Skins & Needles (COMPLETE)

The Last Night Part 2

Arsen

We ate dinner over a movie, some random, bizarre film where people were forced to fall in love, or be turned into animals.

About halfway through, Charlotte turned to me with one eyebrow quirked and asked, "If you were to turn into an animal, what would it be?"

The question was so ironic that it caught me off guard, and I didn't answer immediately.

"Let me guess," she grinned. "A big, ferocious wolf!"

My heart stopped.

"Why would you say that?" I tried to keep my voice as light as possible, but it came out forcibly neutral. Charlotte laughed.

"What, was I right?" she stretched her legs out on the ottoman and flipped her hair over the back of the couch. "That seems to be what your brother and other Volkov cousins go with for ink. Figured it was some weird mascot in your circle, or whatever."

I felt a load of tension lift from my shoulders and let out a long breath.

"Volkov means 'wolf' in Russian, so you're not too far off there," I told her, and she threw her fists in the air.

"Knew it!"

I half smiled at her, but the fact that she was so close, yet so far off made me nervous. If it wasn't for the need to protect her, I would want her to know. Maybe we'd have a chance, then.

We finished the movie and I headed up to take a much needed shower while Charlotte tidied up the kitchen. I wish I could have helped, but I was dead on my feet after a nearly twenty-four hour patrol, and from the way she was acting, Charlotte could tell.

The steam helped ease my sore muscles, and my body relaxed as the water cascaded over me. It was crazy to think the last time I'd stood here was with her, but if I thought about it too hard, I would need to turn the water to cold.

I slipped on a pair of pajama sweats when I finished in the bathroom and headed to bed to find Charlotte already there, facing away from my side. She looked so small with her body curled around a pillow, and so alone. What it would be like to sleep with my arms around her, just for one night...

She glanced up when I walked into the room and her eyes went to my bare torso. A drop from my hair fell to my chest, and I saw her eyes follow it down. When her gaze flicked back to my amused one, she blushed and cleared her throat.

"Good shower?" she asked, her voice sounding a bit thicker than usual.

Not as good as my last.

"It was great," I replied. I went to my side of the bed and sat down facing away from her. Just one night, my thoughts tempted, and the more they did, the more my resolve slipped. My hands fidgeted in my lap as I contemplated what I was about to do. It was a stupid idea, but one I couldn't shake. She was right there. Right there. One night wouldn't hurt. I could be good. It would be innocent. So why were my hands shaking?

I glanced over my shoulder to see Charlotte watching me, and sighed. Those damn hazel eyes...

"What are you thinking about?" I asked her, and she blinked quickly a few times in surprise.

"I was gonna ask you that," she chuckled softly, and rolled onto her back. "I was thinking how you're an open canvas."

"Still thinking about inking me up?" I teased, and she smiled widely.

"You have so much space! I'll get you one of these days..."

I decided to move while she was still smiling, and slipped under the covers. All of them. Charlotte didn't seem to realize until I slid my hand over to touch hers under the blanket.

"Arsen?" she exhaled, glancing over at me nervously. I gently stroked my fingertips over her wrist, and her breathing hitched. Maybe I couldn't be good. I would still try.

"Come here," I told her, and her lips parted in surprise.

"Are you sure—"

"It's your last night here, Charlotte. Come here. Please."

She watched me carefully for a long moment, before hesitantly inching closer. She wasn't close enough though, and when she was nearing my pillow, I reached out and tugged her to me. She fell against my chest with a gasp, but when I wrapped my arms around her, she relaxed her tensed body and allowed the embrace. And when she did, her head moving to rest on my shoulder and her hand falling to my bare chest, I felt every ounce of stress from the past weeks melt away.

I pulled her tighter against me at the same time as she snuggled closer, and we sighed in unison. We fit so well together. I almost said it aloud but I knew better. This was already crossing the line. But damn, did it feel right.

"I'm gonna miss you," Charlotte said, her voice so soft it was almost a whisper. Something twisted in my chest and I closed my eyes.

I'm going to miss you too. Couldn't say that without things going too far.

I'll stop in the shop sometime. Couldn't promise that with how things were in my circle.

We'll keep in touch. How? Things would definitely escalate, and she didn't have a phone until she switched numbers anyway.

There's something you should know about me. Yeah right. I didn't need to be murdered by other circles for telling our secret.

I... I... I wouldn't let myself finish my last thought. It was one far too terrifying, and far too confusing.

I opened my eyes to find Charlotte peering up at me nervously, and I fell into her infinite gaze. Her expression was raw, open, a thousand unspoken thoughts and feelings and fears swimming in muddy green pools to create a living sea of emotion. My hand moved instinctually to gently brush her cheek, her lips, down to cup her chin, and I leaned the few inches separating us.

Our lips met with the lightest of touches, and moved soft as moths' wings. The words I couldn't say to her passed silently in the small breaths between our kisses, and when I pulled away for fear of diving too deep, Charlotte's eyes were safely closed.

I turned the lights off with an app on my phone, and was comforted by the darkness surrounding us. It was just us, then. We were safe from the world, but also safe from each other. The expressions I had been concealing in the light could no longer be seen, and I allowed my face to portray what my soul had been screaming.

I could still see Charlotte with my enhanced night vision, but she was rapidly falling asleep where she rested against my chest. Her light breaths fanned across my skin, and her eyelids fluttered as unconsciousness took over. Just before she slipped completely into sleep, she rolled to face away from me and pressed her body back against mine. I saw a pillow in her arms and smiled. Now I knew that no matter where she was, I could always picture her sleeping like this, and I would be right.

I rolled onto my side so that I could wrap an arm around her and mold my body to hers, and closed my eyes. That right then was what I wanted in the deepest corners of my heart when all was said and done. Someone who made me smile like she did, laugh like she did, desire like she did, and brought me peace to hold like she did at the end of the day.

And in the morning, I would be dropping her off and saying goodbye.

---

It's a week into camp nano and I've already lost my mind but oh well, have a chapter!

I love this kiss of their so much. So freaking soft and sad, dammit. 

Happy reading!

-Haybails