Chapter Text
The first time they meet, it's tense. Honey is filled with pity, and Andrew's veins are being flooded with embarrassment.
She is on the edge of 18. He is better known as "Pope" on the streets. She thinks he is the most infamous Cody, aside from his mother. Yet, despite the infamy and her family doing business with the Codys, Honey Trujillo never had the pleasure of making an acquaintance with the notorious bank robbers.
She knows it is a deliberate move by her family, or her big brother, Pete. As much as Janine Cody may bring money into her family's pockets, she knows her brother doesn’t trust her. Criminals, despite living on the edge of society, still have rules - codes of ethics. Despite the Cody matriarch having a keen eye for jobs, she never liked getting her hands dirty. She followed her own rules. She paid other people to do it, not that her family was complaining, since they benefited.
Honey never questioned her brother. She knew her place in the family hierarchy. Being the baby in the family, she was the one person they didn’t want involved in the family business of gambling and murder. She was barely allowed at the auto shop most days and only at specific hours.
She didn’t fight her brother for the most part, as she had her own life to live. She was the captain of her high school cheerleading squad. Volunteered for a variety of charity drives her school ran, and was the president of the student council.
Yet she was still a teenager, with a family that resorted to nefarious means, so when her cousin Lousia invited her to a party on the west side, she didn’t hesitate to tag along. It was only because of Lousia that she knew about the underbelly of Oceanside.
So it sort of shocked her that Janine “Smurf” Cody would allow her eldest child to be a known crack addict. She heard rumours, and she thought they were exaggerated, as it didn’t surprise her that most people would dabble in crack, smack, weed, and poppers.
But it was a sight to see a Julia Cody, strung out, especially when she had a young baby at home. Honey couldn’t hide the wince as Julia tried to sell herself for an ounce of whatever was available.
She knows that she isn’t a saint, but as soon as Julia began to lower to the ground, Honey stepped in and pulled the woman away.
Julia didn’t offer much resistance as Honey shoved the can of Coke for her to drink. She hoped the woman wasn’t breastfeeding the kid after a few more shakes and patting her for a phone, Julia mumbled to call Pope.
Louisa scolded her for helping a Cody, but despite her cousins' bitching, she stayed by her side as they kept Julia upright.
And the voice over the phone didn’t match, in her opinion. She waited with a bit of anxiety as the infamous Pope gruffly informed her that he would be there quickly.
The eldest male Cody, had a scowl on his face as he easily spotted the three of them. From the way Louisa greeted him and his returning grunt, she assumed they knew each other. Yet, his eyes were pinned on her face, almost as if he was trying to place if he recognised her. She gave him a strained smile.
Pope gathered his sister in his arms. “Thanks”
“You’re welcome.”
She watched as she placed his sister in the passenger seat of his truck.
He didn’t look back as he drove away.
That was 6 months ago, Honey thinks as she walks into the Ark of Salvation. It’s an old, dilapidated, abandoned church. The opulent interior of the Gothic Revival is covered in dust and cobwebs from its furry inhabitants. The white marble is cracked and covered with graffiti left by previous visitors.
One would not have known that this masterpiece contained intricate carvings by Italian craftsmen. Stained-glass windows filled with angels are cracked, broken, or worse, replaced with wooden planks.
Sometimes, Honey imagines what the church would have looked like in its prime, with its white marble, intact windows letting in sunlight, and its column-free interior. The high altar now looks imposing, with the Last Supper being carved from alabaster.
Honey bypasses the rotted, chipped pews to where the high altar sits.
The Ark has been abandoned for years. Honey never cared to look into why Oceanside abandoned the church. It sits on the edge of town, a forgotten relic. Some say it’s haunted, which Honey never believed, even as a kid. She remembers her cousins trying to scare her with the tale of two lovers committing suicide. Their ghosts, supposedly, haunt the pews and take other lovers with them.
Yet, she hasn’t felt a trace of them in the months since she found a refuge in the church.
Instead, she finds temptation, greed, lust - sin - in this church.
She finds herself finding absolution in the form of Andrew Cody.
He is already there, staring into the ornate depiction of the Last Supper.
Honey doesn't know how to explain what she and Andrew have. To her, it was a sweet sin of selfish prayers that landed her in Andrew's arms.
She never expected to cross paths again with Andrew after meeting Julia. Yet, a few days after their first meeting, she found an old Buick following her around town. She had joked that his tailing of her was abysmal. He never commented or refuted, as she highly suspected he wanted to be caught.
Now somehow, they are here.
He doesn’t resist her straddling him and covering his view of the mural. His hands immediately go to her waist, and greetings aren’t shared with words. Greetings between them are stolen breaths, and prayers whispered against skin.
She doesn't know where all of this will lead, but she knows deep down it's more than the thrill of it being forbidden that has her spilling over the edge.
She hums at the lingering taste of oranges embedded in his tongue.
She doesn’t know how to describe the man before her. He speaks with quiet meaning. Sure, she has to pull and prod him, especially in the beginning, though now he will tell her about his day with a slight smile after making her huff and puff.
One wouldn’t think that Andrew was such a tease, but he was. Though she knows about the duality of man, she is just glad she can see the softer side of this one.
Pulling back, she presses a kiss to his nose as her nails begin to scratch at his scalp. She is sure that if he were a cat, he would be purring.
“Everything okay?” She asks, surprised that he had asked to meet. They had to be strategic when meeting up. She knows that her family would have some choice words. Most likely, they would be upset, and she would receive some flak for messing around with a white boy, but a white boy with so many eccentricities. Still, he would be welcomed, not to the family business, but to legitimate family functions.
However, she knows it is different for Andrew. She knows the influence his mother has over him and all of his brothers. Smurf’s reputation precedes her. Her family always says that the woman herself would never get her hands dirty. She pays other people - her family - to keep her hands relatively clean.
She also uses her boys, too. Andrew has told her that his mom had them pulling small jobs when they were five.
Honey suspects that Andrew lets Smurf maintain the visage of control over him so his brothers can have a bit more freedom.
“Wanted to see you,” he mutters.
Honey quirks an eyebrow, “Yeah.”
He hums as his fingers push up the fabric on her t-shirt. It’s a bold move from him, but she doesn’t stop his journey as she raises her arms completely. She watches as he swallows at the sight of the pale green, floral, semi-transparent lace bra.
He, of course, likes her in anything. Though she notices he prefers pastel colours over bold, vibrant ones. She giggles as he places her before the altar. His lips trail her neck, her collar bone, and down her stomach before he meets the edge of her jean shorts.
As always, he seeks permission before he dives further. She lifts her hips in response.
Andrew never rushes. No matter how heavy the lust is in their veins. Even the first time they crossed this line, she had been fumbling and making hasty movements as she tried to undress them. He had trouble keeping up before he forced them to slow down.
And she finds that she doesn't mind.
Moments between them seemed to be stolen or brief. A secret that had to be trapped in the edges of her teeth.
Life moves fast, and Andrew's slow, methodical undressing slowed everything down.
His rough, calloused hands cause her to shiver as they glide along her skin. She smiles as he folds her shorts and damp panties with military precision before he does the same with his own shirt.
She sighs at the sight of the corded muscles. Thankfully, his skin is free of bruises. He kisses her ankle before he moves them over his shoulder and dives in.
He doesn’t feast per se. He starts with small teasing kitten licks. It’s enough to get her to relax and make her easily pliable to his whims. It’s only then that the small teasing turns firmer, more deliberate.
Enough to cause her legs to tremble as she moves her hips to meet his tongue, and then he would feed her his fingers. Unravel her first to the point of overstimulation. Though this time, he pulls away from her, causing her to whine and as he travels up to meet her lips, tasting herself on his lips.
He slides into her. Her walls provide no resistance as he bruises himself to the hilt. His face is buried in her neck as he allows her to adjust to his length. She lifts her hips, permitting him to move.
She can feel his muscles shifting as he angles her hips and slams back into her. Her yelp echoes throughout the church. His thrusts aren’t brutal, but they are dominating and relentless. She can feel the tip of him teasing the opening of her cervix, the pleasure teetering on the verge of pain.
Honey tightens her hold on Andrew as she feels her peak approaching quickly. She grips his curls as she forces his mouth back onto hers. Teeth clash between their groans and grunts.
She could tell that he was close by the way his grip tightened on her thigh. And even if she started on her back or knees, Andrew always liked to finish with her on top.
He leans back, lifting her to where she is straddling his thighs, causing him to go deeper.
It’s only moments before her body tenses, and it feels like liquid fire is coursing through her veins, and she sees white.
The white ebbs in her eyes as Andrew settles them on their makeshift bed. As much as he is always eager to clean between her legs, she prefers they cuddle for a bit before returning to reality. Besides, she knows these few moments of bliss won’t last forever, considering who their families were.
“You ever think about leaving Oceanside?”
Honey lifts her head from his chest. “I think everyone has thoughts of leaving their hometown.”
“But do you?”
Honey eyes him down. He seems hesitant to meet her eyes. She leans further up and rubs his chest, “You trying to ask me something?”
Andrew finally meets her eyes, but makes no effort to clarify.
“I don’t know, maybe somewhere with all of the seasons,” she tells him. She has never seen snow; she doesn’t know if she will like it much, but it would be nice to have the experience.
“I think…my mom and Baz are getting suspicious.”
A shiver runs down her spine. “Oh…”
Andrew leans up as well. His face is unreadable.
“We've been careful,” she whispers. They only communicate through burners that change frequently. She never ventures into areas the Codys frequent in Oceanside. There is no need to.
If anything, it's Andrew who has taken the burden of upholding secrecy. He makes contact, and she follows.
“I don't know what she would do,” he admits to her.
“What if we just told our families,” she suggests. Her family would be pissed, but she had no part in their family business. And with Andrew, she knows he wants more in life, but she would never pressure him into leaving it, especially knowing they would have to deal with his mother.
Andrew shakes his head. “I don't want you to get hurt.”
Honey frowns, and she wraps her arms around his and clings to him. She knows what he is saying, ultimately that his mother will not like the fact that there is another woman in his life.
“What do you need from me?” She asks quietly.
Andrew meets her gaze. His hardened eyes soften before he meets her lips in a tender kiss. It's full of longing and promise. He nudges her to her back, where her thighs are still slick from both their releases. He presses into her gently. His thrusts are soft and deep. He rocks into her steadily as he presses down on her. Her thighs tremble as she can feel him deep in her stomach.
It isn't long before she nudges him onto his own back. They both groan as he settles deeper into her womb. Her lungs stutter as she tries to keep her composure, as he simply overwhelms her.
As she stares down at him, she knows there will be no other man in her life. No one else that she would lay down on an altar for.
It makes her wonder for the first time if love is some sort of trap.