Fire to Water

The Kiss

"Your voice."

"What about my voice?" Kit set the stack of books down. This was a stupid idea, honestly— Clary wouldn't have left a message in a language Jace didn't know, and really, these dictionaries were getting heavy.

"You have an English accent," Ty said. His eyes flickered up to lock on Kit's for a second, then two, then three, before glancing down, away. They were so close Kit could feel Ty's breath on his cheek, close enough they didn't even need to move to kiss, Ty would just have to lean down, or Kit could reach up. Kit flushed, even thinking about it. "It's..." Ty's voice petered out. He glanced back up, and Kit stared into those beautiful grey eyes, the color of storm clouds, the color of a dark and cold ocean that was nonetheless full of life. English oceans, north oceans, instead of the ocean near Los Angeles. It was strange how much Ty looked like a mixture of two places, strange how much he looked like home. "It's pretty." 

"Ty, what...?" Kit asked, certain he was very red and even more certain he didn't care.

Ty leaned forward and kissed him. Kit gasped, and Ty wound a hand into his hair. His lips were soft, and Kit kissed him back, one hand in Ty's hair, one hand on his waist. Kit was burning. Kissing Ty was as amazing as he had thought it would be.

Kit ran his tongue along Ty's lower lip, and Ty groaned, pulling Kit closer, hand fisting in the material of his shirt.

Kit was on fire. He was an inferno, a star, burning. A meteor.

Ty's hand slid under Kit's shirt, and Kit gasped into Ty's mouth. Ty sat on the table and Kit followed, sliding onto his lap. Ty slipped his tongue into Kit's mouth, and Kit felt like he was exploding, like a star going supernova. Kit pressed forward, and something tore, but he didn't care.

Kissing Ty was perfect. Everything he had felt about Ty came rushing back. Kit remembered the first time he saw Ty.

How beautiful, Kit thought, cracking one eye open to look at Ty. And he was beautiful— even more beautiful now than he had been then, eyelashes like dusted soot on his cheeks, the light flush on his cheekbones, and the way his hair curled over Kit's fingers. Kit let his eyelid flutter shut, and he let his hand rest on the small of Ty's back.

It would be so easy. It would be so simple, so obvious, to let himself go. To fall in love with Ty again.

I thought you cared, Kit.

The ghost of the past was too much. Kit pushed himself away, breaking the kiss. "Ty," he said.

Ty was obviously blushing. His skin was so pale it stood out sharply. "Kit? I thought..."

Kit could still feel the kiss on his lips, and couldn't. He couldn't look Ty straight in the eyes after kissing him and lie. He fixed his gaze on Ty's ear. "I'm not in love with you anymore," He lied. "I was in love with you three years ago, but you can't expect... Don't. Don't kiss me."

Kit pushed himself off Ty's lap and left, letting the door slam behind him.

I love you, Ty. I love you.

It was still true.