SNAKESKIN (Tangerine) ✓

二十二

Tangerine

"Tang?"

I glanced up from the briefing I was going over. It was for an upcoming job in London and Lemon, Bronte and I were all going. Speaking of Bronte; she was standing at the door to the study, leaning against the doorframe with a content smile on her face.

"Hey, Bronte." I swivelled around in my chair and crossed one leg over the other. "What's up?"

"Not much," she said, entering the room and walking over to me. I tilted my head up to look at her as she stopped right in front of me. "Lemon's gone out for a bit." She leaned forward, placing her hands on my shoulders. "What are you doing?"

I stood up, snaking my arms around her waist, her hands still on my shoulders. "We've been hired for a job in London next month." I leaned forward, placing a gentle kiss on her forehead. Her smile widened and she moved her arms more so to wrap around my neck. "Will you come?"

"Of course." Bronte nodded, her fingers running through the hair that fell to the nape of my neck. "I'll go wherever you go." She pulled me slightly closer. "You know that."

With a nod, I tightened my arms around her, resting my forehead against hers. She leaned against me, closing her eyes in contentment. I did the same, feeling completely at ease in her company. We rarely shared moments such as these, but I cherished the ones we did. Living with my brother and always working definitely hindered our relationship, but I wouldn't trade any of it for the world.

I opened my eyes a crack, noticing the peaceful smile on her face as we held each other. My breath caught in my throat as I tilted my head up ever so slightly, catching her lips with my own. Her eyes sprung open, meeting mine in surprise. I let a breath out of my nose, my eyes crinkling in humour, but I didn't pull away. Neither did she; she just rolled her eyes, before closing them and kissing me back. I held her tight, savouring the moment like it could be the last.

Bronte was the first to break away, leaning back as far as my arms around her would allow. She had a huge smile on her face, reaching all the way to her eyes as she let out a breathless laugh. I reciprocated, unable to stop the wide grin that spread across my face as well. We didn't speak, just stared into each other's eyes in comfortable silence. We often did this; we were completely comfortable in silence.

"Tang?" Bronte was watching me, a thoughtful expression on her face, like she was somewhere else. I nodded, letting her know that I was listening. "Are we good?"

"What?" I responded, caught off guard but the question. "Of course we are—why would you ask that?"

"I just..." She trailed off, lowering her gaze, her face covered in guilt. "Lemon and I talked yesterday at dinner." I furrowed my brows in confusion. "He just made me think about a few things."

"What did he say?"

Bronte shrugged. "A lot, but also not that much." She chuckled humourlessly, loosening her hold around my neck. I did the same, letting my hands link together behind her back. "He just told me to think about the future. We've never really discussed that, have we?"

"No." I glanced over at the window, noticing the bright glare on the glass as the sun lowered in the sky. "I usually just live in the moment." She sent me a look of annoyance. "But we should talk about it."

We pulled away from each other and I sat down in my chair as Bronte pulled another chair towards the desk. We sat across from each other and she took a deep breath.

"Do you love me, Tang?"

My jaw dropped in shock. I was not expecting that. I just gawked at her like a fish, unable to respond. She waited patiently, watching me with anxious eyes as I fumbled over my words. "I..." My eyes darted around the room, desperately searching for the right words to follow such an important question. "I... um."

Bronte sighed. "Forget it."

The disappointment on her face made my heart sink. I do love you! I wanted to scream. I love you more than you can ever know. I wanted to shout it from the rooftops—to make her understand just how much she meant to me—but I couldn't force the words from my throat. They were stuck and there was nothing I could do about it.

"I shouldn't have said anything." She muttered, her eyes lowered to my feet. "Just, forget about it."

"No!" My voice was a lot harsher than I intended and Bronte glanced up at me warily. "Sorry—no." I leaned forward, taking her hands in mine and holding them in my lap. "Please, Bronte. This is still new. Just give it some time, okay?"

Bronte stared at me for a long while, her shoulders hunching forward like she was deflating. I felt awful, but I couldn't say it. It would only hurt her more when the inevitable happened. The last thing I wanted was to upset her and it killed me to know that I probably would do exactly that at some point anyway. It was just in my nature and I hated myself for it. Commitment was scarier than anything else in the world.

After what seemed like forever, Bronte resumed eye contact with me and nodded her head; only slightly, but it was enough to make me release a breath of relief. "Okay."

"Thank you." I squeezed her hand reassuringly and stood up, extending my arms hopefully. She barely smiled, standing up and falling into my embrace. I held her tight, knowing it would only be a matter of time before she realised I was a bad idea. I only hoped she wouldn't leave me and Lemon. I couldn't live without her by my side and it was terrifying, knowing that one day she might not be.

Because of me.

A/N: I kind of feel for Tangerine. I thought this chapter was necessary because I don't want Tangerine to seem like a bad guy for pushing Bronte away.

Today, I want to know who your favourite Aaron Taylor-Johnson character is. I'm going to be boring and say Tangerine since I didn't really care about him before watching Bullet Train, but I also like Ford in Godzilla and Pietro in Avengers.

Don't forget to vote and comment and I'll see you again tomorrow!