Impavid

The Next Step

     Chase shifted his position quickly, catching me off guard. He turned around and sat up on his knees, facing me. His hand shot out once more, his fingers curling around the base of my neck as he pressed his lips against mine. He'd never kissed me like this before. 

    "Let's go somewhere," he mumbled between kisses. 

    "Chase," I hesitated.

    His free hand rested on one of my thighs, as his fingers brushed over my skin. He scrambled to crawl even closer to me, every movement he made seeming rushed and desperate. His lips found mine once more, and I felt them as they shifted across my face and toward my neck. I tipped my head away in response, allowing him access to place soft kisses on my skin. My eyes fluttered closed in response, as I let out of a soft sigh. 

     "What are you doing?" I breathed. 

     "Shh." 

     "Chase." I squirmed beneath him, as each kiss tickled my neck. "Your sister."

     "She's asleep," he mumbled into the crook of my neck. The heat from his breath gave me chills. 

     "Stop," I whispered, but I made no movement to actually put an end to any of it. 

     "Relax." Chase's fingers brushed over my thigh once more before they started wandering. 

     "Stop." My voice was more firm this time, and he pulled back instantly. His eyes were wide, and I could tell he was worried that he did something wrong. 

     "Not now." I cupped his cheek in my hand to let him know that he hadn't. "Not here."

     I hadn't felt that sort of intensity from him before. I had thought that previous kisses had been so passionate, and yet none of them compared to this. He sat back beside me, resting against the base of the tree. He was breathing heavier than I expected, and I glanced over at him. 

     "I'm sorry." He was staring straight ahead as he spoke. "About all of this."

     "Chase," I said in a way that hopefully let him know that I wanted him to look at me. When he didn't, I spoke anyway. "Don't be sorry." 

     "I didn't mean to be so forward. I'm sorry."

     This time, I shifted my whole body to face him when I spoke, "Hey. Look at me."

    "Carson -- " he started as soon as our eyes made contact, but I cut him off.    

    "Stop apologizing." I leaned forward to kiss his lips.

     We both pulled back quickly as the tiny voice above us called out Chase's name. 

     "We're right here, Mags." Chase jumped to his feet quickly, climbing a couple of the steps on the ladder so he could peek his head into the doorway of the treehouse. "Hey, I like that pillow." I heard him say next. 

     "Are you and Mom fighting?"

     "We're okay," I heard Chase promise her. 

     "What about you and Carson?"

     "You're a lot like me, Kiddo. You know that?"

      "I am?" 

     "Oh yeah." I smiled when I heard Chase say this. "Sometimes, though, you have to stop worrying about everyone else."

     "What about us, then? Are you mad at me?"

     "Scoot over," I heard Chase tell her, and I looked up to find him attempting to crawl into the treehouse along side of her. After that, everything was muffled in a way that I couldn't hear what he saying.