When Darkness Dawns

Dead Meat

I truly have no words to describe what I'm feeling. Fuck, all I can think is ecstatic, but that isn't nearly a big enough word to describe the way my heart feels like it's about to burst at the seems.

I'm hugging all my guys before I leave--ha! my guys--having adamantly stressed earlier the need for me to go home. I'm pretty sure Karen is home tonight, and I really don't want her to catch me sneaking in. God, the punishment I'd get would be brutal.

I plan on going out again tonight, like I do most nights, just maybe not as long as usual. I have to be up early tomorrow because I have plans with Nathan, Kota, and Victor. A small part of me thinks that maybe things might be moving a little too fast between us, but then the bigger part of me quickly squashes down those nagging thoughts. What we have, while it may be new and sudden and the farthest thing from conventional, it's just... perfect.

When I step in front of Corey, my face flushes. He grins big and playfully.

"Is this the part where we kiss again?" he leans down to whisper cheekily.

I giggle. "As long as it doesn't make anyone feel uncomfortable. This is all so new... I wouldn't want to ruin it before it's even begun."

"Trust me, sweetie, there's no way you could possibly ruin this."

"Well, in that case," I giggle again, standing on my toes and leaning in to give him a kiss. It's short but so incredibly sweet that I feel my lips tingling at the sensation. When I go to pull back, he leans in again to give me another, causing me to laugh once more. With a couple more pecks, he's finally deemed it sufficient and pulls back with a shit-eating grin.

I can feel the weighted stares of all those around us.

"Oy! Trouble, why didn't I get one?" Gabe whines, making me turn to him with a shy smile.

"Corey and I might've kissed already," I reply, causing an onslaught of questions all at once, the most prominent being Raven and North's.

"Malen'kaya sobaka, why didn't you tell me?!" That question was more meant for Corey, I can tell. Mostly because he said little dog instead of little bird. I find it cute we have similar terms of endearment, though I don't understand why I'm a bird and Corey's a dog. Taking the phrase pet names a little too seriously, I guess.

Just at the same time North shouts, "What the fuck? Corey got to kiss Baby before me?!"

I can't help but snicker at the emotions flying around the room. "Yeah," I say, addressing everyone, whose questions were all very similar, "I did kiss Corey first, but not because I like him more. Only 'cause it was the right time."

"When did this happen, Miss Sang?" Owen asks.

I smirk a little. "After we finished swimming. Corey took me up to his room to give me some clothes. We started talking and, I don't know, it all just felt--"

"Perfect," Corey finishes, drawing me into him, pressing my back against his front. My body seems to fit against his perfectly.

"Yeah," I wistfully agree.

"W-would you have kissed me?" Kota asks. "The day we met in the library, I mean. Like, I know it might've felt too soon for a normal person, but it felt so right to me..." he begins to trail off, I think realizing he was rambling a little.

I beam at him, hoping my next words are just the right ones he needs to hear in this moment. Kota is absolutely gorgeous, the epitome of handsome. Of all of them, I think, technically, he, Luke, Victor, and Mr. Blackbourne are considered the most conventional kind of beautiful--though they're all equally just as handsome in their unique ways, all so different from each other. But Kota, Luke, Victor, and Mr. Blackbourne just look like the models you'd find on the cover of a magazine.