A Step Closer to Love

The ice melted on her tongue before she decided to read time to get into the room and call it a night. She glanced at the clock. It was just a few seconds past midnight and she felt the urge to go to bed.

“Let’s go to bed” she announced like a judge giving a verdict.

“Together?” he asked with a slyish smile dancing on his lips.

“Yeah,” she trailed off when her mind finally comprehended what he was trying to say.

“Not together but together,” she said. She played back her words in her mind and discovered how stupid she sounded.

“What I mean is let’s leave this place together and go to bed separately in our beds” she clarified. Her voice was quick and sharp as if she was begging for relief from any form of torment.

“Stop looking at me like that” she murmured her head down. She wondered how he had quickly turned the table so fast when she had been the one with the most power over him just a few seconds ago.

“Like how?” he wanted to feign ignorance. He watched her eyes go up in surprise as she tried to avoid his gaze. His hands tilted her head back so she could look at him. “I want to see your face, why is that an offence?” he added.

She gulped with eyes going open and shut multiple times it was hard for him to keep up. She stood up abruptly and pushed the stool that was beneath her back, it made a screeching sound on the tiles.

“I better go in now,” she said nervously as her eyes darted everywhere aside from his body that was now fully in her view.Content property of NôvelDra/ma.Org.

“Wait for me” he said catching her by the arm to stop her from sprinting.

“Why?” she blurted.

“I need to clean up and I want to walk you to your room”

“You don’t have to”

“I don’t have to do what?” he asked tilting his head a bit. He saw her flustered face and wondered why she felt so flustered all of a sudden. He found the interaction and the expression on her face cute and wanted it to last a bit more.

“Clean up or walk you to your room?” he asked when she did not say anything.

“Both” she let out with a hiccup.

“Both?” he asked his grip tightening a bit on her hand as if he was afraid she would slip away.

“It’s late and I have to get to bed or I may be late tomorrow”

“Why don’t we stay together all night so I can wake you early?” he suggested.

She gulped as she took faltered steps a bit back. “No,” she said.

“You don’t want to?”

“It’s not that I don’t want to”

“Then what?”

“It’s too early”

“Too early for what?” his hands slipped from hers and he crossed his hands over his chest. “I just wanted us to sleep in the same bed nothing more. It seems you have other thoughts”

“What do you mean by other thoughts?” her voice went up in annoyance that she had been wrong about his advances. She hurried up the stairs and Kieran wondered if she had been a runner because she was so fast and out of sight so soon.

Kieran cleaned up the table and washed out what he had used. As much as he thought Arabella was cute for her reaction he did not want to weird her out. He ignored the urge within him to see her face one more time and went to bed instead.

By the time he was up in the morning, he was sure she was still asleep because he had passed by her room and the entire place was silent and dark.

He went on to make breakfast before going to wake her up. He knocked on the door and waited for her. He heard a stumble through the room before the door flew open.

For some reason Arabella was surprised. She expected it to be him but was shocked that he was actually standing there. “Good morning,” she said before he could say anything.

“Good morning, aren’t you going to come down for breakfast?” he asked and she nodded.

“I would be down in a jiffy” she said swinging the door in her hand.

“Okay,” he said backing up into the hallway. He stopped midway and charged towards her.

“What is…” her statement was not completed because she felt his lips on her mouth. She felt herself kissing back. She pulled away and dropped her face to her hands.

“Why?” he asked trying to pry her hands away from her face. He was stronger than her but it was obvious that her will to keep her hands glued to her face was stronger than his strength.

“I’m shy, I haven’t washed up yet,” she said. It was as if the kiss opened up a portal that made her feel self conscious all of a sudden.

“But I have already seen it all” Kieran said still trying to pry her hands away.

“Can you step back slowly and I will be with you soon?” she asked.

He nodded and walked backwards till he turned and left. She only took her hands away from her face to confirm that he had left. She hurriedly cleaned up.

She wanted to look good so she put on a little make-up to the best of her ability. She took a double look at herself in the mirror before heading out. As she was about to get to the door her phone rang and it was a video call from her sister.

“Couldn’t she have chosen a better time to call?” Arabella grumbled. She knew that taking the call meant she had to miss breakfast with Kieran.

“Hello,” Arabella rolled her eyes.

“Did I just see an eye roll? Not even a sense of admiration and bewilderment for me being your sister” Seraphina said in a sarcastic tone.

“Are you just getting in from work?” Arabella asked ignoring her statement.

“Yeah”

“How was work?”

“The same old” Seraphina groaned.

“How many more days till the launch?”

“Ten and I can rest”

“Before you begin a new project” Arabella reminded her.

“Did you have to remind me?” she groaned rubbing her free hand across her face.

“What brings you to call me at this time? I am on my way to work” Arabella wanted to cut short the discussion as much as she could.

“You never told me how it went with Kieran”