My Darlings! Welcome to Match! This is a tiny little drabble I wrote as somewhat of an experiment. The release of it was a little rocky, but I'm working on sorting it all out. This one shot is extremely short because each time stamp is accompanied by a photo. For the full experience, check out the Facebook group, Fanfics For Nerds, and you'll be able to find the PDF for downloading!
Match
By FanficsR4Nerds
Beta Read by Fran S. Sunflower
Pre-Read by DaniDarlingxx, Lily Jill, and Jgaff
For my Hive.
9:03
I wake to a text from you.
It makes me smile; even though I'm still so fucking tired, my eyes are blurry.
You don't need a lot of sleep, I know that, but I do.
You've already been awake four hours, waiting for me to wake up too.
I love that you haven't woken me up earlier.
I love that you know me so well.
I love...
9:31
The screen door creaks, and I know without looking up that it's you. I know the cadence of your walk, the sound of your denim jacket swishing as you pull at the screen.
I turn the corner, and there you are, flushed from the walk in the sun, hair still damp from a shower. You lick your lips when you see me, and it takes all I have in me not to lick you in response.
"Did you hear me?" My mom shouts from the kitchen. You've walked in in the middle of her nagging at me again.
"Come on," I say, stepping toward you. It's hot out, but I grab my own denim jacket and shove it on. "Bye, Mom!" I call as I grab your hand and tug you outside. The porch is already hot, even though it's covered. Your hand is warm in mine, and when we're finally outside, I stop and grin at you.
Your grin back makes my heart lunge.
"Come on," I say again.
We leave the porch, hand in hand.
10:01
"What do you want to do?"
I look at you. All I want to do is spend time hanging out with you. Since we're doing that, there isn't much I want to add.
"Let's find somewhere to cool off," I say, glaring up at the sun.
You smile when I look back at you, and it makes my heart lurch in my chest.
No matter how hot the sun is, it's nothing to the heat you generate in me with a single look.
10:28
The mall is crowded, but it's air-conditioned, so we head inside. We don't shop for anything. We just sit and hang out.
People stare at us as they walk by. I wonder if they think we're together.
The thought sends heat through me, and I feel a flush rise in my chest.
I wish.
11:49
We've circled the mall three times, but there really isn't much for us to do here. It's not a great place to hang out, apart from the free AC and access to the food court.
"Come on," I say, shaking my head. "Let's get out of here."
You agree, so we head toward an exit. On our way, I see a couple making out on one of the mall benches we were sitting on earlier.
I want to taste you.
I want to feel you under my palms.
I want you to burn me with your touch.
12:09
"So," you say, and I'm distracted by the way your lips wrap around the cigarette. I watch your chest breathe in as you inhale deeply before you pull the cigarette from your lips and tap it lightly. "Your mom?"
I shake my head, taking the cigarette from you. I don't want to talk about it, and I see you realize it as I pull the cigarette to my lips. The intimacy of knowing your mouth has just been here, sucking, breathing this filter in, sends a shiver down my spine.
I want to taste this cigarette on your tongue.
I inhale deeply, and the smoke burns my lungs, prickling me back to life. I watch the smoke slip past your lips, and I lick mine in response.
You take the cigarette, and I distract myself with blowing smoke rings.
"I'm so fucking bored," I whine. You glance at me, and even under your sunglasses, I pretend I can see your eyes checking me out, sliding up and down my body. I want you so much my blood burns with it.
I know something we could do to pass the time.
You suck on the cigarette again, and I'm mesmerized by the movement of your throat.
"Come on," you say, pulling the cigarette from your pink mouth. "Let's get some food."
12:27
It's blistering hot today, the concrete burning through our sneakers as we walk down the street. It's too hot to do anything, but if you reach for my hand right now, I'd hold on to you with everything in me.
For you, I'd melt.
12:56
Your fingers are magic; slender miracles that flip your lighter between your knuckles when you're bored. I'm watching your hands, wondering what those hands could do to me if they wanted.
The possibilities seem endless.
I reach for my glass of water, sucking more back.
I feel your eyes on my mouth as I slurp through the straw.
My eyes flicker towards yours, but you look away again.
I open my mouth, ready to lay it all on the fucking table when the waitress comes over with our burgers.
I'm too hungry to potentially ruin our friendship, so I shove the words back inside of me and pick up my food.
13:49
Your brother's eyes narrow on me as soon as we enter your house.
You ignore him, but I can feel his distrust.
I flash him a smile.
It pisses him off.
He's protective of you, distrustful of me.
Fair enough.
I want to corrupt you in every way.
13:56
We flop on your bed. Your room is messy but perfect. You never clean up to impress me, and I like that. I get to see you as you are. It's a privilege I covet.
You point to your stereo across the room. "Hook your phone up," you tell me. "Put something on."
I already have a playlist ready to go; songs that remind me of our adventures, of our friendship. And sprinkled throughout … songs that try to tell you how I feel while I still struggle to gather the words.
14:49
We smoke a cigarette in your room.
We have to crack your window and sit right under it. It makes us sweaty, and we peel off our jackets until we are both sitting under the sun with bare shoulders.
I don't care.
I'd endure the worst of sunburns to sit with you.
16:06
We're on your bed when your mom comes in. She hesitates at the door, her eyes warily washing over me. She doesn't trust me. She thinks I'm a bad influence.
She's probably right.
"Are you staying for dinner?" she asks me.
"Yeah, Mom," you say, barely glancing up at her. Her mouth purses slightly when you aren't looking, and she shoots me another look.
"All right. I'm going to call your father so he can stop by the supermarket when his shift is over." Her passive aggression isn't lost on us; we just ignore her.
She starts to leave the room when she hesitates, tapping the doorknob. "Door open," she reminds us.
You roll your eyes at her, but eventually, she leaves.
I'm burning with the thoughts of what might happen if we close that door.
18:19
Your parents don't like me.
They think I'm trouble, and they are right, but you are trouble all on your own.
Your dad watches me like a hawk; his eyes narrowed like I'm going to pull some sort of crime at the table.
We've been friends for years, but all that's earned us is wary glances from our parents and siblings.
I remember overhearing your parents talk about me one time. Trouble, they called me. They worried about us getting together, about teenage pregnancy. Like we're the kind of kids who would inevitably face something like that.
I can't say I blame them.
We're too young to have kids or even thoughts of kids, but sex … oh, sex.
It's all I think about.
… Even at dinner with your family.
20:04
We share a cigarette again when we leave your house. It's still hot as hell out, but when you step closer to me to take the cigarette from my lips, I lean into you.
The red cherry burns between us.
21:33
"Bea! Ed!"
We both turn to look at the sounds of our names. Our friends are calling to us from across the street, and we jaywalk to join them.
You immediately start charming people. You always flirt with everyone, male and female alike. No one is safe from your charm, and nearly everyone falls victim to it.
It drives jealousy through me with a hot spike.
You reach out to Mike, your smile so fucking wide as you squeeze his shoulder. Then you turn to offer the same greeting to Jessica.
I want your hands on me so badly; I'm instantly jealous when they are anywhere else.
"Where have you two been?" Lauren asks.
You shrug and give her a warm smile. "Around."
She's dazzled by you, but then she turns to look at me, and her smile widens slightly. "Well," she says, reaching out to squeeze my arm slightly. "I'm glad you made it out. Beer?"
21:59
We're passing a beer between us, and every time my lips wrap around the bottle, I think about your soft mouth.
I want to spend days exploring that mouth.
Your hand lands on my thigh, and it looks casual, but your fingers burn me.
I knock a swig of the beer back, then hand you the bottle. When I do, I let my hand drift to your back. You lean into my touch, and my heart thunders in my chest.
No one notices our touches, but it's as if my whole world has caught fire.
22:21
We're both buzzed, and we walk home stumbling lightly and laughing. Lauren lives on my street, and she walks with us for a while before stumbling home herself.
She calls out a goodnight to both of us before she heads toward her house at the end of the block.
As soon as she's gone, I reach out to you.
Your skin is soft but hot under my fingers as I wrap them around your wrist. You look at me, and your eyes are dark with desire.
You lick your lips.
I don't know who moves first, but suddenly we're both falling.
Your mouth is softer than I dreamed.
Our kiss tastes like beer and cigarettes and mint gum.
They are kisses that set me on fire, and I burn.
Oh, how I burn.
22:50
Somehow, we've landed in the bushes under my window.
Your body is covering me, pressing into me … against me … on me in every sinful and delicious way.
Our hands are tangled together above our heads as our lips and tongues continue to pour fire.
It's amazing we don't catch the bushes ablaze.
23:01
Your eyes are dark, everything is dark, but in the moonlight, you look perfect.
"I've wanted this for so long; it scares me."
Your confession makes me feel brave.
"Me too," I tell you. You lean down to bite my lip, and my fingers squeeze yours.
"Can we do this without burning?"
It's a fair question, and I'm not entirely sure of the answer.
I stare up at you; you who I have loved longer and deeper than anything in my life, and I know.
"I'll burn for you."
I see your throat move, swallowing my words. Your smile sets me on fire.
"We burn together."
23:20
One time, I heard your parents talking about us.
They are matchsticks, your dad said. They'll burn each other up.
We are young and reckless enough to crave the inferno.
23:33
"How long?" You ask.
We're curled up under the stars. Despite how much we both want each other, sex under my window in the bushes sounds horrible, so we're waiting for now.
I look at you. "I think always," I say quietly.
You turn to look at me in the dark.
"Yeah," you whisper. "Always."
My heart is thundering so hard in my chest, it almost hurts.
It's overwhelming to talk about this, so instead, I kiss you again.
23:41
"Bea,"
"Ed,"
Our names are whispered prayers between our lips.
"I'm always going to love you."
"I'm always going to love you, too."
We are old enough to know we can't promise each other forever, but we do. Curled in the dirt under my window while the moon stares down at us, we do.
23:47
"I've never trusted anyone like I trust you."
The confession is out of my mouth before I can stop it. I feel you shift in my arms.
"I don't trust anyone but you."
Your words set my soul on fire, and when we kiss again, that fire rages, burning brighter, hotter, deeper than we ever could have imagined.
23:49
Maybe we aren't matchsticks after all; maybe we're just a match.
If you are not on Facebook and want the PDF, just send me a message and I'll figure out a way to email it to you. The photos really add so much to this one.
Thank you loves for reading! I hope you enjoyed!