Aftertaste

"They were afraid he'd hurt himself."

The air rushed out of my chest like a popping ballon. Shawn just told me he loved me. I ran his words through my mind again.

I'm in love with you.

I'm in love with you.

I'm in love with you.

It pounded against the inside of my brain.

"Grace," I heard Shawn's voice, quiet and unsure of itself. His words shook as they left his lips. I pulled myself from my thoughts, coming to the realization that I had been staring at him blankly for the past few moments.

When I came to my senses, I observed Shawn's expression. He seemed terrified. His eyes were wide like he was an animal caught in bright headlights, and I noticed him nervously licking his lips as time wore on. I still hadn't said a word.

I'm in love with you.

I'm in love with you.

I'm in love with you.

Suddenly, I lunged at Shawn and crashed my lips into his. When I touched him, it was as if I could feel his body sigh of relief. As moment after our lips met, he pulled my face away from his.

"Is this supposed to mean, 'I love you too?'" he asked. I smiled and gave him a slight nod. His grin then grew so wide that I thought his lips were going to crack. "Oh thank God," he sighed. Shawn brought himself to his feet and picked me up in his arms. He spun around in circles, swinging me through the air, repeating, "You love me back, you love me back, you love me back," under his breath and smiling to himself.

Suddenly, the whole room went completely dark. Shawn stopped spinning.

"Did I just pass out? Am I dead?" He asked the darkness.

I wriggled out of Shawn's arms. "No, you're not dead. I think the power just went out."

"Oh thank God," Shawn replied as he pulled out the flashlight on his iPhone. "That would've been a shitty moment to die, right after my girlfriend tells me she loves me for the first time."

"Shawn?! SHAWN?!" We heard Aaliyah's voice screaming from downstairs.

The two of us hurried downstairs to find Aaliyah. She was curled up underneath a pile of blankets on the downstairs couch, on the verge of tears. The darkness scared her.

"It's alright," Shawn took a seat beside her and wrapped his arm around her, rubbing her shoulder with his large hand.

"What happened?" she asked. She buried her face in Shawn's shoulder. I peered out the window. Snow was coming down even heavier now. A blanket of white covered every inch of the scene that lay before me. It was practically a white out. The thick flakes fell with great speed in front of the window I was staring through.

"The storm's getting pretty bad out there," I explained. "The snow probably knocked down some power lines."

Aaliyah gazed up at me. "When will the power turn back on?" she asked.

Shawn shrugged, "It might take a little while. The storm is supposed to get worse as the night goes on. It's going to be hard for any electricians to get to the power lines."

"Oh," Aaliyah bit her bottom lip nervously.

"Maybe I should head home Shawn," I said while anxiously glancing out the window. "My parents are going to start worrying, and if the storm's only supposed to get worse..."

Shawn pryed Aaliyah from his body and stood up. He then said to her, "Grace and I are going to find some more flashlights, okay? Stay right here." She nodded and burrowed herself underneath the pile of blankets.