"It's like I can't breathe without you." She had waited a thousand years to say this to him, and now that she was, she felt like a weight was lifted off her shoulders, as cliché as it sounds. She didn't know that there would be so much emotion behind such few words, but there was. With those simple words, she had basically poured her heart - her soul - at his feet. She didn't know what to expect. From deep inside her, she knew what he would do: scuff at her show of affection. Mock it. Maybe even tell her she was crazy, but she knew she wasn't. She loved him more than air itself. More than the earth, the trees, no one else mattered: only he did.

She had expected skepticism, but what she got was short of astonishment.

He stood there, staring at her with the blue eyes she had fallen for. There was a war raging behind that gaze, though. One that she didn't understand, or even recognize. He had put up such a pretty, glittering wall between his emotions and his face. He was a glamour – a fake. Parading around with what looked like such assurance and pride, that no one ever questioned if it was the real 'him'. In fact, at this very moment, he was watching her with the same cool, knowledgeable demeanor as he did with every other person. He arched one, perfectly slanted eyebrow, and the corners of his mouth twitched upwards.

"It is?" His voice was like a rumble and a soft harp at the same time. It made her knees weak and mouth go dry. Even though she knew he was laughing at her, she still wanted to move just a fraction closer: that's all it would take, and there would be no more space between them, just warmth and the soft curve of his lips on hers and. . . and she needed to stop thinking before she lost her damned mind.

She bit her bottom lip, a nervous habit she had taken up whenever around him. She didn't realize it – she didn't realize a lot of things – but this small habit of hers, drove him crazy. It made him want to grab her in his arms, and kiss her neck and jaw and lips and kiss . . . everywhere else. Instead, he settled with a placid expression.

She looked down, fumbling with the right words. The ones that would win his heart. But she was having trouble thinking, at the moment, because of how close he was, and because of the way his musk was taking over all of her five senses. And because of the fact that he was watching her search in vain for a way to win his affection and the only thing he would do was stare at her as her world divided.

Tentatively, he reached out a hand and ran his thumb along her jaw line. "Maybe. . . maybe I can't breathe without you, either."

She gawked at him, a very unattractive gawk at that, but he didn't seem to mind, because he smiled and bent down, and she could do nothing but let him press his lips against hers. At first, she didn't respond, and he pulled back, perplexed.

She shook her head, hair falling in small ringlets around her face, smiled up at him, and reached to put her hand behind his head. "Not so fast. You can't get rid of me that quickly," She mumbled, dragging his lips back down to hers.

It was everything he expected, and more. Her lips were soft against his, and he had trouble remembering how to breathe. But the deeper the kiss, the more he learned. He learned how to breathe again, and walk, and write, and read, and fly. He felt ageless, yet mature beyond his years. How could a simple kiss do so much? How could she affect him in so many ways?

She was no different. He fit her like a glove. More perfect than a glove. He was her, and she was him. She ran her nails against his exposed arm, causing him to shudder. She gave a small smile, and then dragged her tongue against his own.

He broke away first, breathing in the much need air deeply.

"I. . ." He couldn't finish his sentence. He didn't know what to say. Actually, he had a lot to say, he just didn't know where to start.

"I know," she said, smiling. "I know." And then she wrapped her arms around him, and that was enough talking to fill in a million years of silence.


OHSOCHEESY. more than a year old. my writing has come a looong way. you'll see that in the next installment.