Saved

17. Different

This silence was awkward. The radio was playing but there was no point, neither one of us were listening to it.

Paige's hands were clasped in her lap and mine were tightly gripped on the steering wheel. She was staring out of the window and never turned to face me.

Finally, we turned down my street and I wanted to get out of this car as fast as possible.

We both exited the car wordlessly and didn't hold hands as we walked to the front door like we normally did.

As soon as I opened the door, I sighed in relief and stepped over the threshold.

"Tell me again," I breathed out as Paige walked past me.

She turned her head over her shoulder and gave me a sideways glance.

"Tell you what?" Her eyebrows came together and she started walking towards me.

"Your answer, to my question." I mumbled, suddenly nervous of her closeness.

"My definition of love is us. What we have, that's what I think love is." She replied and began fiddling with the hem of her shirt.

I don't know what came over me, but I felt that she wasn't close enough to me all of the sudden. My nervousness faded away and I needed her to be right in front of me.

"Say it," I whispered, grabbing her chin to make her look me in the eyes.

"Landon," Paige shook her head and tried to look away.

"I need you to say it, Paige." I said even lower, trying to hide the vulnerability in my voice.

"I, I," she began, shaking her head and then pulling herself out of my grasp to straighten her back and square her shoulders, "I love you, Landon."

No matter how tough she looked on the outside, her eyes conveyed everything. They were vulnerable, like I'm sure mine were.

"You do?" I gasped, my eyes widened.

"I always have," Paige scoffed gently and shook her head before looking down to her feet.

I took a long stride to fill the space between us and placed my hands on either side of her face and lifted it to mine.

"Paige," I sighed, searching in her eyes for the strength I needed.

"You don't have to say it just becau-" she started, but I lifted my hand to cover her mouth and smiled.

"I. Love. You." I paused at the end of each word, watching her eyes widen a fraction as they came out of my mouth.

She said something under my hand and when I removed it from her face to ask her what she said she grabbed mine and pulled it to her.

Somehow, this kiss was different. How cliché to say, but it was. I felt it in my bones, emotions were running through my veins and I desperately kept my mouth moving on Paige's.

"Landon," she said against my lips, gently tugging at my hair as I walked forward and led us to the couch.

Without breaking contact, Paige laid her back on the couch and pulled me down with her, caressing my face.

My hands were on her hips and I ran my hands along the sequined fabric of her shirt and then down the sides of her thighs.

I removed my mouth from hers and started kissing her neck, but I couldn't for long because her scent began to overwhelm me and I made my way back up to her face.

She was biting her lip slightly and her checks were flushed.

I placed my lips back onto hers rolled her over so that she was above me. Her hips rolled as she adjusted herself and I could feel myself getting hard.