Hi there! Sorry again for the late update especially since it's on the short side. For some reason, I thought I'd have time to write when I went to visit my in-laws for Thanksgiving. In retrospect, I have no idea why I thought I'd have the time considering that any free time I managed to squeeze in was spent playing the Million People of Corda game because they were running one of their particularly difficult events (get half the time to do double the work (x . x)).
Thank you again so much to those who sent in reviews! They really do help keep me on track (even if it doesn't seem like it sometimes f(^^; ) )!
Releasing a breath he hadn't realized he had been holding, he reached up to cup her hand in his own. For a minute, he just savored the feel of it. The softness of her skin, the shape of her fingers, the calluses that had built up over the years of violin playing, the newer nicks from cutting herself while cooking or doing other things required of motherhood—he explored and revered them with his fingers, then, again slowly with his lips. Squeezing his eyes shut to keep himself from backing down, he dropped feather-light kisses against the pads of the fingers that played the music that had brought them together all those years ago. Her breath caught as he boldly pressed his mouth to her wrist, tasting her pulse as it fluttered and leapt. When her breath shuddered out, he opened his eyes and gazed deeply into hers.
She smiled softly as his eyes searched hers to gauge her response. With a pretty flush, she hesitantly stepped toward him and laid her head gently against his chest, blushing even more deeply when she felt his heartbeat against her hand. His heart pounded wildly in a frenzied, erratic rhythm she felt mimicked in her own body. She let out a small sigh of relief. It was nice to know she wasn't the only one who felt like this. As she bravely snuggled in a little closer, she felt him tense up slightly. She bit her lip. Maybe that was too bold. Just as she was about to pull back, his hand moved up to come to rest tentatively on her upper arm. If possible, her heart began to pound even harder. A shiver of anticipation ran down her spine. What would happen now?
He gulped nervously as he slowly rubbed his hand up and down her upper arm in what he hoped was a soothing rhythm. He couldn't help but feel somewhat paralyzed. Even if having her in his arms like this was what he had wanted for years, the whole thing felt more than a little surreal. As he gazed down at the top of her head, he felt her grip his shirt slightly. His lips quirked up a little and he felt himself calm down a bit. They could both feel it: the line between friendship and more looming ominously before them. Hesitantly, he took her hand again and gave it a squeeze. Even with so many years of pent-up mistakenly one-sided feelings within them, crossing that line was daunting. And once crossed, things could never go back to the way they had been.
After what felt like an eternity of indecision, she looked up, and their eyes locked. Then, ever so slowly, he bent his head toward hers until their trembling lips tentatively touched. The fluttering kiss was shy and innocent, as a first kiss should be. They both quickly pulled back and looked at one another cautiously, gauging one another for any sign of displeasure. When they found none, their lips came together again, just as light, but a little less uncertain now. She moved a little closer. He pressed in a little more. Eyes fluttered open then shut. Fingers intertwined. Bodies relaxed as confidence kicked in.
For a minute, they just held it there, shimmering in the darkness, before he began to move. The kiss was soft and dreamy as he gently cocooned her in his embrace, her arms rising instinctively to wrap around his neck. Her lips quietly parted for him as he sunk his mouth deeper onto hers. He pulled her a little more firmly against him and poured himself into her. How long had he wanted this? How long had he waited for this? He cupped her jaw to change the angle of the kiss. And now he finally had her.
"Had it ever been like this?" she wondered as she steadily lost herself to the sensations of his mouth. It was as if she had only imagined that she had been kissed before, and here and now in his arms, she was experiencing reality. She opened herself a little more to him, reveling in the sweet, gentle caress of his lips. She never realized how much emotion a kiss could convey. She snuggled even closer to him, their bodies fitting together like pieces of a complicated jigsaw puzzle. She wanted to feel more of his warmth, taste more of his affection.
He jerked back when she moaned. "Whoa boy," he panted, "easy there. Don't get carried away." For a minute, they just stood there: forehead to forehead, heart to heart, breathing heavy and erratic. He tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear and let his fingers linger on her face for a minute.
"I should go," he finally whispered.
Nodding silently, she reluctantly unwound herself from his arms and went to fetch his coat. Once he was in it, they held each other again for a good fifteen minutes—just cherishing the moment and reflecting on the journey they'd taken to get to this point—before he finally kissed her tenderly on the forehead. It was time to go.
"Good night, Kaho-chan. Sweet dreams."
Her luminous eyes held his as she hesitantly answered back, "Good night…Kazuki-senpai."
His smile outshone a thousand suns. "Kaho-chan…." Before she could begin to feel self-conscious, he quickly pulled her in for a light, sweet, but lingering kiss. She'd finally called him by his name. This was truly an unexpected gift. He knew just how hard this sort of thing was for her.
She was floating on cloud nine even after he pulled back.
"Good night," he breathed over her lips, sending a tingling sensation over them.
"Good night," she murmured hazily.
As soon as the door closed, she leaned back against it and beamed so hard she could feel her cheeks hurt. After being friends for over a decade, they had finally, finally kissed! She hugged herself with a giddy, girlish giggle. And wow, had it been amazing! Better than she could have ever imagined. She wanted to laugh, shout, dance, and sing all at the same time. She never knew it was truly possible to be this happy. Suddenly, quiet, rapid knocks sounded on the door, replacing her euphoria with alarm. Yanking it open, she found Kazuki panting on her step.
"I…forgot…something…."
She stared at him in confusion. What had he left that could be so important? They saw each other at least once a week.
Peering up at her as he leaned over his knees, he gasped, "Will you…be…my girlfriend?"
If it wouldn't have possibly disturbed the neighbors, she would have laughed. Yanking him up by his jacket, she beamed up at him affectionately. "Of course, you doofus."
All smiles, he leaned down and kissed her soundly. "Good," he winked, "just wanted to make it completely official."
Shaking her head with a quiet laugh, she turned him around and gave him a gentle nudge toward the stairs. "Get on home now. It's past my bedtime."
With a large, impish grin, he saluted and headed back down the seven flights of stairs he had just run up. Once he was out of the parking lot and out on the sidewalk, he just stood there for a while to let the wave of happiness wash over him and settle. His girlfriend. Kaho-chan was his girlfriend. With a loud, uninhibited crow of joy and triumph, he headed off toward home. Right now, life couldn't get any better.
Yay filler chapter. I promise the next chapter will be long again. But oh my goodness, even something this short took forever. Mostly because I felt like this thing had to have some decent length to it in order to qualify it as a chapter and not just as something I cut off the end of the previous one. And that's fine if you're used to writing stuff like this, but I'm not, so it was like pulling teeth. I hope it isn't too terrible. =/
We're ending on a happy note again! Yay! It's about time they caught a break. But we're not quite done yet. Remember what Kazuki showed Yuji back in Chapter 5? (^_~)*