Night Peril

I Looked so Confident, Babe, I Swear I was Scared to Death

Oh fuck.

Fuck, fuck, fuck!

What was she thinking!? Kya's eyes widened and she pulled her hand away. Lin wasn't saying anything, and she didn't know if that was good or bad? But, oh how those green eyes dared to pull her in.

Lin pulled her hand back to her side and embarrassingly looked back at the television. Kya swallowed hard and did the same, but with a look of guilt.

You couldn't cut the tension before? Try doing it now.

Kya wanted to apologize but she couldn't muster up the courage to break the silence. She never wanted to smoke a joint more than she wanted to right now. Just let her mind go fuzzy and forget this whole damn night.

"I'm sorry," Lin said quietly, not taking her eyes off of the T.V. "I shouldn't have asked you something like that..." She said, almost mortified by her own actions.

"No, Lin. It's okay... I promise." Kya responded at the same level. She should keep her mouth shut... "You deserve to know you're pretty..." She mentally hit herself in the face. Why couldn't she keep her mouth shut? The rest of the movie was spent in awkward silence, besides the occasional crunching of the popcorn.

When it was over, Kya turned the T.V. off and they sat in the dark. She wanted to throw herself down the stairs and put herself into a coma. A simple 'yes' would have been enough for Lin's question, but no, Kya had to put herself out there. And she wanted to put herself even more out there. Tell Lin how she loved her hair, she loved her soft hands, how eager she was for the next time she got to be in Lins presence. Kya wanted to talk about how she wanted to hold her hand and kiss her cheek. Kya wanted to tell her she was pretty all the time.

"Thank you." Lin was looking at her.

"Huh?" Kya snapped out of her thoughts, "For what?" she asked.

Lin looked at her for a moment. "Thank you for calling me pretty..." She said. She hadn't even noticed how close they'd gotten. "It really has been hard to believe it since that day. No matter who said it." She wanted to be so open. Tell Kya all about her vulnerabilities. Be honest with her, be weak around her. She wanted it so bad she didn't realize she was leaning in. "But you make me think it's true..."

She was so close; Kya could feel her breath on her lips...

But as much as Kya wanted to fill the gap, she couldn't bring herself to do it. Tenzin is her brother...

And Lin... Lin was so close to her...

But that quickly changed with they heard the basement door open. Kya and Lin jumped and quickly backed away from each other, realizing what would've happened if they weren't interrupted.

"Hate to barge in on ladies' night," Bumi came down the stairs, "but Tenzin and I are having our own little party and need some more drinks." he said. He paused when he looked at the guilty faces on both of the women. He looked at Kya, who looked especially guilty, and saw in her eyes that she begged him to pretend not to notice. "Is the movie over already?" He obliged.

"Uh- yeah. It just ended." Kya said quickly.

"Cool. Hope you guys liked it. I thought it was pretty good when I watched it." Bumi got the drinks out of the fridge and started back up the stairs. He figured he'd play along for his sister. But this was definitely a conversation they needed to have.

Kya silently thanked Bumi when she heard the door shut.

Lin and Kya sat at opposite ends of the couch, taking quick glances at each other, both of them too nervous to say anything. They both glanced up at each other and made eye contact. Lin's breath hitched and she started fidgeting with her hands. "Uh- I- I had a good time tonight." She said softly.