A/N: This story is really starting to come along, I have to say. I'm about to go back in and do some work on the next chapter though it may take a few days since I'll be out of town this weekend. Thanks so much for all of the reviews/support so far! I hope you all enjoy this chapter...probably one of my favorite chapters to write. Thank you to the ladies who helped me, one in particular - who was wonderful with helping me smooth out some rough patches and flushing out some parts I had and making them better. This chapter was definitely a team effort and I really appreciated all the help. I am putting both a steam and a language advisory on this chapter and would just like to say that the latter one is jenpen1027's fault since her latest chapter inspired it (of Wallflower...I think most, if not all, of you are reading that one but if not go check it out). Anyway things get pretty darn heated in this chapter...and it all starts with an ankle. You'll see what I mean as you read. Hope you all like this chapter! Let me know!
"No...don't wanna go...too scared..." Ryan worked to fight off the confusion and emotions that her earlier words had stirred in him, and instead focused on what she was saying now. "Don't wanna go to Vegas...scared to see Ryan...can't let down Troy and Gabriella..."
"Kelsi?" He patted her cheek gently, though he wasn't sure if that actually helped someone regain consciousness or not. He figured it couldn't hurt, especially considering how out of it Kelsi appeared to be. "Come on Kelsi...wake up."
"Too painful...don't wanna hurt him..." Kelsi let out another moaning sound, and when she spoke again her incoherent babbling changed direction. "Sorry...so sorry...it's all my fault...didn't mean to make her leave...sorry Dad...I didn't mean it...all my fault..."
"Kelsi?" Ryan frowned as he continued his battle with his ever increasing panic, trying to make sense of her words and knowing he wouldn't be able to. Ryan didn't even notice that the hand that had been gently patting her cheek was now caressing it. As he attempted not to think about what she had first said, he instead focused his energy on helping her find her way back to herself. "Kelsi? Can you hear me?" He leaned in a little closer as he spoke, making his voice as soothing as possible. "Kelsi?"
As Ryan found himself so physically close to Kelsi, it was near impossible for him not to feel. He had been doing so well; keeping his distance and maintaining the wall of hostility that helped him make it through the day without missing her. But being here, seeing what almost happened to her and listening to her incoherent ramblings...ramblings that sent off all sorts of alarm bells inside Ryan's head, it was almost too much to bear. Ryan reached out and let one stray finger trail down Kelsi's smooth cheek. As much as Ryan would have liked to believe he was over Kelsi, this situation was proving he had a long way to go.
Kelsi felt like she had somehow managed to slip out of reality and into a world that seemed to be made up of darkness and fog. She tried to look around but it seemed to be more of the same everywhere she looked. She wasn't exactly sure where she was, but she wanted to find her way back to reality as soon as possible. She was just about to give up when she thought she heard something. The noises sounded as if it came from somewhere far away, too far for her to be able to identify at the moment. She forced herself to listen as the noise started becoming louder and louder, even if only in tiny increments.
A voice...that was what the noise was, she realized after what had felt like forever. Someone was speaking, and from what she could tell it almost seemed as if that someone was speaking to her. It was around that point she noticed that there were tiny pinpoints of light beginning to poke their way through the darkness she had become almost accustomed to. Encouraged, she tried to work her way toward them as the strange little world she had found herself in seemed to be changing. The fog was still present, though starting to decrease, and she had the sensation of being deep underwater and trying to swim her way up to the surface. It seemed that if she could manage to do that, she could break free of all of the fog and be immersed in the light completely.
As Kelsi made her way closer to what she deemed to be the surface, it became clear that the voice was indeed talking to her. Or rather, the voice was calling her name, trying to help her find her way back to the light and hopefully back to herself. She turned all of her attention on the voice, and almost instantaneously, it seemed as if those tiny pinpoints of lights were slowly getting larger. She was still too far gone to recognize just who the voice calling her belonged to, but she soon found that it didn't matter as something rather extraordinary seemed to be happening inside her. It seemed as if all of her emotions were suddenly on high alert...feelings of warmth and love filled her entire body as she continued her struggle to break free of the seemingly endless fog.
"Kelsi?" Ryan hadn't known it was possible to go from one extreme emotion to the next in so short a time, but the longer Kelsi stayed out of it, the more worried he felt. It was as if the all-consuming feelings of anger he had felt before had been replaced with fear and concern. "Come on, Kelsi...come back to me...you can do it."
"Mmm..." Kelsi groaned. The voice was calling to her again, but this time she recognized it. And quite honestly, it was the only voice she wanted to hear. "Ryan..." His name came out slowly, the hope evident in her tone.
"That's right ba-...Kelsi," Ryan corrected himself instantly. He was astonished that he had been about to call her baby – something he had called her all the time while they had been dating. The term of endearment had been a favorite of hers and was probably the one he had used the most often. The fact that it had come so naturally was disconcerting to him, but he couldn't think about that just yet. First things first...he had to bring Kelsi back to a conscious state.
"Ryan." This time his name came out as a whisper and there seemed to be a tenderness to the way she said it, confusing him even further.
"Come on, Kelsi," he stammered, forcing himself not to get distracted. "Kelsi."
"Kelsi." As more and more light pierced its way through the darkness, Kelsi became increasingly convinced that she was listening to the voice of an angel, an angel who sounded exactly like Ryan. It seemed like the more she focused on the voice, the more light flooded into the strange world she was trying so hard to break free of. In addition to the love and warmth she had been feeling she began to feel something else: the feeling of safety.
She still wasn't sure if her angel was Ryan or not, but she was positive that they were keeping her safe. Whatever bad thing had sent her into the land of darkness and fog, it must have run away in the presence of her angel. Of that she was positive. A feeling of security filled Kelsi's being as she felt the warm light all around her now. She felt the Ryan angel touching her, trailing his hands gently up and down her arms. Surprise registered through her being, as she realized she could touch him and hold him as well.
Ryan felt shock course through his veins, as suddenly Kelsi was in his arms. He had been leaning into her, as the wall behind her back continued to support her. And then their situations had reversed. Somehow Kelsi's arms had wound their way over his shoulders and twined around his neck. Ryan's breath caught as he felt her pressed bodily against him. It had been so long since he had held her. His mind was on full alert, sending off warning signals not to get too comfortable, but his heart, oh his heart was overpowering the mind in this battle, as he felt his arms flex possessively around Kelsi's slim body.
The feeling of pressure around her middle was the final piece of the puzzle. Kelsi's already open eyes started to focus in and return to reality. It was then that she recognized Ryan. But she had known, even when she was lost in the abyss between darkness and light, she had known the voice belonged to Ryan. He was her angel. At the moment of recognition her arms tightened reflexively around the man comforting her.
"Ryan." When she spoke his name again, she sounded much more alert than she had previously and Ryan could only lift up a silent prayer of gratitude at the sound of it.
"Kelsi," he sighed in relief, temporarily giving into his exhaustion as he held her close. "Are you okay? How do you feel?" he asked. Kelsi had been so caught up in the feeling of being in his arms after so much time, that she hadn't even thought about the pain since waking up from her daze. But now as she lay there the pain seemed to hit her in waves, from the ache in her head all the way down to the throbbing in her right ankle.
"It hurts," she said weakly, letting out a whimper in pain as she tried to shift in his arms. "Everything hurts."
Ryan was not exactly sure why, but Kelsi's comment pushed his exhaustion and gratitude off to the side for a bit, as anger and frustration flowed freely through. In the back of his mind he knew it wasn't fair to Kelsi, but it was out of his control. He had almost lost her...that fact seemed to be shining in bright neon lights inside his mind...and heart.
"Well, what do you expect?" he asked, feeling a new found anger over the entire situation join the stew of emotions he was experiencing. "The guy was huge, Kelsi. He flung you around like a rag doll!" He shook his head as his memories of the way he had seen Kelsi pressed up against the wall, frozen in terror, when he had first arrived filled his mind. "What the hell were you thinking?" The question came out harsher than he had intended it to, and he didn't miss the way Kelsi's arms loosened from around his neck in response. "He could've killed you," Ryan continued, unable to help himself and finding his anger easier to hold onto than his fear. "I mean, dammit Kelsi, what is wrong with you lately? Taking a walk by yourself in Las Vegas? Hanging all over that creep last night? Are you trying to get yourself killed!?"
"I...I wasn't..." she stammered, somehow managing to ease herself out of his arms in order to lean against the wall instead. Ryan's words seemed to add new bruise after new bruise to her already damaged body.
"My God, Kelsi, the guy had you against the wall and you were completely helpless! What would you have done if I hadn't shown up, huh?" he demanded. He lowered his eyes as he spoke, not wanting her to see the tears that were forming in his eyes at the thought of what would've happened.
"I...I don't know," she admitted. Her eyes widened as she scanned the area looking for any signs of Hank as the fear she had felt earlier came back tenfold.
"What could you have done? Nothing! He probably would've raped you and then..." Ryan trailed off as he heard Kelsi let out a small sob. He looked back at her and instantly felt all the steam go out of his building argument as the anger he had been trying to hold onto left his body, giving way to deep concern. Kelsi was leaning against the wall of the building trembling uncontrollably, with tears streaming down her face, her eyes wide with fresh fear.
"He would've killed me." The words came tumbling out of her mouth in a panicked whisper. "He would've...he..."
"Kelsi." Ryan willed his voice not to shake as he attempted to sound both calm and comforting.
"I-if you hadn't of shown up..." She shook her head feebly as her eyes met his. "Oh God...how could I have been so stupid?" The question wasn't so much directed to him as it was to herself. Ryan watched her lip quiver and instinctively reached out to put a hand on her arm, hating the way she jolted in fear at the contact.
"It's okay," he said quietly. "It's all okay now, Kelsi. He's gone now...I made him go away and he's not coming back." He locked his gaze on hers as he rubbed her arm gently to try to soothe her as she continued to tremble. "It's okay...that creep is never going to hurt you again, I promise. Okay?" She sniffled as she nodded, willing herself to focus on what Ryan was saying. "You're safe now," he continued. "I'm...I'm here."
"Don't leave me." The words were out of her mouth before she had time to process them, almost as if they had a mind of their own. Kelsi felt her eyes fill up with fresh tears as she studied him, though these tears were not a result of her fear over what had happened. No, these were tears of recognition...for the first time since arriving in Las Vegas; he looked just like the man she had left all those years ago. His eyes had lost the anger and bitterness that seemed to have become a permanent part of him, and been replaced with compassion and kindness. Two of the things she had loved most about him. In the back of her mind Kelsi knew that it was only a matter of time before the anger and bitterness returned, but that didn't change the fact that he had temporarily turned back into the person he had been. Maybe not completely, but she could see the traces of the old Ryan and she was reminded once more of just how much she missed him. She had been well on her way to a panic attack, but she slowly felt her breathing return to normal as she kept her eyes trained on his.
"It's okay, Kelsi," he said softly. "I'm here...I won't leave you." All of the feelings she'd had while working her way back to consciousness came rushing back as her eyes drank in the sight of the man who had become her angel.
"Ryan..." she murmured his name as she felt her entire body fill with a strange sense of wonder. The same wonder she had felt when he had first appeared to save her. She thought back to the fight and how passionately Ryan had fought the man trying to hurt her; how passionately he had fought for her. The love she had for him, the love she had always had for him, seemed to be spilling out of her heart and filling her entire being. She found herself leaning toward him, as if there was some kind of magnetic force she was unable to control pulling her to him. The urge to hold him close and kiss him was so strong that she felt powerless to resist it as her eyes lowered to his lips.
As Kelsi's body was filling up with love, Ryan felt his fill up with fear. Only instead of the fear that had come from almost losing her, it was a different kind of fear all together. Earlier that morning he had done his best to convince Taylor that he was not still in love with Kelsi...though it was hard for him to say if it was only Taylor he was trying to convince, or if he was also trying to convince himself. Now, as he watched all sorts of emotions flicker across Kelsi's face, he could see the woman that he had always believed Kelsi to be, and he could have sworn that he felt his heart leap up in his chest at the sight. It was as if his heart was sending him one giant wake up call, as if to remind Ryan that he was still in love with Kelsi no matter how hard he tried to deny it.
Ryan's eyes flickered to her mouth and lingered there, feeling his throat suddenly go bone dry. It seemed as if every nerve in his body was on alert and trying to tell him to close the gap between them and kiss her like he so desperately wanted to do. Kelsi certainly seemed more than willing and that only served to increase his desire. But there was just one problem and it was a major one...his fear. He knew that if his lips were to meet hers that he wouldn't be able to control himself, and all of his feelings would be out right in the open for her to feel and see. He would be completely and utterly vulnerable and exposed and that was one thing he simply couldn't allow to happen. Because the last time he had been so open and vulnerable to her, she had crushed him...she had launched an attack that had left him broken and bleeding and she had stomped all over him for good measure on her way out. No, he could not let himself ever be that vulnerable to her ever again. The first time had almost killed him...the second time would no doubt finish him off.
Somewhere in the course of his thinking, Ryan had begun to respond, finding himself leaning in closer to Kelsi, his lips practically touching hers when he suddenly pulled away. Alarm bells started sounding in his head; as he worked to convince himself that kissing her would be a mistake. He immediately noticed the wave of disappointment that flashed in her eyes upon his rejection.
"Um," he said awkwardly. "I should...you said..." He trailed off, frustrated with himself and his inability to speak coherently at the moment. Maybe he should have just let himself kiss her...that was what he had wanted to do. Damn his conscious and...fear. When he spoke again, it was with determination, the need to get that disappointed look off Kelsi's face almost overwhelming. So Ryan did the only thing he could think to do on the spur of the moment...he changed the subject. "I should check you for injuries," he decided, hoping to get his mind off Kelsi's utterly inviting lips in the process. "You...um, you look pretty banged up. I...I'll just...Just...just hold still and tell me if anything hurts, okay?" His hands were on her head as he spoke, though the moment his fingers made contact with her soft skin he realized this was the wrong course of action. Touching Kelsi was like an addiction, a pleasantly heady addiction. Earlier he had checked her head for any blood, of which there had mercifully been none, but now he was checking for bumps. "Um...how's your head feel?" he asked, somewhat lamely.
"It hurts," she replied, wincing as his probing fingers found a sensitive spot. Kelsi tried to simply concentrate on Ryan's roaming fingers as they combed through her tangled curls. She was about to let out a yelp when Ryan's fingers brushed over a particularly sensitive spot, only to be effectively cut off as she was suddenly preoccupied with how gentle he was being.
"Sorry," he apologized quickly, feeling the barely there flinch that slightly shook her body. "Um...let's see...do you feel dizzy at all?" Ryan attempted to keep his mind on the task at hand, but it was so difficult, the familiarity of running his fingers through Kelsi's hair was almost too much for him.
"Uh, no," Kelsi said lightly, wondering what was causing the distracted expression on Ryan's face.
"That's good, I think," he nodded, all previous distractions shoved aside as he discovered a small lump on the side of her head. "What about your vision? Is it blurry at all?"
"No," she said softly. He pulled one hand away from her head and held up three fingers.
"How many fingers am I holding up?" he asked.
"Three." She watched as he lowered one. "Two."
"Here, follow my finger with your eyes," he ordered. She obeyed, following his finger easily while he kept his eyes trained on hers. "Good," he murmured. "I'm trying to remember what else you're supposed to ask when someone has a head injury," he informed her. "Do...do you remember what happened?" The question was asked hesitantly, the last thing Ryan wanted to do was recollect that asshole's hands all over his girlfrie- . Ryan's eyes widened and he gave his head a hard shake, as he wondered where the hell that had come from.
"I...I went for a walk to clear my head and then H-Hank found me," she said quietly, bringing Ryan's attention back to their present state. "He um...he pulled me in here and then had me against the wall..." She trailed off as a violent shudder passed through her. "And then you showed up...and then..."
"It's okay," he cut in, his voice as gentle as his fingers felt. "That's good enough." He pursed his lips as studied the bump he had found, carefully moving her hair away from it. "I don't think you have a concussion," he offered. "Though you'll probably want to get some ice on that..." He gave her a small smile. "Of course if any of the others find out about this they'll probably make you go to the hospital to make sure, but...it doesn't seem like you really need to...for whatever that's worth. Um...hold out your arms." She slowly lifted them up for him to inspect and suddenly found herself trying to remember how to breathe as he trailed his hands gently down them.
Ryan inhaled sharply as he took in the angry bruises already forming on her small wrists where Hank had grabbed her. As much as the possible injuries to her head had scared him, looking at her wrists was worse. He could see the outline of the other man's large hands on them. He found himself sucking down another mouthful of air as he was reminded, once again, of what could have happened if he hadn't gotten there in time. What kind of scene he may have stumbled upon if he had arrived even a few seconds later than he had. He forced himself to look at her hands, unable to take looking at her wrists any longer, and noted that both of her palms were scratched up. All of the scrapes looked pretty shallow, so he imagined that they would heal fairly quickly.
Ryan found his eyes returning to her wrists, this time gently running his fingers across her bruises as he whispered the words "I'm sorry." He felt the sting of fresh tears in eyes and struggled to get a hold of his raging emotions. "I'm so sorry...I should've gotten here sooner..."
"Ryan..." Kelsi said soothingly. "You...you don't have to apologize...you...you saved me."
"I should've gotten here sooner," he repeated, shaking his head. He traced the bruises on her right wrist with his finger as he continued. "I'm...I'm sorry about before...I'm sorry about what I...what I called you...I was out of line." Ryan's brow furrowed as his chin quivered, knowing he was about to lose it and yet not knowing how to stop it. "I'm sorry..."
"I'm...I'm sorry too," she said the words so quietly that it was a wonder that he had even heard them. "About our fight earlier...I-I'm sorry I said I hated you...I shouldn't have said that...it's not true. I don't hate you...I never did." Kelsi bit her lip as she willed herself not to dissolve into tears. "I'm sorry I was so cruel to you."
"That's okay...I'm used to it." Ryan winced the second the words were out of his mouth, hating himself for going there...especially for going there right then. "I'm sorry...that was out of line."
"But well deserved," Kelsi murmured honestly, forcing herself to ignore the fresh hurt that poured through her body at his comment. "I...I was cruel to you that day too...it wasn't...I never..." She shook her head as she thought about how to proceed, knowing that she would have to choose her words carefully. "I treated you horribly and for no good reason...You were a good guy, Ryan, you deserved better than that. So much better...I-I was upset and hurting and lashing out...I didn't even mean most of the things I said to you..." she started. "Like when I said you weren't all that bright...or insulting your choreography...I...I didn't mean any of that..."
"You didn't?" His eyes were on hers suddenly and she nearly jumped at the intensity in them. "You didn't mean what you said?"
"About all of that...no I didn't," she stammered. "You're...you're a smart person, Ryan...you always were. And...And you're choreography isn't mediocre...it's...it's wonderful. You...you have a gift. I never should have implied that you didn't...it was wrong of me and I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." Ryan frowned as he studied her, finding himself growing more confused by the second. He thought back to his earlier conversation with Taylor and wondered if it was possible that she was right after all. He was just about to question Kelsi further, in regards to her apology, when she let out a soft yelp.
"What's wrong?" he asked, effectively distracted as his panic spiked once more. He did a quick scan over her with his eyes in an attempt to figure out what had happened. "What hurts?"
"My ankle," she winced. "I tried to move it...it really hurts."
"Hmm...let me see," he said softly, surprising her by reaching down and tenderly picking up her foot. He slid her shoe off and set it beside him, nearly smiling as he studied her foot – he had almost forgotten how small she was. He shook his head as he willed himself to focus, holding her foot with one hand and gently running his other one around her ankle to check for swelling. It was at that exact moment that he realized that he had also forgotten how soft her skin had always been. He forced the thought out of his head as well as he could, instead choosing to try to keep his mind on his impromptu examination.
Kelsi, meanwhile, found herself struggling not to pass out as all of the air whooshed out of her body. His hand was whisper soft against her skin as he slowly began running his fingers around her ankle. The pain, which had been bad enough to make her yelp in the first place, was suddenly pushed to the back of her mind as she instead focused on the way his hands felt on her skin. She wasn't exactly sure why it seemed as if all of her nerves were suddenly on full alert, when she had been perfectly fine, well, for the most part, while he had been trailing his hands down her arms. She pondered over that for a moment, nodding to herself as a memory from the past drifted into her mind.
It had been the week before they were scheduled to leave for Juilliard and the two of them had decided to take a walk around the park near her house. Everything had been perfectly fine until she had managed to get her foot caught in something and gone tumbling to the ground before he could catch her. Her ankle had gotten twisted in the process and she remembered that he had picked her up and carried her to a nearby bench, where he had sat down with her halfway in his lap and begun an examination of her ankle – much like the one he was performing currently. Kelsi remembered that she had been fighting off tears and he had done his best to make her smile. His hand had been gentle on her ankle and he had been moving it slowly across her skin causing her to let out a soft, and greatly unexpected, moan. She remembered turning bright red as he had laughed, highly amused by her reaction, and then purposely slowed his hand even further.
"Not thinking about the pain anymore, now are ya?" he had smirked.
"N-not exactly," she had stammered, completely baffled by the extreme reaction she'd had. "Y-you should stop."
"Oh now Kelsi, I have to make sure your ankle is okay," he had said innocently – far too innocently in her opinion.
"You're terrible," she had managed, feeling her eyes widen as he pulled her closer.
"But you love me anyway," he had murmured before bringing his mouth to hers in a sweet kiss that had completely stolen her breath.
Kelsi fought the ridiculous urge to fan herself as memories of that kiss lingered in her mind. It may be her imagination but it seemed as if her body temperature was steadily rising as her mouth went dry. "Oh my," she whispered as his hand changed direction. Ryan glanced up at her and was surprised to find her biting her lip and looking slightly uncomfortable.
"Um...Kelsi?" he asked, puzzled.
"Yes?" she squeaked, her voice bearing a striking resemblance to that of Minnie Mouse. She cleared her throat, feeling her face turning red in the process. "I mean...yes?"
"Are you okay?" Ryan was looking at her as if she had grown an extra head and she couldn't say she blamed him. "Am I hurting you?" A short, nervous and breathless giggle escaped from her at the question, surprising them both.
"God no," she muttered under her breath.
"What?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.
"No...no, you're not," she answered.
"Um...okay..." Ryan looked at her funny for a long moment, more than likely trying to determine if maybe she had suffered a brain injury after all. He shook his head, completely oblivious to the real cause of her current problem, as he returned to his examination. He gently moved her foot in first one direction and then another, causing her to let out another yelp in pain.
"Sorry about that," he said softly. "I...I don't think it's broken. Probably just a sprain...you should put ice on it when we get back to the hotel. Keep it elevated and all that."
"Okay," she agreed. She lifted her eyes to his face and let out a soft gasp of surprise. She had been so caught up in her panic and emotions since waking up from her stupor, that she hadn't even noticed just how banged up Ryan was. His face, his beautiful face, was covered in scrapes and bruises.
"Oh Ryan," she whispered, her hands instinctively going to his face causing him to freeze. "Ryan...you...you were hurt too."
"It's nothing," he argued.
"You were hurt," she repeated, gently caressing his cheeks with her hands. "You were hurt protecting me."
"I...I had to save you," he said softly. "I couldn't let that guy keep hurting you."
"Thank you," she whispered, letting her fingers gently trace over his cuts and bruises, almost willing her fingers to take his pain away. Unknowingly, with each touch of her finger their faces grew closer and closer. "Thank you Ryan." Kelsi took a deep breath, as her face moved even closer to his; she could now feel his breath on her face. "Thank you for saving me."
"Kelsi," he murmured, his voice thick with emotion. Ryan seemed to have lost the ability to think as he covered more of the slight distance between them. Once again his mind was screaming at him to back away, trying to remind him of how much pain she had caused him...but his heart was screaming at him too, refusing to be ignored. "I'll always keep you safe." The words came out of his mouth naturally...too naturally.
"Oh Ryan," she said his name on a soft sob, knowing what she was about to do was more than likely a mistake and yet being unable to help herself. She knew she would come to regret it with time, but at the moment she didn't care. She didn't care about the consequences that were sure to come...she didn't care that by doing this all of her feelings for him would be blatantly obvious. She didn't care about any of that, she just cared about him and how long it had been since she had felt his kiss. "Ryan," she repeated his name as she brushed her lips against is for a second or two, her mouth lingering a hair away from his as a whimpering sound escaped her. "Ryan." She brought her mouth to his again, at first keeping the kiss gentle but soon finding herself unable to, as any control she had suddenly left her body. It was as if everything she had felt for him over the years – all of the longing and wishing and wanting and needing for him – suddenly came to a head as she completely let go, kissing him with a desperation that surprised them both.
Or maybe surprised wasn't a strong enough word for what Ryan felt in the first few moments while her mouth moved against his...maybe it was more of a case of him being completely and utterly stunned by the passion she was pouring into her kiss. The intensity took him aback at first, but he soon found himself responding, as he didn't have the will to resist. He heard her let out a soft moan and felt the slippery grip he had on his control melt away. His heart felt like it might leap out of his chest in pure joy, but his mind was screaming at him to get a hold of himself.
Ryan jerked away from her suddenly, his mind winning this round, as he struggled to catch his breath. "No," he managed. "This...this is a really bad idea," he reasoned, trying to regain control of himself. "I can't do this...we broke up...you...you left me! You broke my heart...you..." he trailed off, both of them breathing heavy, as he lifted his eyes to hers. He pressed his lips together as he looked deep into her eyes, taking note of all of the emotions flashing through them...there was disappointment and longing and desire and lo-....Ryan cut himself off before he could finish thinking the word. The first three he could handle but the other...love...he was most certainly not seeing love in her eyes. She had told him she didn't love him all those years before, after all. And that was the truth...wasn't it?
"This is a bad idea," he said firmly, though not as firmly as he had hoped. He knew that he needed to put some distance between them as fast as possible, but as he looked into those blue eyes of her...those big, beautiful blue eyes of hers that were practically pleading with him, the combination of desire and passion in them so strong that he found himself unable to resist. He shook his head, knowing that he'd be kicking himself later for doing this but not having the strength to resist. "Fuck it."
His lips came crashing down on hers before she even had time to blink, and Kelsi found her arms wrapping tightly around his neck to hold on as he lost all control. He yanked her closer to him, causing her to marvel at all of the glorious contradictions that seemed to make up the man she'd always loved. His kiss was pure fire, hot and smoldering, but his hands...oh his hands had been so gentle, strangely so, as he had pulled her to him. It was as if he was still mindful of her injuries and didn't want to hurt her, even as his mouth thoroughly ravaged hers. "Mmm," she groaned against his lips, struggling to get as close to him as humanly possible. There were hints of sweetness in their kiss, but it was mostly fire...made up of longing and desperations and even left over anger and fear over what had just happened with Hank. The kiss was all of those things and more, and there was nothing either one of them could do about it. Nothing that is, except to give in and surrender completely to it.
"Ryan," she gasped his name as they finally broke apart for some much needed gulps of air. At some point she would probably regret the words she was about to say but she was too caught up in her love and longing and lust for him to think clearly. "I need you...I need you so much." He gently caressed her cheek with his hand.
"Kelsi..." Her name was all he could get out before she brought her mouth to his again in a kiss that was just as hot, if not more so, than the one they had shared previously. They were both well past the point of no return. Forget about all of the problems that these kisses would no doubt cause...forget about all of the discussions they needed to have to at some point, most of them painful...forget about all of the hurt and pain both of them had suffered in the years that they had been apart...right now none of that mattered. It all would eventually, once they managed to finally get a hold of themselves, but for the moment the only thing either of them could think about was the other, and the series of kisses they were sharing...kisses that had been five years in the making.
Both Ryan and Kelsi were so absorbed in their kiss that they failed to hear the sounds of people approaching. They weren't even aware that they had an audience...at least not until they heard a loud gasp, followed by a pointed cough.
"Geez guys," a familiar voice said, smugly. "Way to take the whole 'kiss and make up' concept to a new level."