as salem drove, she kept asking for sips of ciarán's drink.
"i knew i should've bought you a drink." ciarán said as he put the straw directly in front of her mouth.
"you're not buying me shit; i have my own money." she said firmly, after gulping down some of his drink.
"you should've at least gotten yourself something." he chuckled, knowing how stubborn she was.
"i didn't know taro boba tea was gonna be this good." she whined. "you have taste, though." she suddenly said.
ciarán smiled, staring at her adoringly. "i know i do."
as they grew closer to salem's apartment, they passed by the gas station ryan worked at. salem glimpsed at it, suddenly remembering the events that took place.
"you never told me exactly what happened in there." she said, tapping on the window to signify what she was talking about.
"all i wanted was some cigarettes." he said under his breath. "i was buying a pack and he decided to be a smartass about it." he said through clenched teeth, recalling the event.
"sounds like him." she mumbled, "what did he say?"
"he said you didn't like smokers." ciarán said quietly, almost ashamed to say it.
salem just scoffed, "i can't believe he actually remembered something about me. how'd you respond?" she took a quick glance at him out of curiosity, waiting for an answer.
"i said you seem to like me." he shrugged.
she snorted at his smart response. "you're right, i do. i like you a lot." she almost said something she wasn't sure she meant yet.
"i like you a lot too." he chuckled. he felt like he was still in secondary school as he uttered the words. "hey, i'm sorry about the whole kiss that happened there." he cringed at the recollection; his intentions were reckless and he knew how harsh the words must have hurt salem.
his words definitely stung, but salem didn't want him to apologize any further. he had already asked for forgiveness enough, and she had already granted it. she wanted to assure him it was okay, so that's what she told him. "tavia told me he was pissed." she smirked, trying to lighten up the mood as she parked her car and turned off her engine.
ciarán shook his head in disapproval, "he didn't appreciate what was right in front of him."
upon hearing the words, she turned to look at ciarán. she had a gleaming smile on her face, and ciarán's eyes couldn't help but to wander away from her eyes and to her lips.
salem took note of this, and she slowly began leaning across the console. ciarán reciprocated the action, but their lips didn't meet. instead, their noses did.
"you thought i was gonna kiss you, huh?" salem teased, struggling to keep the giggles from escaping her lips.
ciarán huffed, "i'm gonna get you back."
"oh, really?" she raised an eyebrow. before he could do anything, she opened the car door, stumbled out, and slammed it shut just as quick.
she sprinted toward the elevator, not bothering to turn around.
once she heard ciarán's door slam, she locked her car. when she made it to the elevator, she ran into a dilemma: the elevator wouldn't make it in time.
instead of pushing the elevator button, she turned and ran in a random direction away from the elevator, hoping she'd outrun ciarán.
unfortunately, she was wrong. she had inadvertently ran in a direction toward a dead end, but it didn't matter anyway. before she had reached it, ciarán had already grabbed her by the waist.
"i didn't know you were that fast!" she yelped.
with both of his arms securely around her waist, he picked her up and spun her around.
her protests came out as squeals as she tried to stop him.
"ciarán! i'm getting dizzy!" she yelled, hoping he'd stop.
as expected, he didn't. his pace just kept on getting slower and slower. when he finally did put her down though, she staggered a bit and held onto ciarán while she regained her balance.
"i hate you." she mumbled.
"you know you love me." he stuck his tongue out at her, teasing her.
"false."
in response to her blatant answer, ciarán's jaw dropped and he crossed his arms over his chest, effectively causing salem to let go of his arm (which she had been holding onto ever since he put her down.)
he stopped in his tracks and stood in his spot, his bottom lip jutting out.
"you look like a toddler." salem snorted as she tried to unfold his arms. "c'mon, ciarán." she whined as she pulled on his arms.
when he didn't unfold them, she started tickling his sides so it'd encourage him to move them. "salem, what the hell?!" he said through small fits of laughter.
"stop acting like a child!" she exclaimed, almost stomping one foot, but deciding not to, since it went against her point.
at this, ciarán stuck out his tongue at her, pretending to be mad at her. despite this, he allowed her to intertwine their fingers.
as they walked to the elevator, salem took a long glance at ciarán. "you're so cute." she said absentmindedly, letting out a sigh of content.
ciarán chuckled in response, "that was random, but thank you. you're even cuter." he winked at her, bringing her hand up to his lips and kissing it.
salem flushed at the action, and she gave his hand a gentle squeeze in response.
"do you know if tavia's home?" ciarán abruptly asked, causing salem's eyes to bulge.
"i have no clue, but she probably is. if not, then she's with matt. let me text her real quick." she briefly let go of ciarán's hand to pull her phone out her pocket. she sent a quick text to tavia, who didn't respond. salem sighed, "she might be asleep."
instead of taking her hand again, ciarán put his arm around her. "guess we'll have to be quiet."
salem shook her head, laughing. "tav is a heavy sleeper. she fell asleep on the way home from san francisco, and our speakers were blasting electric feel."
"wait," ciarán paused. "you never told me how your trip was. i only saw you two go to the beach." he said as they stepped out of the elevator.
"it was fun." salem paused for a bit, realizing she had a gift for ciarán. "oh! i bought you something."
the corner of ciarán's lips turned upward, "really? you were thinking about me? even when i was mad at you?"
salem could feel the blood rushing to her face. trying to hide her blush, she focused her attention on unlocking her apartment door. "well, yeah. tavia told me you liked her post, and i couldn't seem to get you off my mind."
"you never left my mind either." he admitted.
ever since i met you, you've never left my mind.
a/n:
my crush asked me out and mayhaps it inspired me to write ... n e way thank yall for over 15k reads !!
