The moment I felt her lips against mine, it felt like every last nerve, thought and feeling that washed through my body had been lit on fire.

And who the fuck could blame me - I was kissing Mia Collins. I almost couldn't believe it. Mia Collins, the girl who hated me, the girl who attacked me on the first day I met her, the girl who I'd been pining over since the age of twelve was lying straddled above me and letting me kiss her. I could hardly even remember how we ended up here, and I'm not sure I even cared.

As my heart started to race violently away, I started to move my lips against hers – shyly and hesitantly. Though the feel of her against me, felt so fucking good, I continued with struggle to hold myself back as I knew this was Mia I was dealing with. And I knew with full certainty, there was a ninety-nine percent chance she was going to push or slap me away at any second.

That's when Mia moved her hands to run in between the curls of my hair and pulled me closer. Then she started to kiss me and it was far from hesitant. Lying underneath her in shock, she started to kiss me hard and fast with a hunger that felt consuming. It was all too much for me, and my stomach turned in need.

I knew at that moment, she'd opened pandora's box. A soft low groan echoed out from the base of my throat, and I slid my hand down to her waist before eagerly meeting back her pace. My heart was beating so fast it hurt but I didn't care – all I cared about was that Mia Collins was kissing me. And I sure as hell wasn't about to waste my opportunity – ten-year plan be damned.

With that thought resting in my mind, I tightened my hold around Mia's waist and abruptly rolled us around till I once again ended up on top of her.

I never let my lips leave hers once, and I started to kiss her bolder, and firmer with more desperation. Feeling the mind-consuming heat of Mia's lips as she kissed me back, I almost felt angry at myself for even waiting this long to try and do this. I could have been doing this shit years ago.

Grabbing a hold of her wrists, I pinned them above her head while continuing to kiss her, loving how good it felt. Mia seemed to like this as she started kissing me back harder as though she was egging me on to continue.

Still unable to believe this was happening, I struggled to hold myself back from really letting go. Feeling our legs tangled together in a mess at the foot of the bed, I kissed her harder, loving how good it felt to be as close to her as possible. Kissing her was my drug.

Letting my hands fall from her wrists, I couldn't help myself and trailed my hands down the length of her body and over the rise of her breasts while continuing to move my lips against hers in urgency. Mia pushed out her chest at my touch which only drove my mind wilder. God, she was so perfect.

Clenching the fabric at the bottom of her shirt, I struggled in my excitement to hold myself back. Six years of pent-up feelings, and I'd finally exploded. For once I was glad, I had no self-control.

With that thought resting in my mind, my hand delved underneath the hem of her shirt, and I ran my hand teasingly up and down the small curve of her lower back, wanting to be closer to her. A gasp escaped her lips as she kissed me, and I couldn't help but smile against her lips as she shivered.

Breaking the kiss, I ran my lips in a teasing trail from her lips to her ear, where I stopped.

"God, you have absolutely no fucking idea how long I've wanted to do that," I whispered, unable to stop myself.

Then with my mind still fogged with want, I lightly nipped at her ear before moving to rest my lips in the crook of her neck. I felt Mia's breath grow more ragged and leaning her head back, she gave herself over to me and welcomed my onslaught of kisses up the column of her neck.

I hadn't a clue why she was letting me do this, but all I knew was that I was glad. Smiling slightly against her skin, I stopped at a spot on her neck and caught in the moment I started sucking in the hopes of leaving a mark. I wanted to look at it, and remember this – all of this.

That's when I heard a weird rustle from downstairs and the sound of a door. It drew my curiosity for about a second, but then I immediately went back to not caring and continued kissing my way up Mia's neck.

"Shit," Mia gasped. Suddenly her hands flew to my chest, and she pushed me back hard. Rolling off her with force, I landed on my back beside her on the bed. Scrambling to my elbows, I turned to her in confusion, wondering what I'd done wrong.

Mia eyed me up and down with panicked widened eyes as though suddenly thrust awake. "Ethan, you need to go. That's my dad, he'll kill you if he finds you up here," she hissed before scrambling quickly off the bed.

I felt my blood drain itself from my face as I realized what I'd almost let happen. I'd almost let Mia's dad walk in on us. Realizing how quickly I would die if he found me up here with Mia, I immediately sat up straighter. "Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. What should I do? What should I do?" I repeated while looking around in panic.

Mia ran a panicked hand through her hair as she tried to look around the room for an idea. "Erm...er...just climb out the window," she finally said. Running over to the window, Mia flung it open and gestured for me to come. "Hurry up," she cried.

Getting up, I jogged quickly over to the window and half-lifted myself up onto the ledge before stopping.

Surely, one more time couldn't hurt...

Pulling myself back down to the floor, I turned back to face Mia who looked visibly confused.

"Sorry, but I've just got to do it one more time," I said.

"Ethan w-"

Looping an arm around her waist, I pulled her lips onto mine, silencing whatever words she was about to say. Then for another time, I kissed her long, and hard. She barely got a chance to respond before I had to reluctantly pull myself away. Looking down at her, I softly stroked her cheek with a smile.

"See you on Monday," I mumbled.

With a silly smile on my face, I quickly climbed up onto the window ledge, and out onto the roof. Ducking low, I slowly made my way toward the edge of her roof, taking each step carefully so as not to fall.

Hearing the sound of Mia's dad's voice from inside her bedroom, I quickened my pace, realizing I had to get off the roof fast.

I crouched down as I got to the part where her roof met her garden fence below. Letting out a heavy sigh, I grabbed a hold of the top of the fence below, and with great effort, managed to swing myself down onto the grass. I released a tense breath as I hit the ground before straightening up to brush off the dust from my hands. I was sure I had a splinter or two now lodged in my hand, but I was too excited to care.

Smiling so hard now it practically hurt, I quickly jogged my way out onto the street, and across the road to where I'd parked my car.

So pumped with adrenaline, my hands shook slightly as I fumbled in my pockets for my car keys. After two attempts, I managed to unlock it and finally climbed into the driver's seat.

Once I sat comfortably, I stared off at the window in front of me while smiling away like an idiot as I struggled to process what had happened. I couldn't believe it – I just couldn't. Mia had fucking made out with me. Mia Collins!

I slapped my steering wheel, a couple times in excitement, not even caring how crazy I looked. Wait, Lucas, I had to tell Lucas – he was never going to believe this shit. There's no way.

Fumbling around for my phone, I quickly slid it out and almost dropped it in doing so. With shaky hands, I found his contact and quickly pressed call before putting the phone up to my ear.

Lucas picked up on the third ring. "Ethan?" he called in surprise. "I thought you were busy pretending to give Mia self-defense lessons in an attempt to seduce her," he asked in confusion.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, never mind that. Just listen to me," I rushed out.

Lucas let out a light snort. "Calm down, I'm listening."

"I was just at Mia's....and...and I kissed her! And then we started making out," I rushed out with a smile.

"No way? Seriously?" Lucas snapped back almost immediately, the tone in his voice a mixture of excited and disbelieving. There was a brief silence and then Lucas let out the loudest whoop sound known to man followed by a string of whistles. "Fucking finally!" he laughed. "How was it? Tell me, I'm nosy as fuck."

I laughed into the phone. "Well, I'll tell you it was a lot fucking better than I'd imagined that's for sure. She was just so...fucking good at it...and...and I literally just can't believe she kissed me back....do you think she likes me?"

"No, Ethan, I think she made out with you for a couple of minutes to try and show you how much she hates you, actually," Lucas muttered back sarcastically.

I rolled my eyes at him. "You know what I mean," I snapped.

"No, I really don't, but whatever, come over to my house, so we can gossip," Lucas ordered.

"Yeah, I will. I just need to stop for gas first. I'll be about twenty minutes or so. See you then," I mumbled.

"See, you, lover boy," Lucas said with a chuckle before hanging up the phone.

Pocketing my phone with a smile, I finally turned on my car engine and took off.

All through my drive to the petrol station, my mind kept turning over with more and more excited thoughts. Was this going to be a regular thing now? Were we going to just start randomly kissing each other every time we hung out now? This had to mean she was attracted to me at the very least, surely. I just couldn't believe it...

My mind raced and raced as I tried to think about what I was supposed to say to her on Monday morning. Was I supposed to act like everything was normal? Was I supposed to talk about it with her? And if so, what was I supposed to say? I had no fucking idea.

Finally, I found myself pulling into the gas station far sooner than I'd expected so absorbed with all my thoughts.

Pulling my car up by the nearest set of pumps, I quickly parked up and climbed out of the car. Starting to make my way around the perimeter of my car, I suddenly caught sight of a woman of around thirty-years old with dark brown hair. She was struggling to get her buggy folded up to put in the trunk of her car while her baby cried from the back seat.

"Oh, for goodness' sake," she cried in frustration.

Turning to look at her properly, I noticed she was struggling to pull down one of the clips on the side to collapse it. I stared for a second more, before realizing it was the exact same kind of buggy Dylan used to have.

I walked closer to her. "Erm...hey?" I called out. "Do you need any help with your buggy? My brother used to have the same kind?" I offered politely.

Without even looking up at me, she let out a light laugh. "I'd appreciate it. This bit keeps getting stuck."

With a polite smile, I made my way over to her. Leaning over the buggy, I grabbed a hold of the piece of plastic and applied pressure to the middle right, and just like it did with Dylan's buggy, the whole thing collapsed.

"Oh, thank you," she smiled, as she looked down in relief at the buggy. "You're very-"

Her words cut off as she finally lifted her gaze up and met my eyes for the first time. Her smile slipped immediately off her face and the expression that crossed her face sent a chill down my spine. I don't think I'd ever seen a person look so frightened in my life.

"Don't fucking touch my buggy," she snapped, her eyes fired with rage. From the harsh sound of her yell, her baby screamed louder from the back seat. The depths of her eyes swirled with emotion, the most prominent of all hate. I immediately withdrew my hand sharply and took a step back with a thick swallow, not at all sure what to do.

She blinked once, then twice as her eyes rocked between mine. "You're too young...," she whispered in realization. "But....you look just like him. Too much like him! Why the fuck do you look like Peter Thomas."

I immediately froze at the sound of the name alone and any of the earlier happiness I felt was instantly wiped away by that simple name.

I swallowed painfully hard before speaking. "He was my dad," I mumbled quietly.

The lady backed away and continued eyeing me with disgust. "Your father raped me!" she cried. "How fucking dare, you go near me? Did he send me to you, huh? To mess with my head. Even after all these fucking years, he still wants to mess with me, huh?" she screamed as a tear escaped from her eye.

Robbed of words, I just watched her with wide eyes, so panicked and scared that I didn't know what to do or say.

I could feel my eyes start to water. "I'm-" I stuttered, feeling my hands start to shake. She thought I was him. She mistook me for him. She thought I was my dad.

"You're sick like him, aren't you?" she whispered, her eyes narrowing in on me. I just know it's genetic. Sick fucks like him run in the blood. So, get the fuck away from me," she seethed.

Backing away from her, I shook my head over and over before finally turning away and making my way quickly to my car.

I didn't even care about petrol anymore, and immediately got in and started up the engine. Still shaking, I reversed out of my parking spot, and out of the gas station.

The whole drive home, I tried to control my breathing but the words from the lady at the petrol station kept resurfacing in my mind, to the point where I almost couldn't take it anymore.

Finally, I pulled up outside my house, and everything felt numb in my body as I put the car into park. I'd stared mindlessly ahead for several seconds before finally, a tear rolled down my cheek and I snapped. Burying my head in my hands over the steering wheel, I started to sob. My body shook viciously through each one, to the point my throat felt raw. I felt like I couldn't breathe, and I wasn't sure I even wanted to.

I wasn't sure how long I sat in the car and sobbed but soon the last of my tears escaped me, and I let out deep even breaths as I tried to pull myself together.

When I was convinced, I could hold myself together some, I finally left the car and headed over to my house.

Once inside, I locked my jaw together hard and started walking up the stairs with a simple mission on my mind. Knowing my mum and Dylan were out shopping, I knew I didn't have to worry about them, so I made my way toward the attic. I always hated going up there; not keen to sift through nets of cobwebs and dust, but this time it was necessary.

Once I'd lowered down the ladder, I climbed my way up and into the attic. Walking past the stacks of old clothes, shoes, and old furniture, I headed right for the back where my mum kept the old shoe boxes.

I kneeled on the floor and scanned over the words that were neatly written over each of the old boxes before finally stopping at one. It read: teens and twenty's

Opening up the box slowly, I looked down and found myself as expected staring at a stack of photos. My mum didn't know I even knew about these old photos. She'd understandably tried to put away all stuff of dad's years ago, there were only a few odd photos she'd let us keep.

Lifting them up, I started to look through them. There were some of my mum in dance class as a teen, some with her old dog, and a few college graduation photos. They almost made me smile, but then I finally stopped as my eyes fell down to the kind of picture I'd been looking for. It was a picture of my mum with my dad. Staring at the picture, I grew still, and the more I looked, the sicker I felt.

It was a simple picture of my mum and dad at the beach, but that wasn't the problem. The problem was my dad – he looked exactly like me. In the photo, he wasn't too far from my age now, and people could have easily mistook us for twins. Sure, there were differences, but not many. I might smile differently to him and have different coloured eyes but that was about it. Swallowing hard, I gripped the picture tighter as I continued to stare. No one in this world looked more like him, than I did, and I hated it.

Feeling my eyes start to water, I stuffed the photos back into the shoebox and shut the box.

As I stared down at the box in silence, I was finally honest with myself for the first time in a long while. There might be no way I could stop myself from becoming him. Like the lady said, it was in my blood.

----------------

It was Monday morning, and I was miserable. Yesterday had gone from one of the best days of my life, to one of my worst. And all morning I'd been working it over in my head about what to say to everyone. My mum had been pestering me all morning about what was wrong with me. Lucas wanted to know why I hadn't come over yesterday. And then there was Mia...

I hadn't a clue what to say or do regarding her. It made me sick just to think about it. All I knew was that I couldn't trust myself around her anymore. I'd let my wants come before her well-being and safety yesterday, and it was wrong. I wasn't mentally stable, and I shouldn't be around her. She was not going to end up like my mum.

Continuing down the school corridor, I kept my eyes cast down with my hands in my pockets. I briefly glanced up from the ground, to check where I was going, but then my eyes locked on Mia's. She seemed to have already been watching me and looked me up and down with a slightly confused smile as though she wanted to talk. I immediately stopped in my tracks. Still and frozen in place, I stared for a long time, not saying a word. Never at that moment, did I want to go up to her more, but I didn't. I couldn't. I badly wanted to kiss her again, and talk to her again but I knew I shouldn't. I felt like I was wrestling with myself as I watched her and a part of me wanted to just forget anything that had happened yesterday and go right up to her like normal. But I didn't.

Mia seemed to finally realize something was up, and her brows furrowed in confusion. She looked a little hurt, and vulnerable, and I swallowed hard. Just as she looked as though she was about to take a step toward me, I turned on my heel and walked away.

And as painful as it was, I didn't look back. 

------------------

Author's note: 

Hope you enjoyed!