10 Reasons Not to Fall in Love

1 Reason

            It was past nine by the time they got back to the house. The moonlight washed the entire driveway faded silver. Vincent felt Liz’s eyes on him when the two of them stepped out of the car but pretended not to notice.

            “Vincent,” Liz murmured quietly as the two of them walked towards the door. He turned around, and the next thing he knew, her lips were pressed against his cheek.

            Liz didn’t look at him and acted like nothing happened. “Well today was fun, and BOY am I tired so see you later!” she falsely laughed as she speed walked away.

            Vincent grabbed her arm and dragged her back, turning around and pressing firmly her against the car. Both arms barred her escape, his hands pushing against the car.    His serious but otherwise expressionless face hovered just above her face, their lips a few centimeters apart. Liz’s eyes locked with his, and she felt her legs growing weak. Yet, after that, neither party moved for a long time.

            “Vincent?” Liz eventually asked hesitantly, not knowing the mental battle that was going on inside his head.

            Vincent’s unfocused eyes blinked a few times, and he sighed though his nose while looking away, angry at himself for doing this but unable to step back.

            Vincent’s eyes went back to Liz’s wide ones.

            “Liz, what do you think of me?”

            “Huh?”

            “What am I to you?”

            Silence.

            “I think,” Liz said carefully, looking for the right words while avoiding his unfathomable gaze, “I think I like you, but I don’t want to.”

            Vincent sighed again as he pressed his forehead gently onto her shoulder. “So you think that you like me but liking me is a bad idea?”
            “I just… I’ve always thought that love between a man and a woman was too risky. Look at what it did to my mom,” she answered quietly. Liz hesitated, but slowly lifted her arms around his chest and buried her face into his shoulder.

            She was a horrible person.

            “As calculating as usual,” Vincent muttered grudgingly.

            Scratch that, she was a horrible and cruel person.

            “But you know what?” Vincent asked, a smile creeping into his voice.

            Liz’s sympathy disappeared and she was immediately put into battle mode. Holy crap, she knew that tone of his. She could just imagine that smirk his when Vincent whispered into her ear, sending shivers down her spine and causing it to involuntarily arch a little.

            “Dating hasn’t made you biased at all. One reason left to go.”

            Vincent had to chase Liz up to her bedroom as quietly as possible in order not to wake their guardians up. He managed to hold the door open from her desperate shoves against it for a few brief seconds, just long enough to look her in the eye and say-

            “I love you.”

            Liz stopped shoving and stared wide eyed at Vincent. He laughed quietly when he saw the look on her face. Vincent gently opened the door, poked his head inside her room, and kissed her gently on the cheek.

            And then he was gone.

            Liz miraculously made it back into bed, but it was several hours before either of them fell asleep.