Settle Down || Ariella & Bryce
Ariella had known from the beginning the whole party wasn't going to end so well and she had been right. Despite having sort of made up with jake she was still pretty mad at him and upset that he had just left her there. After having eaten food and had some more to drink she went back up to her room to watch the crazy unfold . She was also upset that Bryce wasn't there or at least she hadn't see him. She pulled her phone out and sent him the best text she could tellig him that she needed him there. She jumped into the bath to clean herself off from the chlorine in the pool and waited for Bryce not even caring that he would most likely find her naked.
Bryce had spent the day helping Delilah move into her new place (or rather, laid on her kitchen counter and mocked her poor movie collection) and didn't even realize how fast the time sped by until he received a text message on his phone. Seeing that it was from Ariella, he immediately remembered that there was a party at the Maxwell's and felt guilty for missing it. Bryce apologized to Delilah, and then left to go to Ariella. The walk to Ariella's wasn't long, or it didn't feel long because he was already used to walking in that direction by now. The front door was still open from the party, so Bryce welcomed himself inside. "Ariella?" He called out as he entered. "Where are you?"
Ariella had decided on bubble bath and was sitting naked by her tub waiting for the warm water. As she waited she heard a voice and her ears perked up. Despite the music outside she yelled out knowing the doors and windows were closed. " Bryce I'm here in my rooms bathroom!" She felt the water heat up and got in playing with the bubbles as she waited for Bryce to walk in. Despite what had happened earlier she was all smiles as she played with the bubbles.
Bryce was already wandering through the house, avoiding any others in case he'd get distracted from going to Ariella. He heard her voice and followed it to where she said she was. "Hey, are you okay--" Bryce entered her bathroom, completely taken a back when he saw her bathtub drawn and her in it. Bryce walked backwards out of her bathroom, took a deep breath, and then entered once more. He stood near the door and asked, "I thought something happened to you, and here you are taking a bubble bath?"
Ariella giggled as she saw the boy then frowned when he walked but smiled when she saw him enter once more. " something did happen so I wanted a bubble bath...wanna join?" She sat up and leaned closer to the boy." Take a seat and you'll be able to hear my sob story..I think I have a bottle of vodka somewhere in my room if you wanna share. It tastes kinda awful but it's made me pretty happy ." She cracked another smile as she reached out to the boy wanting to hug him but knowing that would have to wait
Bryce took a moment to consider, but when she revealed that she drank some vodka earlier, he could only smile softly at her. "I'm not really a bubble bath type of person, so I'm good." He said as he walked further into the bathroom. Bryce took a seat on the bath mat next to the bath tub, pulling his knees to his chest and wrapping his arms around his legs, so that he was about eye level with Ariella. "Thanks for the offer, but I'm not thirsty." The fact was that if he was raised by parents who forced good manners in their only son as they raised him, and even if Bryce was your typical young adult who made sexual jokes all the time, he knew not to take advantage of any situation with a drunk woman. The fact that it was Ariella made him even more considerate in his actions. "So what happened? I want to hear all about your sob story."
Ariella sighed. " please don't be boring because I'm drunk I guarantee I know what's going on." She rested her chin on the edge of the bathtub and smiled at him, for a few minutes just taking in how he looked which was pretty cute. " Well despite not answering my calls or texts Jake showed up. And he didn't wanna do anything with me besides out me to bed which is boring, I just wanted to make out or you know do things." She put an emphasis on things knowing that Bryce would get the hint." And then he was just mean to me, his own cousin who other people say mean things about had to comfort me. And in the end I'm sitting here still waitin for someone cute and available to kiss me because despite drinking I am not drunk and will be picky about who gets to kiss me." She smiled , pretty proud that she hadn't slurred any of her words. If Bryve was going to show the same pity that Jake had she would break something out of anger, no doubt .
Bryce pressed his lips together as he tried to think of how to respond to Ariella's disappointment. He thought it would be better not to say anything in protest to her calling him boring. When she moved in the bathtub to rest her chin on the edge, Bryce didn't even flinch. He obediently listened to her story as he looked her in the eyes-- were her eyes always that color? Maybe Bryce only noticed now because the distance between them was so close that he could see how curled each of her eyelashes were. He nodded as he listened to her speak, drinking her words up as though it was the bottle of vodka left in her room. "Well, you're waiting for someone cute and available to kiss you, and then you texted me and I'm here now." Bryce said after she finished, feeling his pulse slowly begin to speed through his veins. "What do you want to do now?"
Ariella noticed that he was watching her intently and she was glad. She felt her story was important to tell and she knew that him being here was for a reason although she was unsure of that reason for now. She smiled through the story though noticing how he looked so into whatever she was saying. She liked that he payed attention to her. She nodded at him. "Yes I am." As he kept talking she bit her lip and put her chin in her hands. "Well....what do you want to do....I suggested this lovely bath...now it's your turn."
Bryce adjusted the way he sat so that his legs were criss-crossed and he could rest his elbows on his knees. His focus drifted down from her eyes to her lips as he did so, which was a wrong move because now that was all he could think about. He knew there were things he shouldn't do, but knowing never preventing Bryce from doing. For the boy who acted on impulse, he leaned forward and pressed his lips against Ariella's, first softly and then almost desperately to make sure he would remember what it felt like as his rose a hand to brush against her jawline. He broke away from the kiss, and then sat back to the way he was just previously. He felt the guilt begin to brew in the pit of his stomach, but the thrill from actually kissing Ariella made a smile widen on his face. "Well, I did what I wanted to do," he said, and then playfully added, "Now it's your turn again."
Ariella expected him to tell her to go to bed or something like that and she was preparing herself to put up a fight when the unexpected yet also expected happened. She knew that by asking him to come here and then telling him the story the way she had made it seem like she wanted more than just his company. And the truth was she kinda did. She was curious and alone and time with Bryce was her favorite. She felt his lips on hers and couldn't help but smile and lean in towards it. As he backed away she just stared at him. In all the years of knowing him she had never tried that and now she wondered why. A smile grew on her face as she watched the smile on him. "Huh...didn't realize this was a game now...well ok." She motioned for him to come closer and she leaned in again, kissing him and cupping his face , forgetting the fact that her hands were a bit wet. She had to try it again though, realizing she liked the taste of him and the feel of his lips more than she thought she would.
Bryce 's only response to Ariella kissing him was to kiss her back. His skin shuttered to the touch of her hands, taken in surprise by the water, and then he placed his hands above her's to keep them in place. It was all so intoxicating to him-- thinking that through all the years of knowing each other, it would lead to this... "Wait," Bryce breathed out as he separated from her again. He backed away from Ariella and stood up, staring at her in the bathtub. "Ariella, this-- whatever this is..." Bryce tried to form the words, but was finding it difficult. "I just need to know, what is... this? Between you and I?"
Ariella held on to him as they kept kissing, trying hard to remember it all so she could replay it in her head later on. She was disappointed as he pulled away and looked up at him as he got up. When she heard his words she bit her lip and shrugged looking up at him then looking around for a towel knowing it was time to get out. She reached for one and got up and looked at him. "I don't know.....a kiss...or a few..." She felt nervous in the pit of her stomach not wanting to ruin what they had but it was a little late for that. "What do you want it to be..."
Bryce took a deep breath, but he found it hard to exhale. He watched as Ariella wrapped herself in a towel and got out of the bath tub. It was stupid, he thought to himself, it was so stupid how of all the times he acted on impulse, this had to be the one where he was actually reconsidering his actions. It was because Bryce was always someone who knew what he wanted and always got it-- and here he was with something, but he didn't know what it was. He stared at Ariella and even though there were a number of things he could have said, the only reply he could tell her was, "I don't know." The guilt that was growing inside of him suddenly grew big enough to overtake that rush of adrenaline he got from kissing Ariella. What was he feeling now? Regret? It couldn't be, he finally got to kiss Ariella after all these years, there's no way he would regret that. Bryce told Ariella, "I need time to think about this-- sorry." And then left.
