Are you happy? (GxG)

Vulnerability

At the soft knock on the door, I heaved my weak limbs off my bed, my legs tingling as I placed them on the floor. I hadn't walked for at least a day and a half. As I walked, I started to get my pace back, the nerves in my brain once again strengthening their loose connections. The stairs creaked under my weight, the anticipation building with every step I took. Opening the door, I admired the face I'd longed to see for the past two days (Asleep or not). She was breathtaking. Her stunning auburn hair, curled loosely, hanging just above her shoulders and her forest green eyes once again sent me to another realm. Then, I found my gaze lowering to her lips. I let every thought flood in unable to keep them restrained after what had happened yesterday.

I wanted to kiss her

Wait, what? No... I'm not... I don't like her like that- right? I said to myself, becoming more and more confused with every second that ticked by. She smiled; My heart thudded.

"You look... nice..." I stuttered absentmindedly. I wasn't sure what I was doing- I hadn't even invited her in yet.

"Oh... Thanks."

"Your hair..." I said pointing to the curls interwoven into it. She grinned and her cheeks flooded with pale pink.

"Right... Thanks, I'd thought I'd try something new!" She exclaimed now nibbling softly on the tips of her fingernails. I stepped to the side,

"Come on in!"

***

"I'm so sorry. The way I reacted on Sunday was... not right." Thalia and I were lying next to each other on the bed. I sighed and turned to look over at her,

"No. It was my fault, you're right," I protested but she just scoffed.

"There's something I want to tell you," I twisted around so that our faces are inches apart, curious as to what she was about to say, "I know we've only known each other a couple of weeks but... It just feels like I've known you my whole life. And, I want to tell you. I do. I'm just scared." I breathed in slowly, shocked by how similar our feelings toward each other were.

"Honestly, I feel the same. We just get each other I guess. And... don't feel pressured to tell me. All you need to know is that I'm here for you- through everything." I replied, inching my hand closer to hers just by instinct. Then, my thumb brushed over her hand softly before she entwined our fingers. My heart skipped a beat as she laid her head on my shoulder, tears dripping slowly down the curves of her face. I brought my other hand up towards her and carefully wiped them away, straightening up in the bed as I do so.

"I... My dad's an alcoholic," she sniffled, "He gets angry at me for the smallest of reasons. Sunday it was because he didn't want me to leave. Every other day it's because he wants me out of his sight. And... he hits Mom sometimes. Only when they argue though. And I hate him and I hate her for not leaving him and I hate myself for making him angry..." The tone of her voice steadied the more she said, and the broken look in her eyes cut a hole within me.

"Hey... Don't hate yourself. Believe me, when Dad left us, It was the worst day of my life. I loved him- thought he was the best Dad ever and I blamed myself for his absence. I told myself that I wasn't grateful enough and him leaving was all my fault. I stopped thinking I deserved things like friends or even that my family didn't deserve such a brat like me. Then, when we moved, everything was lifted from my shoulders- his weight. And I opened my heart again. I started believing I was worth these things. It was the best decision I ever made." I squeezed her hand and she smiled a little.

"I had no idea..."

"Of course you didn't," I said "But... If there's something like that going on, you have to tell someone. A social worker or something..." I watched her pupils dilate slowly,

"No... they'll take me away from Mom, put me in some foster home." She said, her breaths quickening. In response, I grabbed her neck softly, caressing her cheek with my thumb.

"Calm down. Mom can make sure you're safe and I'm sure she'd let you stay here if you need to," I whispered and she calmed at my touch- I could feel her breath brushing against my cheek.

I wanted to kiss her

"Thank you, Melody... You've been nothing but kind to me since I've been here- even when I was horrid to you..." She began, the words setting a fire alight within my stomach.

"Hey... what would be the point of being anything but..." I murmured. We were so close, close enough that if I had leaned forward a few centimetres, my lips would be on hers. The idea of that sent an odd thrill through me- I thrill I'd never experienced before. Like when you pull out an empty layer on a chocolate box to reveal another whole layer or find just enough money in the sides of the couch to buy an ice-cream on the way back from school.

I wondered if she'd lean in. I wondered if she wanted to kiss me. I glanced at her lips once again and parted mine slowly. We were staring at each other, yet, things weren't weird. It felt strangely... exciting. She tightened her grip on my hand as I started to lean in closer. Our mouths were milliseconds from touching when suddenly, the slam of the front door echoed through the house and we pulled apart. We'd almost kissed. I'd almost kissed a girl. I'd wanted to kiss a girl. She avoided my gaze and turned to watch my Mom walk in through my bedroom door.

"Hi, honey! Oh... hi, are you a friend of Mel's?" She grinned at Thalia.

"Yeah Mom... this is Thalia and..." I trailed off looking over at Thalia for reassurance. She nodded slowly, the green in her eyes seemingly fading as what's left of the sun trickled below the horizon. "We were wondering if you could help..."

A/N

Hope you are enjoying!! I really just wanted to build on Mel and Thalia's relationship in this chapter... (which I think I did!) Also mostly add to the background of these characters so we can all get to know them better. Thank you so so much for reading- it means the world to me and, feel free to message me or anything if you need someone to talk to! xx 

See you in the next one!

Edited