Friends

Almost. He had almost kissed her without asking her permission. Lucas was glad and at the same time, disappointed that he wasn't able to do it.

With her request, he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her to his chest.

The moment he hugged her, he felt a strange feeling welling up in his chest. What was happening? It was strange and yet familiar...

Just like him, Violet never felt so comfortable and safe in someone's arms. She even leaned her head, resting it on his chest.

Lucas became stiff when he felt her head on his chest. He was afraid that she might end up hearing how loud his heart was pounding. He knew this feeling well...

Oh shit... he was dead. Truly dead. He can't be falling for her, right?

If he had to be honest, Violet wasn't his type, and yet, here he was, attracted to her unique charms. The more he spent time with her, the more he wanted to stay by her side.

Just then, he felt the cloth on his chest part becoming wet with tears which made him blink in confusion and turn his head to her.

She pulled back a bit just so she could wipe her tears, "A-ah... why am I crying? Shit..." She continued to wipe her tears off but it continued on streaming down her cheeks.

He didn't know whether to laugh or not. She sure was weird. He cupped her cheeks with both hands and made her face him. "Did you hate my hug that much?" He asked in a joking manner.

"N-no, that's not it!" She quickly denied, stuttering. "I didn't hate it!"

"Then did you love it?" He raised an amused brow.

Her cheeks became red and seeing her embarrassed face closely made him chuckle. She sure was adorable.

"I-I-I..." She stuttered more.

"Ah, you must have loved it so much that you cried?" He teased.

"N-no, I didn't! Stop teasing me, Lucas!"

He laughed lightly, "But look, you finally stopped crying. It must only mean that it's true, right?" He grinned widely at her.

"Idiot! Of course not!" She tried to remove his hands from her cheeks but he didn't budge and instead he pinched her cheeks lightly.

"Lwucas!" She scolded, glaring furiously at him.

"I really want to kiss you right now."

Violet stopped complaining and resisting him when she heard what he said. She looked at him with eyes wide in surprise, totally taken aback by what he said. Her face automatically became red as she stared back into his eyes, being captivated by him.

He really wanted to kiss soft-looking lips. He was even further tempted to do it when he saw her pout.

"Stop joking..." She averted her eyes from him, avoiding being drowned into his wild gaze. "I-I..." She wanted to say that she was not ready but instead of saying that, she said, "Y-you may be a friend to me right now... but I hope you remember that... we can't have more than-"

Before she could even finish her sentence, her lips were shut by his, making her shock by his bold move.

He didn't give her a long kiss, he only pecked her lips but it was enough to set a storm inside her.

He let go of her cheeks and stood up, facing his back to her just to hide his blushing face from her. "I kissed you as a friend, not as your future husband so that works, right?"

"..." What kind of reasoning was that?! She looked at him in disbelief. She wanted to say something but Violet was too shocked to even say a word!

Lucas didn't know what came into him but it was not like he disliked it, in fact... He wanted to try it again but this time longer... Although that has to wait. One was enough. He could still feel the warmth of her lips against his.

He slightly turned just to give her a glance and when he saw how red her face was, he chuckled. "I think we should head off now."

She snapped out from her trance and stumbled, "Y-Yeah..." She was feeling so awkward, not knowing what to say right now. She couldn't even look at him.

He reached out his hand, offering it to her. "Let's go?"

She looked at it for a short while and was contemplating whether or not to hold his hand.

Surprisingly, she reached out her hand and placed it on his palm.

'What the hell?! Hand, why are you betraying me?' She wanted to pull her hand away but it was already too late. She couldn't pull her hand away from Lucas' strong grip.

On the other hand, a small smirk escaped his lips. He faced forward and began leading the way back to her apartment.

...

Inside Violet's room, she was lying down in the middle of the bed, hugging a pillow and was staring into the ceiling as her mind took her back to that moment earlier. Soft, warm lips... enough to make her heart go crazy.

Why did he do that?

Kissing her after meeting a few times was too soon- wait, that didn't even matter right now!

Maybe he really did kiss her in a friendly manner and she was just reading too much into it?

She groaned in frustration and buried her blushing face against the pillow. She can't even think straight after that kiss! It was giving her trouble in falling asleep. Oh, how she wished that she could just pass away right now.