Congrats, You're In Love!

She would remember the look he gave her for as long as she lived. It was half-agony, half-hope, as Jane Austen once wrote. Zack stood up quickly from the floor to stand across from her, but there really wasn't anywhere for him to go.

His handsome face was focused in thought, like he was really trying to come up with the right words. He paced rapidly in front of her, looking anywhere but at where she was sitting. It was excruciating to watch. Cami wished he would say something, anything, and--

The elevator lurched again, and they were moving again, the numbers rising steadily like nothing had happened. Cami stayed on the floor, watching the moment pass and felt her heart slowly shatter as Zack stopped pacing, his hands on his hips, his frown remaining as he licked his lips.

He was thinking of a way to tell her she was wrong, she knew it. Already Cami was mentally wondering where she would move, surely there was somewhere else in the Ortigas area she could live. Surely there were other buildings outside of St. Tropez.

They had gone up five floors when Zack finally spoke.

"Fuck it," he said, before he extended an arm and slammed the "stop" button. Cami blinked in surprise, because fourth grade Math teachers did not say fuck it, and it was weirdly sexy.

The elevator promptly stopped, somewhere between the fifteenth and sixteenth floors. Then he pulled Cami up by the shoulders, his gaze searing hers as he looked deeply into her eyes. All Cami could see was that smoldering warmth finally burning into a blaze, all the love that he had for her finally coming up to the surface.

"Cami," he breathed. He sounded like he ran a mile, even if he never really left. Cami thought she could heart his heart beating. Oh wait. It was her. Her heart was beating. "When you asked me that question, I thought you didn't, I mean, I thought it was--"

Cami's heart thundered in her ears. She wanted to reach out and hold him, but she waited. Patiently. Talking never came easy to Zack, which was surprising, given his career, but eventually he said the right things, he knew how to make his audience trust him, believe him.

"I thought I would just get in your way. You're brilliant and amazing and doing so many things, I didn't want to interrupt your life with my feelings. I told myself it was enough, just to be able to do things for you and never say it," he said, hope glimmering in his eyes. "I had only the tiniest hope, that one day you would wake up and figure it out."

"I did," she smiled. "I'm brilliant that way."

"Yes you are," he laughed, his hand cupping her cheek like she was the most precious thing. Like he loved her. "Although I know I should have told you. It's cowardly, not to tell you how important you are to me. I didn't hide it at all, did I?"

"No you didn't," she giggled. "Zack, you--"

"Can I kiss you? May I kiss you?"

"Yes," Cami nodded. "Please do."

And ladies and gentlemen, he did. Zack Olaguivel Watson's kiss was fiery and warm. It sent bolts of heat shooting up and down Cami's body, making her absolutely melt into the safe haven of his arms, of his body. He was excellent at this, at using his mouth against hers, to show tenderness and passion without speaking a word. Cami's back pressed against the elevator's cool wall, but it did nothing to soothe the heat that Zack was trying to stoke in her.

Kiss him back, boba! Her heart (or somewhere a little more south of that) screamed, and she obliged, matching his passion with her own, his touch with a squeeze of her own. It was so surreal, and yet so wonderful to finally hold and kiss him like this, like a song that reached its crescendo, bursting in a chorus of sound and melody, harmony coming together to make something beautiful.