Chapter 62

The sun was coming up, I liked how golden it looked, how quiet it was and how nice it felt to be walking that close to him. Apart from the occasional person walking by, there was no one else around, perhaps because it was a weekend and that specific neighborhood was mostly inhabited by teenagers and students attending the nearby college. They tended to sleep in during days like those. 

" Have you had breakfast yet?" Austin asked when we got to the little mini supermarket located not that far from the clinic. He was still accompanying me to the store, but he had said he wouldn't be staying long because he had to go and get his bike from my neighbourhood, just in case anyone got any ideas. And I agreed with that, it wasn't wise to just leave such an expensive looking motorcycle out there for anyone to take. Without waiting for me to respond, he pulled me along with him, then he stopped once we got inside and looked around. 

" Muffins sound good?" 

He looked at me. I nodded, but in my head I was really wondering how he could just be so casual after what he had told me. Had it been a joke? Some sort of twisted tease? 

We walked over to the shelf and he grabbed a nicely sealed pack of muffins, there were four of them and they looked pretty fresh. He led us to another shelf after that and asked me to pick two bottles of apple juice.

 I think it was something about the chilly weather that made his skin appear slightly pale, but I actually liked it. The pink of his lips seemed deeper, more alluring. And I wanted to reach out and cup his cheek for no reason other than the fact that I felt like it. So I did. 

He stopped and looked at me, then he smiled and proceeded to head over to the cashier. Once we were walking to the store I finally asked. He had been waiting for me to do so. 

" What did you mean? "

There was no need for me to expound, he'd know what I was referring to. And I liked that he didn't play dumb, instead he reached over with his free hand, offering it to me. Letting me make the choice as to whether or not I wanted to hold onto it. It was a big step, I stared at it, then up at him before I held it in mine while telling myself it wasn't that big a deal. But it was, the worst part about holding hands with him was that I didn't feel like I had it in me to let go. He locked our fingers together firmly. We had held hands before, multiple times, but it felt different when we did it right after I had literally kissed him. 

In broad daylight, in a room that wasn't dark. Where I was able to see his reaction and memorize the look of satisfaction he had worn. I really liked holding his hand. 

 I gripped the bag holding our breakfast tighter, and not long afterwards he did the same with our hands. And we walked in silence, our fingers intertwined and my soul still hungry for something more. It knew I was capable of offering it something deeper, and it was intent on pestering me until I did. 

" You were sick, that time you came down with a fever. My mom asked me to bring you some vegetable soup...."

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AUSTIN'S POV

Checking whether the door is locked is Kyle's thing, not mine. But I couldn't help but turn around and confirm it at least twice. I looked down at the bowl of soup cradled safely in my hands, offering them warmth. Then I looked at the bed where Kyle was peacefully sleeping. My mom should have carried him over to my room instead, I had been about to ask her to do that but I stopped myself. She was starting to look at me all funny whenever I was with Kyle. I didn't really care, but I didn't know how she would feel about such things so it was better to play it safe. I slowly walked over to the bed, then I placed the soup on the bedside table and simply looked at him. He had been sneezing for the last two days, but today he had looked much worse. He braved on and attended all the lessons either way, he even sat for a test, but by the end of the day he had been too exhausted to pretend anymore. So he had told me he didn't feel so good and I had told my mom. She said he had a fever, I reached out and lightly touched his forehead with the back of my hand, then I withdrew before he woke up. He really was burning up. 

I didn't want to wake him, he needed to rest, but then I looked at the bowl and knew I had to do so eventually. 

But first I admired him. I let my eyes trail over every detail of his features, feeling as if I had never seen him that up close but knowing it was because he was calm. Most of the times when I stared at him he either looked away or asked me to cut it out. But this time he was going to let me do so because he didn't have a say in the matter. 

I turned to the door once more. 

My mom was wearing heels, I'd hear her footsteps if she was approaching. There was no reason for me to worry. 

But why would I be worried in the first place?

I leaned down, missing the vibrant turquoise of his eyes, but liking how prettier he looked with his eyes closed, because to me Kyle was pretty. Like the China set my mom wouldn't let me go near because she feared I would break it. He was just as pretty as the daisy our teacher had drawn in art class the previous day. And when I watched him sleep I felt the same way I always felt when I listened to my mom playing the piano on Sunday mornings. I'd always want to keep listening to her the same way I wanted to keep watching him. 

" Kyle?" 

He didn't respond. He couldn't hear me. He could neither brush me off nor ask me to quit messing around, because that wasn't what I was doing. I leaned in closer, my eyes on his lips, I wondered whether they were as warm as the rest of him. How would it feel? 

I had flashed of him doing the same not too long ago, but I was still debating whether it had been real. He wasn't moving an inch, I watched how uniformly his chest would rise and fall, then he suddenly pulled the covers down and turned his head to the side. 

I swallowed, then I blinked and let out a soft breath. If he woke up....I still didn't care. If I didn't do it then later on I was going to scold myself for it. I placed a hand on his cheek, his skin hot against my own, then I very gently angled him to face up. If not then, when would I get another chance to do that? He was always so closed off, and unless I made him react he never really made a move. 

With that in mind, I leaned down....it was just as I had always imagined. 

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" So you-?"

" Yap. "

" While I was asleep?"

" Something like that, come to think of it, I kissed you twice. It felt too good, I didn't wanna stop. "

He rolled his eyes and huffed out a breath, but he didn't say anything else concerning the matter. It's why I had been so desperate to kiss him again, I needed to recreate the feeling I had gotten that time, to see whether it would weigh up or not be as great. But it had surpassed all my expectations, and I hope he knew that there was no going back now, I had given him the chance to stop, but he had gone ahead and done the opposite. So if he expected me to back off or go back to the starting line now he had another thing coming. I now had proof that he was capable of getting over his fear. Actually, I didn't even know whether it was fear, perhaps it was just anxiety because he refused to come to terms with the reality. But I'd make him do so. 

We got to the store and took the back from him as he unlocked the door, then we walked in and I headed straight for the counter, walking around it and sitting down. He raised the shutters covering the windows and did a bit of dusting before joining me, but I hadn't started eating without me. I knew it was the little things that mattered, I had to remember those sort of things about him. 

He pulled his seat closer to mine before seating down. I liked that. 

" Here, I offered him a muffin, then I gave him his bottle of juice and he placed the muffin down to unseal it, then he placed it infront of me and took the other, doing the same and taking a sip. 

" No more punching mirrors, " he said as he glanced at my injured hand, his time a strict warning that turned me on more than he would ever known. His voice in the morning was deep. Fabulously dry. Insanely dangerous. But the main beauty of it was that he didn't even seem to realize. 

I liked that he didn't ask what had driven me to do that very stupid action, and I dare to call it stupid because that's exactly what it was. It had been foolish and unreasonable. But I hadn't been able to help it.

" I'll try not to. "

" Don't try, just don't do it again. "

He took a bite of the muffin, staring at it afterwards as if it's taste had intrigued him more than he had expected it to. Then he took another bigger bite and I did the same. It was pretty good. 

" Are you sure you can ride your bike in this state?" 

" It's just a few bruises and scratches, nothing too major. "

" Does it hurt?"

" A little,not as much as before. "

" You should get the ointment she recommended. "

" I will. "

" But no more punching things. "

" I promise. "

He never looked at me once throughout that conversation, but I could hear the concern in his voice. He always made it his objective to speak the truth, so I always believed everything he told me, he could tell me something I knew was false but I'd still end up believing him, that's how much faith I had in him. Nothing could beat it. 

I was going to give my father a few days to cool off, and I was intent on staying out of sight until he did, because I still chose to believe that he had merely been speaking out of anger. 

" Will you be coming back after you get that bike?" Kyle asked. His tone suggested that he wanted me to, but I wasn't sure whether I had the time. I wanted to pass by Miles' house and talk to him, and if he was around, I needed him to take me somewhere. So I wasn't sure when I would be back. He must have read from my expression what my response was going to be. 

" Oh. It's cool, "

" I could, it just depends on when I finish running some errands, "

" What sort of errands? "

" Don't worry about it. "

" Well now I have to worry, " 

" Give me an offer and I might just tell you. "

" What sort of offer?"

" You know exactly what I want Stevens. "

I finished up with the muffin, I had no intentions of eating the other one so I stood up and pushed my seat aside, then I placed one arm on the counter in front of Kyle and wrapped the other around his shoulder from behind. I liked how closer to him the action made me feel, especially when I leaned in. There was no distance, and no sign from him that he wanted it. 

We had gotten to a point where I couldn't be sure of his actions, I had no way of knowing whether he was going to give in or simply ignore me as always. This time however, he went with the former. I watched as he unwrapped his hand from around the juice bottle, then he blinked a couple of times and looked up at me. And it became clear that he was doing it not only because I had asked, but also because he wanted to. I waited for him to glance at the door, or the window. To find any sort of excuse to back out, but he simply wrapped a hand around my neck and kissed me as if it was the most natural thing in the world. I think it was the five years without him, but the second his lips touched mine I automatically became feral, in need of more. I wanted everything he was capable of giving and was prepared to search for it myself. He matched his rhythm with mine, freely offering his tongue when I sought it out. And he must have felt it as that kissed began to grow, to blossom into so much more, because he finally pulled away. 

" Soon, " I told him after he had managed to get his breathing under control. 

I believed there would come a time when he'd give me free reign, when he'd let me take control without him pulling away. But I wasn't going to complain, two kisses in less than two hours was great success. 

" I wanted to buy some bike parts, Miles knows a guy, " I explained, still maintaining my earlier position because there was something about it I quite liked. That was just one of the many things I wanted to do but there was no need to tell him the rest, he'd know in due time. He nodded, seeming satisfied with the response. And when I was about to stand up straight and step away he placed his hand on the one I had on the counter, so I ended up staying put. 

" Are you free tonight?"

I had been planning on finding something to do, but I immediately changed my mind. 

" I am. "

" There's this little place on your way to school, Frosty Haven. It's right next to-"

" I know where it is,I've seen it. "

" If you want we can go over there, their Froyo is really nice, "

I narrowed my gaze at him. Then I smiled with the intentions of teasing him to make him loosen up.

" Are you aski--"

" I am. "

The seriousness in those two words had me going silent. He wasn't playing around. I couldn't believe he had literally just asked me out. 

" I'll be there, what time?"

" Seven?"

" Seven sounds good. " 

He nodded, quickly kissed his cheek and left.