The Inceptive Flame⎪✓

❨41❩

♀︎

Elijah leads me to his black car, opening the passenger door for me and walking to the driver's side. His eyes meet mine as he sits down and starts the engine, backing out of the parking lot we hit the road immediately. His car smells exactly like him, the rich masculine scent with a hint of citrus and mint. It swallows me completely as I relax in the seat, enjoying the sight of him driving skillfully through the streets of my hometown. 

"Where did you come from?" I suddenly ask, breaking the comfortable silence. I clearly don't know a lot about him, this is my shot at getting to know more about him and his life before Hetdale. He raises an eyebrow in humor and I shake my head, "I mean, where did you move here from?"

He smiles at the question, "We lived in a town two hours away, slightly bigger than Hetdale. Changes happened and we moved here with my grandpa."

"Papa Black," I confirm and he nods. "He is a pretty cool grandpa, you're lucky."

The gentle smile on his lips is like none other, clearly he loves his grandpa very dearly, "Yeah, but he doesn't miss his shot at telling people the 'phrase of life', as he puts it."

"No, I definitely got that," I laugh. "He's right though. It is important to help others, it truly does something to your mental health."

Elijah nods in agreement and pulls into a parking lot, this town's burger bar, right as he cuts the engine to the car, my stomach grumbles in anticipation of the delicious burgers and fries in here. "You know the way to my heart, Lij."

"That was the plan, yes. Hopefully you aren't too full after lunch," He smiles and steps out of the car, politely opening the door for me. Thanking him I follow his lead into the burger bar, giving the waitress a smile as she assigns us to a table. She grabs our orders immediately, since both of us know what we want. Leaving with a nod, my attention is on Elijah again. 

"You know, Papa Black is completely enthralled by you. Apparently it was hilarious seeing me act like that in front of a girl, he still doesn't want to tell me how I acted exactly. And also, your eyes, both him and Tilly mention them every time your name comes up. I love your eyes, but that doesn't entail talking about them to my family twice a day," He laughs and the sound warms my heart, he is very attractive when his smile lights up his face, with the crinkles on the side of his eyes. My heart flutters by him complimenting my eyes and telling me his family thinks he's acting some type of way with me. 

Laughing with him, "You really third-wheeled at the hospital."

"Fuck yes, no doubt about it."

"I can't do anything about your family taking a liking to me, maybe you should up your game with them."

He cocks an eyebrow, my heart flutters, "I already do everything for them, it's practically impossible for me to up my game."

The conversation flows freely from here, never once touching on the subject of any of our kisses nor the subject of my mom. He opens up to me more than I'd ever thought and I can physically feel my heart creating a bond to his. It's both scary and exciting, mostly scary though. The waitress brings our food and leaves us again, Elijah jokes with my excessive use of ketchup and I joke about him not wanting to eat two buns on a burger, hence him removing the upper one and saving it for when he has eaten the rest. 

My smile is a little wider than usual and the constant fluttering in my chest makes for a great distraction, we eat and joke, drink and flirt, it's the perfect time and I'm shocked when I realize we've been sitting here for three hours already. He notices, too, and together we walk up to pay for the food. After a while of us literally arguing, the waitress grabs his card, much to my dismay. He smirks at me and I walk out of the burger bar with arms crossed and a small frown on my face. 

He catches up to my strides quickly, lifting me up from the ground and twirling me around. The frown is immediately replaced by a squeal and a smile, he laughs as well before putting me down and pressing me against the passenger door to his car. 

"Are you done now?" He asks with a smirk. The proximity makes it difficult for me to breathe, having him this close is hard for me. 

"Done with what?" I ask and raise an eyebrow, his eyes fall to my lips as I smirk at him and I intake a sharp breath. 

Not even a second later, his hands land on each side of my face. My eyes close on instinct when his lips touch mine, grabbing his shirt, I pull him closer and allow him to take control of the needy kiss. Our tongues tease each other and he groans, the sound provoking a tight knot in my stomach. His hands on my heated skin does wonders to my dirty imagination, and I can't help but imagine how far this could go. 

Sudden hollers shake me from our moment, as I take a step back from him. His eyes have turned darker and the swell to his lips surprisingly compliments his rough features. A random group of guys walk past us and smirk at me, their unnecessary comments are long forgotten according to me, but the anger is very visible on Elijah's face and I decide to push him into the car before he does something he can regret. 

Joining him, I smile and get comfortable in the passenger seat. His attitude changes immediately, he gives me a small smile as his fingers gently touch my chin. His focus is on my lips and once again flutters erupt in my chest, biting my lip I look away from him. Elijah shakes his head in humor, before he starts the car and pulls out of the parking lot.