You took Beth out every night this week.

Monday the two of you spent the entire night in the library. Which doesn't sound romantic but if you sit in the back, behind all the tall shelves, its dim lighted and quiet. And there was nothing more romantic then Beth snuggling up under you while she read.

Tuesday, you took her to the movies and on Wednesday you took her out to eat, and tonight- well tonight the two of you walked down to the lake and watched the sunset with ice cream.

You felt like you and Beth had a thing; books and ice cream. You liked having a thing with Beth.

"Thanks for the ice cream and taking me to the lake." She blushed, leaning against her door. "I've never seen the sunset before."

"Really?" You laughed,

"Where I'm from, we had to be in the house before the street lights were on so... no sunsets for me."

"Your parents were that strict, huh?"

"Not strict but... being outside after dark meant you were looking for trouble." she shrugs. "And my daddy always told us he didn't want to have to hurt nobody." She laughs. "But anyway, I had fun. A lot of fun," she says quietly, not taking her eyes off of you.

"Me too." You said placing his hands behind his back, you found yourself staring back at her, admiring how cute she looked in the Howard sweatshirt that she had cut to show off her stomach. But you didn't want to look too hard, so you began looking around the hall. Staring at the banners they had on the walls and the pictures...

"So..." Beth grinned, her hand resting on the doorknob.

"So..." You say with a click of your tongue.

"I guess I'll see you tomorrow."

"Yeah, tomorrow." Beth nods,

"Yup."

"Do you want me to open the door for you?"

"Um," Beth looks down and grabs her keys from her shoulder bag. "Yeah, Yeah, I am." She turns around and opens the door.

"Bye, Bet-" but she closes the door before you can finish.

/

You should have kissed her, you should have just leaned in and just... kissed her. But you were terrified. Not only would that have been you and Beth's first kiss it would be the first kiss of your life.

And how would you even start it, how would you know what to do or if she liked it?

But maybe Beth didn't want you to kiss her... of course she wanted you to kiss her! That's why she was standing there looking at you with those huge, doll like brown eyes, and that's why was putting on lip balm at the lake; IDIOT! That would have been perfect, to kiss her at the lake. Right when the sun began to set.

She's probably mad at you now, that's why she closed the door so fast. You can't believe it, you totally messed up and now she'll probably never talk to you. What if she thinks you don't like her? What if she thinks you're lame... Tony or any other guy would have kissed her way before the 6th date.

/

You go to her room the next morning to walk her to class like always, but her roommate said she already left.

/

You think she's avoiding you, but you've never been good on picking up hints. So you wait for her outside her last class of the day and smile when you see her walking out clutching her books to her chest. She looks upset,

"Hi," You say picking yourself up off the wall. She gives you a weak smile,

"Hi," She answers back, and you chuckle.

"Want me to carry your books?" She shakes her head,

"I'm fine."

"C'mon… I always carry your books."

"You don't have to."

"I want to."

"Randall, I'm fine. Honestly… can you just…" She stops, "I can walk myself back to my room."

"I wanted to take you to the lake tonight." You keep trying. "Please? I've missed you." She takes a deep breath, taking her book bag off and handing it over to you without saying a word.

/

Beth sat next to you on the bench with her legs crossed and arms folded over her chest. She wasn't speaking and hadn't said anything the entire walk there.

"I've barely seen you all week... when I got to your door your roommate told me you had already left..." You finally say, and she shrugs,

"I wanted to get breakfast, so I left a little earlier."

"But I always bring you a cinnamon roll and an orange juice. And a yogurt." You smile but she doesn't.

"Why did you ask me to come here with you, Randall?" She asks, "I get that you were just being friendly, you don't like me like that-"

"No!" You practically shout, "I like you, a lot Beth."

"Then why haven't you kissed me?" She asks, "We've been hanging out for a month and a half, we go on dates and we spend hours together every day… you've never even tried." you take a deep breath and get your words together.

"I get so many butterflies when I'm around you, Beth. Like raging, trying to get out, I'm going to throw up kind of butterflies." You breathe, "It's like I can't think straight and everything gets all jumbled in my head. And my heart? Sometimes it feels like I'm going to have a heart attack when I'm with you." you chuckle. "Like right now, my heart won't stop going 'pit pat, pit pat." She looks at you, her expression soft now.

"Why do I make you so nervous?" She asks,

"Have you seen yourself?" You reply and Beth laughs out loud. Her smile spreading across her face. "I've never gotten female attention. I was so into science and they were so into everything else.. but you? It's like you get me and I just… I don't know how to act around you." You take a moment, before turning to Beth.

"It's too obvious for me to say you're beautiful. I'm sure you already know that but..." You stand and get on your knees, right in front of Beth, so that you're face to face, eye to eye.

" 'you are a strange kind of beautiful. The type of beautiful, the type of magic that men runaway from. And run back to when it's too late.'" a small smile appears on Beth's face. Her cheeks turning a bright red. "I don't want to run from you and I don't want it to be too late for me so..." you lean in, your lips meeting softly with hers.

The kiss was so soft, you didn't want to startle her, and you wanted to give her enough time to stop you. But she doesn't, Beth leans in a little closer, allowing her lips to press harder into yours. She parts her lips then, catching yours between hers.

It's one kiss, but it's a kiss that sends you into hyper drive. Scatters every thought he's ever had. Sets your brain on fire. It's a sudden rush that you've never felt before. A kind of rush that you want to feel over and over and over again.

Beth pulls away briefly, her lips hovering over yours, inches away but barely touching. Like she's savoring this moment. Beth nuzzled her nose into yours, her breathing soft and shaky, she's sending chills through your blood stream. You can't take it and you reach over, just enough to reconnect your lips to hers. But she pulls away again, leaving you with his eyes closed and lips still puckered out. You hear her giggle as you open your eyes.

"I can't- I think my heart stopped." You grin.

"How was that?" She asks softly, and you just nod.

"Great, can we do it again?" She doesn't answer you, instead she crashes her lips into hers and you groan out loud.

You get closer to her, settling yourself between her legs and placing your hands on her hips. Your hands then work their way around Beth's body, pulling her closer to you, scooting her further up on the bench so that her legs are wrapped around you. Then you did it, the two of you kissed again; and it was glorious. Her lips were soft and plump.

She tasted of cinnamon and honey. Like everything amazing in this world.

Her heart was beating so fast and so hard- and God, did you hope that was because of you. Because your own heart was racing at the speed of light and hard enough that she could probably hear it. But you both ignored the feeling of your beating hearts because your tongues had made their way into each other's mouths and were slow dancing.

Beth slide her hands up your chest and pushes gently, "Randall," she says softly, her voice breathy and light. She pronounces every letter, every syllable. Your name had never sounded so good, never sounded so sweet. She says it again, "Randall" and your heart flutters. You weren't sure if she was trying to get your attention or trying to kill you, but you just wanted the kiss to keep going. So you didn't stop, you deepened the kiss, drawing a moan from her throat. Her hands make their way up and her fingertips play with the skin on your neck, giving you goose bumps.

She was warm and delicate. She melted into your arms, giving herself over to you completely and you loved it. You loved the feeling of her skin, the feeling of her lips, the feeling of her.

You had a million thoughts going through your mind and you couldn't stop them. but they all lead back to one person: Beth. You wanted more than just her kisses, you wanted more than her body. You wanted her heart and everything that came along with it. The two of you finally pull apart, giving each other shy looks.

"My queen," you say, kissing her cheek a few times. This makes her blush and you grin, "You are my queen, right?" He asks, and she nods,

"I'm yours." You get up and sit on the bench next to hers.

"I've been wanting to do that for a month."

"I've been wanting you to do that for a month." You chuckle nervously,

"Sorry."

"Don't be," She smiles, "It was worth the wait."