The Kiss Bet July 2022 Ship Challenge

#18 Wait

Sara-Lin was trying to play it cool. She was fairly sure that she was failing, but she refused to stop trying. It'd been this long already, It's not like a LITTLE longer would kill her.
Only it felt like it would. She felt like she was having a heart attack, and every time she so much as caught his eye she could barely breath.

"Congrats man! You're finally an adult!"
The loud voice pulled her back out of her mind and into the room again.
'Remember where you are Sara-Lin' she thought. 'You're not alone right now. No spacing out or running your mouth. Keep it together.'
Today was the day Oliver turned 18. As someone who really wasn't into birthdays he wasn't actually celebrating it. However people still had been mentioning it, since it was an important life milestone year.
He hadn't invited anyone to his place but Patrick was next-door visiting Sara-Lin, so when Oliver decided to come over he was there to greet him.

"Anything you're excited to be able to do now that you're all grown up?" Patrick asked smirking at Oliver, while he looked back unimpressed.
"I might be 18, but it's not like it really matters. I don't honestly see it changing my life at all. Graduating last month, that mattered. But I don't care so much about this. I didn't do anything to make it happen besides just breathing."
"Yeah but! You can! ...I mean... there's things..." Sara-Lin started speaking and realized she could NOT say what she was actually thinking, so she just kinda stopped.
Oliver blinked at her several times and tilted his head inquisitivly. "I mean, did turning 18 really change YOUR life that much?"
"Noooooooo... but that was different! I was still in school! And." Sara-Lin quickly stopped. She really was not doing herself any favors in this conversation.
"And what?" Oliver asked, having noticed her cut herself off.
Sara-Lin looked at Oliver, then to Patrick,  and back to Oliver.
She figured she would EVENTUALLY have this conversation, but not now. And ABSOLUTELY not in front of anybody else.
Patrick noticed her shifting eyes and cleared his throat "Hey, I just realized I need to take off. I got some stuff to take care of." He quickly stood up and started walking towards the door "I'll catch you guys later."

As soon as he left there was a shift in the air.
When Oliver had showed up Sara-Lin and Patrick had been on the two ends of the couch, so Oliver had sat in the middle.
Now that Patrick was gone he shifted his body to fully face Sara-Lin so they could carry their conversation better, but didn't move further away.
Sara-Lin shifted to match facing him as well, their knees pressed against each other.
"Soooooo... why did Patrick have to leave for you to tell me why being 18 is important?" Oliver pushed his glasses up his nose and put his hands on his knees, fingers just barely brushing hers.
"Ummm... Well... I guess I first off have to ask... is there REALLY nothing you can see changing in your life due to being 18? Nothing you've been waiting to do?" She tried to keep how nervous she was about his answer to the question out of her voice, fighting the urge to fidget but not being able to stop from turning pink.
"Nothing that I can think of? I can tell that you're obviously upset about that, and I'm sorry if I'm missing something important. Did I promise you something at some point? Did we have a conversation about something?" Oliver asked Sara-Lin, trying to figure out what could possibly be bothering the girl.
"No! We never talked about anything! I think I maybe... misread some things. That's my problem, not yours." Sara-Lin looked away and suddenly the thought of trying to look back was so overwhelming she felt like she would die if she had to.
"Misread some things like... what?" Oliver asked slowly.
"I think I thought that you were maybe... more emotionally invested in our relationship than you are. Or maybe just... invested in a... different way?" She stumbled through trying to say what she meant without giving away to much.

Oliver stared at her for a moment. Was she asking what he thought she was asking? Because she'd never showed any sign before... but if she wanted to ask he wasn't going to lie to her.
"You mean the fact that I've been in love with you since I was 16?" He said bluntly.
Sara-Lin's eyes shot up, suddenly not so difficult to do. "Really? You mean it?" She asked not fully believing him, despite the fact that she's the one who had just told him she thought he liked her.
"Really. I mean it. Loved you since I was 16. What does that have to do with me turning 18?" He made direct eye contact and held it firmly. If he was going to do this, he was going to do it for real.
"I thought you were waiting to make a move until you were 18 because I was over 18! That's why I've been waiting! Because I thought the legal gray area of our age difference made you uncomfortable!" Sara-Lin threw her hands up and gave an exasperated breath.
"Oh." Oliver blinked and turned bright red as he realized what she was saying. Sara-Lin liked him back. And from the sounds of it, had for awhile.
"I honestly just didn't think you were interested. I also didn't realize you knew I liked you, so that's a little embarrassing to realize I was more obvious than I thought." He shrugged his shoulders a little, and as it moved his arms and hands he was suddenly VERY aware of where his fingers touched Sara-Lin's leg. Did she notice? Did she... like it? Considering the fact he now knew she liked him, he felt like he could probably assume she did right? Should he put his hand on her knee? Was that to much to soon?
As he was internally panicking about knee touching, Sara-Lin shook her head and spoke "Don't be embarrassed, I'm glad you were kinda obvious. It helped me figure out my feelings and then kept me hopeful. And the reason I was so careful to not show MY feelings was exactly what I said. I didn't want to make you uncomfortable with the age difference. I just assumed you were waiting until you turned 18 and then you'd confess, I'd tell you I felt the same, and we could be together. I had no idea you thought you were being so secretive and didn't intend to tell me."
As she was talking she reached out to where Oliver's fingers were brushing her knees, entwined their fingers together, and put their hands down together on top of her knees.
'Well I guess she solved that.' Oliver thought to himself smiling at where their hands were together.
"I had, and have, no issues with our age difference. That doesn't bother me at all. I'm sorry that you felt you had to hide your feelings for my comfort, but I'm glad you ending up talking to me about it now. Because you're right, I probably wouldn't have brought it up. But now that we both know how the other feels... I'm assuming this means we can be together?" He fiddled with their shared thumbs.
Sara-Lin broke out into laughter "Oliver, I have not waited for you this long to NOT be together."

As the redhead continued to giggle with a wide smile Oliver decided that he had let her take the lead enough for one day, and it was time for him to make a first move.
He breathed in deep, taking one hand out of hers and placed it on her cheek. Leaning in he paused with his lips just a millimeter away from hers for a moment, giving her a chance to back away.
When she didn't he finished closing the gap, both of them closing their eyes as he did so.
It was just a quick brush of lips, a gentle thing with just a moment of any real pressure. But it was better than anything either of them could've dreamed of because it was real and it was them.
"I can't tell you how long I've been waiting to do that."