Between Us

☆ part thirty eight ☆

Lark's room felt like a cocoon of warmth and quiet, the kind of stillness that wrapped around you and made the outside world seem distant, irrelevant. Bob was curled up at the foot of the bed, completely spent from the walk earlier, his tiny snores barely audible. The dim light of Lark's bedside lamp cast a soft golden glow over the room, highlighting the way her dark hair framed her face, strands tumbling across her cheek in messy waves. Her arm rested around me, her fingers absently tracing lazy circles on my shoulder, each movement soothing and grounding. I shifted slightly, leaning into her warmth, and tilted my head up to look at her. She was staring at the ceiling, her face calm and unreadable, though I could see her mind turning behind her eyes. It was one of those rare, quiet moments when I felt like I could see every version of Lark all at once—the confident, sarcastic girl who teased me endlessly, and the softer, quieter Lark who only let herself be this vulnerable when we were alone.

"Lark," I said softly, not wanting to break the peace but feeling the question bubbling up inside me.

"Hmm?" Her gaze flickered down to me, her dark eyes warm and curious, a faint smile tugging at the corner of her lips.

"When did you fall for me?"

Her lips twitched into a grin, and she gave me a look that said she knew exactly what I was asking but wasn't going to make it easy for me. "What do you mean?" she asked, her tone light and teasing.

I rolled my eyes, nudging her playfully. "Don't play dumb. You know exactly what I mean."

Her grin widened slightly, but I didn't miss the faint flush that crept into her cheeks. "You want to know when I fell for you?"

I nodded, leaning my head back against her shoulder, feeling the steady rise and fall of her breath beneath me. "Yeah," I murmured, "because for me, I think it was after you shut me out." That made her expression shift, a flicker of something—guilt, maybe, or regret—crossing her face before she softened again. She didn't say anything, so I kept going, my voice quiet but steady. "When we went to the beach that day," I said, the memory of it still vivid in my mind, "it was like... everything clicked for me. Being so close to you again, after feeling like I'd lost you, it just... made me realise how much I need you in my life." I looked up at her then, and her eyes met mine, shining with something I couldn't quite name. She didn't say anything at first, just leaned down and pressed a soft kiss to the top of my head, her lips lingering for a moment longer than necessary. It was like she was trying to say something with that kiss, something she couldn't quite put into words. I pulled back just enough to look at her, my chest tightening at the tenderness in her expression. "So?" I prompted with a small smile. "When did you, Lark Anderson, fall for me?" She looked at me for a moment, her eyes scanning my face like she was taking in every detail, and then she smiled—soft and genuine, the kind of smile that always made me feel like the most important person in the world.

Lark's smile deepened, her gaze drifting slightly as though she were looking back on a memory she hadn't revisited in a long time. Her fingers traced small patterns against my arm where it rested over her chest, and her voice, when she finally spoke, was soft—almost hesitant, like she was letting me into a secret she'd guarded carefully. "It was at the beginning of the year," she said, her eyes flickering down to meet mine before shifting away again, a faint flush coloring her cheeks. "The night of that big storm."

I blinked in surprise. "The storm?" I repeated, not quite following.

She nodded, her lips curving into a small, wistful smile. "Yeah. Your parents were out of town, remember? You stayed over because the storm was bad, and you didn't want to be home alone." The memory came back to me in a rush—the pounding rain against the windows, the way the wind howled like a living thing, and the comforting warmth of Lark's house when mine had felt too empty. I nodded, and she continued, her voice growing steadier as she spoke. "It was late. You'd been jittery all evening because of the storm, so I stayed up with you. We were watching some movie—I don't even remember what it was—but then you got this look in your eye, like you'd just thought of something ridiculous." She laughed softly, shaking her head at the memory.