recognize / b.simmons

19

they pull away and amari places her hands on either side of bens face, her thumbs resting on the sides of the bridge of his nose. she gently strokes his face, staring into his eyes as she does so.

ben grips onto her wrist gently to steady himself. the kiss left both adults feeling breathless and dizzy, their hearts beating rapidly, in that lovesick way.

there was this static electricity in the room, and ben for sure felt it. he felt aflame, alive. it was euphoric, and he wondered if amari felt it. she had to; her kiss was enough for the justification.

"aren't you supposed to be in australia?" amari asks as she pulls away from ben to momentarily catch her breath. she was feeling so many things at once. she wanted him in every possible way.

his hand was still gently clutching on her wrist, and he pulls her closer to him. their body's were pressed against each other, and amari had to look up to talk to him, but it's not like she isn't used to it. "i needed to make things right with you," he says, his face reddening. simp.

amari gets that dizzy, butterfly feeling that starts at her stomach and works it's way through her body.

"oh," was all she could manage to say. her entire body felt aflame and she was nervous. he came back for her. she really was worth it to him.

ben pulls amari back to him and she puts her head on his chest. he rests his atop of hers and they stand in the embrace for awhile. amari can faintly feel his heartbeat through his chest. she made his heart beat like this. amari wonders if he can even feel hers.

ben let's out a shaky breath and wraps his arms tighter around her. this is what he wanted—what he always wanted. it wasn't just sex for him—it was something more. he only ever wanted a piece of her time.

"let's lay down," amari says quietly. she just wanted to lay next to him.

amari pulls away from ben and grabs his hand and leads him down the hall to the bedroom. they pass nias room and she wonders if her friend is up.

amari leads ben into her room and drops his hands once they enter. ben looks around and thinks about how little he's actually ben in room. they were spontaneous and had sex almost everywhere; even the balcony—that was amaris idea—and both of them would do it again.

ben notices all the boxes and furrows his eyes brows. "you're moving?" there were boxes spread all over her room, and he notices that the surface of her dresser is empty, and it wasn't the last time he was here.

amari lets out a breath and sits on the bed. she opens her mouth to say something, but closes. she doesn't even have a solid answer from him—she's not even sure if she should leave LA, now that ben is here.

"um, kind of? i don't know anymore," she answers unsurely. ben gives her a goofy smile and tilts his head to the side.

"kind of? how do you 'kind of' move?" he asks, taking a seat next to her. he slings an arm around her should and pulls her towards him. he just wants to feel her. he can't keep his hands off of her.

amari sighs at his embrace and closes her eyes. "i dont know," she says quietly. she didn't want to talk about moving, didn't want to talk about anything. she just wants to be in his arms for eternity. "i had plans to move back to chicago, i even thought about new orleans." she answers. she told her family about her plan to move and she brought up the prospect of moving back home, and her family was estatic. amari never told them the reasons behind her wanting to move, though. just said she was homesick—which wasn't an entire lie. she missed her family like crazy.

amari is the youngest of three, and she has two brothers. her oldest, kennedy, is 30, and her other brother, isaiah, is 26. the three were super close, but her dating karl placed a wedge between them. it was just kennedy and isaiah trying to be protective older brothers, but amari didn't want that. and look at her now, heartbroken because of karl.