Drabble for the prompt: friends to lovers

The bus halted to a stop moments after the journey started. Jean's eyes locked with his as he came towards her, a friend to accompany her on the trip but his face is not that of a friend. She can read the look in his eyes. She has seen the same longing in her own reflection.

Her heart leaps for what is on the edge of his lips. "Jean, I."

"No, Don't say anything. Not yet."

No, the bus to Adelaide was not the time to speak of their shift in relationship, though the warmth of their proximity, fingers clasped together, the smell of each other lingering on one another's clothes needs no words.

A week of enjoying each other's company away from judgmental eyes leaves Lucien longing to speak with Jean about the future before he must depart. He needs to tell her his feelings, his desires even if it means losing her friendship if he is mistaken that she feels the same.

Lucien finds a quiet spot for them under a shade tree. His stomach is in knots. He reaches in his jacket for his flask to calm his nerves but stops when he looks at Jean, his strong steadfast Jean. "Jean, I know you are here in Adelaide now but…" he starts stumbling over his words, hell bent to get this right. "Your friendship, your companionship means everything to me."

She interrupts, "Lucien, I don't need another friend." She is not going to make this easy for him. A friend doesn't chase down a bus to go eight hours from home with no more than a wallet and a flask.

Touching her cheek, grounding him to her for the strength to continue. "That isn't what I mean. Jean I care very deeply for you. I...I love you and I don't think I could bear not having you in my life so whatever you want just please let me be apart of it."

Jean looks closely at this man of hers face because yes, he most certainly is hers. The sweat has accumulated on his brow and tears in his blue eyes. She pulls herself in closer so that he can feel her breath on his lips. "Lucien, I only want you."

Their kiss is not of friends but of lovers, whose love is made on a foundation of trust and friendship. A love for the ages.