When we were young | Chris Evans

Chapter 9

Being in his presence always felt easy to me. It felt right. As much as I hated him for what happened, I was trying so hard to resist slipping my hand into his, falling back into old habits I guess. I hadn't dated that much since Chris, I had one actual relationship which lasted about a year but other than this it was just strings of meaningless dates. No one ever lived up to him, no matter how much I tried to pretend they did. Sneaking a gaze at the man walking beside me, I felt my heart drop. I knew he never felt the same way nor would he ever. I've seen the long line of glamorous models and actresses willing to throw themselves at him. No matter how good I felt about myself, I would always be below average compared to them. I hated myself for the way he still made my stomach churn, even after all these years.

We turned the corner of the once busy street, onto a quieter one. The buzz from a small café known as Ember's could be heard from where we stood. "You gonna murder me?" Chris questioned, a small smirk playing across his face.

"As tempting as that sounds, I don't think Lisa would be too happy with me" I fired back. He hummed a response before I began to walk towards the café. I watched him pull his baseball cap down, a failing attempt to cover his face. I scoffed and rolled my eyes at this gesture, opening the door to walk inside. Shooting a smile at my favourite barista Joe, I continued to stroll through the café  toward the stairs. I could hear Chris' heavy footsteps behind me, even through the music playing. I pushed open the heavy glass door which led to the destination. Different colours danced across the garden as the sun shone through the stained glass hanging from the willow tree. I pulled my camera up to take a quick shot of the stained glass. Chris stepped in front of me, brushing his hand against the multi-coloured glass, creating a soft twinkling sound. Different shaped mirrors hung on the fence opposite the tree. Each mirror had a unique intricate pattern across the frame. I crouched down and began to snap photos of the mirrors. Moving ever so slightly in order to catch the variety of colours reflecting through the mirrors.

After I had felt somewhat satisfied with the photographs I had taken, I slumped down onto a bench under the tree. "This place is great!" Chris acknowledged, these were the first words he had said since we had got here, not wanting to disrupt me.

"I quite like it" I grinned "you want a drink?". He nodded in response as he sat down next to me, removing his baseball cap. I pushed myself off the bench and walked towards the door which led back into the café. Once I was back inside I saw the smug grin of Joe behind the counter. "Two strawberry lemonades please" I smiled as I pulled my purse out my bag.

"So we aren't gonna talk about Mr. McHotty pants that you walked in with?" Joe raised his eyebrow at me.

"Nope!" I replied, handing him a five dollar bill and stepping away from the counter. Once the drinks were ready I carried them out to where Chris was sat. I could feel his eyes on me as I was attempting not to spill the drinks. Glancing up momentarily, my eyes landed on his ocean blues, making my heart do a weird flip-flop thing. This distraction caused my hand to jolt, making me spill the drinks. "Fuck!" I gasped as the freezing cold liquid drenched me. Next thing I knew Chris was beside me, taking the remains of the drinks out of my hands and placing them on a near-by table.

"I've always admired your talent to be such a clutz" he chuckled, earning a hard slap to his chest from me, "hey! at least you always look beautiful doing it!" he protested.

"Yeah right!" I flashed a sarcastic smile. I swear his eyes darkened in a mischievous manner as he leant down and kissed my neck. My heart was thumping so hard as he did so, I'm surprised there wasn't an earthquake.

"Tastes good" he smirked as he licked his lips, "the lemonade I mean" he added after a pause, he must of seen my cheeks flare up. "We need to get you something to wear, where is the nearest store?"

This question forced me to snap out of whatever was going on inside my body right now, "Err- a couple of blocks from here" I stammered, trying as hard as I could to compose myself. He left the garden and I followed.

~~~

Racks and racks of clothes surrounded us. Chris was adamant that he got to pick and pay for what I wear. Any time I attempted to pick up an article of clothing it would get snatched out of my hands, and shoved back onto the rack. I sighed and gave up, retreating over to a chair in the corner of the shop. After what felt like the longest 10 minutes of watching Chris flick through racks, nibbling on his bottom lip concentrating, he finally came over to where I was sat and handed me a dress. Rolling my eyes I took it out of his hand and stepped into a dressing room. Carefully I slipped the soaking, stained dress over my head. I silently prayed that it wouldn't be permanently stained. Taking the dress off the hanger I slipped it on, not realising that it had a lace-up back. Sighing in frustration, I reluctantly pushed the curtain open. Chris was sat on the stool just outside the dressing room, it was a rather comical sight, due to the fact that he was very large and the stool was very small. He glanced up from his phone, raising his eyebrows as his eyes trailed over my body. The dress was undeniably gorgeous, it clung to my body in all the right places, the colours complimenting my skin. (see dress at the top of the page). I spun around, silently asking him to tie up the back. He complied, I could see my reflection in the mirror inside of the dressing room, he appeared behind me. His cool fingers brushed down my back, carefully tying the string up. Moving his hands down to my waist where they lingered for a moment, he looked up making eye contact with me in the mirror. A smirk played on his lips as he spun me around to face him, his hands still firmly placed on my hips. Those beautiful ocean pools stared down at me, creating rapid butterfly movement in my stomach. One of his hands moved from my waist and cupped my face. Brushing my cheek with his thumb, he glanced from my eyes to my lips. I knew exactly what was coming. His thumb moved from my cheek to my bottom lip, gently caressing it. My heart beat quickened as he began to lean down. My body seemed to voluntarily comply with what was about to happen even though my head was screaming for it not to. Before I could shut my brain up his lips were on mine. I can't explain the feeling it gave me but it just felt right. The kiss begun light but we both grew hungry for it. My hands had travelled up into his hair, lightly tugging on it, earning him to groan into the kiss. His hands which were once on my hips, now had a firm grasp on my arse. Pushing me back into the dressing room and drawing the curtain, it almost made a switch flick on in my head. I pushed my hands against his chest. Forcing the kiss to end. Both of us were breathless for a moment. A smug smile crept onto Chris face.

"I'm not doing this with you again" I whispered. That smug grin soon turned into a frown, not understanding what I meant. "I'm gonna go pay, I'll meet you outside" I added, deliberately making an effort not to make eye contact with him as I knew the affect it has over me. Chris furrowed his eyebrows but left the room without saying anything. I turned around, looking at my reflection in the mirror. I smoothed my dress and hair out before leaving, taking my dirty dress with me. After explaining the situation to the lady behind the counter, I paid and left the shop where Chris awaited outside.

The sun was beginning to set, creating an orange haze across the city. We walked in silence, I could feel his gaze on me every now and again but chose to ignore it. Finally we made it to his hotel where I said a quick goodbye and rushed off into the crowded New York sidewalk.