Bear | ✔

Chapter Fifteen

"Oh!" Leila exclaimed. Her hand automatically moved to hold his. Warmness spread through her limps, shooting up the nerves of her arm and right toward her heart. His palm was radiating comfort, and safety. She wondered if he felt the same. Looking up, she struggled to meet his eyes. "Well, I am surprised, so I guess that mechanism worked well." She squeezed his hand lightly.

Come on, David. Just show one single reaction. It's not really that difficult.

"Yeah, I guess." His words were dry and senseless. Her grip loosened and David snatched his hand out, then they travelled up to scratch his ear. Despite her pain, Leila fought back a smile; he'd found another way to express his tension.

"You must be hungry," He continued. His voice shook a little, but his attention fixed on the tray of food that she hadn't noticed earlier. Leila glanced to the side and her eyes fell over the sight next to her on the bedside table. Soon enough she had completely forgotten about their awkward encounter.

So, that was the sort of dreamy smell that awakened her.

A moment of utter silence stretched between the two of them, and Leila bit her lip nervously. David looked lost, as if he had no clue as to what he exactly had to say. For a split second, Leila actually pitied him for it. She knew that she needed to erase the awkwardness, and that needed to take place right now.

"Hey, David," She called in an attempt to catch his attention. His stare was fixated on her. She gulped. She had no idea what the next step had to be, so she improvised. Out of nowhere, she pushed the covers away and threw her arms around his neck, pulling him closer. The same sense of warmness penetrated her skin. Her breath caught in her throat at the strange contact. She tried to act normal, but it was really difficult to hide her own surprise. She felt the hair on the back of her neck stand. Goosebumps formed all over her arms.

"I really missed you," She whispered, in hopes of finding this a way to comfort him. She wanted to tell him that it was okay. She had forgiven him. The dark hallway flashed through her mind again, but she shook the thought away.

Her chin rested on David's shoulder and she stared at their reflection on the mirror vanity table. She felt his body tense, and she immediately regretted her recklessness. She didn't know if she should wait for his reaction or just pull away, in order to stop further embarrassing herself. But before she could go through any second thoughts, David's arms looped around her waist in a tight embrace. She felt his exhale against her cheek, followed by his body relaxing.

Her lungs were burning. Her store of oxygen was quickly running out of supplies. Her skin was on fire. Her arms slowly slid down his back, sensing the hard muscles underneath his thin shirt. She was feeling emotions that she couldn't quite figure out yet. And out of the blue, she felt as if there was no better thing to do right now but to place her lips over his.

David ran his hand up and down her back, slicing through her wild imagination. She focused on the present. She wanted to cherish every second of that moment. She wanted to memorize every inch of him, just in case she couldn't get access to all of it again.

They were both strangely calm. David said nothing in return, but his silence spoke of a thousand words. Leila understood. It was hard to deal with feelings through words, especially for someone like him. David had been through a lot. As an older version of herself, she wouldn't have even paid attention to any of that.

She was finally able to realize that one didn't need words in order to express their honest feelings.

"Let's go pray," David suggested - , his voice barely a whisper. Leila's eyes watered. She pulled away carefully and stared at his eyes. They were lighter, as still as a sea; like a pair of stars watching over her from their spot on the carpet if darkness that spread everywhere. His hands reached out to cup her cheeks and a ghost of a smile danced on her lips.