Midnight

18

It never fully processed in my mind that Everett had kissed my forehead twice and kissed me on the lips all in one day. I hardly bothered to think that Everett kissing me was him making the first move...and that had meant endless possibilities for us. One being a relationship.

Everett was my only friend most of my life, so when we drifted, I didn't really know exactly what was appropriate for friends and what wasn't. But I could surely figure out that kissing was not on the list for friendly activities.

I had to admit, it was pretty fun sneaking around with him. We tried—and failed miserably—to tiptoe around into his house to get to his bedroom. But he stepped on one of Grace's—his little sister—toys, and it began singing loudly a Disney song.

Everett looked like he could kill someone in that moment, but I nearly fell over laughing at him.

He cracked a small smile eventually, rushing to my side to assist me so that we wouldn't fall on another singing toy.  

He had to hold my hand as we blindly followed the contour of the hallway wall. He lived here, so the path was routinely burned into his mind, but not mine.

"Do you want to shower?" Everett whispered when we were finally in his room.

"Yes, but that wouldn't be too good for us," I analyzed the dark blue walls of his bedroom, sparsely decorated with a poster or two. "Being secretive, and all."

"Right," He sighed. "Well, I figured you didn't want to sleep in your jeans, so I tried to find the smallest pair of shorts, and they might fall down so tie them tight. And here's the smallest shirt I have."

He handed the stack to me.

"Thanks," The shorts seemed big, but they would have to work for the night. The shirt had an old band I didn't recognize fading across the front. I waited for Everett to turn around so I could change, but he just stared expectantly down at me. "Um...could you... maybe turn around?"

"Oh, right," He jumped slightly, swiveling immediately. His ears looked red as he rubbed the back of his neck.

He was right, I had to tie the shorts tight. I couldn't get them tight enough though, and had to awkwardly grip them so they wouldn't fall.

"Ok, can we just, go to bed," I hobbled awkwardly behind him, trying to hide how stupid I looked.

"Alright. Let me change, too," He turned to head to his closet, and I hid behind him until I could make a run for it to his bed.

I scooted up against the side of the bed that was against the wall, yanking the thick comforter up almost completely over my head as I waited.

Courteously, I faced the wall, tucking my head below the blanket as I waited.

Everett grunted when he fell into the bed, gently lifting the blanket to crawl underneath.

"What're you hiding?" He muttered as he scooted closer to me.

"What?" I looked back over my shoulder, my face flushing immediately to see his rough, masculine features gazing down at me. "Um...the pants don't fit."

"You're a dork," He closed the small gap between us suddenly, wrapping one arm around my stomach and pulling my back against his chest, tucking his other arm underneath his head. "What did you think of tonight?"

"You're...crazy," I shook my head. "I meant what I said in the car earlier, you know."

"Mm," He groaned, nudging his face against the top of my head, burying his nose in my hair.

I wanted to explain further, hoping he would have listened this time rather than convince me I needed to kiss him to make up for it—not that I minded the kiss. But his breathing was becoming more rhythmic and mellow, tickling my scalp. I took that as his goodnight, and let him rest, rather than keep him up.