~
"How did you become blind, uh, Jeff, is it?"
Yeah, Jeff. Well, I looked directly at the sun, you know, the way they always tell you not to. If only I had listened."
-James Patterson
~
Dinner with my mom and Emma went great.
Really great actually.
At first, things were a little tense and awkward, but it didn't take long for my mom and Emma to start talking and laughing like old friends.
I could tell Emma wanted to finish the conversation we started in my bedroom, luckily I have skillfully been able to avoid it for the last few days.
I sat outside of my house on the front steps.
I toyed with the blunt in my hand that I had got from Levi earlier today.
I got my lucky lighter out and lit the end.
I took a deep drag.
It's been a while since I had a chance to smoke, man did I miss it.
I could feel a dull ache in my chest but ignored it as I continued to smoke.
Whatever this strain was it was a hell of a lot stronger than the usual shit Levi gave me, after a few drags I could already feel the thick cloudiness of being high.
The car I had been waiting for pulled up in my driveway.
Rae was dropping Emma off at my house.
I was supposed to take Emma biking today like I promised her I would.
A promise is a promise no matter how big or small.
The weather wasn't perfect but it wasn't utter shit either.
The sun was out but the cold wind was blowing like crazy.
At least it wasn't fucking raining still, I was so sick of the fucking rain.
I was so sick of Maryland's crap weather.
I can't wait to get out of this town, I thought bitterly to myself as I took another drag.
Emma and Renee stepped out of the car together.
Em's hair was in two braids on each side of her face, on top of her head sat a purple knitted hat, she was wearing a long black jacket that I had never seen her wear before.
Her legs were covered with blue jeans and her wore scruffy sneakers on her feet.
She looked adorable all covered up.
I didn't play Robin any mind as I grinned at Emma.
I stood as they approached me.
"That smell disgusting," Rosemary complained.
"Nice to see you too," I said sarcastically as I purposely blow smoke in her direction.
"I'm so excited," Emma said grinning widely.
Rita frowned. "I don't think this is a good idea."
Well nobody asked what you thought.
I grinned at Emma ignoring Remona. "Ready?" I asked her.
"Yup." She said as she reached out her hand to me.
I took her hand in mine lacing our fingers together.
"Call me when you need to be picked up," Roberta said as she walked back towards her car.
"Bye, Becca!" Emma yelled over her shoulder as I lead her away.
I put the the blunt and put it back in my pocket for later before opening my house door and leading her inside.
I felt weirdly giddy.
I let go of Emma's hand and walked into the kitchen.
There was hardly any food besides some brown bananas and chips. I grabbed the chips and began eating them.
"Daniel?" She asks awkwardly.
I walked back towards her with the chips still in my hand.
"Yeah, right here," I said with a mouth full of chips.
I was glad she couldn't see the house, I had never noticed before but her house is a lot nicer inside and the furniture matches rather than mine.
Mom is so busy working that she didn't have the time to coordinate the house, not that it was very important to anyways.
I took her hand and brought it to my mouth placing a kiss on it.
She giggled and she pulled her hand away.
"Our mission awaits my lady," I said in the best British accent I could. As I turned to walk I tripped on air and fell to the ground.
Emma laughed.
I laid down on the ground. The cool ground felt good on my warm face.
"Are you okay?"
"What if we live inside a dust speck on a flower?" I asked her back.
My eyelids felt heavy as I struggled to look at Emma through my eyelashes.
"I have no idea what you're talking about. What the heck were you smoking?" She asked in worry.
I couldn't help but laugh. Her worry face was so cute.
"You're really f-freaking p-pretty," I said stuttering slightly.
She blushed.
"I'm so tired," I whined loudly.
"How about you take a nap to sleep off whatever you took?" Em suggested.
"Y-y-youuu're soooo smart," I said sitting up and feeling dizzy.
I tried to walk but bumped into Emma.
I took her hand and dragged her to the couch with me.
I didn't have the energy to try and go up the stairs.
Emma tried to get up but I stopped her.
"Where you go?" I asked tiredly.
"I was gonna call Rebecca to come to pick me up."
"No, stay with me," I demanded as I pulled her closer to me.
"Okay." She agreed with a sigh.
A felt her hands work their way down my legs. I could feel my pants tighten slightly as her hand traveled past my thigh.
Once she got to my feet she pulled my shoe off. Once both my shoes were off she stood up and slipped off her jacket. She paused for a moment as if she was unsure before dropping her jacket to the ground.
I laid down on the couch as I watched her hop around trying to take her shoes off too.
When she hopped she looked like a bunny.
A cute bunny.
Once her shoes were off she sat down on the edge of the couch carefully. I slipped my arm around her and pulled her down on top of me.
I expected her to be heavier but she felt light as she laid on top of me. Her head down was against my chest.
She wrapped her arms around me before sighing.
I looked down at her. Her glasses and hair were blocking most of her face.
I softly reached down and touched her cheek.
"What are you doing?" She asked me softly, not even bothering to pretend to look up at me.
"Touching your face," I answered truthfully.
"Aren't I suppose to be the one doing that?" She asked jokingly.
My mind was too clouded to get the punchline.
I took her hand in mine and placed it on my cheek.
She sat up slowly so now she was straddling me.
"Can I touch your face?" She asked while biting into her lip. I'm sure she already knew the answer since I had placed her hand on my face just moments before.
I didn't answer I only grabbed her wrist bringing them up to rest on both sides of my jaw again.
Her hands were cold just like the ground was but they felt nice.
I held my breath. My chest began to tighten like it usually does after taking a drag.
Her palms linger on my cheeks for a while before she got the courage to move them, her thumbs running up the sides of my face.
I felt very awake now.
She delicately touched my nose and felt my eyelids and eyelashes.
For once I felt like the glass doll that she was afraid to break.
But, she can't break something that's already broken.
She pushed her fingers through the tangles of my hair before slowly sliding them back down and over my lips.
Her fingers traced over my lips over and over again as if she never wanted to forget what they felt like.
Besides the sounds of our combined breath, the room was silent as she explored my face.
"Does touching my face really help you see me?" I whispered.
She shook her head.
"No, not really. But it lets me feel... closer to you." She whispered back.
I didn't reply as she felt over the jaw once again.
"Do you ever shave? Your cheeks and jaw are sharp." She mumbled breaking the silence again.
I do, I didn't have to often as I barely grew facial hair.
"I do but this morning I thought I'd go for that rugged masculine look." I partly lied with a grin.
Truth is I was just out of razors and the only ones I could find were my mom's and who knew where she used them on her body.
"Can I feel your face?" I asked.
I wanted to touch her soft skin and feel her warmth against mine.
She pulled her hand away from my face before nodding.
I sat up awkwardly trying to reposition my body without moving her as she continued to straddle me.
Compared to her hands' mine were abnormally large and rough.
I carefully ran my palm along her silky smooth jawline.
Her face was narrow before squaring out at her jaw. I could imagine her as a child being extremely baby-faced.
Her sunglasses were in the way but I didn't dare move them.
I felt both the need and the fear to see her without her infamous glasses.
Her nose was narrow and small, almost button like.
I ran my thumb over her plump pink lips.
I had never noticed the two birthmarks like beauty marks on the bottom counter of her lip and chin.
Was it weird to say I thought she was one of the most beautiful people I've ever seen, although I have yet to see over half of her face?
I could feel each line in her lip and the few slight acne blemishes by her hairline.
She wasn't perfect. Everyone is flawed in one way or another. But, She didn't have to be perfect. I like her just the way she is.
My stomach lurched in a cross between feeling good and like I was going to throw up.
Emma was special.
She made me nervous and unsure. But, she made me want to be good. To be better.
"I," started to say before feeling stupid. I continued anyway saying, "I like the way your face feels."
Ironically, I could barely feel my own face at the moment.
How's that stupid song go?
"I like the way your face feels too Daniel." She said grinning at me.
I breathed out a smile.
I could feel the high beginning to fade.
"Now how about that bike ride?"
[Published January 30th, 2017]
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A/N: Thank you so much to everyone who has read and voted on this story for getting it to over 2k reads and just over 100 votes! This is my first story to hit this milestone so I am very grateful. I know that this chapter is a little short but at least I tried to make it sweet too. More updates should be coming soon!
If you liked it, I would love it if you could vote or comment what you think!