richpez for mae

24

Her eyes were closed, the sound of light music played in the background as she felt her body swaying in time to the music. A warm presence encircled her body and her face was pressed into the soft fabric in front of her, her arms wrapped around it firmly. A steady heartbeat could be felt against her forehead and she felt fingers lightly tracing along the bare skin of her lower back.

Lauren didn't know where she was, but she was quite happy to stay there a little longer, swaying and breathing and relaxing into the embrace of the person in front of her. She started to hear humming from above, the person humming in time to the music quietly as their chest vibrated, and Lauren could feel it through her head against their chest. She exhaled lightly against them.

Curious as to who's arms she was wrapped in and to know the identity of the person humming above, she pulled her head out from their chest slightly and looked up, a pair of hazel eyes meeting hers as he gave her a warm smile and a wink. She smiled back and felt a warmth in her chest as she looked at him, drawn in to his gaze. They both stood smiling and swaying for a while, Lauren's feet on his as the music serenaded the pair.

She could recognise that they were in Joey's dorm room and the music was playing from his MacBook perched precariously on his bed. It was the evening, the sun setting outside of Joey's bedroom window, but Lauren's eyes never left his, her arms moving from around his body to in front of her. She placed her hands onto his chest and played with the front of the blue jumper he was wearing, and Lauren felt him sigh against her. Her hand then moved to his neck, running her finger along his pale skin and looping her index finger around his necklace. She pulled the chain out and held onto the little silver charm on it, examining it briefly but then looking back into Joey's eyes.

Joey stopped swaying her, transfixed by staring into her eyes, and Lauren was doing the same to him. She was stood on his feet which gave her a few extra inches, but she was still nowhere near eye level. So Lauren was leaning back to meet his eye, and Joey was holding her in place with his arms. It was as if they were cast under a spell, neither one moving as the sunlight from the sunset hit their face, their bodies pressed together.

"I love you." Joey whispered to her, and Lauren's grin only grew.

The warm feeling in her chest grew warmer from his words and Joey stopped rubbing her back, instead holding onto her waist tightly. She had never felt so much love for Joey before, and she felt so whole being stood in his arms.

But when she opened her mouth to tell him she loved him too, no noise escaped her mouth, and Joey's smile faltered slightly. She tried to speak again, but to no avail. Lauren tried to shout it to him, but again, there was only silence.

Lauren felt herself panic as she tried to shout at him, telling him she loved him but deafening silence was the only thing that rang in her ears. The music had stopped and the light was draining from the room quickly. She held onto Joey's jumper, trying and trying to make any noise she could, but she could see that Joey was no longer smiling and his grip on her was loosening.

Her chest didn't feel warm anymore and Joey's presence felt cold, the once comforting warm embrace feeling hostile and stiff against her.

She felt the tears prick at her eyes and run down her cheeks as she gripped onto Joey harder, but felt his arms begin to leave her body and fade away. Lauren's arms wrapped around the boy to make him stay, breathing heavily and crying as she placed her head back into his chest.

She shut her eyes and sobbed, no longer feeling his heartbeat on her forehead or his arms around her body, and she already knew he was gone. Lauren's grip involuntarily loosened slightly, and as she opened her eyes again, she was back in her bed, looking up at the ceiling with hot tear tracks down her cheeks and a thumping in her chest.