A/N: This was way easier to write than the last one thank goodness. Hopefully that'll be true of the next chapters as well. Also, I have absolutely no idea of how long this story is going to be. I have no idea where I'd want to go with it once they actually work things out so it might not be that many more chapters. What I really don't want to do is drag it out longer than I need to. I am happy with the current and previous style and I think I'd have to change that if I keep writing for too long. Anyway in order to alleviate my writers block I started another story. It's a Kavi story and I'm pretty pleased with the plot so it'd be cool if you could check it out. It's called Hidden so just search that or look at my profile. Thanks guys.
Oh. Kevin looks between me and my sister who’s stood over us. ‘Um I’m going to leave you two to have some family time.’ He gets up and walks over to his bunk. ‘Who doesn’t see you as boyfriend material Avi?’ Telling Kevin was hard. He’s my best friend and I care so much about what he thinks of me. Telling Esther is going to be even harder. She adores Kirstie (of course she does, everyone does) and I know that she’s going to be disappointed in me. ‘Kirstie.’ Her eyes widen and she starts to open her mouth. ‘No wait. I need to explain.’ I tell her the story. The whole story. She takes a deep breath. ‘You did a good job of hiding it.’ ‘That’s all you’re going to say.’ ‘Looks like you hate yourself enough for the both of us. Plus she forgave you already, there’s no need for me to drag it out. I’m just impressed no one worked it out. I know they all know now but you did well to keep it from everyone as long as you did.’ I sigh and lean my head back against the couch. ‘Avi, you messed up. You know that, she knows that, I know that. If you really love her then you have to be prepared to wait and you also have to be prepared for it to never happen.’ She turns to me and sees the sad look in my eyes and pulls me into a comforting hug.
So I wait. I don’t really have much choice. I wait through the tour. Things are friendly enough between us towards the end. It’s hard to spend that much time with someone and keep your distance. It’s the last night before we go home and Scott and Mitch have gone out with Ryan and Esther, Darien and Kevin have gone to see a movie. I would have expected Kirstie to go with Scott, Mitch and Ryan but when I walk into the lounge area of the bus I see her curled up on the couch. ‘Hello. You not going out?’ She shakes her head. ‘You want to sit down? I can go read on my bunk if you want the couch.’ ‘You’re barely taking up any space at all.’ I sit down beside her. ‘See, plenty of room.’ She smiles at me and I grab my laptop from the table and open it up. I occupy myself with checking some emails and then spend some time on twitter.
It’s a whole half hour before either of us speak. ‘I’m just going to grab a drink from the fridge. Do you want anything?’ ‘A coke would be great please.’ She walks over to the fridge and pulls out a bottle of coke and a water. ‘Thank you. Are you trying to make me feel guilty for the coke?’ She smiles ‘Yep. You should be keeping your body properly hydrated Avi.’ ‘I know, I know. We can’t all be as sensible as you though Kirst.’ She sticks her tongue out at me. ‘Why didn’t you go to the movie?’ ‘I just wasn’t really feeling it, you know?’ ‘Yeah me neither. I just wanted to spend some time on my own.’ ‘If you want me to go then that’s fine.’ ‘No. I didn’t mean that. I meant I wanted some peace. It’s pretty hard to get that when everyone’s charging around.’ ‘Yeah, we’re not the quietest group of people.’ ‘I’m glad that you’re here Avi. I like spending time with you. You’re one of those people who I can be quiet with and still have a good time.’
‘I feel the same way about you.’ She smiles serenely and I take care to relish the moment. To enjoy the softness of her eyes and the way it makes me feel so content and comfortable. ‘I missed you, you know. When we weren’t talking. Even when we have been. I’ve missed you being part of my life.’ She looks down at her hands as she speaks and there’s something nervous and almost guilty in the way her shoulders hunch and her hair falls to cover her face. ‘Kirstie.’ It’s practically a whisper but in the silence of the bus she hears it easily ‘I missed you too.’ My hand has ended up on the back of the couch and at some point in the conversation our bodies have turned so that when she looks up we’re facing each other completely. We’re closer than we’ve really been for a long time.
I watch as her eyes drift down to my mouth and take in the way that she swallows anxiously. I don’t consider making the first move. I think I’m reading the signs right but it’s not worth the risk. She slowly lifts up her hand to rest on my shoulder, creating a space just for us. Her eyes meet mine and then I watch as her eyelids flutter closed and she starts to close the, not particularly substantial, gap between us. My eyes are closed by the time her lips touch mine and I’m not at all ready. For a second my mouth is still against hers and I can feel her start to pull away. I raise my hand to gently cup her face and press my lips to hers. Softly, but still without the earlier hesitation. It’s a sweet kiss. Nothing like the first and not like any of the others. The one exception is the kiss we shared that first time in her room. The one that left us both smiling.
This kiss isn’t totally devoid of the passion that has always characterised our relationship but any lust I feel is overpowered by a sense of calm. A sense of comfort that comes from knowing with a complete certainty, what it is that I feel. My hand is still cupping her face but hers has moved to rest in my hair, the heel of her hand pressed to my cheek and her palm covering my ear. We both hear the voices outside the door at the same time and she turns away from me and picks her book back up, her skin still flushed and her eyes still not totally focused. I grab my laptop from where it’s resting on the table and move quickly to my bunk. ‘Hey guys, how was the movie?’ My voice isn’t as steady as it should be but either Esther, Kevin and Darien don’t notice or they put it down to lack of use because none of them question it ‘It was good. Anything interesting happen here?’ My eyes flick to Kirstie and she looks right at me with uncertainty in her eyes ‘No, nothing happened.’
