Half a Heart •Ricky Bowen•

6

1 hour later

“Just switch your legs.. There you go!” Ella said, tapping his back leg. Ricky quickly switched his legs and smiled brightly. 

“Okay. Can we please take a break, I have another song I wanna dance with you to.” Ricky asked, all of a sudden feeling shy.

“Yeah of course. Which song? Umm Bet on it? Scream?” Ella asked, taking a sip of her water.

“Actually, I was thinking it could be ‘Can I Have This Dance?’ “ Ricky shyly asked.

Ella was surprised at his answer, “Oh, okay.”

Ricky casted the video onto his TV, he breathed in deeply as Ella held her hand out, listening to Gabriella sing, “Take my hand, take a breath, pull me close, and take one step.”

Ricky pulled Ella in towards him, he began to lead. “Why are we doing this?” Ella asked, not minding the fact that they were so close. “Remember that dance I promised you for your 10th birthday, “ Ricky paused to dip her, “but then I got sick with the flu?”

Ella let out a soft snort, regaining her balance as she stood up. “ So you’re making it up seven years later?” 

“Better late than never.” Ricky laughed, earning a wink from Ella. Ricky got thrown off by the small gesture once again and accidently stepped on her foot, causing them both to go down to the floor.

Ricky landed on Ella’s side, causing her to let out a groan of pain. Ricky pushed himself up on his elbow as he hovered over Ella.

“Oh my god are you okay? I am so sorry!” Ricky apologized, moving the strands of hair that were blocking her face. 

“You know for a scrawny kid you’re heavy.” Ella giggled, Ricky shook his head as he laughed at what just happened.

The laughter died down quickly as the two realized how close they were. Ricky’s breathing began to get heavy as Ella’s eyes moved to his lips. “Ella…” Ricky mumbled, taking in the light freckles that were on her cheeks.

“Yeah Ricky?” Ella whispered, her breath fanning over Ricky’s skin, causing him to nearly collapse. “Can I kiss you?”

“Please.”

Ricky lowered himself a little, his lips hovered over hers for a moment before Ella pushed herself up to meet him in the middle. So many things were running through her head at this moment. ‘Is this wrong?’ ‘Why does this feel right?’ ‘His lips are so soft’ ‘Did I really just say that?’

Ricky was thinking the exact things she was. He was enjoying this so much. He hasn't felt this rush of adrenaline in so long. He felt like he could do anything. His heart felt like it was beating a mile a minute.

Ricky pulled back to grab a breath of air before leaning in again, he couldn’t help but smile into the kiss. Ella’s hand reached up, playing and lightly tugging on the end of his hair. Ricky’s cupped the side of her face, his thumb lightly stroking her cheekbone.

The sound of Mr. Bowens' footsteps coming down the stairs broke the two apart. Ricky jumped up as Ella sat on the couch. Ricky quickly put on ‘We’re All in This Together’ as he began to practice his dance moves once again. Ella couldn’t help but think about what just actually happened. She kissed her best friend. Who’s trying to get his ex back? Damn.

“Hello Ella!” Ricky’s dad greeted her. “Hi Mr. Bowen.” Ella brighty smiled.

“Ricky it’s midnight. I thought you had a test tomorrow.”

“I do.”

“This is for a test?”

“Most important one of my life. That’s why Ella is here, she was teaching me.”

“Everybody now!” Ricky sang, Ella jumped up off the couch and began to dance along with him. 

“Hey dad, if you can’t sleep you can hang here, with us.” Ricky offered.

“Yeah Mr. Bowen! Come on.” Ella called out.

The pair danced in front of his dad for about an hour and a half, even teaching him some of the moves because he wanted to learn some.

“Alright, goodnight you guys. It was nice seeing you Ella.” Mr. Bowen kissed Ricky’s head and headed back upstairs. 

Ella looked through her backpack in the realization that she forgot her pjs. “ I am literally the dumbest person on earth.” Ella sighed as she clamped her hands on her face. “You forgot your clothes again?” Ella nodded her head.

“Pick whatever you want out of my closet.” Ricky laughed. He wanted to bring up the kiss. He wanted to admit that he felt like he was on the top of the world. How he got this feeling like there was a whole zoo in his stomach instead of butterflies. 

Ella ran upstairs into his room and picked out a loose band t-shirt. She used the bathroom to brush her teeth and do her thing. She looked at herself in the mirror and grinned at herself, still feeling the tingle on her lips after their kiss. She was still confused as ever, but now she couldn’t deny any feelings she was hiding. After walking back out, she saw Ricky holding a pillow and blanket in his hand.

“What are you doing?” Ella asked, throwing her hair up in a ponytail.

“I.. well I just figured you could get the bed and I’ll sleep on the couch.” Ella jokingly rolled her eyes.

“Get your ass in your bed. It’s fine Ricky. It was just a… a heat of the moment thing. It doesn’t change anything.” Ella said, lying at the fact that it changed everything, at least for her. How can she look at him now without wanting to kiss him? Ricky felt like her words were a harsh blow to the face. It didn’t feel like a heat of the moment to him, it felt like they wanted to do that for years.

Ricky quietly laughed as he threw the pillow and blanket back onto the bed. Ella laid under the covers, Ricky turned the light off and scooted in next to her. Their legs automatically tangled together as she rested her head on his arm, her right arm thrown on his torso.

“Goodnight Ricky.” Ella hummed, hearing his heartbeat pick up it’s pace. 

“Goodnight El.” Ricky whispered.

A few minutes passed by and Ricky was still wide awake, staring at the girl who laid next to him. He softly held onto her hand, his thumb rubbing her knuckles. He admired how her eyelashes barely touched the skin of her cheekbones. He noticed the rhythm of her breathing, thinking it was cute when she would scrunch up her nose. He stared at her lips again, taking note of how plump they looked, how they were slightly open. 

Ricky lightly kissed her forehead, “It changed everything for me.”

That was all Ella heard before falling into a deep sleep.