The Jaws of Life

16

The rain is falling heavy outside the sliding glass door. It smacks against it as the storms rages on, the power flickering every so often, threatening to go out all together. Jaime and I have been curled up on the couch beside one another watching the rain and another stupid 90s movie that we don't really care for, but there's nothing else on and it's not like we can really go out anywhere given the weather.

The rain started around 6pm today, ruining the barbeque that we had been planning to do for supper tonight. Alia ran over to our cabin through the rain and gave us some food that her and Tony and prepped for the barbeque. She told us that her and Tony were going to just stay in and watch movies and probably head to bed early since there wasn't much else to do. Jaime and I figured that was code for they wanted to be left alone in their cabin, so we decided to hunker down and actually watch movies then get an early night.

At 9pm we decided to start our second movie of the night and said we'd call it a night after it was done. Halfway through the movie the rain started coming down even harder, with lightning decorating the room every so often and thunder accompanying it. Much to my embarrassment, the thunder scares me and has made me jump every single time I've heard it.

"You okay?' Jaime asks, glancing over at me as the thunder sounds again.

"Yeah." I say softly. I curl my legs up to my chest as if to protect myself. "I just hate it."

"Its just thunder." Jaime says to me, his voice smooth and comforting.

"I know." I say. I tried to sound brave but we both hear my voice shake as the words come out.

I try to keep my focus on the TV but the storm seems to be getting worse and worse which is causing my attention to slip as my anxiety heightens. I manage to keep myself composed for the next ten minutes, but then multiple cracks of thunder sound followed by lightning flashing and just like that we lose power. My heart is beating so fast I swear its going to jump out of my chest.

"Hey, come here." Jaime whispers to me. 

In the dark I can see him holding his arms open for me. I don't even hesitate to fling myself into him, finding comfort in him. His warm scent washes over me, distracting me from the storm that's raging outside. His hands rub up and down my back to comfort me even more, resulting in me closing my eyes and full leaning into him.

"Thank you." I mumble into him. 

"I got you." he says to me, continuing to rub my back.

I don't know how long we stay like that, it could've been 30 seconds or 10 minutes, but eventually I start to calm down and realize that the storm outside has quieted a little. I shift my head so that I can look outside the sliding door. The rain isn't as strong as it once was and there's no longer lightning decorating the sky.

"Its let up." I say to Jaime.

"Hopefully it stays that way." he replies. 

I start to pull away from him, but he catches my arm before I can fully pull back. The little bit of light outside makes it so I can see his face a little, right now its holding an intense expression as he stares at me. His eyes go from my own, to my lips, then back up to my eyes. It makes this weird feeling start in the pit of my stomach. 

"Jaime..." I say, trailing off as I stare at him.

"You feel it too, don't you?" he asks me, his voice quiet amongst the rain outside. His eyes search mine as if looking for something he lost a long time ago and is suddenly rediscovering.

I nod in response. "I tried not to, but I do."

One of his hands comes up softly to my face, cupping my jaw. He runs a thumb over my cheek then slowly over my bottom lip. My heart pounds in my chest as I stare up at him, his eyes boring down into mine, refusing to look away. Right now, the only thing I'm focused on is him.

"Can I...?" he says, trailing off.

"Yeah, yes, you can." I say, my words stumbling out of my mouth quickly.

Slowly his lips come to mine, I close my eyes in anticipation. I can feel him right in front of me, I feel him pause right as his lips are hovering mere inches above my own. I open my eyes in confusion, wondering what's keeping him from kissing me. His eyes stare into mine, dark and captivating. His lips turn up into a small smile and next thing I know they're on top of mine, kissing me softly. I drink in the moment, loving the way it feels to be kissing Jaime.

His hands come to my hips, bringing me in close to him as he deepens our kiss, his lips becoming more aggressive against mine. I reciprocate, kissing him back with a hunger I didn't know I had.

A loud crack of thunder fills the room and I jump away from Jaime in fear. My heart is racing not only from the thunder but from the fact that I've just kissed my best friend's brother. 

"Shit, Kar, I'm sorry." Jaime says to me, his breathing heavy.

"You're sorry?" I ask, not quite understanding. Maybe I missed something when the thunder sounded.

"I shouldn't have done that. I was caught up in the moment or something, I'm sorry." he explains. "I have to... I have to be up early tomorrow, I should go to bed."

He turns and quickly exists the room, heading into the bathroom and leaving me alone in the dark living room to deal with the rejection I've just faced. How the fuck did this go from one of the best moments of my life to the worst?