Control Freak ✔️

11 an eternal summer

"Where are you going?" he shouted after her between labored puffs.

"You're my shadow, right? Better keep up!"

He chased her all the way up the boardwalk and into an alleyway. He posted his hand against the glass wall as he hung over his knees and caught his breath. He planned to give her a piece of his mind as soon as he could speak, but as soon as he stood up to face her, his resolve was melted by that vulnerable, pouty look on her face as she facetiously whimpered for forgiveness. He boldly took her face in his hands as he pressed her up against the bricks and kissed her passionately. He could feel her soft body crumbling against his as she gave into him.

Her lips curled into a smile as she teased, "You're sure you don't have a girlfriend, right, mister?"

"What do you mean?"

"I dunno. You're awfully good at this."

"Really? Thanks!"

"You're not supposed to say 'thanks' to that, you dork," she giggled between kisses.

"Oh."

She hid her blushing face in her palm as she giggled. "If you don't have a girlfriend, maybe I can help you find one. What's your type?"

"You," he boldly muttered.

"Oh, really?"

"I don't want any other girls."

"What do you want?"

"You."

She turned to face him. Her pupils darted all over as she took in every detail of him. She took her hand and caressed his face, from the scar by his temple to his jawbone.

She gazed into his warm brown eyes as he drew closer. The wisps of air from his nose made her blush and close her eyes as she waited with lips slightly parted. Their noses gently touched, and he closed her mouth with his lips. She felt herself melting in his arms as she moved her lips against his. Finally, she pulled away from him, playfully shoving him off as she beamed a pearly white smile.

"Caleb, I have to tell you something..."

"What is it?"

"Let's go home first."

Her eyelashes had come down in her wilting fatigue. She let out a deep yawn as she nuzzled against his arm as they walked together. Beneath them still shined a glassy amber, beaming at every angle the passing streetlights hit, and her lips were slightly parted in a sleepy pout as if ready to depart for a dream at any moment. In their silence, the whirring by of the cars were loud in his ears, each like its own punctuation mark in a neverending ellipsis. His heart and his thoughts were plain to see, but without a bridge to connect to her. The lonely road had become their island, if only for a very short while, as if the tide was soon to come crashing in and swallow the moment.

In the twilight, she was even more beautiful, he thought. The dying sun bled into the harbor water like a palette of color bursting on a sheet of glass, and the millions of shimmering pixels shot in every direction, painting her skin and hair in their radiant colors. Even with her fingers entwined with his own, he felt miles away from her. At an hour in which the horizon was its most picturesque, Caleb could look at nothing else but the girl beside him as he wondered what was inside her mind. Her lips were shut, and her eyes held secrets behind them that he couldn't reach. He knew he had no choice but to reach for her, to jump across the chasm, and risk the fall into nothingness.

"Caleb?" she said, turning to him once she retrieved her keys from her purse. "Aren't you coming in?"

"Ivy, uh, back there," he stammered, pinching his eyelids together as he began to regurgitate the word soup in his brain. "I'm sorry about that. I know it probably made you uncomfortable and I—"

She stopped his lips with a long kiss. When he opened his eyes, she pulled away, hiding her blushing face in her palm as she giggled. He had never seen her blush before. She averted his gaze from him, biting the edge of her lip as she fidgeted in her shoes. For the first time, Caleb thought she might have been as nervous as he was. It gave him the courage to for once say what he really meant.

"Ivy, I guess what I wanted to know was: do you feel the same way about me?"

She shoved him. "You idiot. Are you really even asking me that? Yes, Caleb!" She threw himself back into him, wrapping her arms around his neck as she kissed him passionately. He lost sense of how long they were there, swept up in the delirium of a lucid dream. It was a dream Caleb had dreamt a thousand times and it was familiar. But, this time it was even better. This time, it felt real. It was real. For the first time in a long time, he knew what happiness felt like. He could hold it in his arms for as long as he wanted, and not worry about it slipping away with the incoming dawn. Everything he wanted from the world was with him now.

Without looking, Ivy reached behind her and pushed her front door open.

"Come inside now," she whispered.

"What, uh, what are we gonna do?" he stupidly asked.

Ivy pushed her index finger softly against his lips. "Don't spoil things by guessing, dear," she purred, before taking him delicately by the chin and luring him into the darkness and slowly closing the door.