GOLD RUSH : a good girl's guide to murder oneshots

I COULD LOVE YOU

"P - Pip? What're you doing here? You're soaking wet."

"I had to come see you, Ravi. I had to."

"What's going on? Are you okay?" He asked, ushering her inside and out of the rain. "Let me get you a towel,"

"No, Ravi, stop." She said, biting the inside of her lip. "I need to know,"

"What, Sarge?" He asked, looking into her green eyes.

She stared up at him - at his black, curled hair, at the curve of his nose, at the plumpness of his lips. How hadn't she realized sooner? How didn't she see this coming?

"Do you have feelings for me?" Her eyebrows pushed down, furrowing, as she tried to read the expression on his face.

"What?"

"I can't be the only one seeing this, Ravi. There's something going on between us. My heart feels like it's going to burst whenever I see you. Every time you call me 'Sarge', I get butterflies. Our hands fit together like puzzle pieces. Tell me I'm not crazy, Ravi. There's something there."

He was silent, taking all this in. Of course he agreed - all he'd felt for her since the day she turned up on his doorstep was love. Pure, unconditional love. A girl who believed that there was good in him.

He stared down at her, at her rain-soaked hair and the mascara running from her eyes. At her eyebrows, still furrowed, which was in all honesty: adorable. At her lips, plump too, and at the dimple in her chin that they both had.

"You're not crazy, Trouble. Of course you're not. Pip, I've loved you since the day you told me you thought Sal was innocent. You thought what nobody else did."

There was a soft silence between them.

"I spent the rest of that day in my bedroom, just thinking about what you said. About you. It was a festering, fluttery feeling. Even if you had someone else, I thought that I could love you." He told her. "I could love you." Ravi repeated, testing the words. "I do love you."

She stared up at him, her eyes and her heart glowing. "Really?"

"Really, Pip."

"Nobody's ever told me they loved me before," she whispered. "Not seriously, at least. I've always been a joke."

"You aren't a joke, Pip. This isn't a joke. I really, really like you."

"I really, really like you too." She told him quietly, looking at her feet.

Pip felt Ravi's hand's snake around her hips, clearly hesitantly,  as he pulled her closer.

His thumb hooked gently under her chin, tilting it up so she would look at him.

"Can I kiss you?"

"I'd really like that."

He pulled her closer to him, her chest against his as he connected their lips. His soft, hers softer.

They stayed like that for a moment, eyes closed and relishing in the romance of it all, before Pip pulled away and pressed their foreheads together.

"I think it would be really swell if you could be my girlfriend," Ravi told her, entwining his fingers with hers.

"I'd really like that, too."

They were silent again, standing there together and listening to the softer patter of evening rain.

"Do you think I can stay over tonight? Is that too -"

"I just told you I've loved you since I met you, Pip. Nothing is too anything. Of course you can."

"Okay, um, I've got to call my parents, then." She paused. "My dad will freak out if I tell him I'm spending the night at a guys house...I've got to call Cara, real quick." Pip mumbled, mostly to herself, as Ravi led her up to his room.

"Cara! Hey, how're you? Good. That's good. I know, it's hard, but you have to be strong, right? Okay. I need you to do me a favor." She paused to laugh at her best friends joke, Ravi watching her, fully lovestruck. "Yes, it has to do with a boy - how did you know that?" Another giggle, Ravi's smile spreading wider. She's so beautiful. "Okay, right, so...if my parents ask, can you tell them I'm spending the night at yours? Yes, because I'm at a boy's house. Yes, because it's Ravi's house. Okay, thank you, Care-Bear. I'll see you tomorrow? Right, goodnight, Cara."

She smiled up as Ravi pulled her into his arms, pressing a kiss to her still-wet forehead. "I'm going to grab you a towel, I'll be right back."

She nodded, telling him that she'd be calling her parents and to please be quiet, if that was okay.

Of course it was. Anything was okay, if it was Pip. He loved her.

"Hi mom! Sorry, yeah, I know it's Josh's bedtime. I know. Okay, um, can I spend the night at Cara's?" A pause, as Ravi slipped back through the door. "I know, but I already ate dinner, and I have a pair of pajamas at her house already, so," she nodded. "Okay, thanks mom! I love you too. Tell dad and Josh I love them. Night."

He smiled down at her as she dropped her phone on his bed, grabbing the towel and putting it over her head; rubbing it against her hair to somewhat dry it.

She bit her inner lip, looking down at her clothes and then up at Ravi. "Um, could I...could I borrow some pajamas, if it's not too much?"

"Of course, yeah," he said, shuffling to his dresser and grabbing a dark-gray shirt - one that would surely be too big on her - and a pair of red and plaid pajama bottoms. "I hope these aren't too big...um, the pants tie, so you can tighten them, and, um, yeah."

"Alright, where's your bathroom?"

"Here, it's okay, I'll go in the hallway."

She smiled up at him, standing on her tip-toes to kiss him - unnecessarily, because he was only two inches taller than her - before he slipped out and gently closed the door.

She pulled off her sticky-wet shirt and bra, replacing them with the gray shirt, hanging off her shoulder. Pip did the same for her pants, which were too big as well; but once she tied them, they fit snugly around her waist.

She brushed her hair back through her fingers, telling Ravi he could come in as she sat on his bed cross-legged and began to braid her hair.

He stared down at her, and she stared up into his honey-brown eyes as she finished her braid.

They sat there, at the edge of that bed for a moment, staring into each other's eyes.

Seeing each other.

Learning about each other without a word.