Summer Solstice

Falling In Love

He blushed and tugged me down the stairs, and my heart melted just a little.

I was falling in love with him.

~~~

Kaida and Joe were sitting a respectable distance from each other on the couch. They both looked up as we walked down the stairs. I smiled at Kaida and she grinned ridiculously back at me. Konai sat in the oversized chair next to the couch. That left me sitting next to Kaida.

Darn.

"Where are you going?"

Konai's hand whipped out and snagged my arm, yanking me back. I gasped as he pulled me down onto his lap, settling me into the corner of the large chair. He pulled my legs across his and cradled me there, one hand resting on my leg, the other wrapped around my side.

I glanced at Kaida, and her eyes were bugging slightly out of her head. I suppressed the urge to laugh, and just winked at her. We sat like that for a while before my heart finally calmed to a respectable tempo. I leaned my head back onto his shoulder, feeling much too comfortable to move. His one hand on my leg started drawing lazy circles on my knee, and I completely lost the point of the movie.

I saw movement out of the corner of my eye, Kaida was turning slightly, snuggling closer to Little Joe. She scooted once more, and then leaned and rested her head on Joe's shoulder. I chuckled lightly at the smile that spread across Joe's face.

There was on odd spark through the air, and I felt a low rumble of a growl start in Konai's chest. Joes eyes darted over to us, and he flushed bright crimson. Kaida's brow furrowed, but she did not move, and I realized that Konai was ruining their moment. I leaned towards him and kissed the side of his neck.

The odd spark disappeared, but was replaced by something else entirely. His eyes locked on mine, their deep dark brown twisting somehow into a smoldering black. His features were so soft, but strong at the same time. I loved the contours of his face. The shape of his nose, the lovely caramel color of his skin. It was so easy to look at him.

He seemed to force himself to look away, but he glanced at Kaida and Joe again. I could tell he wanted to say, or possibly do something to break them apart, and I did the only thing I could think to do. I leaned forward just a bit more, then whispered in his ear.

"I love you."

For a moment he seemed to freeze, and I was sure he had stopped breathing. But he turned, painfully slow, to look at me, and his eyes were more than smoldering, they were on fire. His heartbeat, that had maintained a constant balance under may hand, was now racing away, hammering against my palm, much faster than any heartbeat should.

He got a very determined look on his face, then leaned towards me. I panicked and placed my fingers over his lips, just before he could kiss me. He frowned under my fingertips. "Be good." I whispered for my benefit, but I could feel Kaida's eyes on us. I leaned my head closer to him, tucking it under his chin. His body was tense, and I wondered how long it would take for both our hearts to beat normally again.

The movie was almost over when I heard Konai sigh. I looked back up into his face, and he was smiling crookedly down at me. I glance back towards Kaida, who had dozed off on Joe's lap. I smiled How much happier could we be?

Kaida sat up suddenly, her face flushed, her mouth hung open in shock. Did she have a bad dream? I suddenly found myself flying through the air. I landed with a soft 'whump' on the couch next to Kaida. I turned and saw Konai moving swiftly behind the couch. Had he just thrown me across the room? Really?

He snagged Little Joe by the shirtfront and dragged him backwards off the couch.

"Kitchen. NOW." He tossed Joe through the kitchen door and followed behind him. I looked at Kaida.

"What was that about? But she only smiled at me, then turned and planted her feet on my lap and laid back against the arm of the couch. Our normal movie-watching pose.

I was about to ask again, when the front door slammed, startling me. I turned to see Patu and my grandfather walk through the door.

Patu glared in our direction for only a moment, "Lunch is on!"

Konai peeked through the door of the kitchen, "About time Dad, we're starving." He grabbed the fishing line full of Trout and turned back into the kitchen. I looked at Homer, who was staring at the giant oversized chair. I looked too, and saw the light indentation that Konai and I had made was just fading away. I looked at Kaida, panicked, and then at Homer.

My grandfather looked at me, then barked out a loud laugh. Patu turned, confused, thankfully missing what had been so obvious to my grandfather. He frowned, but Homer just slapped him gently on the shoulder, "Let's go clean up." And he ushered Patu down the hall.