The Beauty of Living | ON HOLD

11. take my whole life too

"I'm not that hungry either," the boy replied with a small chuckle.

They talked about everything and nothing all at once, and the drive to the hotel finally ended. The two of them got out of the car and walked into the hotel. The lobby was luxurious, and around the corner, he could see the dining area. A large chandelier hung from the ceiling over the beige, leather furniture near the reception area.

"Hi, how may I help you?" the girl behind the desk asked politely.

"Hi, is it possible to get a room tonight?" Gabriella asked jovially, giving the receptionist a small smile.

"Yes, ma'am, but our only available room has only one queen sized bed," the receptionist informed her. The petite girl looked at Elliot for his input, and he just shrugged. They had both been in a bed together before anyways.

"Okay, we'll take it," she replied with the same grin on her face.

     "Okay! That'll be ninety dollars," the girl told her. Gabriella gave her a one hundred dollar bill, and she was given ten dollars back. "Heres the key to your room. Your room number is 302."

     The boy and girl started to head up to their room, laughing at random stuff they saw. Up the elevator, they saw a man in a black suit, but his pants had a tear in the butt crack area. They looked at each other, their eyes drifting back and forth from the tear and each other's faces, trying to contain their laughs. After they got off the elevator, they bursted out laughing.

     "Oh my God," Gabriella said, out of breath from laughing so hard.

     "Should we have told him he had a tear?" Elliot asked, still laughing. He felt kind of bad for not telling the man, but he would probably figure it out later anyways.

     "He'll figure it out," she replied with another laugh. "God, how did he manage to get a tear on his butt crack?"

     They bursted out laughing again even though they were already in their room and it had been a few minutes since the incident. They had turned the lights off since they were both tired, but they were still looking at one another in adoration. The two cherished each other, and it was obvious to anybody who cared enough to notice.

     So many people would call it love, but Elliot was too afraid to call it the four letter word. He wondered if Gabriella felt the same way as he did; he wondered if she felt anything for him at all. It terrified him to know the answer because he knew it would probably be no. Who would— could love him?

The boy pushed the thought in the back of his mind, giving the girl a small, lazy grin. The girl smiled back at him, the same look of adoration in her eyes. They were both only inches away from each other, and their eyes were focused on only each other.

     Elliot gazed down to look at the brunette's lips, and he could feel her soft breath fanning against his face. Her pink lips were partially parted, and his breath hitched as he realized that if he or Gabriella moved any closer, their lips would touch. Nothing else was on his mind except her.

     "Elliot," the three syllable name escaped her lips, and she made his name sound heavenly. "I'm sorry for turning away from you last night. I was just. . . scared. Putting so much trust into someone is frightening, but out of everyone in this world, I'm glad it's you."

She wrapped her arms around the boy's neck, and he knew that if the hotel lights were turned on, his cheeks would be bright red. He couldn't tell if the girl could see the smile on his flushed face, but he hoped she could. He hoped that the girl who he danced with and ran away with knew how much she made him happy.

However, it made him afraid as well. After Sierra, he vowed to himself that he would never fall in love again; he vowed that he would never put so much trust and faith into somebody, and that he would never allow himself to be vulnerable. That meant no more relationships.

"I'm scared too," Elliot confessed in a whisper, "but I'm willing to take the risk that comes with this."

He connected his lips with Gabriella's as he closed his eyes, and sparks erupted from his mouth. The raven haired boy felt her lips form into a smile after a moment, and the girl kissed him back with the same amount of emotion and passion. The boy's heart was racing, and he was more than ecstatic.

They pulled away from each other after a couple minutes, and Elliot's hazel eyes connected with the girl's gray ones. Even in the dark hotel room, he could depict the constellation of freckles that ran along the bridge of her nose and across her cheeks. He could see the emotion in her eyes. He could see the way her lips parted— how perfectly imperfect and gorgeous every part of her was.

He chose to believe that Gabriella was different than everybody else; that she was different from Sierra. The girl wouldn't leave him— she promised, after all. She understood his emotions. She understood him.

Gabriella Irvine was a risk that Elliot was willing to take.