Lost and Found

19

Elyse felt a sudden wave of relief wash over her entire body when Desmond's lips connected with hers. She was frozen for a moment, shocked that it was truly happening again, before she came to and lifted her hands, locking her fingers in his hair, in a desperate attempt to close more space between them.

The kiss intensified when Desmond slid his hands down to her hips, pulling her body towards him so that she was straddling him now. Her face became red hot and she began to forget how to breathe when he broke their connection for a moment to feverishly kiss down her neck and along her collar bone.

He then quickly lifted his head to kiss her again, prompting Elyse to let out a soft moan that she couldn't hold any longer. She melted into him and began sliding her hands down along his toned chest, at the skin exposed beneath his button up shirt. She felt her stomach twist when his hand slid into the boxer briefs she was wearing. She reflexively shot her hand down to grab at his wrist before pulling back from his lips, wide eyed and out of breath.

"I-I'm sorry."

She stuttered while she fought to control her breathing.

Desmond stared at her with glossy eyes, slightly out of breath as well, with blush pink, swollen lips. He quickly returned his hands to his sides and Elyse slid back off of his lap so that she was sitting across from him now.

"No, it's my fault. I'm sorry, I lost myself for a moment there."

He replied, staring past her for a moment while he ruffled the mess of brown hair that danced around his perfect face.

"It's ok I- I liked it I just... I don't feel like it means the same to you that it does to me."

She replied, her cheeks becoming even more red while the vulnerability of her words hit her like a truck.

He stared at her with a puzzled look on his face for a moment, seeming to come out of the haze the kiss had put him in.

"Aye, what do you mean by that exactly?"

He asked her, sounding genuinely confused while he stared into her eyes, patiently awaiting her explanation.

She bit her lip and tried to calm her heart rate when she realized there was no way to dance around it anymore. She needed to know how he felt about her, she didn't want to get hurt.

"It's just.... You're important to me Desmond. I don't want to lose you by complicating things or doing anything that might mean more to me than it does to you. I'm not interesting in being some sort of friends with benefits or having random make out sessions when the moment feels right."

She rambled on, praying he would understand what she meant without her having to spell it out for him.

He seemed to be putting the pieces together in front of her while he stared off deep in thought for a moment.

"Ya think you're not important to me? After everything we've been through now, everythin I've done..."

He trailed off for a moment before changing his train of thought and looking her straight in the eye again.

"The way I treat you, the way I speak to you; Does it really lead you to believe I don't care?"

He asked her, seeming completely genuine in his question, and almost a bit hurt, while he stared deep into her eyes with his own soft brown ones.

Elyse stared at him in awe for a moment, trying to find the correct words.

"I guess it's not the way you act, it's the things you don't say. You keep a lot to yourself and you've got a lot of things that haunt you, and then there's everything that happened with Penny..."