First Kiss
By: IzumiYagami14
"If I were to kiss you, would you kiss me back?" the boy asked with his hands in his pockets, looking at the girl in front of him for any sign of an answer. The girl's blue eyes rose to meet his hazel. His voice was hesitant as it crossed over that unspoken line. The words he just spoke cautiously lingered in the air for a split second, steadily dancing between the two before drifting away.
There was a flicker in his eyes causing her heartbeat to increase. Afraid that if she kept gazing into them she would get lost, her eyes darted away from his. Instead, she looked up at the million stars twinkling in the night sky. Without anymore hesitation, she softly responded, "Well, yeah, but..." Her whispers rolled off her tongue, but they were too scared to fall because of the consequences that would follow soon after.
"But, what?" he questioned, taking one solicitous step closer to her. He continued looking at her, but her eyes were still fixated on the sky. He knew that was going to be her answer, but was a little shocked that she answered his question that quickly. Little did he know that she played this scenario in her head numerous of times, but she'd never admit it. The sight of her trying to avoid his gaze made him chuckle. Once his laugh reached her ears, she brought her gaze back to him.
Ice blue eyes locked onto the hazel once again only to break away immediately after, turning her attention to the moon just behind him. The bright full moon was only the second riveting thing on her list, just below the one thing she had been avoiding that cold night: his eyes. His hazel eyes were always mesmerizing to her since the day they met, her eyes always drifting away as soon as his eyes met hers. She let out a long sigh, swiftly shook her head from the thought, and looked at the ground. Her long strawberry blonde hair fell down to cover her embarrassed face as she bit her lower lip. "I don't know..." she managed to muster, even though she was well aware as to why she couldn't.
One second..., two seconds..., three seconds passed by. The seconds seemed to be dragging on with anticipation wandering in the slowly closing space that is left between them. A light breeze swept though, adding a slight chill in the air that sent goosebumps to their skin. The sound of just fallen leaves began rustling around, filling the holes of silence that was casted on them. All of the sudden, the sound of shoes on cement decided to mix in.
One step..., two steps..., three steps... He moved closer and closer as the once wandering anticipation now escaped the tighter space between them. She closed her eyes and inhaled a long breath, feeling his body heat radiating off of him and smelling his scent of cedar, bonfire and pines. Out of impulse, he reached out and tucked the strands of hair that were covering her face behind her ear. She flinched from his action as she moved her focus from the ground to her Converse shoes. Realizing he crossed that line again, he immediately stuffed his hand back in his pocket.
He could see from her expression that her overthinking mind had gotten even more complicated due to his action. Thinking that her inner thoughts were going to consume her sooner or later, he let out a heavy sigh. She was completely lost, and he saw that. "Hey..." his voice reached out a hand to her. His tone was full of concern, but also full of love.
From the ground beneath, her pair of baby blues slowly rose to the sound of his caring voice. Her breath hitched when she eventually made eye contact with him, but, this time, she couldn't look away...
She wondered if he could see right through her. All her wishes..., her lies..., her regrets..., how can someone love someone that is so... broken? Little did she know that the only thought that rushed through his head at that moment was how can someone that is so broken be so... beautiful?
The two pairs of eyes now locked on each other, not daring to look away from one another. Desperately not wanting to disturb the moment, he continued his gaze as he cautiously took his hand out of his pocket again and brought his soft hand to her cheek. Not breaking away from their solid eye contact, she slowly exhaled her unknowingly held breath as she shivered from his touch. It was now or never.
Carefully, he kept his one hand at her cheek as he snaked his other arm around her waist, closing the space between them completely. She had more shivers as her breathing hitched once again, completely forgetting how to breathe. Their dangerous eye contact had brought them to very deep waters now, neither of them knowing if the two will float or drown...
Their eye contact was never broken until he leaned his head closer to hers. This time, he was the first to break it, as he closed his eyes, continuing to lean forward. She followed suit as she let her eyelids gently close too.
With his hand still placed on her cheek, he guided her face to his as their lips gently brushed against each other. Even though the kiss only lasted a couple seconds, it felt like forever. She found a way to place one hand on the back of his neck and the other on his shoulder as he moved both hands around her waist. The highly anticipated kiss eventually broke, but their well known eye contact was instantly reborn. He could see the pink tint left on her freckled face as he rubbed his thumb delicately across it, and she could see the small smirk left on his.
No other words were said to each other in that moment for they knew that no words can describe the extraordinary moment they shared together. Standing there in the cold late September night as the fall leaves rustling through the wind, the two silently continued to be lost in words, lost in time, and lost in each other's eyes... She reached up to touch his hand that was still lingering on her face and leaned her head into it. Letting out a another chuckle, his other hand found her other and gave it a gentle squeeze. He then delicately pulled her hip and brought her into a long, loving hug.
Both inhaled deeply, taking in each other's surroundings. She rested her head on his shoulder as her fingers weaved with the texture of his green jacket. Her thoughts wandered in and out of the never ending holes inside her mind, causing her to tighten her grip on both sides oh his shoulders. In the midst of it all, she sniffled nervously, "Sorry. I'm awkward, I'm sorry..."
Feeling her rapid heartbeat mixed with the uncontrollable trembling of her body against his chest, he softly responded, "There's no need to be sorry." His voice soothed her shaking body only for a while, but did not stop the silent tears running down her face. He broke their shared hug and put his hand back on her cheek, still pink tinted either from embarrassment or the cold. He immediately brushed away the tear stains with his thumb and gave her a reassuring smile, making her smile a little as well.
Neither of them wanted it to end, but deep down they both knew it had to, whether they wanted it to or not. Knowing that they won't see each other for a while now, they continued to stare at each other as if they were communicating with their eyes. I'll miss you, her eyes spoke as a single tear rolled down and crashed into his thumb. A fire flashed in his eyes as they responded, I'll miss you too. Another breeze intruded, causing him to pull her into another warm hug, holding onto her tighter this time.
The world stopped for a while, only to start turning again when he broke the hug again. His hand found its way back home to her cheek. The moon now high in the sky was the only light that kept them from total darkness, mapping out their silhouettes.
A quiet, little giggle escaped from her mouth as she too pulled away and moved her hands to both sides of his shoulders. "Goodnight," she finally whispered to him, afraid that her voice would wake up the neighborhood.
He continued to gaze into her eyes with his hand at her face and this look of admiration. "Goodnight," he said back to her, knowing that only the stars in the clear night were awake to hear them.