(Written in the perspective of Andrew Detmer.)
It was midnight, the sun had gone down hours ago and I felt the darkness slipping up behind me, waiting to devour me whole. I had really no business being out this late, it was a school night and I had an exam tomorrow morning; but I was set on seeing him tonight. We had made plans weeks ago, so we could watch the stars without Matt going on and on about his theories on the night sky; he was no astronomer, and he definitely was not that good of a theorist, so it wasn't really worth the hassle of bringing him along.
Matt was, thankfully, out of town for a week or two. He had a wedding to attend somewhere far off, around Whidbey Island or something like that. He told Steve and I that it was Casey's family who invited him, but wouldn't shut up about how 'important' it was for him to be included in these things, something about a big step in his and Casey's relationship? But I found it lame, and I had a slight feeling that Steve did too.
That's who I was going to see now, Steve. We were meeting up at some abandoned tennis court outside of town, and I had a lot of walking to do to find the place. He was there when I arrived, leaning against a white fence that surrounded the tennis court itself. It was completely vacated, aside from Steve, a lone tennis racket, and I. He had a grin on his face, it was wide and friendly.
''Finally decided to join the party?'' he drawls, one side of his mouth still quirked up in amusement.
I smile back at him, feeling lightheaded and silly because of it. ''It's not like I had anything better to do.''
Steve pushes off the fence, stuffing one large hand into his jacket pocket before walking over to me. We're standing so close together, I can smell his aftershave and his cologne. It smells like hazelnut and something fresh, I breathe in deeply and relish in something that is so very Steve.
We never had a good reason for being this close, despite always being inches apart. It was like personal space was unneeded, or a game of who could get the closest without breaking boundaries.
The silence settled around us, and we stared at each other with a lost longing. It was like this for seconds, minutes, hours maybe, before he spoke again. ''Do you know how to play Tennis?'' he asks, but there's something underlapping what he's saying. I can feel the darkness starting to sneak around us again, the fluorescent lighting from the lamp post above us did nothing to tone down the tension.
''I've never had a chance to learn.'' I tell him, but it's so quiet and I wonder if his heart stops beating like mine does.
''I could teach you sometime or another,'' he starts, eyes searching my face, ''but I think we have other things planned for tonight.''
The silence seems to turn into static, mixing in with my heart beat and his uneven breathing. ''Like what?''
The distance between us becomes nonexistent as he steps closer, his hand runs through my hair as he pulls me towards him. Our mouths collide seconds later, almost causing my knees to buckle under the surprise of it.
Steve's lips move softly against my own, and I want to sigh with the pleasure of finally feeling his mouth against mine. Our chests are pressed together and I am suddenly unconcerned with the darkness I once feared.
He slips his tongue into my mouth, and this time, I do sigh, allowing him further access. Steve's hands card through my hair, running down until one of his hands rest on the nape of my neck. I grip onto his jacket, it's soft to the touch, and I have to resist the urge to slide it off of his shoulders. He tasted like butterscotch and toothpaste, which wasn't exactly the best of combinations, but I couldn't get enough of it. It was indescribable, the way his lips fitted against my own, soft and hesitant, yet knowing.
Steve's hand slips downwards until he's caressing my lower back with his fingers and sighing shakily into my mouth. I pull him flush against my own chest, desperate to get closer to him; maybe it was because I was freezing or maybe it was because I felt this was the only time in my life I'd ever want to kiss someone so badly, to touch someone so badly.
And then it happened, his right hand slipped under my shirt and I gasped into our kiss, breaking us apart briefly to stare him. Steve grins at me, but I can still feel his fingers ghosting along the base of my spine.
He looks at me as if he had found something worth keeping. And I wondered in that moment if maybe all of the stories my mother told me were true. I would never have a story good enough to compare to Steve Montgomery, but I would look for it until I had enough chapters to put myself to sleep at night.
I shifted forward, pushing my hands inside of his jacket and around him, I held on tight, pressing my body into his. Steve was so warm, his cologne was stronger than before, but I closed my eyes and allowed myself to be as close as possible. I could hear his heart beating, thumping softly in his chest.
He wrapped his arms around me, enclosing me in a feeling I didn't know existed.
In that moment, I did not care about the lightning striking brightly in the clouds above us or the way the sky twisted and mixed, dark grey clouds enveloping starry skies until the threatening signs of a thunderstorm set in place.
I shivered when the rain began to fall, it was cold and unkind as it poured, but it didn't matter. Nothing did compare to what was in front of me.
We let go of each other, staring wide-eyed like deer in the headlights of an oncoming car.
''Is this something you want?'' he asks, and I almost begin to tremble with all the things that question held. We always did this, asked vague and concealed questions until we couldn't be subtle anymore - when friendship melted into something more. We stared at each other a little too long to be just friends, but not long enough to be something more. We were enough to kiss but weren't enough to be susceptible under Matt's roaming eyes. But in this moment, we were enough. Not too much. Not too little. Just enough.
''I think so,'' I say, feeling as if my own heart were somersaulting with anxiety and excitement.
He looks at me as if I am the world and in that moment, I am alive.