The Wall and the Flower

Chapter 6: Explaining (Wanda's POV)

My heart fluttered and skipped a beat as me and Claire continued to sit on the floor watching more episodes of Family Guy. The first few minutes after our kiss were a little awkward, but as if she was sensing my nerves, Claire's smooth hand landed on top of mine, squeezing just the tiniest bit as she intertwined her fingers with mine.

The TV continued to play, soon drowning out and becoming background noise to Claire's tranquil and steady breathing. I felt the thin musty layer of sweat seep onto my skin from Claire's palm, but I didn't care. I enjoyed the touch of her hand against me, softly caressing my skin with her thumb. A goofy smile creeped up on my face as Claire stammered out an apology for her sweaty hands. I only leaned down slightly, pulling our hands up to meet me halfway, and placed a small kiss against her knuckles and tightened my grip on her hand so she wouldn't pull away.

Claire rested her head against my shoulder and sighed in content, still brushing her thumb across the top of my hand. She closed her eyes and hummed quietly to herself, though the sound drifted into my ear. I didn't recognize the song, and I don't think Claire knew what she was singing, but the gentle tune caused my smile to grow and I leaned my head down to rest on top of hers. I inhaled deeply, taking in the intoxicating scent of her hair and sighed. We stayed like that for...I don't even know how long, but at some point the two of us fell asleep, still sitting on the floor with Claire's head on my shoulder and my head on hers.

Claire's head shot up, knocking against mine. We both hissed in pain, and when she realized what happened, her hands flew up to my face and cradled my cheeks, pulling my face close to hers. Her purple-contact eyes stared into mine, filled with concern and worry.

"OhmyGodImsosorryareyouokay?"

I chuckled and pried her hands off my cheeks, holding them and rubbing my thumbs across the surfaces like she did for me, and smiled at her.

"Claire, calm down. I'm fine." She smiled, her upper row of teeth peeking out from the gap in her lips. She blushed at our close proximity, but didn't pull away from me, which I was grateful for.

We didn't even establish what we were—whether we were dating or what—but at that moment, I didn't really care. I just wanted to spend time with her, hold her, enjoy her without the seriousness of labels. Not that I didn't want to be serious with her, I just...for some reason, my crush on Claire was different than the rest of the crushes I've had. I couldn't explain it; when she touched me, her fingertips left a blazing trail of tingling sensations under my skin. When she kissed me I felt warm and light-headed. Her smile sent waves of shivers through my body and her eyes—her eyes! Oh, her eyes were the crown jewel of her beauty. Not the purple contacts that she wore in her eyes—don't get me wrong, the purple is very pretty and looks very good on her—but the gorgeous blue that resided underneath. On the rare occasions where I saw Claire without her contacts, I was frozen in place. Her deep blue eyes sparkled and shimmered in any type of lighting, creating deep cavernous tropical pools that I fell deeply into, drowning.

Claire snapped her fingers in the small space in front of my face, snapping me from my inner monologue of ogling Claire's eyes. The red tint of her blush didn't fade, but darkened as I continued to stare at her, my own face heating up.

"Dude, where did you go?" she asked with a bit of humor and a small knowing smirk.

"What do you mean?"

"You're like a million miles away."

"That's not true. I'm right here." Claire rolled her eyes and released a breathless chuckle before grabbing my hand again and swinging it lightly in the open space between us, looking down at our fingers.