✓ | DAWN OF US | Four (6 Underground)

➳ SEVEN

半途而废
(bàn tú ér fèi)
to start doing something, only to give up halfway

TWO MONTHS AFTER UKRAINE
CALIFORNIA DESERT

YVETTE WAS LOUNGING BY THE COUCH WITH A MOVIE ALREADY PLAYING ON THE TV. There was the sound of the trailer door being opened, and she merely glanced over to see if the two boys had finally arrived. "Hey, where's Six?"

Four set the pizza and the pack of beer bottles on the table. "He can't make it — I dunno, he had some lame excuse about having to talk with One or something important."

She snorted but lifted her legs to let Four sit, continuing to drape them over his lap as she reached over for a bottle. She didn't show it — but there was a slight flip in her stomach at the fact that this was the first time she and Four would be spending movie night alone together.

It's only been two months since they'd first met — she didn't have any feelings pertaining to like or love for him. But she sure as hell was attracted to him.

Besides — it's not like he thought the same way of her either, and it's not like One would ever allow anything personal to happen between them. It's always been one of his strictest rules he'd set since the first day.

     Yvette wasn't paying attention to the movie playing — she honestly couldn't even remember what it was she'd picked up from the rental store. All her mind could hyper-focus on was the casual hand Four had rested on her knee as he kept his eyes fixed on the screen, taking sips from his beer every now and then.

     A gasp was heard from the movie, and she spared a glance at the screen to see the protagonists locking lips with the other in a heated, passionate kiss that quickly escalated into a make-out session.

     Her eyes flickered back to Four, and found him looking at her already.

     She didn't dare move — didn't dare break the eye contact between them as he watched her with a fiery gaze that made her toes curl and her insides warm up. The hand that he'd placed on her knee suddenly felt electric, she could feel everything about him coursing through her blood and veins.

Without taking his eyes off of her, Four set his bottle down and shifted on the couch so his body was directly facing hers that was still half-lying on her back. There was the undeniable attraction in his eyes, though his face was set into a serious facade. And Yvette wished she knew what was going on in his mind.

She didn't know what to say — what the right words would be to start something between them without exactly beginning it. Something that would bring them to life amidst their new lives as ghosts. Something that wouldn't go against the rules One set up.

She wasn't entirely certain of how she felt for Four — if it was simply lust or something else. But she did know that at that moment — she wanted him. She wanted him like she'd never want something ever before.

Four moved to her. He hovered over her body, skin brushing against the other as he held himself upright with his elbows and forearms. When he was close enough so their noses were touching, he whispered, "Are you sure about this?"

And God, did it make her want him even more.

Her own body gravitating towards him without even having a control over it, Yvette searched his darkened eyes and said, "Yes." Conditions between them could apply later, but before Four could meet her lips with his, she hastily added, "No kissing — it's too personal."

Four didn't seem to mind — he understood the consequences of what would happen if they got too intimate in terms of real connections. So instead of tasting the lipgloss on her mouth and the cheap beer on her tongue — Four resorted to latching his lips onto the base of her throat.