The Garden of What Once Was

CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT

"I'm right here, Little Rabbit," Reed whispered into Ember's ear, causing her to stumble back in shock.

    He quickly grabbed her arm to steady her before pulling her in toward him. His arm wrapped around her waist as the two of them hid themselves in the crowd of dancing bodies. With this many people, there was no one to see them standing so close to each other or to see them gazing at each other longingly as they danced. For once, they were free to do as they pleased without judgment. This type of freedom caused Reed to act more in tune with his feelings for Ember. Instead of dancing to the upbeat music, he tugged Ember into a slow dance with him. Though it was quite contradicting to the music currently playing, neither of them cared, as they wanted to be as close to each other as possible. But, this closeness caused Ember to struggle to look at anything other than Reed's lips. She wanted to kiss him badly. Such a thing was dangerous though. There was no doubt that if they even pressed their lips together for a second, plenty of consequences would come. And so, to suppress her urges, she trained her eyes on the red tulip tucked into the pocket on the left side of Reed's chest.

    "What's so interesting about that flower? You've been staring at it for two minutes now," Reed pointed out, a little disappointed that she had stopped looking at him.

    "It's...pretty...?"

Her reply made Reed pull her in closer so that his mouth was now beside her ear. She could feel every inhale and exhale that he took. It sent chills down her back, ones she wished would never go away.

    "You know what's prettier?" He asked, pulling away as she looked up at him with her eyes full of green curiosity. "You."

    She rested her head against his shoulder, hiding the blush on her cheeks. "Don't say that or else Aiko might murder me in my sleep tonight."

    Her light-hearted joke hung heavy in the air. It caused Reed to momentarily pull away from her. His body stiffened completely, making it impossible for Ember to ignore. She lifted her head from his shoulder, peering up to see the forlorn look on his face. That joke she had made was one that he feared would possibly turn into reality. Though he was sure Aiko wouldn't kill Ember, he wouldn't put it past Aiko to injure Ember. After all, she already injured one student. There was nothing stopping her from hurting Ember too. Nothing except for him. If he stepped back now, he could prevent any harm from being done to Ember. He could go back to Aiko, make her happy, and hide his feelings for Ember again. But, doing so would mean letting go of the girl that made his heart pound, that made his blood rush, that made him feel so humanely alive. For that, he wouldn't step away, not this time. He'd selfishly hold onto her, vainly protecting her from all the consequences that might come their way. His hand went back around Ember's waist, pulling her flush against him without any care to the few gazes that had caught onto them. They could stare all they want. He wouldn't push her away, he'd pull her even closer until they were inches from each other.

    "Reed, Reed, Reed, hey!" Ember called to him, frantically placing the palm of her hand on top of his mouth to prevent a very detrimental kiss from happening. "What's gotten into you, huh? One second, you're stepping away from me, and the next you're pulling me in, almost headbutting me!"

    She knew they weren't about to headbutt, but saying they were about to kiss would make her wish of Reed reciprocating her feelings a reality, a very unbearable reality. If she admitted that her feelings weren't one-sided, then all of this would be over. Their carefree moments together that dangle on the line between friendship and a stronger intimacy would turn to dust. They would both be painfully aware of their feelings for each other, knowing that the other was yearning just as much as they were. That was something that she knew they wouldn't be able to handle, at least not without hurting each other one way or another. Their feelings were better off with being ignored, but it seemed that would only become increasingly harder.