Prompt: Taylor Swift - Cornelia Street lyrics
"We were in the back seat drunk on something stronger than the drinks at the bar."
Set after Countdown, the team go out to celebrate.
No Josh. Because, during the writing of this little tale, I forgot that he existed.
She sat with her legs crossed at the knee, angled toward him in a subconscious attempt to be as close as possible. Too heavy to hold up, she leant her head back against the headrest, watching him in silence.
His eyes were trained out the window, purposefully. It was like some unspoken rule he had set himself for the night; not to let her catch him staring.
She had been able to feel his eyes on her, an almost constant sensation that had the hairs on the back of her neck tingling and alert, but whenever she looked over to him, he would shift his focus to something else, anything else.
She hated that.
But she knew what it was. He needed to know that she was okay.
She slowly crept her hand along the leather of the seat between them. Too much distance, even with her body angled in and his palm pressed firmly to the seat by his thigh.
She traced her fingertips along his knuckles, pulling his attention from the blur of buildings passing by the window.
He looked at their hands, uncertainty creasing his brow, but didn't pull away. That made her brave. She wrapped her hand around his, tucking her fingers into his palm and he instantly squeezed gently, a smile tugging on the corners of his mouth.
He looked up, met her eyes for the first time in hours, and her heart began to race.
"We almost died today," he said softly. A realisation of sorts.
The gravity of this day settled over them. Yes, they had almost died. But right now, she had never felt more alive. The thundering ba-boom of her racing heart - in her chest, her throat, her ears - was a reminder of that.
He leant across, bringing his free hand up to her face.
"And all I've been able to think about since, is doing this."
In a haze, the whole world faded away and it was just the two of them. He brushed a tendril of hair back off her face, leaning in closer until their lips met.
She deepened the kiss, melting into him, hands roaming up his body, his chest, his neck until her fingertips could rake through his hair.
It was dizzying; the way he kissed her, the way he touched her. Euphoric; the way this seemed so right.
The broke apart, only when their need for air became too much. But they stayed touching, foreheads pressed together, breathing each other in.
"Castle," she panted, voice husky and lustful. "Take me home."