Not even if she tried to empathize with him she could. Her life had been pretty simple all the time. Her parents had always given her all she needed, sheâd been in good school and even when she never asked for more, they would keep giving her more, and even when they were absent 95% of the time, she knew they both loved her terribly, and even their story was full of love, giving her the ideas and beliefs on that topic that she had nowadays. Yet, seeing his expression so broken even when it was something that had happened years from then, made Elisa react in some way she had never experienced before. Suddenly everything about him made sense: his seriousness, the harshness on his voice, and even some of the looks she had seen on him. She wanted to make him forget about all of that. She knew it was impossible, but at least when he was with her, she wanted to make everything alright. Elisa caught her hand a couple times, making their actions a simple game that kept them both focus on what was going on with the talking. It was oddly relaxing, but it was even weirder how lighter the atmosphere became when the contact between them increased and he rested his head on hers.Â
Elisa looked down to their hands together, feeling bad about her choice of words. âYeah, I knowâŠâ Bullying was something Elisa could understand better. Back in middle school she had been a victim herself, and even though it hadnât made a painful mark on her, she still remembered everything she had been told. But even worse, in high school, even when sheâd made all she had had in hands to change her life and she went from a weirdo to queen bee, she still lived with the fear of becoming the target of all the speaking again, which led her to different issues that still haunted her every night. âButâŠâ Elisaâs voice changed to a lighter tone, âfor what is worth, I still think youâre mister Perfect,â she bit her lip, looking at him with a playful grin, just then noticing the ridiculously short distance between them. Elisa froze, as her breathing became less frequent, and struggled to hold his gaze as her eyes kept darting down to his lips every two seconds.Â
Sorry? There was nothing to be sorry about. Not on his behalf, at least. She was the one who needed to be sorry. She was the one who needed to run away in that moment, to stay away from him and stop herself from dragging him into the mess she was into. She couldnât stop thinking about Austin and how amazing heâd been on their date. She couldnât stop thinking about Caleb and how deep their bond had been since the first time, but she couldnât move away from there, from that moment. What Elisa was feeling with Bryce was way too intense to ignore, and she could only thought of how she could apologize for all of that. âDonât,â she murmured in a voice just audible for him, reaching to touch his lips with the tip of her finger, making him shush. His skin felt warmer, softer than she ever imagined. She thought of pulling her hand away, but slowly placed it along his jaw instead. Elisa moved slightly closer, until her nose brushed with his, putting down a curtain inside her head, leaving every single thought behind it. The tension was almost painful. She could feel the heat of his skin on hers, and it was just a matter of a little push to make it, but it was too hard. âLeave that part for me,â she let out a shaky breath and laughed nervously before softly pressing her lips to his. Elisa pulled away almost immediately, but she didnât even move back an inch, just waiting for a reaction from the man, but she couldnât stop herself from pressing a longer kiss, yet full of fear. What was she doing? What was he going to do? His reaction was something Elisa was worrying about even more than anything, but for those couple of seconds everything had felt right and in place, that there was no way other than him immediately walking away from her that she could regret it.Â
