Brianna Acero and the Second One's Return

49. What a glass of water can do to you

I had finally started to doze off, only to jolt awake at the sound of a large bang coming from the kitchen. I rub my eyes and check the clock on my nightstand. 3:17 am. Ugh. I strain my hearing, listening. I hear some muttered curses, so I throw off my covers and head into the living room to investigate. The sight that greets me when I turn on the light is one I don't think I will ever forget. Even though I will try to. Really really hard.

 Kalen is standing in the middle of the room, looking blinded by the sudden flood of light, eyes squinting. His hair is a ruffled mess, sticking up in every direction, and there is a chair turned over on the floor. He must have walked into it in the darkness and caused it to fall, which explains the noise I heard before. But all that registers later in my mind, because the first thing I see is Kalen, wearing nothing but his boxers, looking equally as scandalized as I felt.

"I'm so sorry!" I whisper yell, turning around to give him some privacy.

"I...I heard the bang and wanted t-to make sure everything was... okay," I stammer. My face probably looks like a stoplight right now, because the heat that is reaching my cheeks isn't normal.

"Oh, sorry, I just knocked over the chair while I was walking to the kitchen. I wanted to get some water."

He also sounds a bit flustered, so it makes me feel a little better about the whole situation. I turn back around, only slightly, and peek over my shoulder. He has draped the blanket that was laying on the back of the couch over his shoulders, effectively covering himself from view. I feel like I can finally breathe.

"Well, now that I'm up I guess I'll get some water too."

He observes me, gaze more awake than a minute ago. He shrugs and heads to the little kitchen, filling a glass of water for himself and then getting one for me. I thank him, and we both stand there, sipping our water in silence. It feels... awkward, but I don't want things between us to be weird, so I finish my water and ready myself to confront him about earlier.

"Listen."

"Hey Bri, I..."

We laugh, and some of the tension seems to disappear. 

"You first," I say and lean on the counter as I wait for him to speak.

"About earlier," he starts, running his hand through his hair. "I don't want you to think that... well I didn't mean to take advantage of you in any way, and I..."

He can't seem to finish the sentence, cheeks turning a light shade of pink. So, he can blush! He is human after all! I quickly intervene before he continues, not wanting to make him feel worse than he already does.

"Don't worry about it," I say, giving him a reassuring smile. "I know that it was probably just because you were upset. You needed someone to be there for you, and you just didn't know what you were feeling, that's all."

Kalen frowns.

"What?"

I shrug, putting my glass on the counter.

"What I mean is that your emotions got the better of you. You didn't know how to deal with the stress, which resulted in you... well... you know." I play with my hair, avoiding his gaze for a second before I turn back to him.

Kalen processes my words before putting his own glass on the counter. He clenches his jaw, battling with himself internally before he speaks.

"But I did know what I was feeling," He says, tilting his head. His smile is gone, replaced by a serious expression. He takes a step closer to me, and I realize too late that I can't back away, the counter blocking my only escape.

"I've known what I was feeling for a while know," he murmurs, hesitant, eyes turning dark. My heart gives a weak thump of approval before it starts to speed up, like a bird frantically flapping its wings as it tries to escape its cage.

"But I...."

He grabs my arm and pulls me closer, so that our noses are only inches apart. I can see the inner turmoil shining in his eyes, but it doesn't stop him from saying what comes next.

"And I'm tired of pushing those feelings away."

My mind is racing, and I'm scared Kalen can hear how fast my heart is beating. He may be ready to accept his feelings, but am I? What if this goes wrong? What if it ruins our friendship? There are too many unknowns. And yet I find that, in this moment, I can't bring myself to care. 

I lick my lips nervously. Kalen zeroes in on the movement, and he sucks in a breath.

"You have to stop doing that," he whispers, somehow, impossibly, getting even closer.

"Doing what?" I whisper back, scared to break the spell that darkness has cast upon us.

"Doing things that make me want to kiss you."

This time, I don't pull away. His lips are soft against my own, and he brings his hand up to cradle the back of my head. It's nothing like they describe in books or movies. I don't see fireworks or feel a sudden rush of happiness, I don't feel like I can breathe for the first time in years or that this is what I have been searching for my entire life. In reality my brain short-circuits for a second, and then the situation hits me like a bag of bricks. It's nothing like in the movies sure, but that doesn't mean it isn't nice, and at  that moment the President could walk through our very door and I wouldn't care. I feel every emotion that he tries to convey through his lips: Happiness, relief, excitement.

He kisses me  softly,  like he's scared that I will disappear under his touch. Eventually we break apart, each of us gasping for breath. He looks at me, with those beautiful eyes of his, and when he smiles it's like the room gets ten times brighter.

"Wow," I say, voice cracking.

That makes him smile even more.

"Now what?" I ask, suddenly feeling insecure of myself.

"Now?" He repeats, cocking his head to the side, a devilish smile lifting the corners of His mouth.

"Now I want to do that again."

Before I have time to react, he crashes his lips against mine, this time with none of the previous care or tenderness. This kiss feels like all the pent-up emotions we have been bottling up for months. Desperation, impatience, frustration. He kisses me with a passion that makes the room spin, and I kiss back with just as much fervor. At some point I end up sitting on the counter, legs hooked loosely around his hips, and he loses the blanket that was draped around his body. I run my hands over his shoulders, his arms, feeling every muscle as it tenses and relaxes under my touch. I could have stayed there all night, kissing him and tracing patterns into his skin, but the moment is cut short by someone clearing their throat behind us.

We spring apart so fast that I nearly fall off the counter. Kalen reaches out as if to steady me, but I manage to hop off, avoiding a nasty introduction between my face and the floor. I turn around, still dizzy from the lack of air, and find Asher standing in the hallway, a cheeky smile plastered on his face. Kalen groans.

"Really man!"

Ash brings his hands up in mock surrender, laughing at Kalen's look of utter hate that he is sending his way.

"Sorry! You were taking a while coming back, just wanted to make sure no one came in and kidnapped you while we weren't looking."

"Well, I'm going to umm... go to bed now so... Yeah," I stammer, hiding my face behind my hair, hoping it will camouflage itself with the color. This makes Asher laugh even more, and I shoot one final glance at Kalen, who gives me a small smile before I rush back into the safety of my room.

I can still hear Kalen and Asher talking in the kitchen, one of them clearly more animated than the other, but I want to forget everything about the past fifteen seconds, so I throw a pillow over my head to try and hide from the world. Well... maybe I don't want to forget everything.

Mara is still sound asleep, but now I feel like it will take me hours to get my mind to calm down enough to even fathom the thought of rest. I sigh.

This is going to be a long night.