ELIAS

"SO ARE YOU just going to keep staring at me, or what?" I questioned with a smirk, a chuckle escaping my mouth. "What brings you here?" 

To my surprise, Rylie showed up my house, right when I finished taking a brief shower. She didn't say anything about coming over, but I didn't mind. I did have plans to work on an assignment for Physics, but that can wait. After all, she didn't seem to be okay. She had a broken look on her face. It was a defeated expression, one someone would make when they'd discover something unknown, yet significant to them. 

Although, I shouldn't be making assumptions. 

"Well, I just don't want to be at home right now. I hope you don't mind me staying here for a bit," Rylie murmured as she brushed her foot against the tan, carpet ground. 

"I don't mind one bit. Let's go to my room," I gestured her to the second room down the hall—my bedroom. She made herself comfortable by laying down on my bed, while I sat down at the rim. I forgot to make my bed this morning and my room was an entire dump. Rylie didn't seem to mind, so far, though, so I questioned, "What's the problem?"

"It's my mom. The minute I got home, I was in for this unexpected surprise. It wasn't a good surprise," she groaned as she planted her hands over her eyes. Rylie began to explain how she found her mother in bed with a man, only to turn out that it was her boyfriend. According to her, her mom's been dating this man for a year. 

She let out a long groan before being interrupted by a series of notification rings from her phone. "It's my mom wondering where I am," she shook her head as she typed in something before putting her phone away on my night stand. "I just can't believe she'd hide all this from me for a year. Imagine if she's trying to replace my dad . . ."

"I'm sure she isn't trying to do that. Your mom probably just wants to date," I assured her with the best reason I could come up with. 

"Maybe, but that doesn't excuse the fact that she hid all this from me for nearly a year. A whole freaking year, Elias," she countered. It was a whole different side of Rylie. She was aggrivated, and I couldn't quite blame her for it. It must've been a lot to deal with all at once. 

"It doesn't, but maybe she had her reason to do it. I'm sure she didn't do it to hurt you or anything," I managed to say. 

"I don't know anymore," Rylie groaned as she dug her hands into her face. "This is just . . . too much." 

I laid down next to her and sort of cupped my hand over hers for a few moments before letting go. "Look, everything will be alright, Rylie. It may be hard, but just take everything a step at a time. It'll take to get used to all these changes, take baby steps," I assured her. 

"I guess you're right," she gave in. "Thanks for the words of encouragement." 

"Anytime," I flashed a smile before staring at the ceiling. It was porcelain white and blank, like a fresh sheet of printer paper. My mind flew back to how crazy today turned out to be. Adrienne and Axel broke up, I finished the last touches of my painting so it could be judged for the art contest, and now this. How crazier could a day possibly get?

The possibilities are endless. 

The room was hushed to the point where you could hear a pin drop to the ground. I didn't know what to bring up, like usual, and I assume that Rylie doesn't either. This is just another occasion of my brain malfunctioning to the point where I don't know what to say. I slouched up a bit, my elbow against the bed so my head could lean on my hand. Rylie was wearing a light grey sweater and black jeans with mix-matched socks, one with purple bunnies and the other with multiple-colored stripes. It was sort of cute.

"Nice socks, Rylie," I couldn't help but laugh. I wasn't making fun of her or anything. I've actually had worse times where I had mix-matched socks. Pretty much, every day. 

"Yours are nicer," she cackled as she pointed to mine. One had a very unsatisfied Squidward plastered across the middle, while the other was maroon red and had the word "Tuesday" plastered over it, even if it was actually Monday. It seemed childish, but that's where the nostalgia comes from. 

"They're both nice, although yours are way better by a landslide," I countered playfully as she nudged my shoulder. 

"Ah, I give up already," she chuckled. "You're probably gonna come up with a million reasons for why mines are better. You win." 

"You got that right," I teased as I looked into her mocha eyes. Before neither of us could say anything else, a recurring knock on the door sounded before whoever was there came in. It was my dad with a tray, two clear cups of water on top. 

"Water, anyone?" He offered with a grin. 

"Thanks, Dad," I got up from the never-ending comfort of my bed to retrieve both cups so Rylie wouldn't have to get up. She did end up getting up to take a couple of sips before saying thanking my dad for bring us water as she placed the half-empty cup on my night stand. I did the same.

"It's no problem," he said before he left, but peered back at me for a few moments with what seemed like a wink. "And Elias, don't cause a lot of trouble with your girlfriend up here and everything."

"Dad," I groaned as my hand met my forehead as he closed the door shut behind him, making a small clicking noise. 

"He still thinks that we're . . ." Rylie chuckled as her index fingers lightly touched each other. "Together?"

"Yeah, but he also likes to do that to embarrass me," I added as I rolled my eyes playfully. "Typical parent move." 

She nodded with a grin as we stared at each other, eye to eye. It made me feel butterflies flutter through my stomach freely. We were close to each other, literally inches apart. Definitely less than twelve, that's for sure. She cupped her hand over mine, just like I did earlier, but in contrast, she kept it there. 

My heart tensed. The butterflies I felt kept on flying, however, this time I felt more. My mind trailed back to all the times Rylie and I did things together—whether if it were talking or watching a movie, it mattered to me. Those moments we shared were valuable like gold. They were firsts and I cherished every since second of each. 

I like Rylie. It sounds cheesy, but I do. I want to show her, so I think it's time I face the music. 

"Rylie, can I . . . kiss you?" I questioned hesitantly. "You know, you don't have to say yes." Instantly, regret boiled through my veins. What if this was all just a big mistake? What if she got mad and decided to leave. Her day was already too much and I didn't want to add more drama to it. 

Okay, Elias, breathe. Focus on what's happening right now.

"You can," she chirped. 

I practically did an cringe-worthy celebratory dance in my head, but no one could see it, so no one would care. I leaned in so my lips could hover over hers, the feeling igniting my entire body. 

I pulled away in case she felt uncomfortable. But instead, she pulled back in to kiss me back. Her lush lips grazed over mine. She let out a soft moan before pulling away. I never wanted it to end, but soon, it did. 

She inched away from me to the other side of my queen-sized bed. Regret began to boil through my veins, however as soon as she turned on my lamp at my night stand, the regret slowly began to vanish. The room was getting dark from the sun setting and all, so it did make sense to have a light on. Rylie scooted closer to me, this time closer than ever. I found my hand grazing across her upper back, but my heart sunk. Something hit me right at this moment. 

"Rylie, if there's something I do that you don't like, just let me know," I assured her as I let go from touching her. "I'll stop right away, I promise." 

"I'll keep that in mind," she mused as she combed a hand through my moisturized, brunette natural curls. "You're so sweet for that—and everything else. That's why I like you, Elias. It took me quite some time to figure it out, but I like you." 

I paused for a second. My brain was doing a horrible job at processing every word that came out of her mouth, so I was speechless, barely managing to say anything in response. "I-I like you too, Rylie," I croaked as my hand sort of played with the sleeve of her sweater. 

She smiled a bit at my response, her hand trailing down to my chin. Her thumb grazed over it lightly, like a cloud. Before anything else could be said or done, the loud ringing of Rylie's phone prickled my ears. It was the default Apple tone, so of course it was loud. Rylie extended her hand to reach the night stand to retrieve her phone, groaning at the caller ID.

"It's my mom," she sighed as she looked down towards my bed while drawing shapes through the sheets. "I should get going."

"Alright, then, see you tomorrow?" I offered. 

"See you tomorrow," her voice mirrored mine as she leapt off of my bed. 

Then, I offered to walk her out, but she insisted that it wasn't necessary. I didn't fight back, so I stayed in the presence of my bedroom. I laid down, my arms and legs spread out as if I were a young child making a snow angel in the snow. Today may have been crazy, and that was a fact, but for me, it ended off on a good note. 

Who knew that kissing could feel so . . . great? I never wanted the moment to end, but there are still more to come, hopefully. The kiss felt sort of . . . arousing. It triggered a whole different feeling that I wanted to feel a lot more of. I definitely will be thinking about it for the rest of the evening, for sure. It was a first and I definitely didn't want to make it my last. Life can be shitty sometimes, but you have to admit that there are still some things to look forward to. This is a perfect example.

And I cherished it. 

//

Damn, that was a lot. How are you feeling? My inner fangirl is going crazy.

I'm so sorry for the lack of updates lately. My writing schedule has been a mess as I've been juggling between school and my personal life. I do have a few chapters pre-written, but I honestly lost my motivation to continue writing for this story. However, I promise that it'll be done, probably before August of this year.