Early Bird | ✓

47 | toucan

❁

           JJ didn't leave her side for the rest of the day. They talked about themselves, their childhoods, their hopes for the future. JJ's fingers played with hers, caressing them and twirling around them like dancers. Lizzy laughed with ease at the jokes he made, her muscles aching with the action. JJ couldn't stop smiling at her, his teeth a sparkling white color.

           "Stop making me laugh," Lizzy sputtered out, grinning in spite of herself. "I'm still trying to recover and it's hurting me."

           JJ's smile vanished, a concerned expression tugging at his lips. "Should I call for a nurse?"

           Lizzy shook her head, her eyes trained on JJ's strong forearm as she traced his blue veins. "No. You're the only medicine I need."

           JJ's smile returned as luminous as before. To Lizzy, it was like staring at the sun and it burned her eyes, but she couldn't look away. "Remember when I used that pickup line on you when we first started texting. What was it again?"

           "'Are you ill? Because I think you're suffering from lack of vitamin me,'" Lizzy recited from memory.

           JJ blinked, eyebrows raised. "I'm surprised you remembered that."

           "You're kind of unforgettable, JJ."

           JJ blushed a deep red color. "Shit. You keep saying those things and it's making it very hard for me to concentrate."

           "What're you trying to concentrate on?" Lizzy asked. At the same moment, JJ leaned in and kissed her tenderly, his fingers dotting her jaw.

           His other hand gripped her forearm tightly as if he was afraid Lizzy would disappear again at any moment. Lizzy laced her own fingers through his hair and brought him closer, deepening the kiss, her teeth pressing onto his lower lip. JJ let out a sigh and loosened his grip.

           "You," JJ said breathlessly once he broke from the kiss in answer to Lizzy's previous question. Lizzy cradled his face in her palms. She mentally connected the dots on his cheeks as he whispered gruffly, "I love you, Lizzy."

           The word—love—surprised Lizzy and she dropped her hands, which JJ interlocked with his own. They had only really met a few hours ago but it seemed as if they had been friends for a lifetime. After she was kidnapped—that was when she guessed his love for her truly manifested. It was evident in his dedication to finding her.

           Lizzy wasn't sure if love was in the equation for her yet. When Chase had her locked in a bedroom, she had thought of her family and her friends—and she had also thought of JJ, her heart yearning after him and wondering what went wrong. The realization soon sank in that she hadn't been texting JJ ever since he was grounded, but there was still a part of her that felt some sort of affection for him. JJ muddled before her eyes—she saw Chase and his cruel features, the wonderful texts from JJ himself, the ones sent by Chase pretending to be JJ. Clearly she needed to sort through her thoughts and her experiences in Chase's apartment before she declared her love.

           "I—" Lizzy started to speak but her voice failed her when she saw his large, hopeful eyes. How could she break his heart like this? But you're not, she scolded herself. He'll understand and walk with you through this. "I can't say that to you yet. I'm—I'm not ready. I still have to sort through the texts—the ones from you and the ones from Chase. And the things I went through in there—" Lizzy's throat closed in upon itself, tears spilling onto her cheeks.