Book 1: What We Had in the Beginning

Chapter 21: Friend

When we finally pull away, we're both breathing hard. I'm sure my face is red and I hope the room is dark enough to hide it from him. I don't feel like going back downstairs just yet so instead we move to his bed and lay down.

His bed is small, but big enough to fit the both of us. We're both staring up at the ceiling, our shoulders pressed against each other's. It doesn't feel any different than when we lay in the training room together. My lips are still tingling as I think about the kiss, making me want to blush. The only sound in the room is our breathing and I turn to look at the Soldier who has his right arm under his head and his left arm over his stomach. I watch as his chest rises and falls with every breath. Turning my face up to look at him, I find the Soldier already staring down at me. Both of our faces are only mere centimeters away and I can feel our breaths mix together. The swelling from the bruise on his cheek has gone down but it still looks tender. Turning onto my side to face him, I lift my hand up to his face and run my fingers over the bruise. He doesn't move or flinch away which makes a warmth spread through my chest. I go from his cheek to his black eye, just barley touching it, then down to his mouth. Running my fingers over the cut, I savor the cold rough feeling of his lips. As I do this, the Soldier doesn't take is eyes off of me. They run up and down my face, studying every detail. I do the same. I brush my hand over the slight stubble on his face and watch as the corner of his mouth quirks up. I'm not sure how long we lay there staring at each other. Minutes, hours? However long it's been, I know it's time to go back downstairs. Pulling my hand away from his face, I sit up. The Soldier at first frowns and knits his eyebrows together but then quickly realizes that I can't stay. He sits up too and gets to his feet. He leads me to the door and opens it. Instead of closing the door after I exit the room, he steps out with me and starts to lead the way downstairs. We both quietly make our way down the staircase, staying close to each other. When we reach the basement, we both stop right outside of the door and turn towards each other. The Soldier lifts his left hand up towards my face and brushes his thumb against the cut on my cheek. The coldness of it soothes the stinging and I let out a soft sigh. I want to kiss him again but instead I step back and enter the basement, leaving him outside. I don't hear him leave but I know he's gone. Crawling into bed, I cuff my wrist and close my eyes. I can't help the smile that spreads across my face and the blush that creeps up my neck. I feel stupid at how this is affecting me so much but I can't help it. I've never felt this way before. Reckless, impulsive, excited. I don't ever want this feeling to go away, but nothing lasts forever. So I might as well enjoy it.

I fall asleep thinking about the way the Soldier's lips felt against mine and the way his hands held me close. The way his eyes studied me and how his metal hand felt on my skin, soft, gentle. I know the next few days will be hectic, especially since me and Yelena are the only 2 girls left. But for now, all I want to think about is how right it felt to be with the Soldier and to have his lips on mine.

*****

Nikolay wakes us up and waits by the door while we get dressed. I remember the events from last night and try to hide my smile. At first I wasn't so sure if it was a dream or not but from the fact that I could still feel the burning of his lips and hands on me, there is no way that was a dream.

Glancing over at the small window, I find it boarded up. Nikolay leads us to the dining room and on the way there I catch a glimpse of Ivan, surrounded by a few officers, talking on the phone. He's smiling but looks nervous, must be someone important. When we enter the dining room, the other 3 officers are waiting for us at the front of the room. Me and Yelena take our seats and begin to eat. The room is silent. Glancing over at the officers, I find them staring straight ahead. I wonder why they weren't standing guard last night. They look on edge and nervous, even though no one's around.

It doesn't take long for us to finish eating and we're soon led upstairs to Madam Oksana. She too looks on edge, but not so much nervous. As we dance, I notice how she starts to sway to the music. I then think about how good of a dancer she must have been, maybe still is. I get a feeling that she doesn't dance anymore and wonder what made her stop. Instead of being in the room with us, the officers decided to wait outside. It's nice not to have them hovering over us ever second, it gives us some time to breathe. Eventually it's time to stop and we take our shoes off. On our way to Leonov's classroom, I find Ivan still on the phone looking nervous and slightly panicked.