again.

Panic coursed through her body when he stepped away. But a moment later it was dark again and his hands pulled her to him. She was aware he was keeping his hands above her waist, almost as if he didn't want to tempt fate and find she couldn't feel his hands any lower.

And she couldn't. She couldn't feel his legs pressed against her, her ass nestled against him. She couldn't feel anything.

Again.



Fingertips grazed over naked skin. Alyssa shivered, not quite comprehending the touch on her body. Nor where it was located. She murmured incoherently and shifted on the bed. The tickle came again and she swatted at it, her palm colliding with his hand. Then and only then did she open her eyes.

"Chris?" she asked, confused at the concern on his face.

He leaned over and kissed her gently, "Good morning, my love. How do you feel?"

His question perplexed her even more, "Hungry. Why?"

"Baby, do you feel this?" he asked.

"Feel what?" she retorted.

Chris lifted his hand from her thigh, causing her eyes to go to it. Realization that it hadn't been an awful dream flooded her senses. Her eyes widened and she stared at him.

"Chris....?"

He kissed her again, "Tell me when you feel it."

"No, Chris. Don't. Please don't. Just let me go back to sleep and—"

"Relax, baby," his lips touched hers, his fingers trailing up from her knee. "We need to—"

"No, Chris. Please," tears started to drip off her lashes. "I just want to.... there. Right there."

He smiled, "Good. That's better than last night."

His hand rested on her hip, tracing circles with his thumb. He kissed her eyelids, tasting the tears on his lips. She inhaled a deep but shaky breath.

"I ruined our vacation," she muttered.

Chris pulled back abruptly, his eyes snapping to hers, "Don't you dare say that, Alyssa. Not only do we have more than a week left of our vacation, I was as much at fault, moreso than you."

"How? How can you say that?" Alyssa asked.

"I should have known better than to—"

"But I wanted to. If I hadn't wanted to, we wouldn't have—"

"I should have been more gentle."

She shook her head, "You were wonderful. You were perfect. I'm the one who's lacking."

"No no no no," his mouth kissed hers before she could argue. "You are perfect, my love. Absolutely perfect. Just a minor setback. We'll overcome this. We did once before. A second time will be easy as cake."

"Cake's not easy," Alyssa declared.

Chris chuckled, "If you say so. I've never baked a cake."

"We should have cake for breakfast."

He grinned, "That I can do. I'll help you get dressed and we'll find a bakery and eat the most delicious cake on this island."

She hesitated to agree, not entirely sure how she would get in and out of a bakery without use of her legs. But she nodded anyways, not about to let the gravity of the situation take away her chance at cake. Not when her mood needed it so very badly.



By the time the car came to a halt outside a bakery, Alyssa had feeling to her knees. She couldn't yet walk, couldn't get her calves to do as they were told. And she still didn't know what Chris intended to do to get her in the bakery.

Opening her door, he reached in for her. Alyssa hesitated. She didn't really want him to carry her all over the island. It was... degrading. However Chris had apparently already considered his options. His arm slipped around her waist, the other guiding her to loop her arm around his shoulders. Her feet were barely off of the ground, enough to not hit anything, but not so far as to be terribly noticeable.

Into the bakery he carried her like that. Easing her into a chair with a kiss, he left her sitting at a table while he went to the counter to order their cake. Her eyes drifted around, pleased they were actually the only ones in the bakery at the moment. She didn't want an audience to her handicap.

Returning to the small table with two plates of cake, he sat across from her after sitting down, "I didn't quite understand her through her accent, but I'm pretty sure she assured me that she makes the best chocolate cake on the island."

Alyssa chuckled, picking up a fork, "She better. Or your ass is mine."

"But it already belongs to you," he replied with a straight face.

She grinned, "I know."