The Search for Prince Charming

Chapter 19: Recovery

I wasn’t sure how long we stayed on my bed, just lying down. I was still covered by my blankets and Alviss was lying next to me, but on top of the sheets. His arm never seemed to tire from his constant motion of rubbing my arm through the sheets. We were quiet. Every once in a while, when small flashbacks of what happened to me occurred, I would shudder and begin to cry again. Alviss didn’t talk, but let me cry it out and gently continued to massage my arm. It was amazing how such a simple gesture managed to calm me down so much. Normally, I would’ve told him to stop and say I didn’t need his company; I could take care of myself. But, that wasn’t the case at the moment. It was the complete opposite.

“Alviss?” My voice was very hoarse. In fact, it didn’t even sound like I said I his name, but somehow he knew what I said. Alviss’ expression perked up when he heard me, wanting to know what I had on my mind. “Um,” I started, but I honestly didn’t know what to say. In my head, I felt like I knew what words were supposed to come out, the words to express my emotions. But the words wouldn’t form. I was really struggling with this.

“Don’t worry about it,” Alviss said, practically reading my mind. My eyes looked up at his. They were so bright against his dark hair that had fallen over them; I almost fell into a daze just looking at his eyes. He always did seem to know what I was thinking. He gave me a small smile again and gently leaned in to kiss me on the forehead. I initially jerked from it, but he so gentle. All I felt was the softness of his lips pressed against my skin, nothing more. “I’m just glad you’re safe,” he finished.

My heart suddenly began beating hard. I could feel my body getting hotter in an instant, feeling blood rush everywhere, especially my face. Just looking into Alviss’ face made me want to do something I never did without careful thinking. But this time, I wasn’t thinking. His face was still so close to mine, so I moved my body to get my face closer to his, until our lips met. When I kissed him, I was as gentle as he was kissing my forehead. There was no aggression in it, just the softness of our lips.

Alviss seemed to be surprised by my gesture. I would’ve been too, since the only other time I had kissed him was when Steph and I were threatening him and his friends. But this time, I was doing it so willingly. When I felt him kiss back, my heart started racing even more than before. His hand had stopping its rubbing motion to gently hold my arm. I began to remember how he’d kissed me in my kitchen the last time he was here. I remembered how gentle he was and how he left me wanting more when I knew I shouldn’t. I felt the same as I did then now, with our kiss being so tender. I kissed him again, this time with a bit more passion. Alviss responded well to it, kissing me back while moving his body closer to mine (even with some blankets in between us). We stayed like that for a few seconds, our lips pressing against each other and not wanting to separate.

When we finally pulled apart, I looked up again at Alviss. His eyes had turned slightly darker. It wasn’t like he was angry, but I could tell he wasn’t taking this as light-hearted as our previous kisses. He probably felt that there was something behind it, not just some whimsical desire to kiss him so suddenly. And he would be right if he was thinking that. At least, I thought so.

“May I ask what that was for?” he spoke, still keeping his voice low and quiet. I had to think about that for a moment. I didn’t want to say that I just felt like it, even though I knew a part of me did do that, but I had added a lot more emotion into it. He saved me, and he comforted me. I was grateful to him.

“It was my way of thanking you.”

Alviss’ eyes turned brighter now. He gave me a smile, a heart-warming one, and looked genuinely happy.

“Um, Alviss?”

“Hmm?”

“Can you get out of my room now?”