Burning For Her Love

Sickeningly Sweet

Faye

I watch as Maisie sits down beside me on the bed, her soft pjs clinging to her curves. My gaze wanders over her body for longer than it should, taking in every detail of it. She's always been so pretty, and I can only imagine from looking at her just how soft her lips would be. I shake the thoughts from my head quickly, wondering why they've been plaguing me so much recently. From the moment I wake up till the moment I lay my head back down on my pillow again, she haunts my thoughts.

I avert my gaze to her room, gazing around. It's so pretty and neat, suited to her. I see books carefully stacked up on shelves, with snowglobes containing rose petals and bunnies. Her clothes don't litter the floor like mine do, giving me a clear view of the pale pink carpet. I see the juice stain that I left on that carpet from when we were kids, remembering how Maisie wailed about how her parents would be mad as I desperately scrubbed at it with a concoction of every cleaning supply I could get my hands on.

I look over to the windowsill, sipping away on my second can of coke as I watch a candle flickering prettily. She has a picture of us next to it. She's wearing a pink princess dress and a bright smile, a tiara sitting neatly in her hair. I'm pouting next to her, a sulky expression on my face. My hair is unruly and sticking up, frizzy curls sticking through the mess. My princess dress is tattered, and I look upset that it's been ruined, even if I did that. Maisie insisted on that photo for the frame, finding it hilarious.

I see the sun setting outside, beautiful colours expanding over the vast blue that was there, glimmers of orange and pink highlighting as wispy clouds decorate. It's pretty, but my breath is taken when I look over at Maisie sitting beside me, finding a movie on her TV as she carefully balances a bowl of popcorn in her lap. The colours outside hit her, making her look like a breathing, living art piece.

"What movie do you want to watch?.. Faye???" She asks sweetly, and it hits me that she's been talking to me the whole time as I just stare at her face. I blink at her, my eyelashes fluttering before I try to compute her words. She takes my can of coke from me hastily when she sees my distracted state, presumably not wanting me to spill it all over her fresh bedsheets like I have multiple times in the past.

She waves her hand in front of my face, and my eyes follow the movement of it before I turn my eyes to the screen, seeing the selection of movies on there. I shrug, quirking an eyebrow up. I've always been indecisive, but my brain seems to have shut down on me completely.

"It doesn't matter. You choose." I sigh, pretending to be exasperated with the movie night already. She shakes her head at me, moving and popping a piece of popcorn into her mouth as she picks out "Mean Girls" for the 500th time.

"Seriously, Maisie? Is that the only movie you've ever watched?" I complain. I secretly love the movie, but I'm definitely not on the same level of fanatic about the movie as Maisie is. I swear she's never picked another option when given the opportunity. I pick up my can of coke again, my eyes flicking to the screen as it begins. I take a long sip of the coke as if it's an alcoholic beverage and I'm a middle aged man coping with my second divorce.

"What? You said I can choose. It doesn't matter, Maisie. Just pick whatever. I'm too cool to choose." She pouts, mocking my words and putting on a nonchalant tone to imitate me. An amused smile tugs at my lips, coke dribbling down my chin as I splutter into laughter. She giggles along with me until she sees the mess I'm already making, already at my face with a tissue, mopping it up like she did when we were kids.

Suddenly, the choice of movie is irrelevant to me as she gets so close. She's been close many times before, but this is different. Her lips are inches away from mine, her eyes gazing intently at my face. My heart thuds loudly in my chest again, in a way that it didn't when Leo or any other guy has gotten in my personal space. But I pin it down to the fact I've had so many fizzy drinks, assuming that it's finally giving me a heart attack.

The heart attack abruptly ends when she pulls away, although I'm left a little breathless from the near-death experience. I glance up at the ceiling, wondering if I am being punished by God and taken up early because I've been greedy with my cans of fizz. That doesn't stop me for long though, downing the rest quickly and then dropping the can into the bin.

I reach out, stealing some of Maisie's popcorn before digging into my own snacks. I try not to make more of a mess, but it was inevitable. It begins to get darker outside as the movie progresses, leaving only the dim lighting from the TV on us as we sit in her bed together, alone in her house. I don't notice how close Maisie is getting until she's practically cuddled into me, her eyes fixed on the screen.

"I'm a mouse, duh!" She quotes with a giggle, monologuing the whole movie for me per usual, as if the subtitles weren't enough. She points to her head, mimicing the scene in the movie. She's laying beside me now, with her head on my shoulder. I wonder if she can hear my breathing speeding up.

"If I hear you quote that one more time, I will somehow turn you into an actual mouse." I groan, rolling my eyes at her. I watch as her head tilts back a little, her doe eyes meeting my gaze, her black eyelashes fluttering. There aren't butterflies here like they were at that bench, but they somehow still swarm into my stomach, leaving me feeling confused.

"I'd be okay with that, if you became a mouse too. We could be all cozy and sleep in a flower field or something, or under little pink scraps of fabric." She beams, somehow turning my words sickeningly sweet again, her voice dripping with that sweet tone that makes me feel a sugar high. I flick the back of her head in response, making her turn her attention back from the movie again and quickly retreat her words.

"Fine, you could be a rat. I'd leave you to be in the sewers." She playfully remarks, feigning offense to my actions. I scoff at her, although amusement glimmers in my eyes again. I barely have time to reply before she nestles her head back down onto me, her soft hair tickling my shoulder. I feel like I'm drowning, like the room is closing in on me, suffocating me in sickeningly sweet feelings that limit to being obviously platonic. I can't escape them, no matter how hard I try to focus on the movie. My head spins as I move my hand to her hair, running my fingers through it.

Time seems to slow down. Honey oozes down my throat until I'm gasping for air, wanting to escape everything that's happening to me.