Broken

Fourteen.

I paced in my kitchen. The only sound in my apartment was my bare feet slapping the hardwood floor with every step. The clock on the stove read 4:58 for what seemed like two hours.
A knock at the door startled me into a gallop to it. I messed with my ponytail and fixed my shirt. Mykie insisted I wear something revealing but I eventually had her settle on letting me wear a baggy shirt with black leggings. I opened the door to a smiling Chris holding a six pack of 805 beer. We greeted each other with an excited 'hey' in unison and a hug.

"Thank you for coming over and bringing my favorite beer!" I celebrated by shaking my fists in front of me. Chris chuckled as I invited him inside.
"Of course!" He walked into the apartment. I inhaled his cologne as he walked past me. I closed the door behind him and caught up to him inside.
Chris leaned onto the tall island counter as he talked about the broken camera and how it would actually take a few days. I took out two beers from the case, opened them with a bottle opener and set one down in front of him. I put the rest into the fridge before facing him again. I held up the beer bottle. He clinked his bottle to mine. We kept our eyes on each other while we gulped down the cold beer. I pointed to his head, swallowing the liquid quickly.
"Oh, my god! No hat!" He nodded his head, pushing his messy hair around with his fingers. He shrugged a shoulder. "I like being able to see your eyes." I bit my bottom lip. Seeing his cheeks turn red makes me wish I had kept that thought in my head instead of blurting it out. He didn't say anything. He only smirked and blinked his eyes back and forth from me to his beer. I cleared my throat. "Yeah, so the scripts are in my room." I gulped down almost the entire beer as he followed me into the room.

I placed the bottle on the small nightstand next to my bed. I sat at the head of my bed so I could rest my back on a stack of pillows. I criss-crossed my legs, handing Chris one of the scripts from the nightstand. He sat down at the foot of my bed but kept a respectful distance. His body was facing me, one leg dangling off the bed with the other bent in front of him. He managed to keep his beer bottle in the crevice of his legs.
I flipped to the page of the courtroom scene with all my messy notes. He chuckled at the notes even on his copy of the script. He drank his beer and read the notes.
"How can you read my writing?" I asked, astounded. He shook his head.
"I can make out a word or two." His fingers traced along the scribble. I exaggerated my laugh at him which made him laugh in return.

I drank the rest of the beer. I excitingly listened to his explanation of what he wanted to see for the beginning part of the scene. He held out his hand for the bottle. I handed it to him, smiling. He continued to explain the scene as he walked into the kitchen and grabbed more beer for us. I stared at him entering the room again, handing me an opened beer. I thanked him and nodded my head. We had now been discussing the scene for an hour. I could listen to him talk for hours more.
He returned to the same seated position, still talking, now a little closer. The reduced space made me nervous. I mentally told myself to ignore it so I drank more of my beer.

"Now this part will be interesting." I dropped my eyes to the part of the script he was pointing to. I gulped the beer aggressively reading the words about a kiss between me and Tommy before he was taken away to prison. I raised my eyes back to him. I lifted my eyebrows in question.
"Why would it be interesting? We have had a ton of kissing scenes." I took another drink of the beer. He lowered his eyes.
"I keep getting jealous of Hardy." He said gently. He started to peel the label from the bottle between his legs. I frowned my eyebrows at him, now even more confused. I put my beer on the nightstand.
"What? Why would you be jealous of him?" He kept his eyes away from me. I examined the way he moved closer to me to place his beer on the nightstand. His eyes met mine slowly as he spoke.

"He gets to kiss you." He let out a nervous chuckle. A smile curled my lips causing him to drop his eyes again.
"Chris." His eyes met mine at the sound of his name. I scooted closer to him. "If you want to kiss me, you could just ask me." His eyebrows lifted and the smile faded.
"Can I kiss you?"
"No." I said sternly. He dropped his eyebrows. I instantly burst into laughter.
"Awww! I thought you—" I maneuvered my knees under me so I could grab onto his shoulders for stability. He lifted his head. Even with his thick beard, I could see him aggressively swallow the lump in his throat. I tightened my grip on his shoulders.
"Ask me again."
"Can I kiss you?" He muttered. I licked my lips and nodded my head. We inched our faces closer and closed our eyes. Our lips touching fueled a fire inside of me. A fire that I haven't felt before. I pushed myself away from him by his shoulders and was met by the same expression on his face that I'm sure I had. Pure shock.

"Whoa." I whispered.
"Whoa." He repeated. His movements were so fast they made me gasp loudly. He cupped my face with his hands and kissed me deeper. I fell back onto the pillows, allowing him to bring himself between my legs. The kiss was becoming raw and passionate.
"Chris...wait." I tried to say between kisses. He jolted his body away from me.
"Oh, fuck. I'm sorry. I'm s-s-so sorry." He stuttered, putting his hand over his mouth and closing his eyes. I sat up and placed my hands on his legs. His hands rested near mine.
"No, no! I want to be honest with you. I don't want to assume your intentions because I'm not looking for a fling right now and you're my director so this—"
"I like you." He interrupted. I dropped my shoulders as quickly as I dropped any expression in my face. "I really like you." I couldn't find words to say. "I'm going to guess that with the way you were kissing me back that you..might..reciprocate that..feeling?" He stumbled on his words again. I nodded my head gradually.
"I like you too." We both smiled at each other. He leaned himself to me but I pushed him away by his chest. "I think we should wait until the divorce is final. It'll help us take our time with..." I motioned my hand between us then returned it to his chest. "...this." He nodded his head.

"Yeah. I agree."
"Good." I said smiling uncontrollably wide. He overpowered my push against his chest. Easily. I giggled and shook my head at him. He pecked a kiss onto my lips so gently, it made me giggle again at his beard tickling the delicate skin.
"I have been wanting to kiss you for so long." His lips touching mine as he spoke. I gave him a peck on his lips then dropped my head. "What's wrong?"
"But I'm so broken." His hands cupped the sides of my face again, bringing my eyes to his.
"Maybe I'll be your glue gun." We smiled at each other.
"Maybe." I held onto his wrists. "For now, you can be my bandaid." His deep kiss pushed me back to the pillows. I felt him smile in the kiss.