Matches: Why We Burned Out

ten // every february you'll be my valentine

ten // every february you'll be my valentine

Romeo stared into my eyes. It was Valentine's Day and he decided to take me out to an expensive restaurant. I hoped he was going to ask me to be his girlfriend.

We began to eat our food once it arrived but he still hadn't asked me to be his girlfriend yet, so I decided to drop a few hints. "What would you say we are?" I asked as I took a sip of my water.

Romeo shrugged blandly, replying, "I don't know." He was wearing a black suit with the top button of his shirt undone. His hair was the same as usual, but he looked incredibly handsome in a suit. "Why?"

I withheld a sigh. "Louisa keeps asking me about it and I don't know what to tell her. I mean, I'd tell her that I'm your girlfriend, but I'm not, am I?" I looked down at my plate and pushed my food around with my fork. Romeo took his time to answer.

"I don't know how to tell you this," he sighed, putting his cutlery down. "I'm not really interested in the whole...boyfriend-girlfriend thing." My heart stopped. So what were we? Friends with benefits?

My anger skyrocketed. "What the fuck is this all about then?" Romeo frowned at my bitter use of the bad word.

"Don't cuss at me, Mia," he said calmly, but I laughed bitterly.

"You don't own me," I barked angrily, "so I'll fucking cuss when I fucking want." Calm down, I told myself, it doesn't mean anything, it doesn't change anything. I took a few deep breaths before apologising to him. He said it was okay, but it wasn't. I should've calmed myself down first.

"I want to commit to you," he eventually said in his soft voice, "but I just think there's no point in putting a label on it. What we have will still be the same with or without it." If I didn't feel bad before, what he said made me feel it. I was embarrassed.

We ended up leaving the restaurant before dessert, and he held my hand whilst driving me home. I turned on the radio to avoid an awkward silence. Romeo kept glancing over at me whenever we stopped at a red light.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" I asked, but was answered by a grin from my not-boyfriend.

"You're so beautiful in this light," he replied. I blushed, although I thought he'd be angry at me for ruining our date. He squeezed my hand and continued driving. However, we weren't actually driving home, we were going somewhere else. As he turned a corner, I realised what we were there to do.

"A drive-in movie!" I whispered to myself with a huge smile on my face. Romeo parked his car in the field and we got out of the car to sit on the bonnet. We bought some popcorn and stared up at the stars until the movie began. He planted a kiss on my forehead and pulled me closer to him. Once the popcorn finished, Romeo kissed me to taste the sweetness of the popcorn on my lips. At some point, we stopped watching the movie completely.

I didn't think I would ever get used to how soft Romeo's lips were.

He lifted me off the car and placed my feet on the ground, leading me to the backseat of his car. The butterflies in my stomach were particularly hyper. He got inside first, and pulled me onto his lap so I was straddling him. He closed the door.

Romeo held my cheeks in his strong hands as he kissed me deeply and sensually. His kisses trailed from my lips to my chin, from my chin to my neck and from my neck to my collarbones. I tilted my head back with pleasure. His fingertips brushed my thigh and he groaned softly into my skin. My heart was beating at an unhealthy rate.

His lips were pressed against my shoulder when he looked up into my eyes, as if he was asking for permission. I could clearly see the desire in his eyes as he waited for an answer. I knew what he wanted to do, but I wasn't sure now was the time to do it. And I did tell him that I wanted to take things slowly.

Running my fingers through his hair, I kissed his forehead. "Not yet," I whispered. He nodded in understanding and nestled his head in my neck. And we just sat there for ages, taking in each other's scents and holding one another like we'd never get to touch again.