A lot of people thought the last chapter was going to be THE chapter... Maybe you'll be a little bit happier with this one... :)
She twitched beside him in the darkness, her wrist barely brushing the cool skin of his un-gloved hand and sending a low swoop into the bottom of his stomach.
He had to hand it to her. She had been true to her word; it was as if what had happened between them in the barn hadn't even happened at all. As if he had never grabbed her roughly about the hips with the intention of making her his own, as if he hadn't stripped and attempted to make her do the same, as if the soft trembling of her lower lip as she whispered the words "What are you doing?" hadn't nearly pushed them both over the edge... As if they both hadn't been stumbling around the borders of lust and wanting...
And here they were now, lying less than a foot apart in the cool summer grass. He could hardly focus on the stars above, the allure of the midnight sky not nearly as enticing as the woman beside him- who incidentally had not arrived at his fence post in her usual manner the morning following the incident, and had yet to return with her usual small talk and lavender aroma. He wanted desperately to roll on top of her and take her as his own (or at the very least, ask her what the hell was going on between them) the townspeople surrounding them be damned... He clenched his fists roughly to his side, watching as a bead of sweat rolled down her neck and beneath the ribbon neckline of her dress.
On Lillian's other side Cam cleared his throat, the boy in question now catching his eye and sending him a knowing look. He had grilled Ash for details on what exactly had transpired between them; after having the events of the mountain had been so unceremonious skimmed over Cam had settled for no less than the grittiest retelling of he story he could muster. Somewhere above him he heard Rutger's voice sound out.
"Time to get going folks. We all have plenty of work to do tomorrow."
Lillian stretched up between the boys, her long chocolate hair swishing over her shoulder and splashing lavender against his cheeks. "That's true enough."
"Hey Ash, why don't you walk Lillian home?" He felt himself blush as Cam spoke, a hint of a smirk spreading across the other boy's cheeks.
Beside him he heard Lillian's voice waver in the dark. "That's okay... I can get along just fine..."
Cam was on his feet all too quickly, already brushing dirt off his pants. "Nonsense. The mountains get dangerous at night." Cam's smirk widened as he glared at him, making the boy in question pause for a cough covered laugh before he addressed them again. "Normally we would all walk home together, but since Lillian lives a bit out of the way... And you live so close to her. I'll walk home Georgia and Laney anyway. It only makes sense." He waved absently over his shoulder as he descended from the hill with the other villagers, leaving the two alone on the mountain.
He could barely see her in the moonlight, but could tell by her tone of voice that she was blushing. "Cam's being ridiculous, I don't know what he's on about. We could have all just walked together and it wouldn't have made any difference... You know you don't have to, right?"
He got to his feet, fixing his hat on his head. "I know I don't have to. But seeing as we're the last two up here..."
"Oh..." She had risen beside him, struggling to find her footing in the darkness. "Right."
"I don't have to walk you all the way if you don't want to."
"...Okay."
They settled into one of their polite and awkward silences that had become staples of their time together as of late. Carefully giving each other a wide birth of space as they ascended in the dark, he felt his ears beginning to burn such a brilliant shade of red it was a marvel they weren't glowing in the dark. He felt properly ashamed of himself, particularly at how he treated her in the barn... throwing her around like a bale of hay and pressing her up against walls with the intention of stripping and/or kissing her... Neither of which, incidentally, he had had the nerve to do- a fact that almost certainly made him feel worse.
"Lillian?" He had stopped walking and listened for her in the darkness.
Somewhere to his left, she sounded. "What?"
"I... I know I've said it before, but I'm really sorry." He reached out for her in the darkness, his hands grasping her gently about the elbow, trying to pull her face into the scarce amount of light the moon provided. He took it as a good sign that she didn't jerk angrily out of his grasp. "For how I behaved in the barn. I don't know what got into me, I was just so angry... But you deserve better. It won't happen again."
He felt her reach out to him, her fingers mirroring his grip on her and squeezing him gently about the bicep. "I've told you before Ash, it's fine." It was the first time she had said it that he actually believed it. "We all lose control of ourselves every once in a while. And it was kind of... exciting to see that side of you."
"Exciting?" They had resumed their walking, this time without all the extra space between them; her wrist was gently brushing against his thigh in the dark. "Exciting how?"
She hummed slightly, as if trying to find the right words. "Well... You know. You're usually so calm and level-headed. It was kind of... attractive to see you let go of your inhibitions and just do what you want."
He stopped in his tracks, the sensation in his belly giving a low and hopeful swoop at her words. "A-attractive?" He stuttered slightly as he repeated her words. He could see her take a few steps forward in the dark before she glanced back over her shoulder at him, the smirk on her face sending a rush of annoyed blood through his veins. "Oh, right." He let out a frustrated sighed as she snickered. "You're teasing."
"Oh, lighten up." She chuckled, aiming an affectionate punch in the dark and colliding with his chest rather than his shoulder. "I get hauled in a barn against my will, you get made fun of for it. I'd call that a fair trade."
He had caught her hand against his chest, trying to find her eyes as he glared down at her in the dark. "I'd hardly call it fair."
He could feel her breath against his face, her eyes no doubt searching for his in the darkness. "And why not?"
He had to forcibly bite his tongue to keep himself from uttering the words he longed to say to her; tell her the effect she had on him, the effect she had always had on him since the day she arrived in Bluebell. How their hatred and rivalry had evolved into a friendship and maybe... quite possibly... and affection for one another? He could feel his cheeks going crimson as she pulled her arm out of his grasp.
"See this? This is what I'm talking about." He was caught off guard by her annoyed tone. He could barely see her, but knew her hands had to be stationed on her hips. "Do you have any idea how refreshing it was to just fight with you the other day? It's like you spend your whole life only saying what you know people want to hear, only doing things to seek approval from your mom or your sister... Or Cam for Goddess' sake! When are you going to start taking control of your own life and act like a man?"
She had struck a nerve. "A man? Is that what you want? Some big, burly asshole who treats you like a piece of meat?"
She let out a ragged breath. "You know damn well I don't. All I'm saying is..." She seemed to struggle with herself for a moment, a long and annoyed breath leaving her before she finally spoke, her voice suddenly much more quiet in the dark. "Why didn't you kiss me, back in the barn-"
"Lillian..." He could feel himself beginning to lose control again, could feel his temper reaching a breaking point, his fingers beginning to itch for her, to feel her skin underneath his... He forced himself to keep his head, to keep from grabbing her and doing right by her, his desperation to handle the situation like adults wavering. "Lillian, let's just calm down, you need to calm down..."
"No!" She hissed at him, her hands flying up to loop into the fabric of his shirt, shaking him slightly. "No, I won't. Tell me why! "
"Lillian." He was nearly begging.
"Because you could have, you know!" Her words rang out in the stillness of the dark, bouncing off rocky walls and colliding with him in a thousand ways. "I don't get you, Ash. Any other guy... You wanted me. I knew how much you wanted me and you just..." Her voice broke. "Is it me? Am I... Do you not..."
As desperately as he had been trying to fight his words he suddenly found them dead in his throat, his arms going numb. She had loosened her grip on his shirt, her fingers working to smooth the wrinkles she had left. "I should have known, really." Her voice broke again, the crack sending a jolt of pain through his spine. "I always suspected, after flower day... You know what?" He felt his a chill run across his neck, her sudden switch in tone telling him he was in dangerous territory.
"It's fine." She said all too lightly, her fingers digging into his chest and pushing him back roughly. "Totally fine. It's like I said before: I'm not your girlfriend." Her pitch had gone up and octave, her fingers still seeking his chest every few moments to push him back angrily. "And besides, it's not like you... Or either of us for that matter... It's fine." She was beginning to scare him now; in as many ways that he had lost control before, it seemed as if she was doing so now. "You know what? You'll be fine. You have Laney, I'm sure... I mean I always suspected... And it's fine. It's fine. There's... I can always move to the other village... It's fine."
She gave him one last push before turning on her heel, her footsteps clumsy in the darkness. He was still mulling over her speech, the imprint of the heat of her fingers against his chest prompting him to speak more than anything. "So that's it, then." He heard her stop moving in the dark. "So that's that. You don't get your way once and you're already running off to another village? Making alternative plans? Is that what this is for you?" He was alarmed at how angry he sounded, his voice continuing to echo off the rocky walls surrounding them.
"What is 'this'?" She yelled back. "Would you care to enlighten me? Because ever since that day in your goddess-forsaken barn I've had no idea where I stand with you." She drew a big breath, her yelling doubling in sound when she continued. "I've had no idea where I stand with you since the day I met you, Ash! You are the most obtuse, annoying, cryptic idiot I've ever met!"
"I'm the cryptic idiot?" He had somehow gotten close to her again, the two of them standing merely a foot apart, bellowing. "I've wasted a better part of a summer trying to figure out where I stand with you, when you're not too busy slamming doors in my face or throwing flowers at me!"
She lunged at him suddenly, a snarl escaping her lips as he easily caught her. "You're an idiot." She hissed. "An idiot who isn't man enough-"
"Oh, no." He caught her other arm as it swung up to hit him, jerking her hard against his chest. "I am not the idiot here. I am not the one running from the problem. At least I'm man enough to face it."
"Is this what you call facing it?" She let out a sarcastic laugh. "Dragging a girl into your barn so you can feel her up? Confronting her in the dark?"
He felt the familiar burn of shame rise in his throat as he let go of her, trying to find her face in the darkness. "... So this is it. You're leaving... I never pegged you for a quitter."
There was a long silence, so long that he wondered if she had left him alone on the mountain. He could feel his heart beating in his ears, the drumming against his chest hard and fast in the summer heat. Then suddenly, from within the darkness:
"Maybe I am. Are you man enough to do anything about it?"
He was caught off guard by how soft her voice was. Here it was, the invitation he had been waiting for, the confirmation of what he had believe in the barn; she wanted him, maybe not as much as he wanted her, but certainly enough to let him try to stop her.
He felt for her in the darkness, his hand catching her forearm and jerking her roughly forward, the gentle curve of her body colliding with his abdomen. He felt her sharp intake of breath as he pressed a hand into the curve of her back; a man she wanted, and a man she would get.
"A-ash..." Judging by her tone she had not expected him to make an attempt, was caught of guard by his eagerness to fulfill her request; little did she know how desperately he had wanted this over the past few weeks.
"Quiet." He looped his hands through her hair, even going so far as to press a few stray locks against his face. She hadn't known, could not have known, how the scent drove him absolutely wild... His hand moved from her neck to gently trace the line of her jaw, filling in the features he knew so well within the darkness. He extended an index finger, looping over the trembling curve of her lower lip, and line he had longed to touch for so long...
"W-what are you doing?" The lips beneath his fingers spoke, the fact that she sounded both breathless and excited sending fire through his veins. How rare a treat it was, to have a gentile and submissive Lillian beneath his palms rather than her usual spitfire self... Feeling much more equipped to answer the question now that he had been before, he lowered his index finger, tilting her face up to him in the darkness.
"Doing something about it." The words had barely escaped him before he pressed his mouth to hers, the nervousness of his first kiss overtaking him slightly before he was filled with the satisfaction of the tiny squeak the woman below him omitted.
He had never kissed a woman before, yet his lips against hers felt natural; he pressed his palm into the small of her back aggressively, feeling more of her womanly curves press against the sculpted muscles of his chest. Her hands had flown up to tangle in his hair, her hips colliding with his and sending another swoop into his stomach as he felt his hat fall from his head, surely to be lost within the darkness and the overgrown grass.
He pulled back quickly for air, feeling a certain amount of pride as the woman in his arms wobbled slightly, the impact of his actions apparently leaving her in a tizzy. He smelt, rather than saw, her run a hand through her hair, her hand gripping his shoulder for balance as her voice sounded in the darkness.
"Well, that certainly was 'something.'"
Oh goodness, I do love these two. Please read and review and tell me if you loved it!