"Don't let his problems keep you from having fun. Okay?"
I nod.
"Good." He said smiling at me.
Then looks away to gaze out the window, his hand disappearing from my thigh. I can't tell which I am more, extremely thankful or extremely frustrated,that it's gone.
I hear William suppress a laugh. And when he catches my eye, smiling, I can't help but smile back.
About ten minutes later, Thomas pulls the car up to the curve in front of a record store that I've walked by a million times before, but never entered. William opens the van door and gets out. I climb out after him with Alex following me, and Greg and Audrey clamber out from the backseat after us. Alex purposely turns his back towards Audrey when she gets out of the van. She smirks at him.
What a bitch. I wish she wasn't a girl so I could punch her.
Smiling, Catherine reaches out the window, her dangles jingling, and affectionately ruffles William's hair. Out of nowhere, I get the strangest desire to be her just so I can know what it feels like to run my fingers through those messy curls of his.
"Thanks William." Catherine said with a smile.
She then waves to us as the van begins to pull away from the curb.
I watch the van disappear down the road until I feel someone place his hand on my arm. I look away, over at him, and William smiles at me.
"Come on"
He starts to tug me towards the record store.
I smile and nod, letting him lead me inside. The others follow behind us.
Inside the lights are on, but the only person there is the scruffy-looking guy behind the counter. He looks up at us when we enter, and then I think he grins at us, but it's hard to tell with the thick, dark auburn beard he has.
Greg nods and Audrey smiles at him before they both walk around us, heading towards back door. As it closes behind them, William turns to the man with a warm smile.
We go through the door, which turns out to be the entrance to a descending staircase. There's music coming from whatever is at the bottom. It makes me curious, but William begins to walk down before I get a chance to ask him about it. I quickly follow him with Alex right behind me.
"So, um... What exactly are we doing here?"
He still hasn't told me, and it's kind of making me wonder if the reason is because it's...I don't know, illegal or something like that.
"Oh, right ; I should tell you that, shouldn't I?" William said laughing.
He glances over his shoulder and grins at me.
"Just a little social gathering that Rodney has once a month in the basement here. But don't go spreading that around. My brother doesn't like it when random people just show up, trying to crash it."
"That guy's your brother, too? Jesus Christ. Just how many siblings do you have?"
The music gets louder the further we go.
"I have one more sister who's eleven.So six. But Rodney, Thomas, and Catherine are my half-siblings. We all have the same mother."
William flashes us another grin just as we reach the bottom of the stairs. I look around in amazement.
To say that this is a 'little' social gathering was definitely an understatement on William's part. The only thing little about it is the space everyone's crammed into. There hardly seems like there's enough room to walk; yet, people are moving around, dancing and talking with each other. I guess I should be grateful that I'm not claustrophobic, huh?
William, Alex and I all look over to the right, where that shout came from, just as a girl in a sleeveless hoodie with the hood up and large, thick-rimmed sunglasses walks up to us. She grins at William then looks at me and Alex,or, at least I think she does; it's hard to tell with her wearing those glasses. After a moment, she pushes them down and turns back to William.
"And who are these two?" Leila asked.
"Leila, this is my friend Michael. And this is his friend, Alex."
Leila hums low in her throat, eyeing us again with an assessing gaze. I notice her eyes linger on Alex a bit longer than they do on me. Alex apparently does too, and he cocks an eyebrow at her. She smirks at him before looking back at William.
"How have you been?"
"Acceptable." He answered, his fingers playing with the collar of my shirt.
Every time his knuckles brush against my neck I find it increasingly hard to breath. He looks around suddenly.
William removes his arm from my shoulder to grab my wrist instead.
Without warning, he begins to pull me forward until we're swallowed by the crowd. I plant my feet on the ground so he can't drag me any further, frowning at him questioningly. He gives me an innocent look back.
" What?"
"What are you doing? I can't just ditch Alex like that."
"Of course you can."
He takes a step forwards, making us literally chest-to-chest in the limited amount of space. He smiles secretively at me.
"I told you not to worry about him. Leila will keep him occupied."
Unsure, I glance over my shoulder. Through the mass of bodies, I can just make out Alex and Leila. They're talking, and there's what looks like a relaxed smile on Alex's face. I sigh and turn back towards William, who raises his eyebrows at me.
"Okay.I suppose I can ditch him."
He grins impishly up at me and loops his arms around my neck. I stare at him, wide-eyed and speechless.
There's no doubt about it. He's definitely coming on to me.
Holy fuck, he's coming onto me!
Dumbfounded, I blink at him a few times, and then grin, a little incredulous laugh escaping my throat. William chuckles, his eyes glinting with merriment.
" I was wondering when you would get it,."
Unfortunately, that's the exact moment I become aware of someone's gaze burning into me. I look up, away from William, and meet the kid's eyes. The murderous expression on his face is enough to make me duck away from William just as I feel his breath on my lips. William gives me a wounded and confused look. I wince.
I totally just blew it, didn't I?
Aw, fuck.
"Sorry..Sorry. I just, um..."
I glance around, looking for that kid, but he's disappeared. I turned back towards William to see that his eyes are narrowed now in irritation. I grimace.
"I just, uh... Need to use the bathroom.."
I lie, praying that I sound convincing enough.it seems that I do, since William's amused smile is instantly back on his lips. He points towards the left of us.
"It's that way."
"Thanks." I mumbled.
My mind is racing as I push my way through the crowd. Just who was that kid? And why did he look so pissed off? Does he know William? Maybe I should have just told him the truth. But no. How stupid I would look explaining that I didn't kiss him,William, for God's sake!, just because I was unsettled by some random kid glaring at me.
I shake my head at myself as I enter the bathroom, which is shockingly devoid of people. I walk over to a sink and turn the faucet on, cupping my hands to splash some water on my face. After doing that two more times, I shut the water off and watch it drip from the nozzle into the drain.
There'll be another chance to kiss William, right? It's not like he's not going to want me just after one failed attempt. At least, I hope not. I'd never be able to live myself if that's the case.
Sighing, I look up, only to nearly have a heart attack when I see someone standing behind me in the reflection of the mirror. Jesus fucking Christ. I didn't even hear him come in.
Pulse racing, I turn around, getting ready to curse the kid out for startling me like that, but I just end up staring at him after taking another look at him.
It's the same kid from before.
"What do you want?"
"To warn you."
"Warn me?"
I stare at him and then start laughing. You've got to be kidding me, right?
"Warn me of what?"
"Of William."
I immediately stop laughing. Eyeing him suspiciously, I take in his appearance for the first time. He's your typical scene kid,Converse, skinny jeans, band t-shirt, black hair with a choppy, asymmetrical cut. I have a hard time picturing him even being friends with William. He's fits the stereotype too perfectly, and I know that William can't stand people like that.
" What do you mean?"
The kid takes a step towards me, looking annoyed. I don't know why,I didn't freaking do anything to him. And yet, he's still glaring me down like I kicked his grandmother or something.
"?: I mean forget about him. You'll be better off if you do. Trust me."
I scoff.
"And who are you to tell me that?"
"I'm Louis.And I was in the same exact position you're in now, so I know what I'm talking about."
Louis gives me a meaningful look, and it finally clicks. I grin cruelly at him.
I get it now. He's William's ex or whatever, and he's jealous because William has moved on,to me, while he's still not over him. You know, I'd feel a little sorry for him if he wasn't trying to scare me away from William with this absolute bull shit. Honestly. What he's saying doesn't even make sense!
" Right. I'll keep that in mind." I answered sarcastically.
I roll my eyes as I brush passed him to leave.
Before I even make it three steps, however, he stops me by grabbing my arm. I look over my shoulder to glare at him, but Louis ignores it completely.
"If I were you, I'd be careful."
"Of what?!" I hissed.
"For fear of heartache, for fear of losing your way, for fear of losing yourself."
"No thanks. It's not like I believe you anyway."
Louis rolls his eyes.
"Of course you don't. I know how that is, too."
He shakes his head, seemingly at himself, then levels me with another severe look.
"But I'm serious. If you don't wanna believe me, then just listen to what to the some of the things others say about him. You'll hear the exact same thing from them."
No, I won't, I think to myself, getting fed up and angry. Because William's not like anything you say at all.
"Look, I don't care if you and William had something going on in the past, it's apparently over with. So why don't you just mind your own damn business now? If you're trying to get revenge on him for breaking up with you, or whatever, by turning me against him, well it ain't gonna work."
Louis flushes. I can't tell if it's from humiliation, anger, or both. I'm thinking it's both.
"Fine.You don't want to take my advice? Fine. Have fun trying to heal yourself and get over him after he rips your heart out."
I roll my eyes at him one last time before I turn and walk away. Getting into a confrontation with this guy would be a total waste of time and energy. Especially since everything he's saying about William isn't true. It can't be. I would have noticed it by now if he was like that in the slightest.
It takes me about three minutes after leaving the bathroom to realize that I've just been aimlessly shoving through the crowd. I have no idea where William, or anybody else, for that matter,is. Sighing, I stop and look around me, hoping that I'll see someone familiar in the mass of people. Hell, even finding Audrey in this place would be welcome.
Luckily for me, I only have to glance around twice before I see William. He notices me at the same time and beams at me. Then he turns towards the person next to him, saying something I can't hear. It turns out the guy is Rodney, and I watch as he laughs and tousles William's hair before William begins pushing his way over to me. I'm left, once again, with a strong, unexplainable want to be one of his siblings just so I don't need an excuse to do that too.
"Hey. What took you so long?" William smiled.
"I got lost..."
He laughs.
"I can't seem to leave you alone for a second, can I?" He said joking.
"No. No you can't"
William smirks at me. I'm pretty sure he knows exactly what I'm thinking. He then grabs my belt loop, and he tugs me closer to him, sliding both of his hands possessively up my chest until his arms are around my neck once more. He smiles at me, lowering his eyes demurely. My breath catches.
" I like this song. Dance with me?"
"I'd love to." I whispered.
He grins and starts leading me in a dance. He never takes his eyes off mine once, and I'm left dizzy because of it. My hands are on his hips, sometimes sliding along his lower back, up his sides. His hands are on the back of my neck, sometimes slipping into my hair, sometimes sliding down the back of my shirt. And it's indescribably wonderful. Just like everything William does, just like William.
I lean down until my forehead rests against his temple, my lips brushing against his ear. He shivers. I smile before inhaling deeply, the intoxicating smell of his hair,of him,filling my nose. More than content, I sigh and pull him closer to me.
Touching him like this makes me jealous of everything that has touched him before. It makes me want to be whatever else that touches him from now on, whether it's an object or a person. His brother, father, sister, mother,I don't care. I just want to keep doing this. I don't want to stop.
"People are staring at us." William said breathing in my ear.
"So?" I asked rubbing my fingers across his back.
He laughs, and tugs gently at my hair.
"Just making sure there isn't a problem with that."
"Is there a problem?"
" If this wasn't my brother's place there would be."
I stop dancing to pull back a bit so I can look him directly in the eye. William stares back at me with an unreadable expression. And even though I don't understand it, it's the way he seems to be able to see straight into my soul that gives me the courage to say exactly what I'm thinking about him for the first time.
"Even if people wanted us to, I'd never make you run for cover.I'd never be ashamed to be seen with you. I came out because of you. I..."
The rest of my words are cut off by William pressing his mouth against mine. My eyes widen as he starts to kiss me, and it takes me a second to realize that this is actuallyhappening. And when I do, I laugh against his lips and hold him tighter, feeling him smile when I begin to kiss back.
He pulls away a few seconds later, but it doesn't matter,i'm still left panting slightly even though the whole kiss didn't even last thirst seconds. William grins at me triumphantly, and I'm already smiling mindlessly back at him.
"Wow. What was that for?" I asked breathlessly.
"Well, what else is a boy s'posed to do when you say that to him?"
He pulls himself free of my arms, taking a hold of my hand instead.
"Come on, let's go!"
"Where?"
William flashes me a grin from over his shoulder.
"You'll see."
Before he leads me up the stairs, to the main part of the store. I laugh giddily, unable to help it, and allow him to take me wherever he wants to.
This isn't a perfect love, mainly because I'm not really sure that it is love. But now that I know both are guilty of whatever it is, I can't leave this, or him, alone. I have to see where it takes us.
I look at our entwined hands as we burst through the record store's doors, and grin as we run down the sidewalk together, with William one step ahead of me.
If where we end up is even remotely as incredible as touching him just like this is, then I can't wait. And I don't care,I'll pay whatever the price to get there and to stay there.
Even if the price is my heart.
Comments (0)
See all