Before Take Off

19. they're staring at us

"When I first met her, I knew in a flash that I would have to spend the next few days re-arranging my heart so there'd be room for her to stay."

*

"The view's amazing up there," Lewis pointed out as we stood in line for the London Eye experience. I craned my neck up to look straight into his engaging eyes and smiled brightly.

"I'm sure that it is," I agreed, gulping down with a strange feeling, excitement. His lips were curled up into a cocky smirk and his eyes were gleaming with a faint mischief in them, as he crossed his arms across his firm chest. "What?" I asked as he was grinning amusedly down at me.

"Nothing," He shrugged off before reaching down to wrap one of my brown curls around his long and slim index finger. He pulled the lock down, stretching it until it recoils eventually. "You're pretty," He stated simply and I just nodded.

"Yeah, people tend to point that out a lot," I said, grinning up at him cheekily as he pressed his lips together to hold back a chuckle.

By the time we reached the front of the line to get on the London Eye, the sky had already been invaded by threatening grey clouds. I was only praying that the clouds would hold their tears back just a little while longer as I wanted to grab a decent view of the city as we made our way around the wheel.

We hadn't spoken much on our way to the London Eye, except that me filling him in on Rachel's birthday bash and the comedy play, which were on Friday night. However, as he had smiled so vibrantly, I purposely avoided telling him that I had decided on departing London in a couple of days.

When it was finally our turn to hop on the wheel, we were loaded into a glass pod after walking alongside it, as the wheel didn't stop turning. I took a swift glance at Lewis right before he grabbed my wrist gently and pulled me towards a spot that we could get a better view.

He dipped his hand in the back pocket of his jeans, pulling out his phone and pointed the camera at me. I blocked him from taking my picture, as I hastily extended my hands out before my face. "No-uh!" I protested, peeking at his chiseled face in between my fingers. "You can't snap a picture of me while I'm looking like this! I'm not even wearing any make-up."

He just smirked smugly and quickly draped one of his arms across my shoulders, pulling me closer into his chest. "We'll just have to take a selfie then," He stated simply, tapping at his phone to take a picture of us despite all my protests.

Once he was done, I wriggled myself out of his firm embrace and pouted with a feigned anger, only to have him widen his amused grin. "Don't be so proud of yourself Lewis, you've just caught me off guard there." I retorted, staring pointedly into his eyes.

He winked playfully before placing his thumb underneath the tip of my chin to lift up my face as he leaned in closer. "As I've mentioned before, I like the way you look today, Ayla. I just wanted to immortalize the moment." He muttered, his warm breath almost brushing over my lips as his signature lemon and cinnamon bun scent swirled all around me, pulling me into a bubble that only consisted of us. I couldn't help myself but shiver slightly as I nibbled at my lower lip, my minor action causing his hazel irises to slowly turn a shade darker. "And apparently so, you're admiring my looks as well."

I forced myself to roll my eyes in a mocking manner. "Yeah, whatever helps you sleep at night."

One corner of his lips twitched up amusedly as he gently turned my head towards the glass walls of the pod, having me notice that we had already ascended almost halfway up. "If I'm mistaken, why are you staring at my face rather than taking in the immense beauty of London?"