The Lesbian Gene (Lesbian, Gay, GirlxGirl)

Chapter 23: Facade

Chapter 23: Facade

The next morning couldn't come soon enough. And when it did, I was ready. Ready for Audra to wake up. Ready for her to try and pounce on me again.

All night, we had been playing this game of running away. All night, I had tried to successfully avoid her, which was not the easiest of tasks since she wanted to do 'stuff' I wanted to do as well. It was mortifying.

By the time she fell asleep, I was so drained myself that I couldn't stand up, so I just positioned myself across the corner and stared at the walls.

Now, before dawn, she was just stirring to wakefulness.

Her eyes— I could see, blinking into the semi-darkness.

My stomach made a back dive when she looked at me. "Pax?"

"Y-yeah?"

For a heartbeat of a second, none of us spoke. She was just staring at me with this incomprehensible look on her face, both hands tied duly to each other behind her back, her top and jeans strewn across the floor.

"What?" she whispered. "What had I done?"

I balked. "Don't you remember?"

Another silence. Another flutter in my stomach. And then she was getting up, and I knew she was back to normal. "Did you and I?" she trailed.

"No," I said, noticing the crack in her voice. "No." I repeated again, just to be sure she heard me.

A turbulence seemed to cross on her face, followed by such a poker one that permanently settled like a mask. I might have mistook the first one.

"Well then." She cleared her throat, straightened her shoulders. But didn't otherwise claim that I'd touch her, or had even done anything inappropriate while she was otherwise out of control.

I released the breath I'd been holding, but at the same time, a sharp, pointed pole seemed to impale in my throat. I knew I could never have her that way. Not willingly, or ever in our lives. And knowing that kind of unnerved me. More than anything else.

Audra started going to her clothes, muttering while she was at it. "It was the sage. . ."

"I know."

Her head turned to me, her eyes seemingly wanting to say something more. But then she didn't. She continued getting her clothes from the floor, then started working on the shoelaces I tied on her, while I myself, just glanced at my shoes, wanting to give her space.

A few minutes more, and she was sitting right beside me, fully clothed, exhaling a bit loudly, face turned towards the ceiling.

"I messed up. Big time," she murmured.

No. No, she didn't. And she should have known better.

Here she was; a victim of Dante's fudged up ways. And she was telling me that she had messed up, when in reality, the world owed her an apology. Especially me, for being lead on as well.

"Thank you," she said, all of a sudden. Like she didn't want to think too much about it, but at the same time she needed to. "I know I could never repay you for protecting me, Pax. For protecting me against me. So. . . Anything you want, I'm willing to give."

I scowled. Nothing. There was nothing more that I wanted more than her.

You. I wanted to scream. I want you, Audra.

I wanted to kiss her for real. Not the robbed first kiss that we had. I wanted to run my fingers down her hair while telling her it was okay. That I would never hurt her.