After Us

Chapter Twelve

As we approached Mile's town, I soaked in the new surroundings and a deeply happy feeling swept through to my core. It was a combination of everything new but also so familiar. People walking and talking with children. 

Mile's dad's house was huge, mansion huge. As we approached it and parked up in front, I was lost for words. It didn't make any sense considering how his mom was living in a tiny cottage house with Mile's sister.

"Does your sister ever visit here?" I asked him.

He switched off the engine and stepped out, "Sometimes. Mostly at holidays, she's not as close with him." I suddenly got nervous looking at the size of the house and the number of voices coming from inside. Miles got out and opened the door for me, what a gentleman.

"Miller!" A girl shouts and runs up to him to wrap her arms around his neck. Miles laughed easilyand hugged her back. An uncomfortable jealous feeling settled deep down in my stomach. She had blond messy hair that was in a messy braid and had artsy, bohemian, colorful clothing. After she let go of Miles she looked at me, "Stop!" she shouted, "Is this your girlfriend?" She ran up and hugged me. Miles laughed and put his hands behind his head.

"This is Ann, my best friend from when I used to live in San Brixton." Miles smiled and took my hand.

"I'm Tamara," the girl smiled and eventually let go of me, "Miles come and see everyone." She said and we both followed her inside. Everyone rushed up to Miles like he was the Prodigal son. I knew Miles was popular, but not this popular. He had so many friends and I had always just had Oliver. It was nice being around a group of kids my age. Miles and his friends jostled their way into the kitchen. I was going to follow until a boy who was alone in the living room asked me who I was. "I'm Annalise" I  smiled trying to be friendly but also surprised because I hadn't spotted him there. The boy didn't get up, he simply just sat there on the couch studying me with his piercing green eyes. He wasn't exactly being unfriendly but kept staring like he was trying to figure out what ice cream flavor he wanted. This rattled me and I felt my old awkwardness creeping back. Of course this happened just when I was trying to be more socially confident.

"So," he said, "you Miles girlfriend or what?"

I looked through the hallway to where I could see Miles standing by the sink chatting with the others.

"Miles and I are just friends," I say. I started to wonder if everyone was going to ask me this."I'm Tristian," he got up and stood in front of me, standing close. Too close in fact. Right in my personal space. He wanted to make me feel awkward but I wasn't going to allow him to see the effect he had.

"Nice," I said and pushed my hair back, "I'm going to say hi to the others."

"So what do you like to do for fun?" he asked.

"Hang out with friends?" I sounded so confused. I just met Tristan and I could already tell he was different from the others. I made my excuses and quickly left before he could ask me any more questions. I stepped into the kitchen into the warm comfort of the group. There were many hugs all around. The girls were sweet and the guys were chill. Miles appeared proud to introduce and I felt relaxed and excited to be part of this crowd of friends.

After chatting, Miles and I got our bags from the car and took them up to his room. It was very clean and smart. It smelt like vanilla, which was my favorite scent. "We have a guest room down the hall which you can stay in but I'll put your stuff here for now." he said.

I lay down on his bed, it was comfy, "Okay thanks." I smiled up at the ceiling.

"Or of course you could sleep here with me, I don't mind."

I sat up, "I remember when we used to do that when we were little," I smiled. Miles walked up to me and lifted his hands. I put my hand up to his and we locked our fingers together.

"Those sure were good days." He laughed.

"I've missed you, Miles." I quietly say. He shifts his fingers between mine and the room got quiet. His eyes were on mine and I couldn't look away. He softly moved his hands to my face. I looked into his eyes I felt butterflies in my stomach. He stopped and started to look at my lips and then back to my eyes. I didn't move as we both naturally moved our faces closer. His hands felt cold but warm at the same time. "Miles," I whispered, and before I could finish he kissed me. Miles Miller kissed me. I leaned back into the bed and he followed. I didn't think about it, it all happened so fast. Miles Miller was on top of me kissing my lips.

It all stopped when his bedroom door opened and a lady came in. "Oh my goodness," she said aloud but not yelling loud, "I'm so sorry I didn't-" Miles looked down at me and smiled an apologetic smile, and then got up. I was out of breath from what just happened I couldn't move.

"It's okay," he went to open the door again and hugged her, "this is Ann." I had no words and just lifted myself from bed and shook her hand.

"Hi Ann, I'm Linda, Miles's stepmom. It's so nice to meet you, hun." She was so nice and was smartly dressed. I also adored her British accent. "I just wanted to say hi because everyone said you got back Miles. I should've knocked."

"Don't worry about it, we were just unpacking." Miles laughed and secretly grabbed my hand from behind him, where Linda couldn't see.

Linda smiled and nodded at Miles, "Your dad just went to the gym so he'll be back soon." she said.

"Sounds good, we'll come down," Miles says and she closed the door. We could hear everyone calling our names so we decided to head down. Miles's dad soon got back he was very nice as well. I hadn't seen him for so long so it was nice to catch up with him again. Some of Miles's friends went home and some stayed for dinner. When dinner finished all I could think about was our kiss. I had never kissed a boy before and Miles seemed like an expert. Has he kissed someone before? Was I bad? Did the kiss mean we were dating? All the questions filled my head and I couldn't think.