Mr Bennet receives a rather nasty criticism from Claire who then promptly tells him that she hates him, runs upstairs and slams her door, leaving me alone in the hallway with a no doubt pissed off Mr Bennet. There▓s a moment of complete awkward silence where I stare determinedly at my feet and pray to whoever is up there to get me out of here. Mr Bennet speaks first, he ask if I▓m the vegetarian, and when I answer yes he runs though a meal with me to check it will be okay. Leaving me completely floored, I mean Claire▓s dad is a scary guy and I now have the image of him in a apron and pink washing up gloves. That one will stay with you. He then asks me to tell Claire dinner is a 6 and she is expected at the table by 5:55 or I▓ll have to go home as a punishment and I make my escape back to Claire▓s room.
3 hours later a 7;36 as I▓m sneaking down the stair in the dark, Claire has cried herself out and fallen asleep on her bed and I▓m about to go home like Mr Bennet said. Claire didn▓t go down and neither did I, I▓d rather starve then try and make it thought a dinner with Mr Bennet. Alone. But as I round the corner the kitchen door is open and Mr Bennet is sat at the table alone looking, well looking human, glasses off and his hair is ruffled with he spent to last few hours running his hands through it. And I▓m struck by the thought that he looks tired and quite miserable and before I actually realised what I▓m doing I▓m stood in the kitchen.
There▓s a brief moment while I contemplate running before dismissing the idea as childish that nothing happen and it▓s quite pleasant. Then Mr Bennet starts talking about wasting food, and responsibility leaving me wondering what he is actually thinking ▒cause I know it▓s not about wasted food. I interrupt him mid-flow, a sign of my incoming madness I▓m sure, to tell him that Claire loves him and that she didn▓t mean what she said to him and I▓m pretty sure I render him speechless even if just for a moment, it▓s quite a achievement, I may even stick it on my CV.
He just stares at me for a long moment and I can read nothing from him, which is just plain disturbing for me ▒cause I can read everyone, it▓s a talent I have, but Mr Bennet gives away nothing. And I▓m back to looking for an escape route, meaning my mind is somewhere else and my normally carefully fought babbling instinct kicks in. I▓m not entirely sure what the hell I▓m saying but I suddenly find myself able to stop talking, at least until I catch Mr Bennet▓s expression, a mixture of amusement, annoyance and something I can▓t name but hope isn▓t lethal and my speech finally sort of fades out halfway though a sentence and we▓re back to the awkward silence thing again. Except this time Mr Bennet breaks in.
Mr Bennet▓s talking about something but the words are getting drowned out by a strange noise in my head, what feels like a thousand different voices, thoughts and feelings all being jammed into my head at the same time. I hate it when this happens, It hurts. A lot. I start to struggle to draw breath and I hear Mr Bennet call my name, but it sounds like he▓s miles away, all muffled and wavering. And then I▓m falling, and my knees greet the cool tilted floor hard and it sends shockwaves though my body but then I▓m double over forehead resting on the tiles and I feel slightly better as the cold seeps into my body. But there▓s an annoying repetitive sound to my left and it takes me a while to realise it▓s Mr Bennet and a while longer to gather the strength to raise my head. Mr Bennet kneeled by my side and he looks worried and I▓m about to tell me that I▓m okay now when he rests his hand on my shoulder and it all starts again.
But this time it▓s just one voice, one set of thoughts, his, mine, ours I can▓t tell the difference. I feel everything worry for his family, pain from Claire▓s hash words, stress from work and the last and latest, desire, for me. Shockwaves of an entire different kind shoot though my body and I pull away breathing harsh and I▓m sure my eyes are the size of saucers. Mr Bennet▓s so close that I can feel the heat of his body and I don▓t stop to think, I just go on impulse, I▓m not even sure who▓s impulse it was. And I kiss him.
I can▓t honestly say that I never though I▓d be kissing Mr Bennet on the floor of his kitchen with Claire asleep above our heads, or that I had even thought about kissing him. But now that its happening I can▓t work out why I haven▓t. His lips are warm, chapped and sure against my own and my brain pretty much ceases to exist at this point. But even then I know that this is really not a good position to be in figuratively and literally judging my the sharp pain in my knees and the light complaining in my neck. I pull back and find myself unable to look up at Mr Bennet and decide that the floor makes a much nicer target for my gaze.
I hear a light shift of fabric and a hand appears in front of me and I let myself be pulled to my feet and then all the air is forced from my lungs as I rest my weight on my legs and decide that I have definitely buggered up a least one of my knees maybe both. But at least I have something other than Mr Bennet to focus on know which is good, I force myself over to the table and take a seat, finding myself able to breath again, pulling of my jeans I wince as I see that my knee has already go a rather nice purple-blue colour and will probably swell during the night. Mr Bennet is back with an ice pack, though I▓m not entirely sure when he left, but I▓m feeling a little light headed now so that▓s excusable.
Neither of us say anything as he holds the ice to my knee and I focus on looking anywhere but down which is pretty easy considering it feels like someone is trying to break out of my knee cap with a pickaxe. The numbing effect of the ice finally start to work and my head start to feel less with cotton wool, which is nice and worrying at the same time cause I means I have to say something, I reach down to take the ice pack off Mr Bennet, our finger brush and Mr Bennet pulls away as if it burns. Damm I think I may have just screwed up so badly, what if he tells Claire, oh god I think I have just royally screwed my life up.
Well, if I have I gonna take the bull by the horns, so I raise my head and actually look at Mr Bennet, but just my luck he isn▓t even looking at me and even if he was he▓s gone back to being unreadable. Oh well I tried, the smart little voice in the back of my head, finally decides to make an appearance and reminds me that I was feeling what Mr Bennet was feeling and that the attract came from him not me. But I don▓t entirely see how that helps my situation. Mr Bennet▓s voice cuts though my thoughts. He▓s apologising, I kissed him and he▓s apologising, how strangely noble. I try to interrupt but he cuts me off after like 3 syllables and continues apologising, rubbish about the age different and the legality and the like. So I do the only thing I can think of and I kiss him. Again.
This time its different, stronger and more sure. And much more comfortable too, but he▓s still warm and much more sure and confident than me. And I decided that every girls first kiss should be with someone who knows what their doing. We break apart and this time I▓m breathless because he▓s stolen it and that is much more pleasurable. I grin slightly and tell him that rules are meant to be broken and say goodnight. Then leave, no regrets and no explanations, it suits me just perfect, it▓s late now and I don▓t feel like worrying or fighting. So this is really the perfect ending for me, but I know that I will have to sit and talk this over, with Mr Bennet and myself but now I▓m gonna go to bed and sleep it off. The pain is pretty much gone and I figure I may just have found the perfect drug for me.