First And Forever (under reconstruction) (Wattys2018)

Chapter 9: In The Stairwell (edited)

He kisses me lovingly, his lips soft as silk against my own rough ones as his arms wrap tightly around my waist. The kiss is electric, sizzling wires from the crown of my head all the way down to my toes. He pulls back minutely, his blue eyes soft as they stare deep into my own eyes, "I love-" Yes say it please!

"Clair!"

Henry's annoyed voice breaks into the backdrop of my amazing daydream. Dammit Henry! "Mmm?" I mumble, looking at Henry under my hair as I try to hide the blush still staining my cheeks. He smacks his forehead, "Are you even paying attention?! I've been trying to get your attention for the past 10 minutes!" I shake my head,

"Henry, I never pay attention, I'm too hyper. I can barely stay still for a short period of time, what makes you think I pay attention often? Plus, I'm ADHD, I have the executive function of a 7 year old and the energy level of a 3 year old."

Henry's about to retort, when our teacher's voice rings out across the room, "Andrew, you're grounded! You may not leave the classroom at all today! You can only sit in your seat and think of what you've done!" I look at Henry with pursed lips, "We lost Andrew, we're a man down. Henry, what are we going to do?" my voice is slightly dripping with sarcasm, we'll live one day without Andrew. Henry opens his mouth to reply, when our teacher speaks again, "Actually Henry, I need you to  finish notes to turn in for a group grade. You can't leave the classroom today either." Henry closes his mouth, looks at me and says,

"Looks like it's just you and Liam who will be out filming today. Try to get as much done as possible, ok?" Oh my god, how will I survive? I'm going to mess up! I'm going to end up breaking something and Liam will hate me! Everyone will hate me! Please don't let me mess up. Deep breath and repress. I walk towards the stairwell, cradling the camera within a gentle grasp. Liam walks after me, juggling the tripod and both of our notebooks. "Are you sure you don't want me to carry anything, Liam? I mean, I've only got the camera" I ask curiously.

Liam replies distractedly, "It's fine Clair, I've got it, thanks though. Besides, you've got the gentler touch between the two of us. A gentler touch is definitely needed when handling an expensive camera." There's a tension between us, a tension there's never been before. It isn't a bad tension, just strange. Almost as if the air around us is electric, charged with the unknown. We enter the stairwell silently, the door closing behind us with a soft click. Deep breath and repress.  We take our positions, Liam at the camera, me propped up against the wall.

I sing proudly, belting out the lyrics in an alto tone, trying my best to match the original artist. I'm looking at the camera, my hair off my face and my voice on tempo. We finish the scene, I let out a breath of relief. I heave myself ungracefully to my feet, lumbering over the Liam. I flop down beside him, accidentally smacking him in the face with my thick hair. "Oh god, sorry Liam." He chuckles, "It's ok, it's just hair, plus it smells nice. Kinda like brass. Now let's review the footage so we can finish this fucking project."

He likes the smell of my hair! Ok. Deep breath and repress. I scoot closer to Liam to see the small screen, our shoulders and legs touching. With our position, my cheek is practically resting on his shoulder, I'm hyper aware of all of his movements. His knee presses against mine a little harder, almost as if it's a voluntary thing. Looking at the camera screen, I try to ignore the faint feeling of his knee against mine, and the feeling of the back of his shoulders accidentally brushing my small breasts. I scoot closer for a better look, before we both huff in annoyance when footage of a piano concert appears instead of the footage we just shot.

We both lean forward at the same time, accidentally bumping cheeks as we both try to read the tiny buttons on the camera. I blush, leaning back to give Liam room. To my surprise, his cheeks tinge with a slight rose, he looks as if us bumping cheeks flusters him. He looks up, and our eyes lock.

Icy blue meets warm sea green, time stops and the air heats up.

Liam bites his lip, swallowing discreetly. Gravity isn't holding me on the ground anymore, Liam is. I sound like a naivee teenage girl in love, but with Liam, there's something different, something deeper. The tension between us is a charged electric pull now, pulling us closer to each other. Liam's knee presses harder against mine as our eyes stay locked. Slowly, he starts to lean towards me inch my inch, our eyes locked the whole time. *Brrinnngggggggg!* Shocking both of us out of our weird trance, the bell rings loud and shrill.

Acting on my flight instinct, I leap to my feet with a small almost silent squeal as people start flooding into the stairwell in torrents. Oddly, I notice a hint of disappointment in Liam's eyes as he watches me jump to my feet. The mob keeps moving, and some random kid stops, studying the two of us. "Hey, are you guys related?"

Both my eyes and Liam's widen. "Uhh... no, we're not related, we're just friends." Again with the disappointment in Liam's eyes, is he ok?? The kid blushes, "Sorry, you guys just look like you could be brother and sister." Liam and I look at each other, before we burst out laughing as the kid departs.

Us? Related? Ew! Given that I have a crush on him, that's awkward as hell!

haha, looks like Liam got a little flustered ;) and they got asked if they were SIBLINGS?! WHAT IS THIS LIFE?! haha apologies, I'm crazy. Looks like there will be some changes for Clair and Liam on the horizon ;)

Vote, Comment, Share, ANGEL OUT