It Started with a Kiss

Chapter 2

"You know, sometimes it's nice to get away from it all," Aaron told me, as the last of his friends - whose name I had completely forgotten - had gotten up and left, leaving me alone with him. We were sitting out on the wooden deck, legs dangling over the edge, looking up at the sky that was currently blanketed with clouds; and up until now my pulse had calmed some, my mind had stopped racing and I had been able to relax for a bit, while joking and chatting away with his mates, not saying a word to him all the while. I physically couldn't say anything to him, which was so stupid it wasn't even funny. You know, normally I had no problem speaking to people; I mean, I was Tara Somers - always sure of herself, almost to the point of overconfidence. That was before Aaron, of course. Before Aaron I wouldn't be half as nervous. About anything.

I had counted the number of drinks Aaron had taken, which to be honest wasn't that many, and silently noticed how after each one, the effects of the alcohol began to take hold. He'd start to trip up a bit, lean on his mates a little more, that kind of thing. Surprisingly, however it had no effect on his voice, the deep baritone sound still affecting me in ways I couldn't describe. I probably would marry that voice alone, not to mention the rest of him. God, I had issues.

"What do you think?" he asked again, interrupting me from my thoughts, and I realised I was studying him like an art fanatic studied their first masterpiece. I seriously felt like banging my head into a brick wall right about now at being caught out.

    "Well, I believe that every creature needs to escape from their natural routine every once in a while." Great, now I sounded like a narrator on the Discovery Channel! Could I be any weirder? Just throw the bloody wall on top of me, because apparently banging my head off it doesn't work!

He just smiled and stared at me, which caused my heartbeat to quadruple. My God, that face was utterly amazing. I mean, seriously, the only word I could have used to describe it was wow. Almost flawless skin, high cheekbones, hair that I so desperately wanted to run my fingers through, a strong jaw, full lips and those eyes. I swore, I could have looked into those brown eyes all day, especially when he smiled. They seemed to turn so warm then, like liquid chocolate. Shaking my head a little to try and rid myself of whatever spell I was under, I looked at the fairy lights hung up above us, providing us with a little illumination to allow us to see out into the marshland below. It was once a lake, I think, but it dried up years ago, probably when I was around five years old. I then wondered did he know that, before chastising myself for relating everything back to him. Tonight was supposed to make me stop thinking of Aaron, not to allow me to think about him even more! Taking a few steadying breaths, I turned to look at The Freaking Image Of Perfection, before I moved closer to him slightly, every single fibre of my body tensed with both nerves and anticipation at what I was about to do. I just prayed things wouldn't catastrophically go wrong as I pressed my lips to his.

The kiss was wet, cold and frankly a little sloppy, but to me it couldn't have possibly been any better. He tasted like peppermint and beer, his hair was incredibly soft as I ran my fingers through it and the way he responded almost instantly was now sending shivers down my spine. His arms roamed freely around every reachable inch of my body, leaving trails of tingles as he did so, making my toes curl in pleasure. All my worries and fears seemed to have disappeared as our lips eventually moved in sync. Heck, all coherent thought seemed to have evaporated the minute I touched him, leaving only the feeling of his lips on mine, his skin on my skin. I never thought it'd be this good, in reality I believed I'd just kiss him and realise there was nothing there, but boy was I wrong. Amazing didn't even begin to describe it.

It was then I pulled away, realising suddenly that this was all just a little dream of mine, a fantasy really. He just sat there; breathing slightly heavier than before, a satisfied smirk on his face as he leaned back slightly on his elbows and suddenly it hit me. He didn't like me, I was just another girl who had come onto him when he was severely drunk, someone he'd forget about in the morning. I'd bet he didn't even know my name. I didn't know why that realisation hurt me so much, but it did. I felt like someone had physically punched me as I silently got up and began making my way back to the party. Unrequited love was a pain. I thought at that point I finally understood what Romeo was going through when Rosaline rejected him. I was sick of loving someone who didn't love you back. I just didn't realise how sick of it I was until now.

"Wait! Don't go. Just stay with me a little while longer, please Tara?"

I stopped in my tracks and turned around, taking in the sight before me. Ruffled shirt, tousled hair, swollen lips, freaking perfection. I just couldn't seem to go against what he wanted. So I stayed, moving back to my seat beside him, while he dragged me close as soon as I was in reach, causing my heart to race at an unnatural speed. He tilted my head up towards his before speaking again.

"Look, I know this probably sounds a little weird but I really want to kiss you again, can I?" My mouth went dry as my mind froze. He didn't like you like that, he did not like you like that, I chanted in my head but it was no use. The traitorous seeds had already begun to plant themselves in my heart and with that I whispered "yes" just before his lips crashed onto mine, causing me to fall into yet another pit of bliss.