Searching- a Dramione fanfic

Chapter 13- The Bridge

The Bridge

I blushed as Draco pulled out my chair for me. "Thanks." I said.

He smiled and walked around to his side of the table. We were at a small outdoor restaurant in the small town we were in. The air was crisp and cool and smelled like leaves, but with the sun shining down on me it wasn't cold enough that I wished we had found somewhere inside.

It was about two thirty. In my opinion, that was too late for lunch, but too early for supper. So we were having-lupper? I looked at the menu in front of me and instantly realized that it was in German. The pictures of food on it, which mostly consisted of sausage, looked great, but I couldn't tell what I was going to get without being able to read it.

Draco must have realized this too, because he started waving over a waiter. The thin man in a tuxedo walked over to us.

"Ja?" He asked

"Do you have any English menus?" Draco asked him kindly.

The waiter said yes, but he didn't move to get them.

Draco looked at him, confusion marked on his brow. "Can we have some English menus?" He asked carefully.

"Oh, yes!" This time the waiter seemed to know what Draco was asking and he turned on his heel and marched back inside to, hopefully, get us English menus.

Draco raised a perfect eyebrow at me as if to say, 'weird'. I smirked back and then looked down at the German menu again. His eyes were always so intense, it was hard to not look away when he looked at me. Maybe it was the piercing silver colour of them, or the way he seemed to go forever without blinking. All I wanted to do was stare into his eyes, to see the texture and colour variations, but when ever I tried, I had to look away. I could only steel small glances when he wasn't looking.

Soon enough, the waiter came back with identical menus, the only difference being that the ones he placed in front of us now were in English. We nodded a thank you at him and then scanned the menus for something I wanted.

The restaurant Draco and I had found was nothing fancy, but I was thankful for that. I knew that if Draco had his way, we would be eating somewhere much more elegant than 'Das Wurst Haus'. Not that I didn't enjoy fine dining, I just wasn't too sure I would enjoy even this with Draco.

We ate in almost silence. I kept my head down mostly. I wanted to break the silence so badly, but I had nothing I wanted to say. Draco asked once if my food was good, and I said yes and then asked him if his food was good, and he said yes, and that was pretty much it. We sat there, suffocating in our own silence.

When we finally finished our meals and with that, the awkwardness between us, the sun was dipping low in the sky, sending out beautiful rays of pink and navy and orange. Sunsets were my favorite. I'm not sure why. Maybe it's because they are the last part of the day you see before the mysterious night creeps in and shadows everything in darkness.

We walked out of the restaurant quietly and shuffled down the street. I let Draco guide me back to the hotel, but after a turn I'm sure we missed, I had the feeling that wasn't where he was planning on heading.

"Where are we going?" I asked quietly.

He shrugged. "I thought we would go for a walk. Is that okay?"

I nodded. His arm bumped against mine, sending shivers up my arm even though I wasn't cold, to gently push me around the corner. I noticed we were heading to a small brick bridge that was arched over a creak. It looked like the most beautiful place to be when the sun was setting and the first stars were bravely shining their way into the sky.

Despite the chilliness that came with the setting sun, I felt warm with Draco right beside me, gently brushing his hand on mine, although I wasn't sure if that was by accident or not. His touch was so soft. I wanted more. I needed more. He brushed his hand against mine, more strongly this time, and I knew it wasn't a mistake. I opened my hand and his slid into mine with ease, like it was suppose to be there. My heart fluttered as I felt his warm hand cup mine. He was so soft and delicate, words I never would have use before to describe him.

I continue staring forward and walking like it was no big deal, but I was freaking out in my head, only it was the bad kind. My head was telling me to stop, to realized who's hand I was holding, but I didn't want to so I pushed it a side.

He pulled me up onto the bridge and we leaned with our backs against the sides and watched the sun dip farther and farther down into the sky. I felt the tiniest squeezed come from his hand and into mine. Finally, I turned to look at him. His eyes were wide with amazement, like he was watching the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. Only, he wasn't watching the sunset, he was watching me.

I looked into his icy eyes and desperately tried not to look away, but I had to. I looked at his snowy hair that looked so perfect falling down into his face. My eyes grazed over his forehead and onto his light eyebrows and then down to his soft cheek and perfect lips.

He moved closer and I was positively scorching from the heat his body gave off. His breath lightly tickled my face as he looked down at me. I felt sleepy, like I was dreaming. He glanced down at my lips and then his other hand was on my cheek. Soft, warm. His thumb, just below my eye, moved back and forth, gently to rub my cheek. My eye lids fluttered and I couldn't think about anything but his body touching mine.

Then he moved even closer to fill what was left of the gap between us and I felt like I couldn't breath. His cologne was strong and intoxicating, but what really drugged me was just the smell of him, his natural smell. It was there, but it was hard to pick up on what it really smelled like. Soap, hair jell, paper? He lifted my face with the hand cupping my cheek and my eyelids fluttered shut.

Then I felt his lips on mine. They where so soft and feathery, I almost couldn't tell if they were lips at all. I felt like my chest had been set on fire. He ever so lightly massaged his mouth on mine, his tongue gently rubbed my bottom lip. He tasted like the chocolate mints they had brought us after our meal. I felt like I could faint. I been kissed before, but this was different. Those times with Victor and Ron, and that unfortunate time under the mistletoe with- no- this was so different. Draco was soft and gentle. Those other times were harsh and lusty like they didn't mean it.

He pushed farther into the kiss, pressing my back against the stone wall. It felt wonderful, amazing, but that was when I realized I couldn't do this. Had I forgotten that this was Draco Malfoy? My eyes snapped open and I pressed my hand on his muscular chest to push him away. He pulled his lips off mine and looked at me a little frightened. My lips tingled and practically begged me to let his touch mine again, and believe me, I wanted him to, but I couldn't let him. This was just moving too fast. Within less than a week I had gone from loathing him to kissing him on the bridge and it scared me to death how much I wanted it.

"Sorry." I breathed.

He let out a deep breath that felt cool against my neck. He searched my eyes, wrestling to keep them on his.

"I just can't do this." I explained. "Not now, not with you."

He looked hurt, like I'd slapped him across the face. And for a second he just looked at me. Then he nodded and let go of my cheek and hand and stepped away.

I breathed a sigh and shook my head. I felt so bad that I had to stop him, but I just couldn't let Draco Malfoy kiss me. I still had images from our Hogwarts day flash in my mind and make me scared of the 'new' him.

I turned away and walked down the bridge and back towards the inn. I couldn't hear his footsteps behind me, so I assumed he had stayed where he was. I put my head in my hands and felt the first tears start to prick their way out of my eyes. I touched my lips gently and I could almost still feel him there, sucking my lips and caressing them with his tongue.

I moved quickly to the hotel. I just wanted to lay in my bed and fall into a dreamless sleep and forget this even happened. But I knew that no matter how hard I tried, or how much I wished, I would never ever forget his kiss.