The Boys are Back in Town

The Boys are Back in Town: Sixteen

It was a relief to know that it wasn't just me. I could feel Alek's pulse quicken where my hand rested on the side of his neck. He regarded me for a moment, pupils blown so wide they drowned grey in his eyes. And then he kissed me.

His kiss was both familiar and new. I had faded memories of an innocent peck at the age of ten, and a few not so innocent at fifteen. I envied the fullness of his lips, but never when they were kissing me. His hand was on my waist, partly to keep me balanced, partly to hold, and his fingers tightened when I tilted my head. I'd kissed Alek before but the hunger in his kiss now was new. When he broke away, I laid my head on his shoulder and tried to catch my breath. My head was spinning.

"You sure know to overwhelm a girl," I managed to say. My chest was still heaving.

Alek helped me down the tree, and when my feet were on the ground he pulled me to him. I lifted my head as he pushed my hair back and placed a lingering kiss on my forehead. "Let's get you home."

Without discussing it, I handed him my car keys and he took my hand and walked me home. I knew he would return my car first thing in the morning.

"Why?" was the first thing he said.

"I'm not a hundred percent sure," I admitted. "But after you drove me home I realized I didn't know what I was waiting for. I didn't know why I was making you wait anymore. It made sense to me before you left, why we had to break up-"

"You said it was because we were too young," he said. My grip on his hand tightened.

"Alek, I still think we're too young. But I couldn't see the point in waiting until we're older," I swallowed. "It killed me the first time I broke up with you, but after what happened I was scared we were going too fast."

He released a breath. "You'll get tired of me, get bored, your feelings will fade, you'll fix your eyes on someone else, break up with me and it'll be so bad our friendship will never be the same."

"What?"

"You're afraid of that happening too, aren't you?"

When I nodded, he continued. "You're worried if we start too early, those cliches will break us apart."

"Yes," I said, my voice breaking.

"Me too," he said. "Even now, even after all this it hurts to want you."

"Alek -"

He nodded towards my house, and it barely registered in my head that we were already in my neighborhood. He tugged gently on my hand until I was facing him. The light from the streetlamp lit the bronze in his hair, and I couldn't resist pushing it back from his forehead. His eyes fluttered close for a second.

"Clair Matthews," he said quietly. "Did you know that I loved you since you threw that cake at me?"

My fingers trembled on his head. "Yes." He'd told me when I was fifteen. He said he couldn't stop thinking about the girl who threw cake at him and five minutes later helped him wash the icing off. First crushes are so precarious, he'd said.

"Did you know that I missed you so much I thought it would drive me crazy?"

"No," I whispered.

"Did you know I would have waited, however long it took you to get here? I wasn't going to say, or do, anything until I knew you were ready."

"I'm ready," I said quietly. I had never been more sure.

He smiled. "So it begins."

"Continues," I whispered. "So it continues."