Title: Eros
Pairing: Lanille (Lightning/Vanille)
Beta: Whurmy
Rating: M for eventual smut
Words: 1,827
Song Inspiration: None
Summary: Two of the unspoken rules of relationships is to never have one with your best friend's sibling, or your sibling's best friend. Somehow, Lightning and Vanille have managed to break both of those rules.

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters in this fic.

A/N: It's been a while guys! I wanted to do an actual multichaptered fic with a plot for once so here it is. Lanille has grown to be my second favorite pairing behind Farroncest so I thought it would be cool to write a proper story for them. It's only a few chapters long, but I will be finishing this fic. I hope you all like it. Enjoy!

-Also guys, if you like the fic or have any constructive criticism, please leave a review. I'd highly appreciate it and it helps me grow as a writer. You guys want more fics from me don't you? :P

Lightning never paid attention to Vanille.

The younger woman was a shadow, an afterthought, an occasional phrase and giggle behind Lightning's best friend, Fang. Just an insignificant redhead. Or she was the second half to Lightning's sister, an occasional visit, a bite out to eat, or a trip to the mall. Nothing special, and definitely no one worth paying attention to.

Ha. Funny how that works.

Vanille cuddles into Lightning's shoulder, sitting on Lightning's thigh with attention glued to the movie on TV. It's a nice distraction and allows Lightning to marvel at the form huddled into her side. Vanille's heart races, she notices, and her breath hitches at the climax of the movie. Several hours later and Vanille still smells wonderful, her own scent mingled with a dusting of Lightning's cologne from earlier. Vanille's fingers curl into Lightning's shirt, holding on for dear life, and Lightning smirks to herself.

BANG!

Vanille shakes and shields her eyes. The main protagonist has been shot, and the scene fades to credits rolling up the screen.

"Oh, my goddess. That was so sudden!"

Lightning squeezes her hip. "You think so?"

Vanille shakes her head like it was oh-so-obvious that the movie shouldn't have ended the way it did. "Of course. There was no build up beforehand. And… it just made no sense!"

She sounds frustrated more than anything, but Lightning's seen the movie already and all the plot points foreshadowing the finale. In her opinion, it was the main character's fault for not paying attention to what he was doing. No person in their right mind would leave that much evidence about their shady involvement with the wrong people. Definitely not her favorite story.

Vanille sighs. "Maybe I'm being too serious about it. Is there anything else we can-" Her eyes flash to the clock on the TV. "-oh no, I can't. It's getting late."

Lightning's shoulders slump as Vanille gets up and spins around looking for her belongings. "Your hoodie's in my room."

"Oh, right!" She sprints out of the living room and returns about ten seconds later.

"Shoes are right in front of you."

"Hmm? Oh, thanks!" She scrambles on one leg getting each shoe on. It's cute, the way she dances around, and Lightning stifles a laugh.

"Hey, no laughing. You won't be when I'm gone." Vanille sticks her tongue out.

She's right. This is Lightning's least favorite part of Vanille's visits, and it isn't like she has her sister, Serah, around to keep her company anymore.

Lightning holds back another laugh. "Sorry." She pauses for a few seconds, eyes roaming Vanille's frame. "You know you can stay over, right?"

Vanille shrugs her hoodie on before heading towards the front door. "I know. And I can tell you want me to again. But… Fang is already worried about where I've been, and I don't like when she worries. Maybe next time?"

Lightning nods. "Maybe. You ready?"

Vanille gives a quick nod, and the two leave Lightning's condo. It takes less than five minutes to catch the elevator down to the parking garage, the usual spot where they say their goodbyes. Vanille spots her small car almost immediately and unlocks it with the fob. She turns towards Lightning and flashes a shy grin.

"Well, this is it…"

Lightning doesn't respond, instead closing the distance between the two, pinning Vanille against the driver door. Her hand presses against the hood of the car as Vanille pulls her closer by the nape of her neck. Their eyes meet for a spell before Vanille leans up and drags her lips across Lightning's. They tickle and tease and – Lightning can't stand this toying around – smash together for a good ten seconds before Vanille pulls away.

Vanille blushes beet red. She bites the corner of her lip, Lightning's favorite quirk about her, and glances at Lightning's lips again. She moves in for another kiss, this time with eager tongue.

One hand sneaks around to grasp Vanille's ass, and she gasps, breaking contact. She utters a word under her breath in Oerban, and Lightning smirks at the insult, opening the driver door. Vanille takes one last look at Lightning and leans up, lips brushing her ear.

"Next time, okay?"

A gentle touch lingers below the waistband of her shorts. She shivers from the contact, fighting off inappropriate thoughts. "Mmm… fine. Text me when you make it home."

Vanille giggles and pulls away. "Bye, Lightning."

With that, Vanille gets into her car, closes the door, and drives out of the garage. Once an unimportant redhead Lightning paid no mind, and now she's holding more than just her attention.

The drive home proves easy enough, if "easy" translates to feeling hot and bothered from that last kiss. Seriously, they've had kisses like that before, but why was that one so… delightful? Ugh, maybe if she's lucky, Fang will leave her alone so she can… take care of herself. Mmm, maybe not.

She steps out of the car, grabbing her backpack in the process. During the short trip upstairs, she makes sure to correct her clothes and smooth out any odd wrinkles before she slips her key into the lock and opens the door.

Fang's voice rings out in Oerban before the door even fully opens. "Holy shit, man."

Great. Vanille isn't going to hear the end of this.

"Do you know what time it is?"

Vanille doesn't answer, instead closing and locking the door and placing her things in their rightful places. Well, duh, she knows the time. It's why she's back in the first place.

"It's after midnight. Where have you been? I've been sittin' my arse on this couch waiting up for you. Did you even get my text? Are you okay?"

Vanille removes her shoes. "Yeah, yeah, I'm fine, Fang. No need to worry. You worry too much."

Fang stands next to the couch, already clad in sleepwear, and just stares at Vanille with arms crossed. Her usually near-perfect, sable hair is disheveled, and she looks about ready to wrestle a wild king behemoth to the ground. Probably wasn't the best idea for Vanille to ignore her phone the last several hours. She can't help but feel a pang of guilt about her lack of communication, and looks to the ground.

"No, no, no. Don't give me that sappy-ass face. Come here." Fang shuffles closer, arms outstretched.

Vanille feels her head being buried into Fang's shoulder. Warm, as usual.

"Listen, kid. I'm not trying to parent you. I just want to make sure you're okay. You've been staying out late for the last month or so. What's going on?" She pulls away to look at Vanille.

Vanille can't bring herself to stare into those emerald eyes, so she looks away, heart dropping as a blatant fib escapes her mouth, as natural as they come. "I was at the library. Just catching up on work."

Okay, so like, that wasn't entirely a lie. She was at the university library earlier. Just not for very long. A couple hours, maybe? In any case, she's more than caught up on school work.

"Oh. The library, huh?" Something in Fang's voice sounds accusatory. Not that it wouldn't be justified.

Vanille elaborates, pulling away. "Yeah. Finals coming up in about a month. Do you know how hard it is to identify all the bones and muscles in a behemoth's body?"

Fang rolls her eyes, sitting on the couch arm. "Okay, got me there. You're the future vet, not me. Just-" She cups her chin in her hand. "don't keep me up worried, yeah? And check your damn phone, will ya? I didn't feel like cooking after work tonight so you're on your own."

"Oh, that's okay. I already ate." More than just food, but that's neither here nor there.

"Suit yourself." With a sigh, Fang gets up to amble off back to her room. "Oh. One more thing."

Vanille's in the middle of shrugging her hoodie off when she tilts her head at the comment.

"If you're gonna hide those hickies on your neck, do a better job, yeah? I'm headin' to sleep. 'Night."

SHIT! Vanille immediately covers her neck, as if Fang's staring at her in that instance. How in the hell did she not check that before she walked in? She scurries off to the bathroom, leaving the door ajar, and flicks on the light. She clicks her tongue. Staring right back at her in the mirror are two blazing maroon marks, one near her jugular and the other above her collarbone. She presses a finger to each, sighing.

"Dammit, Light," she whispers.

Well there's nothing to be done about it now. She admits the marks are appealing to stare at, and she's more so intrigued and awed by them than upset. Her lips curl into a smile as she leans over the sink to study them. Somehow, the idea of Lightning Farron, of all people, marking her like territory gets her riled up again. Lightning has made a name for herself being the most notable Sergeant in Bodhum's Guardian Corps. Apparently, the soldiers she commands in her… squad? Fire team? Vanille isn't sure which. They respect her as their fierce leader and look up to her for support. It's such a dramatic difference knowing the serious side of Lightning as well as her more playful and sensual side. Vanille shivers at that thought, mind racing back to exactly how Lightning's lips and teeth claimed her neck.

She soon shakes the thoughts away and finishes up in the bathroom. It's late, and there's still class tomorrow, so bedtime is inevitable. She returns to the living room to grab her phone and realizes she's missed a few texts. Oh, dear. She forgot to tell Lightning she made it home!

In addition to the few texts she's missed from Fang, sure enough there are two messages from Lightning asking where she is. She responds on the way to her bedroom, and, by the time she hops into bed, there's another one waiting for her.

'Glad you're safe. Going to bed?'

Vanille bites her lip before she responds. "I guess so. why? u don't want me to?"

She sets her bait and anticipates the response. This one is delayed, and she imagines Lightning staring at her phone with her eyes narrowed.

'No.'

Straightforward. Very much Lightning. Vanille tingles. She plops her head on the bed, phone in hand next to her face. Her free hand creeps down her abdomen, playing around with the waistband of her pajama shorts.

"sooo, what do u want?"

It seems like the next message takes an eternity before it comes in. Vanille reads the words on her phone screen, and her heart drops into the pit of her stomach. She sucks her lip, reading and rereading each word again, every rendition sending her fingers downward until they brush against the fabric of her panties and the hair that lies beneath.

Goddess, Lightning…