First Kiss - A Lawson FanFic

Chapter 14 - Night at Joel's

We drove in silence. It occurred to me that the last time I went in his car was when we were fighting. And I didn't like to be reminded of that. Also, I was thinking about what would happen tonight.

Joel had his right hand on the steering wheel, staring straight ahead. His other hand was on the central glovebox, palm up. I wasn't sure whether that meant I was supposed to hold his hand, so I just left it. After a while he sighed and said,

"Don't you want to hold my hand?" I opened my mouth to speak, but then shut it. Stupid, I thought, stupid, stupid, stupid...

I'd left it too long to take him up on his offer, so instead Joel rested his hand on top of my bare knee. I froze, not moving. I didn't want to shy him away or make him think I didn't want to, but at the same time didn't know what he was going to do.

Still staring ahead, Joel inched his hand up my thigh, making circles with this thumb. I felt goosebumps spread across my body. His hand reached the hem of my dress, and he stopped. He glanced at me to see my reaction. I just smiled to show it was okay.

He fingers slid under my dress, still lightly tickling. I tried not to sigh in content. His palm then moved to the inside of my leg, still closer to my knee than my hip, but close enough for me to feel heat surge through me. He moved closer, and closer, his hand flat against my skin. He was now halfway up the inside of my thigh, and I was still not moving. How he could concentrate on driving I didn't know, because I was struggling to breathe.

His fingers brushed the edge of my knickers, and I thanked God that I was wearing my purple lace ones. I took a sharp intake of breath involuntarily, and Joel looked at me, concerned.

"Sorry," he said.

"No," I said heavily, "don't be. That was... Very nice, actually." He grinned, but said nothing. His hand was still resting at the hem of my knickers. It didn't move, but I felt the electricity between our touch like fire.

Joel turned into the drive of Chapman Square, and killed the engine. Then he moved his hand from under my dress, lifting it slightly in the process. He got out, walked round the car and opened my door.

"Thanks," I said. My voice was shaky.

"You're welcome," he said, "Pre-warning: the guys will be here." I nodded.

Joel unlocked the front door and I followed him up the stairs to the door of 14b. Swallowing, Joel pushed opened the door.

"Hey! Joel's back! What took you so long?" Andy's voice came from the kitchen. I looked down. Then Andy emerged, and his eyes rested on me.

"Oh. Hi."

"Hi," I said.

"Yeah, hi," Joel said, "Now if you'll excuse us..." He took my arm and led me towards the stairs. Andy's stopped him.

"You aren't gonna say hi to the rest of the lads?" Joel looked at him incredulously.

"Do I need to?"

"Um, this is awkward, but Ryan is... Well, he still feels bad and he'd like to talk to Ellie about it, if that's okay-"

"Nope, not okay," Joel answered for me.

"I thought you said you'd spoken to him about it," I said to him.

"I said I was going to," Joel pointed out. I frowned at him.

"Okay, you're right, sorry. I'll talk to him tomorrow. But right now, we are going upstairs. Bye, Andy," Joel said, leading me away.

"Bye," Andy muttered. He exhaled, and went into the lounge. I felt pretty bad for him; he was only trying to keep the peace.