YOUR POV
"That boy is so cute," my best friend, Emily gushed as she took a sip of champagne from her glass.
"What boy?" I asked sullenly, poking at the uneaten piece of chocolate cake on my plate in front of me. I was bored out of my mind. I hated weddings as much as I hated the sorority parties Emily always invited me to at our college campus. I wanted to leave so badly but I couldn't. It was my brother's wedding, and if I decided to just get up and run, my mother would probably disown me.
The music changed from a slow dance to an upbeat, electronic dance music which made my head pound. It was so loud, but it seemed as if I was the only one bothered by it. The other guests were getting up from their seats and making their way to the dance floor at the centre of the room. I spied my father trying to impress the crowd with his so called 'dance moves' and cringed. My mother stood at the food table, rolling her eyes at him.
I checked my phone for the time. Two hours more.
Great.
"Um, hello? Earth to Y/N?" Emily waved her hand in front of my face.
I turned to her. "Hm?"
She groaned. "I said, I wonder if he's single."
She shamelessly pointed in the direction of whoever she had been talking about and I followed her gaze. Standing at the side of the stage was a tall, blonde-haired boy who was wearing a tuxedo that fitted his body perfectly. He looked around my age, maybe a year older. There was an amused look on his face as he watched people file onto the dance floor.
"Maybe," I said to Emily. "Go talk to him."
Emily shook her head. "Are you kidding? I'd make a total fool out of myself."
I gave her a look. "Isn't it, like, your forte? I'm the awkward one, remember?"
Em just rolled her eyes and stood up. "Listen, I'm going to go freshen up in the powder room. I need to look my best before talking to him. Wanna come?"
"To the bathroom or to talk to him?" I asked.
She gave me a look and headed out the ballroom door, leaving me at the table alone.
"I was wondering when you'd be alone."
I whipped around and came face to face with the blonde boy Emily had been checking out. He held a wine glass in his hand but it was already almost empty. There was a calm smile plastered across his pink lips and up close I noticed that he had greenish-blue eyes. Not going to lie, he is cute.
I turned around to make sure that he'd been talking to me, which only made him laugh softly. "May I sit?"
I nodded, and he plopped himself onto Emily's empty seat next to me. He finished off the remaining wine and placed the empty glass on the table. He smiled at me again and said, "I'm guessing that you don't fancy weddings very much."
I cocked my head to the side. "Do I really look that bored?"
"You do," he replied. "Which side are you on?"
I took a sip of champagne. "The groom. He's my brother. I still can't believe he managed to get hitched to someone like her. You'd be surprise as to how much of a pig he is at home."
The boy chuckled. "Well, you look like you'd rather be somewhere else and so do I. What do you say we get away from all this for a bit?"
I looked at him to see if he was joking, but he wasn't. Instead, it kinda looked like he wanted me to say yes, with the way his pretty eyes stared into my own. It would be nice to get out of this crowded ballroom for a while. I could use some fresh air.
I placed my pointer finger on my chin and pretended to think. "Hmm. Go off with some stranger who could possible be a serial killer? I don't think that's my cup of tea."
"You think I'm a murderer?" he asked. But the tone in his voice assured me that he wasn't insulted. He sounded much more, well, amused.
"Who knows? I mean, you could be plotting ways to torture me right now," I answered and half-smiled.
He laughed and shook his head, his hair bouncing. It looked so soft I wish I could reach up and run my fingers through it and--
Stop. No. You barely even know this guy.
"Come on, we both know you need to get out of here. You in or not?"
It was only then that I realised he had stuck his hand out for me to take, to lead me to wherever he was going to, just the two of us.
I rolled my eyes and took his hand, following him.
-
An hour later, I found myself sitting on the rooftop of the Ritz-Carlton hotel, sipping on packets of cranberry juice we had stolen from the kitchen earlier. The view up here was so beautiful, with the streetlights below us looking like stars and the tiny people looking like mini figurines. There was a full moon that night and it shone brightly in the sky, illuminating the entire city.
"I'm Corbyn," the boy next to me suddenly said.
I looked at him, confused, but then it hit me that I hadn't even gotten to know his name. We'd been sitting up here this entire time, talking, getting to know each other, and I forgot to ask for his name.
Brilliant.
"I'm (Y/N)," I told him.
"(Y/N)," he repeated. "That's a beautiful name."
I blushed, my cheeks becoming hot. "Thanks for, you know, bringing me up here. I had a fun time."
"Me too," he said. He reached over to tuck a strand of my messy hair behind my ear. When his fingers brushed my skin, I felt shivers go up my spine.
We were silent for a moment, but it was the kind of comfortable silence that wasn't awkward. When I looked at him, all I could think of what how beautiful and unique his eyes were. Or the way his voice was so gentle and calm when he spoke. Or the way his smile could make you feel a hundred times better.
And as I was lost in my thoughts, I didn't even realise when Corbyn had inched closer to me and placed his soft lips onto my own.
The feeling was surreal, and although I've kissed a few boys before, this one felt so much different. It felt special, meaningful, as if I knew deep down that Corbyn would mean a lot in my life. If that even made any sense.
We pulled away a few minutes later.
"We, um, should probably head back down. I don't want my mother freaking out over the fact that I'm gone," I said. Corbyn nodded and gathered the empty juice packets, dumping them in the trash can near the door leading to the rooftop.
As we walked down together, I reached over and grabbed his hand in mine, and our fingers intertwined. Corbyn looked over at me and smiled shyly. We didn't say a word as we descended the stairs and back into the ballroom.
"THERE you are! I've been looking all over for y-"
Emily stopped mid-sentence, her eyes shifting from me to Corbyn to our hands. And to Corbyn's lips, which were stained with my pink lipstick. I started to speak, to explain to Emily about what had happened in case she got mad, but before I could, she smirked and wriggled her eyebrows at me.
"Looks like the next wedding I'll be attending is yours."
