Invisible String

until one very specific event happened

"I'm sorry for earlier." She said after a few seconds, still holding my hand. "Tyler shouldn't have said those things."

"It's okay, it doesn't matter." I lied.

"Yes it does. He doesn't have the right to talk to you that way."

"You're right Cari. He doesn't. And he also doesn't have the right to treat you that way either." I said, finally taking the courage to look at her.

"I know..." Now she was the one looking away. "He's been acting really weird lately."

"Lately? It's been months Cari, months! You have no idea how I hate seeing all the fucked up things he does to you." I could see her eyes forming the first tears. "Look at this Cari." I said touching her upper arm after seeing the already dark marks he left there. "This is not okay."

After swiping away the first tears that rolled down her cheeks, she looked back at me.

"I need to ask you something."

"What?"

"Those things Tyler said to you, I..." She stopped for a moment and my heart started beating faster with the mention of the reason for my almost panic attack minutes before. "Part of the reason for him acting like that is because he thinks you..." She stopped again and it was already hard for me to breathe. "He doesn't like when we spend time together because he thinks you have feelings for me."

"What?" I didn't know what to say. I took my hand off of hers and supported myself with my elbows on my knees. "Why would he say something like that? Of course not." I tried my best to show surprise and don't demonstrate any weird reaction.

"I thought he was being crazy until Alex told me the same thing."

"What? I... this is ridiculous, they are out of their minds." Of course my top priority was to deny everything and pretend it wasn't true.

"Are they?" I could feel her eyes staring at me. "Look at me Shan." I couldn't do it. I couldn't do it because if I did, she would notice I was lying, and that would be the end of me. But when I felt her hand touching my face and turning it to face her, I was left with no other choice. And when I looked up and her own face was closer to mine than ever before, there was nothing I could say to make her believe it was not true, because my expression was saying it all. "Are they?"

For what it felt like an eternity I just looked at her, trying to think of something to say, to save me from my biggest fear, feeling her breath touching my face and her hand still sitting on my cheek. When I couldn't find the words I tried to look away to think of ways to apologize and say she didn't have to worry and that I would stay away from her, but then she turned my face again, and this time her face was even closer to mine.

"Cari, I..."

"Shhh, you don't have to say anything. I already have my answer."

That was the first time our lips touched. There is no way to describe what I felt in that moment and I don't think anything could ever prepare me for that, because I never thought I needed to be prepared for kissing Cari Fletcher in the first place. I thought that would only happen in my wildest dreams and no way in hell in real life. But it did, and that changed everything.

It was everything I ever expected it to be. The butterflies were there, the need for it to never stop, the sensation of doing the thing I wanted to do the most in that time of my life, the way she was kissing me with the same intensity as if she wanted it as much as I did. It was an explosion of feelings.

I didn't know exactly what I expected to happen after that night, but I knew our relationship would never be the same anymore. That entire weekend I spent thinking and overthinking and wondering what I was supposed to do next. She didn't say a word about the kiss and why she did it after it happened and I was too dizzy and confused to ask what it meant, so I prefered to keep my mouth shut and don't ruin the moment.