clueless [ T. SMITH ]

xxviii.

REAL LIFE

ELIZBABETH HAD JUST stepped out the shower, a towel wrapped around her body and her blonde hair cascading down her back in damp waves. she quickly towel dried her body, grabbing one of the many shirts she'd stolen from todd's closet. the moment the garment hit her skin her eyes began to well and she say down heavily on her bed, smelling the fabric as todd's cologne invaded her nose.

the pair had been radio silent for almost two weeks, going out of way to avoid each other in the house. when elizabeth had saw todd's comment on her post, she nearly passed out from shock – or overwhelming hope that maybe she wasn't hated by the boy.

as if her thoughts were spoken aloud, a knock at the door sent her head whipping to the side as she quickly shoved a pair of large sweatpants on. "who is it?" she called, not waiting for s response before she shoved the door open. toddy nearly fell from surprise at the quick reaction, blinking as eli clamped her mouth shut.

"hey, can we talk?" he asked as she nodded silently, opening the door a bit more before walking back into her room. he followed behind cautiously, smiling to himself at the sight of her in one of his missing shirts, his pants as well. "well, are you gonna talk?" she muttered and dropped to the bed, looking up at him as he swallowed uncomfortably.

"did you mean it?"

"mean it?" she pried for elaboration as he rubbed the back of his neck and took a seat on the opposite side of her bed. "when you said that stuff on the phone."

she laughed dryly and wiped at her eyes as toddy's heart instantly sank. "yea of course i did. do you think i would lie about something that big?" she whispered defensively as he shook his head quickly. "no, i'm not saying that," he spoke softly and ran a hand through his hair as he noticed the gloss in her eyes.

"okay? so what? you're here to rub in how great tristan is? i'm not in the mood todd," she stumbled over her words and sniffled once, looking at todd to see him laughing quietly to himself. "you're so beautiful when you cry," he gave her a half smile as she coughed and turned her face away from him. "what?"

"you, elizabeth bennett, are so beautiful when you cry," he stated again as she furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. "what are you on about?"

"you're beautiful when you do that weird thing with your hair that reminds me of an alien, you're beautiful in the morning when you look like you just lost your whole family to a pack of wild wolves. you, elizabeth, are so beautiful when you think things too far over and that's why i came to talk to you. i needed to tell you that."

she felt her mouth go dry as he looked at her, waiting for something to be said yet she couldn't fathom words. "fuck this, i hate waiting," he muttered and wrapped one hand around her wrist, the other going behind her neck as he pulled her mouth to his and pressed his lips firmly to hers.

elizabeth's head swam with thoughts before completely drawing a blank, instead, focusing on moving her lips against his. todd's hands dropped to her waist as he changed their position to hovering above the girl on her back. "you know that was me being too scared to say i love you outright, right?" he asked as he finally pulled away breathless, slightly nauseated by the silence.

"el?"

"you love me?" she asked, her voice barely audible as he looked down at her, captivated by her beauty. "yes. and i'm sorry i treated you like shit these past few days, i was fighting with myself because this just all seemed too good to be true," he stumbled over excuses yet none of them seemed to help his cause. truth was, he was scared. he'd loved elizabeth bennett for far too long.

"i love you, elizabeth. i love you," he looked at her wide eyes before leaning in again, doing the motion he'd wanted to do since forever.