Christian's POV

“Not...nothing like that, okay?” she stammered.

“Like what then?” I countered.

I stared at her, my expressions depicted my usual sadness. I looked at the clock and as it was my hour of bathroom schedule, I dragged myself to the bathroom and decided to trim my beard. When I came out, Blaire had already out on a v-neckline maroon romper dress. It was incredibly short and the v-neckline with lace sleeve, showed her not so prominent cleavage. I trailed my eyes from her hairs which were cut short and let loose to her feet which were then adorned by a block heel shoe.

“Don't dress like this or I'll have to act like an over-protective boyfriend,” I passed the sarcasm.

“I doubt you don't want to act like one,” she raised one of her eyebrows with a smile tugged at her lips.

“Are you flattering me?" I asked giving her a lopsided smile.

“Whatever you take,” she said as she put on her lip gloss and pouted at the mirror.

I was in a dark coloured v-neck graphic T-Shirt paired with some cream coloured jeans. We were ready and were about to leave the room when I grabbed her wrist and pulled her to myself.

“Hey,” I whispered as I caged her between me and the door.

The silence of the closed room clouded upon us as out breathes mingled. She was adhered to my chest as my arms wrapped around her waist.

“I'm sorry for morning, okay,” I whispered looking down at her.

“Okay,” she whispered back.

“Okay.”

Out eyes were fixated before I broke the gaze and said,“Lets go”.

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“Times Square,” Blaire said as the question of choosing the destination came up.

“That's way too crowded,” Sophia defended her argument.

“Well, NewYork is the city that never sleeps, so I guess that makes sense,” she shrugged.

“Somewhere else, please,” Sophia stood her ground.

“Lets go walking,” Duncan came up with his weird solutions.

“Alright, let's go random directions. Will meet here in an hour,” Austin declared.

As everyone split, I laced my fingers with her as if it was the most casual thing to do. It was of course but only from.my side. She looked at me and then at our hands but didn't make a move. It felt like a new start.

“Come,” I said as I started walking, slowly.

“Where are we going?” the curiosity in her voice made me happy.

“Somewhere from where we can be back in an hour,” I replied in my cocky self.

She laughed. That same unchanged voice of her enchanting laugh, filled me with glee. We grabbed two ice-cream cones and continued walking, silently, licking our frozen dessert. That way, we had to talk less and argue less too. New York was busy yet beautiful. Just like Blaire mentioned earlier ‘A city that never sleeps’.

“The Brooklyn bridge,” the surprise and happiness in her voice didn't go unnoticed.

The sun was going down and covered the whole sky in a beautiful combination of violet and orange. It was worth witnessing that moment, with her hand in mine. The lights sparked among the growing twilight.

“Beautiful,” she said in awe as we walked the bridge.

We walked up to a distance and then came to a stop. We stood by a side, watching the waters below and the buildings afar. Cars swooshed past us and the sun was still embracing everything in orange.

“You look beautiful,” I whispered.

She looked up at me and then again turned her head towards the waters.

“You know, I don't know how I feel anymore,” I looked at her with a frown.

“I have never been more confused in my entire life, I...” she trailed off.

“Complete it,” I pushed.

“Let it go," she shrugged.

I didn't pressurise her, I just let it slip.

“Anyways, I like my hand in yours”.

“Was that a compliment?" I grinned at her.

“Let's walk back," she suggested.

“Do you not want to go to the very end?" I asked.

“Maybe some other day," she shrugged.

We were back at the same spot from where we left and in some scattered minutes, we met everyone else. Only, Justin and Adrian wasn't there with us. Soon, we found ourselves at the entrance of a bar with a fancy name which I didn't care enough to read.

“But we are underaged,” Blaire panicked and Isabella joined her.

“Since when, are you like this?” Sophia taunted at her as she dragged her along.

We all showed our false IDs pretty confidently and walked into the chores of blasting music and liquor land. The crowd was huge. Most of them seemed youngsters having a headstart to their weekend. Sophia ordered for vodka cranberry for herself and Blaire while Isabella stuck to a flavoured Martini. We had our drinks and snuggled in a single booth while Blaire was staring at Isabella's drink. I noticed it and my eyes met with Duncan.

“Hey," I whispered.

“What's wrong?”

“umhm...nothing,” she shook her head.

Although she said, nothing, I knew exactly what was wrong. She had lemonade martinis a couple of times at the parties back in San Diego. She was trying hard to recall but couldn't find any trace.

“Want to dance?" I asked for her hand, thought it would distract her.

She gulped down her drink at a go and hopped up from her seat. An upbeat song was going on, so we went up on the dance floor and jumped and hopped like all others around us. Even under the dimmed light, she shone like a gem. The song flipped into a slow one, I pulled her by her wrists and she fell into steps with mine. Her hands went around my neck while mine rested on her hips. The sluggish swaying made us focus more on ourselves than on the song.

It was for the second time that our balance got interrupted by some random push. I pulled her closer to mine. Her body warmth somehow soothed me but I wasn't lost, I was still cautious and her overprotective boyfriend for the night. I wrapped her tight with one hand while the other went to block another random hand trying to touch her. I grabbed his wrist and elevated my gaze from his hand to his face. He looked nothing but a creepy guy in his mid-thirties.

“Don't you dare, you freak,” I growled in a low voice, enough for him to hear and threw his hand aside.

My gaze went back to Blaire and she was smiling at me. She let out a soft giggle and leaned her head on my shoulder. She was smiling through her eyes. Those four minutes felt like hours to me but if you'd ask me, I'd prefer seizing the moment forever. For a moment, there was no music, no chaos around us, just her pair of beautiful eyes captured my eyes. Wait, there wasn't any specs, just a pair of glassy iris with a shade of lavender. I smiled inwardly at her choice of contact lenses.

Then she did the unexpected. She chined up and leaned in. Her soft plum lips met mine as it embraced all of me in an unexplainable ecstasy. I felt like I was high without any alcohol, was flying without any wings and the earth beneath my feet suddenly vanished. I was fleeting. I kissed her back in the same motion with all the passion, nibbling on her lower lip. I gently squeezed her hips and adhered her to myself as the kiss deepened and her warmth rained on me.