Sweet Lantern

Chapter 8

Darry

"Both of our families are out for the night and won't be home for hours", Alice told me. We have the entire house to ourselves, which makes me much more nervous than I expected it would. I've been dreaming about this night my whole life it feels like. I've definitely been thinking about it more this past year. Will things be awkward between us once we're alone? God, I hope not.

She looks so beautiful sitting next to me in my car right now. I don't know what to expect when we get to her house and I'm a little bit nervous. I hope she can't tell, because I don't want my anxiety to transfer to her, things are going so good right now. And I really want to kiss her again. She's holding my hand, I'm so happy that she feels the same. This could have been disastrous otherwise. I don't know what I'd do without her. But I'm sure life without her would just be empty. I've never known anything but her. She's part of me, and in this moment, I feel very lucky.

When we pull up to her house, I feel my heart skip. I have no idea what to expect in there. We go inside and grab some water and go into the livingroom. I can't take my eyes off of her. I've seen her almost every day for eighteen years, I've sat in this room with her more times than I can count, but tonight she looks different somehow. She's the most beautiful girl I've ever seen.

Sitting next to her now, she seems to be just as nervous as I am. I can't stand it anymore; I have to feel her lips on mine again. I lean over and kiss her. She's still not pulling away. She's kissing me back, again. And I mean she's really kissing me. I pull her body to me and can feel her heart beating fast.

"I love you, Alice", I tell her again.

Her expression so sweet, with her eyes all lit up, she says, "Oh, Darry, I love you too. More than anything in this world."

"Marshmallows!" I tell her and leave to go get them from the backseat of my car. I can't believe I forgot to roast these for her. "Oh, well." I bring them into the livingroom, tossing one into my mouth. She takes one too and now we both look like overstuffed chipmunks with big, poofy cheeks filled with giant sticky marshmallows. The tension in the room now gone completely, we are just happy being silly together, which is what I was going for. She pokes my cheek with her finger, and I feel the wet marshmallow slip through my teeth. I lean over and kiss her poofy cheek and she laughs.

God, I love this girl.

"What are you in the mood to watch tonight?"

She doesn't even have to answer me. She just looks at me and does this thing she always does when she thinks I have asked a silly question or when I should know what she wants. She tilts her head to the side and raises one eyebrow at me. It's the cutest thing in the world and makes my blood run warm every time.

I know exactly what she wants because she's been on this Twilight kick lately. I can't stand this movie. Vampires shouldn't twinkle or sparkle or whatever it is that they do in this movie. Vampires are scary, ruthless killers, not moody teenagers with glowing skin. But she loves it, so I watch it with her. Well... actually, I watch her as she watches it, but she's never been the wiser because she gets really into these movies for some reason.

We're halfway through the first movie and as always, I'm watching her more than I'm looking at the screen. She's laying with her head on my chest, which is how we normally watch tv, but tonight she looks up at me and catches me watching her. I blush a little for getting caught. She asks if I do this often and I nod, thinking she's going to think it's stupid or weird. But she doesn't. She lifts up and kisses me on the cheek. And then she's tickling me.

Oh no, not today, uh uh. I can't stand to be tickled. To lose control like that and giggle like an idiot. She knows I hate it; she must pay...
I move over her and move her body down to the couch with my own. I grab her tiny wrists and pull them over her head so she can't make me stop. I lift her shirt up above her belly button and smile down at her, underneath me, so small and helpless, squirming like she can free herself somehow if she just moves enough. It's very entertaining.

Bwahahaha! I've got you right where I want you, you're going nowhere tiny elf girl! I can't help but smile at the dork that is my inner voice.

I kiss her on her stomach, then I move to her sides, knowing she's very ticklish there. She's fighting back the whole time, but I've got her pinned down good, working on a whole new level of torment. I kiss her on her stomach again and then... I blow a raspberry beside her belly button and let go of her wrists. I'm feeling very happy with myself, especially with the expression I have inspired on her face right now. She wants to kill me, of this I am sure, but she's too small and adorable to instill any real sense of fear into me. Bring it, tiny hobbit, bring it.

"I need another marshmallow." I tell her and grab the bag from the coffee table beside us. I grab a marshmallow and shove it into her open mouth and then put one in mine.

When we hear her parents pulling down the driveway, we both turn to sit next to each other on the couch. An unspoken agreement not to say anything to anyone. I'm not saying anything! First, I don't want to die; Mr. Wilson scares the heck out of me. And second, I definitely don't want to lose the freedom we have right now. If they feel like they can no longer trust us together alone, everything changes. I'm not going to risk having to give her up like that. Right now, I have total access to her, all the time. I plan on keeping it that way as long as possible.

Mrs. Wilson comes into the livingroom with us and starts asking us a bunch of questions about the bonfire.

Then here comes Mr. Wilson, carrying Robby in his arms. He leans down and puts him on the couch, then pulls a blanket over him. Mr. Wilson turns to us and asks if we had fun tonight. We can barely hold back our laughs. We turn to each other, smile and tell them we had fun. Then she tells them I'll be staying the night. Right now, I'm very grateful that her parents trust us. They say OK and tell us they're beat, so they're going to bed.

When her parents leave the livingroom, we both laugh and I grab her arm, pulling her toward the stairs. We fight over who will get up the stairs first, she tries to pull me down the stairs and pass me but she's a tiny little hobbit girl that has the strength of a flea. I get to the top first, of course, and wait for her to catch up. When she makes it to me, I pull her in for a kiss and pick her up tossing her over my shoulder. I carry her to her bed and drop her, sticking my tongue out at her as she plops down.

We agree it's time to get ready for bed. She gets up and takes off to her bathroom with her pajamas. I jump in the bed; a bed I've slept in over and over again through the years, but somehow it just feels different tonight. When she comes back, I lift the blanket for her to get in and she crawls in beside me. I pull her close to me and she puts her head on my chest. This is how I sleep best. She locks her leg in mine and I cover her up, kissing her forehead.

"Goodnight, sweet Alice," I tell her, "I love you so much."

"Goodnight, Darry. I love you too, more than you know", she says to me and her eyes flutter shut, as she falls asleep on my chest.

I can't even fully process what's happened tonight. I lay here holding her and watching her sleep for hours. Running my fingers through her hair, rubbing her arm. I have tried and tried to play this out in my head so many times before, but it's never ended this well. I was always scared to tell her. Scared she wouldn't want to risk our friendship. I'm so glad I told her. I'm even happier that she loves me back. And not just as her best friend, but as something so much more, so much deeper. She's my life. I'd die without her and I know it.