"Paul! What are we going to do?" I hissed as we pushed through the crowds. His hand a firm grip over my wrist and he was pulling me behind him as we weaved and dodged through the crowd. Behind us I could hear the aging security guard bark out a "Hey! Stop!" as he tried to catch up to us. If we didn't do something quickly he would catch up to us, because for some reason that man was running as if he was competing for an Olympic gold medal.

I heard Paul mutter and before I could blink he had dragged me into a tiny side alley between a tattoo parlor and a bar. It was so small that we could barely fit inside and it stunk of rotting food and garbage.

It was such a tight fit that we had to push ourselves together until our chests were pressed tight against each other. I was breathing heavily, trying vainly to silence my harsh breaths and Paul was taking some deep breaths, but his were not as labored as mine. Right then and there I decided that if I was going to continue this friendship I needed to get a gym membership and start training. Immediately.

He mimed to me to be quiet and I nodded, smiling. We both turned to face the mouth of the alley and soundlessly watched as the security guard raced right past our hiding spot, his face splotched with a lovely shade of tomato red that emphasized his scowl.

After a few minutes we realized that we were still clinging to the other and we stepped slightly back from each other. Paul's breathing had evened out, but I was still winding down from our impromptu sprint.

"So, what did you do this time?" I asked, my voice still a little wheezy.

"Have you ever thought that maybe I'm innocent in all of this?"

"You? Innocent?" My lips quirked in amusement. "I highly doubt that. Now, what did you do?"

He tilted his face back and huffed, causing a piece of tuft from his bangs to flick upwards. I giggled but then straightened my face back into the proper "I-Demand-To-Know-Everything" face. His eyes dropped to mine and he sheepishly grinned.

"I might have been flirting with his niece."

Before I could stop myself a laugh slipped from my throat. "How do you know that it was his niece?"

Another huff. "He told me to leave his niece alone, and I might have made a smart ass remark."

"And then what?" I questioned, smiling brightly. Even though I was still annoyed that he dragged me into this, I was still feeling giddy with adrenaline so I was going to ride this high until it dropped.

"He told me to get off the boardwalk, I responded in a 'hostile manner' and then he started to chase me," Paul grumbled, shifting from one leg to the other.

I tried to hide my giggles, but eventually they were cascading from my mouth as I leaned forwards and supported myself with his body. He joined in soon afterwards with his trademark deep chuckles and he wrapped his arms around my waist. We continued delighting in our victory for about five minutes before our laughter faded away, leaving us standing in the small alley with me wrapped up in his arms.

"We should be able to leave now, I think he's gone," I whispered.

"We could."

The sudden silence settled over us like a heavy blanket, making everything fuzzy and slightly warmer than it was before. I looked up to see into his eyes, but I caught him glancing down at my lips. My cheeks flooded with heat and I saw his eyes light up like twinkling Christmas lights.

"Or... we could do this."

He dropped his head and when his lips were a hairsbreadth away from touching mine he paused. I nodded and he closed the distance in milliseconds, releasing a groan when our mouths finally met. My breath hitched and I let my body fall the rest of the way, letting it catch itself with his, sinking further into his embrace.

Even though it was probably only a few seconds, it felt like an eternity before we both drew back to take in some air.

"You know, Paul, I think you have finally had a good idea," I said, licking my lips to get a taste of him that seemed to be lingering on my lips.

"Oh really?" He grinned wickedly, shifting his arms to bring me as close as he could.

"Yeah. I might even buy you a cake to celebrate."

He snorted and pulled me in for another kiss.


Hey! Are you guys just as surprised as I am that I managed to get some more story parts published without waiting for a whole year? lol

Anyways, I was inspired to write this so I threw it together and did some editing. I hope you guys enjoy this new bit as much as I enjoyed writing it.

-Twi


Inspired by a post on Pinterest, which I think can be found on Tumblr by user Sungfs. FF will not allow me to share the link, but if you are curious I will send it to you via messenger.