Fifteen: Free Fallin'

Chapter 10: Harveston Lake

"Are you sure about this?" Tyler asked not taking his eyes off of Olivia. "Yes," she said shyly. "I'm very sure." He smiled at her, while brushing her hair to the side and leaning in. He positioned them just right and reveling in the way she felt before Olivia could take a swing and make the hole.

They were at the campus Game Pavilion and had been in an intense game of mini golf. Olivia was down several points and asked Tyler for assistance. He was all too happy to oblige. "It's all in the hips and wrist," he instructed as he leaned in closer to her. Olivia couldn't deny that she loved the way he felt against her. He smelt like mint and cedar wood and Olivia just wanted to bask in his essence.

"Are you listening to a word I'm saying," Tyler chuckled. "What? Umm yes! Of course!" Olivia lied. "I think I've got it." She assured prepping to take a swing as Tyler let go. With legs bent and shoulders back, Olivia took a swing and made it. She jumped with joy into Tyler's arms at having succeeded in something. Tyler held onto Olivia as they looked into one another's eyes.

Tyler's gaze fell to Olivia's lips and he leaned in for the kiss. Olivia quickly pulled away. "Wow that was amazing, wasn't it? I can't believe I made that!" Olivia offered trying to recover from the awkwardness. "You did great, Liv." Tyler smiled and pointed her towards the front for them to get their things and leave. The walk back to their dorms was silent. This was the usual case for them on their walks, but those times were comfortable and welcome, this time was awkward and embarrassing.

"I'm sorry," Olivia said barely above a whisper. "No, it's my fault. I shouldn't have been so pushy." Tyler offered. "You weren't pushy. It was a moment and I ruined it." Tyler stopped her and grabbed her hand. "You didn't ruin anything, Liv. I don't want to do anything that will make you uncomfortable. I told you when I asked you out that we can take this as slow as you want. I'm not going anywhere." Olivia knew he meant it. She could see it in his eyes.

A week after she and Faye left Fish Fest to head back home, Tyler had asked her to be his girlfriend. She gave him a list of reasons why that was a bad idea and for every reason he had a rebuttal. He told her he liked her just the way she was and would never pressure her to do anything she wasn't comfortable with or be anyone that she wasn't.

She believed him then so she agreed, much to Faye's surprise. They spoke multiple times every day while away and picked back up once Fall semester started like it was nothing. Being with Tyler was easy for Olivia. He accepted her for who she was: shy, anxious, somewhat awkward, loyal and loving to a fault.

He knew about her anxiety disorder and the medication she took and he didn't care. He was supportive and loving about all the things that made her who she was. But Olivia knew that her shyness and ultimately her anxiety would cost her the only relationship she had ever had.

They had been dating for almost 2 months and they had yet to kiss. Olivia was so frightened by the idea that every chance a moment presented itself she would pull away as though Tyler had leprosy. She had never kissed a boy before and mostly her fear was that she would be horrible at it. She didn't want Tyler to think less of her, but she knew not doing it eventually would cause him to leave.

"I know you say you're not going anywhere, but you'll get tired of me eventually. I know you will," Olivia offered not looking Tyler in the eyes. "I know that I care about you more than I've cared about anyone. I know that you're shy and that makes me like you more. I know that you're afraid of kissing me, because you're worried about how it would be. I also know that kissing you would be perfect, because it's you. That's all I care about. You."

Olivia looked into her boyfriend's eyes and saw something that she never thought would be shown to her romantically. Love. In that moment, Olivia threw fear to the wind and kissed Tyler. It was a soft kiss that caught Tyler off guard, but once he registered what was happening, he wrapped his arms around her. He didn't deepen the kiss. He knew she wasn't ready for that yet, but for those few seconds they were blissful.