burning bridges.

sixteen

elijah forgot how to breathe. he physically didn't know what to do when he felt dominic's lips on top of his. his eyes were open wide, his whole body frozen.

somehow it helped, holding his breath. it was like his brain shut down the moment the older captured his trembling lips, barely allowing him enough space to move.

he realized he'd stopped shaking, and slowly but surely, he relaxed his posture, sinking into the the taller's hands (that were still placed on his cheeks). eventually even his eyes fluttered shut.

it was nothing more than a peck, their lips softly brushing against one another. after a short ten seconds dom let go of his grip on the shorter, stepping away and looking at the ground with a slightly hanging jaw, probably just as startled himself.

elijah's breath had evened, and the tightness in his chest lessened. he didn't know why he didn't freak out when dom kissed him. i mean, it was unforeseen and eerie, especially since it came from the one person he thought he despised the most in this world.

he let out a long breath, looking back up at the older.

he was about to speak up, but before he was able to say anything, dominic stormed out the front door, leaving all his stuff in the younger's kitchen, including his phone.

-

"wha- he actually kissed you?" asked louis as the younger kept the device to his ear.

"yeah, it was so weird and abrupt, i was uh.. nervous about the project, and he kissed me. he just bluntly left right after." replied elijah, speaking through his phone. he decided not to mention his panic attack for several reasons.

one of those reasons being that he didn't want louis to worry. the boy seemed like the type to shoot questions at the person he was agonizing over, and elijah wasn't sure if he currently had the mental power to endure that.

he was seated on his bed, calling with louis. ever since dom stormed out and left his stuff, elijah had been thinking about what the hell happened (why wouldn't he?).

dom's phone was laying on the small bedside table, his other stuff in his backpack propped against the leg of the nightstand. elijah turned his head to look at it, and sighed.

"he left all of his stuff here, i don't know what to do with it. i can't contact him because.. well he left his phone as well." explained the younger.

louis let out an 'eh' sound, "you could bring it to his door tomorrow or something? i don't know."

"haha, very funny. you really think i'm going to face him? pronto after what happened?" said elijah. he looked out at his fumbling fingers, trying to imagine what that conversation would sound like. he internally cringed.

"sooner or later you're gonna have to talk to him. it's dominic, for heaven's sake. he's never gonna mention to anyone that he kissed a boy." advised the younger. "in the end, you're the one pulling the strings."

"the one pulling the strings? what does that even mean?"

louis continued, seemingly very invested in elijah's love life. "you'll probably give him his stuff back tomorrow at school. he's never going to say a word to you, we both know it takes more than batting your eyelashes for him to speak up, so if you want that project of yours finished, you're talking to him."

elijah groaned, bidding goodbye to louis and ending the call. he let himself fall down on his back, closing his eyes. as his head hit the pillow, he replayed the event in his head, over and over again.

dom kissed him.

he and dom kissed.

they kissed.

lip on lip.

he could find absolutely no reason to why he would pull such a thing. not even a week ago the boy admitted he didn't even think of elijah as a friend, let alone liking him or something. besides, dom was the straightest person he'd probably ever find. it made no sense.

and so, once again, he found his mind completely and utterly consumed with dominic, and dominic alone.