The Selenophile | TASM

Fire and candle.

Elora always thought that kissing someone would happen after their date, the boy would walk her back to her house, stop by the front door and turn to her. She would turn to him, he'd lean in... or she would, and they would kiss. And then the butterflies would rip across her stomach, assuming she liked the guy. They would kiss for a while on her porch before she'd pull away, whisper "Bye", and kiss the boy again before entering her house.

Only one boy would come to her mind with this thought. 

Peter.

She wanted Peter to kiss her. And now he was.

Peter was kissing her.

No, if you thought butterflies formed in her stomach, you're wrong. They didn't. Instead, Elora froze to her toes, her hands by her side and her eyes closed. And that's when she registered Peter's hands on either side of her face and his lips on hers. Just as soon as she realised this, Peter pulled away.

No, not yet. Come back. I wasn't done.

Elora stared at him with wide eyes as he opened his eyes, his cheeks a bright shade of pink, and she was sure her whole face was probably beet red. After that, she didn't think she could form sentences, let alone words. "You just-"

"Yeah." Peter cut her off. He dropped his eyes, scratching the back of his neck as he waited for Elora to speak. "Why?" Peter looked up at this and saw her looking at him with wide eyes and a red face, he could slowly feel the dread and terror start to take over. 

"I just- I really needed you to stop speaking so-"

"You kissed me because you wanted me to stop speaking?" It was Elora's turn to cut him off, and she thought her heart would break. Peter had kissed her and had no regard for her feelings. "What? No. No, no- no, no. I meant. I mean..." Peter could see how this was affecting Elora; guilt, grief and pain were washing over her eyes. And if it's one thing Peter hated, it was seeing Elora upset.

"El, no, wait, listen." He grabbed her, his spine straightening from the shock of their hands touching, and pulled her away from the centre of the hallway to the side towards the lockers. People had seen the kiss, they had gaped when they saw Elora and Peter kiss. This news would spread around Midtown High like wildfire, and Peter would not let Elora leave without explaining.

"I kissed you 'cause, yeah, I really needed you to stop talking for a bit and... 'cause I also really wanted to." Elora thought she heard him wrong, "Why?" She asked again the same question once again. She figured out where he was going with this. She knew where this was going, but she needed him to say it. Only if he said it would it be valid, and only then would she relax.

"Because I-" Peter paused for a second, sighing before speaking. It was now or never for Peter. "I- I like you, El. M-more than a friend. I have liked you for a long time now, and I- I'm sorry for ignoring you for the past few weeks, I was only doing that because I thought being away from you would lessen my, you know, feelings for you. But well, uh, haha, that didn't work out. And I'm sorry for forgetting about yesterday. I really am, and when you're okay with me and want to talk to me again, I'll make it up to you. I promise. And I-I... I'm sorry for kissing you and crossing boundaries." 

Peter didn't look at her as he spoke, too scared of what he would see on her face. And now he had said it, he had told Elora he liked her, and it was like a weight lifting off his shoulders. Elora didn't say anything, and Peter knew he had to give her space to process what just happened and whatever happens after that, happens. So he nodded at her and turned to leave, but not before Elora's hand wrapped around his elbow to stop him.

Elora never thought she would hear those words come from Peter's mouth, she always felt that she was the only one with feelings and that he didn't like her back. Oh, but how wrong she was.