Bruises

What now?

I showered and put on some clothes that I had grabbed from my room before I'd left, and returned to Tré.
He smiled sheepishly at me and I half smiled back. It wasn't until I was standing right next to him that I felt a sudden rush of panic. How was I even going to begin explain my feelings? I didn't totally understand them myself...

"So... " he cleared his throat, "Did the other night mean anything?"

"I don't know... we were both drunk and I was upset... it could mean anything."

"Yeah," He smoothed his hair, "I guess you're right. I... I want... I need you to know that I've never felt like that before... w-when we kissed I mean... I felt like... like I don't know why it hadn't happened sooner..."

"Yeah, I know what you mean... it felt normal..."

He nodded, "So what now? Where do we go from here?"

"I don't think I can handle Olivia right now as it is, let alone if she caught wind of anything happening between us."

"Okay. That's fine, it's the smart thing to do... it's just that..."

"What?"

"I'm not smart?" It was clear he was trying to speak in a confident tone, but the way his voice curled into a question at the end made him sound clearly uneasy. Even so, he leaned in for a kiss.

I didn't move-I didn't want to-I just kissed him back, savouring everything about the moment; the sound of him breathing (even if it was a little shaky), the softness of his lips, his breath on my skin, the smell of the cheap aftershave he used that was applied lightly to his face. Everything was lost to me and there was only the two of us. Nothing else mattered as we sat, his hands holding mine, protecting me in a little bubble that held only us.
It was all amazing until he pulled away, reality snapped back and I remembered myself.
"I need to sort things out with Olivia first."

His eyes dropped with embarrassment and he let go of my hands, his fingers sliding over mine.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to do that..."

"It's okay, I wanted to, it's just... my heads all over the place right now, Tré, you know that..."

"Yeah, I know. I'm sorry... what are you gonna do about her?"

I sighed heavily, "I have no idea... I don't know what I can do..."

"Well, I'm always here for you, dude."

"I know." I smiled warmly, "I know."

"You can stay here for a few days until she's cooled down, then go from there."

"Okay, that sounds okay... thanks, Tré."

"No problem." He grinned, "want to order Chinese?"

My lips crept into a smile, "You read my mind."