14. On Deck
"Larc, what did you mean back in the restaurant?" Vanessa asked. They were sitting by the pool they kept saying they'd swim in. "What, the Angels in America thing? That was to make you jealous. Of course, I haven't seen The Alamo, but..." "No! That... that other thing!" "Oh, nothing. Just that it's, well, nothing." Larc looked at Patrick who willed her with his eyes to leave. "I got to be getting back to our room. Better practice for tomorrow. You two practice too." Larc ran off.
"She's crazy!" Vanessa said dipping her feet into the water. "Yeah." Patrick agreed. "What do you want to practice?" Vanessa asked looking at his face that was turned away from her. "Well, we know our lines, let's practice the action." He helped her to stand. "Uh, Patrick, can we uh, practice the… kiss?" Vanessa asked avoiding eye contact. "Uh, sure." Patrick looked into her eyes. He held out his hand and walked a little with her. She looked down. He turned to her face and took her other hand. "Ready?" He asked. "Yes." Vanessa replied. He pulled her into him slightly to separate the gap. She felt nervous and excited at the same time. He pushed his lips into hers and the space between their faces closed. She felt a warm surge rush through her. She stepped closer to him and felt the kiss deepen. They broke for air, and then went back. This time the kiss filled Vanessa with joy. He kissed her kindly and not furiously like Asher had. She could feel him smile. She smiled too and in doing that accidentally opened her mouth. He broke the kiss knowing that what had happened was accidental. "Wow. Emmy and I did it like a hundred times and it was never that good." ((Skye: "EWWW! Although I've always laughed at kissing scenes because if I was a director, I'd just do the scene over and over to torture them!")) Vanessa was a little disappointed knowing that he only kissed her because the script called for it. He noticed this and squeezed her hand. "Vanessa, the second kiss wasn't for practice." Vanessa's mouth gaped open. "Really?" He nodded. She smiled then leaned in for him to kiss her. He took this as a sign and went for it. They sat down so their legs wouldn't tire ((Skye: "Ah yes, the ever-thinking mind of Veronica, having them sit so their legs wouldn't tire...")), but they didn't separate. She had hoped that this would happen, but she never thought it would. But here she was, kissing him. She felt his tongue brush slightly on her lips; she took this and opened them. She felt his tongue in her mouth and remembered the first time she and Asher had done this. She recalled that he was a horrid kisser, but Patrick… He was perfect. He broke the kiss, "Vanessa, I need to know that you feel the same way for me as I do you." He looked at her seriously. "Patrick I…"