"She's not?" I asked. My words came out like a breath, soft and gentle.

"No, Indie," Chase's voice was just like mine. "She's not. I don't have any feelings for Poppy."

"Oh," I said the singular word, my mind surprisingly blank as it tried to figure out what to say. Like Chase had simply stilled my thoughts. My heart was crawling into my throat at his words, in the best way possible.

"I'm sorry for making you feel like I was mad at you. I'm not, and I could never be mad at you," Chase continued on, my stomach was filling with hope. "I just, man, Indie..."

"What? You can tell me," I urged him to tell me what was on his mind.

"I just get so fucking nervous around you," Chase finally muttered. "You make me second guess everything. Everything I do, everything I say."

I took a breath, staring up at the ceiling. I hadn't expected him to say that.

"Why would you be nervous around me?" I asked him. "I've been in your room before, we've slept in the same bed before."

"And both of those times, I was nervous. I don't think you realize... you must not know how perfect I think you are, Indie," Chase took my breath away with his words.

"You think I'm perfect?" I repeated his words, a small smile forming on my lips.

"I think you're everything. You're everything. You're sweet, you're smart, you're beautiful," Chase's voice had dropped a tone lower as he spoke. "Everything."

I opened my mouth, but no words came. Not only was I breathless, I was speechless. I tried to force my mind to work, to find something to say.

"I think you're everything, too," I finally found the words.

Chase didn't answer, and for a second we were both frozen in time. We were both flat on our backs, staring up at the the ceiling through the semi-darkness. The sides of our bodies were pressed together, and I knew he could feel the way my chest was rising and falling just like I could feel the way his was.

But, he broke the freeze first.

I felt his arm move, and I wasn't sure where he was moving it to. Until, just like in the car earlier, he placed in on the top of my thigh. Though, unlike in the car, his touch wasn't light. His fingers dug into my flesh, not enough to hurt, just enough to light me on fire.

His fingers didn't stay in one place; they crept across my skin, slowly. Like he was thinking of every movement before he did it. They moved across my thigh, rubbing the exposed skin for just a second before they moved to the next inch. Until finally, his fingers reached their destination on my inner thigh.

Chase's upper body rose off the bed, propping his body upwards with his elbow. I was too stunned to move, the butterflies in my stomach almost paralyzing me. I couldn't predict his next move.

He moved his other hand quickly, it gently landed on the side of my face. It moved down to my chin, his thumb and his pointer finger grasping it. His fingers grazed against my skin, and combined with the touch of his other hand on my thigh, my breaths were becoming heavier.

I could barely see Chase through the darkness of his room. I could only make out the outline of his body. I knew he could see me, however, because I could feel the intensity of his eyes.

It's like they left a trace as he roamed them over me, as if he was reading my skin like it was poetry.

"Indie," he said, breaking the silence. I'm not sure how long it had been since his hand first landed on my body. It could have been either minutes or seconds.

"Indie," Chase repeated when I didn't answer.

"Yeah?" I hummed out, wondering what he was going to say next.

And, it seemed his next words were exactly what I wanted.

"Can I kiss you?" Chase asked me, his voice sounded heavier than I've ever heard it.

No one had ever asked if they could kiss me before, they just did it. But asking- it was better in every way.

"Yes," I told him.

Chase's fingers pulled me towards him, and I closed my eyes as I felt his face coming towards me.

It wasn't like earlier, when we slowly inched towards each other. Chase didn't hesitate this time, he didn't wait, as his lips touched against mine.

Gently, they landed on mine. Or, I should say, gently, just for a second. He added pressure the second after. His hand moved from my chin to the back of my head, his fingers entangling in my hair as our lips moved against each other's. Heat rose my stomach to my chest, my heart beating rapidly the way it only does when you're intoxicated by another human being.

He pushed me even further into him, like he couldn't bare to leave any space between us at all.

I could barely feel his fingers in my hair, however, because all I could focus on was the way his lips were causing me to lose the rest of my senses. Like I couldn't hear, couldn't smell, couldn't see... all I could do was feel the way he was kissing me.

His hand that was still clutched around my thigh pulled, causing my leg to swing over top of him. I let out a small gasp at the motion, and I wished I didn't because Chase stopped kissing me.

He pulled away, his fingers loosening from my hair, it fell to my shoulders instead. The way he touched me was like a wave of warmth. "Are you okay?"

I didn't answer, I just wanted him to kiss me again. I pushed against him this time, completely of my own accord, my hand against his shoulder as I swung my leg completely over him. I twisted my body, until I landed on his lap. I was drunk off the feeling that Chase was giving me.

Chase let out a small groan as I landed, his arms wrapping completely around my waist. He pulled me closer to him, if that was even possible, our bodies almost one as we pressed against each other.

My mouth found his this time, resuming the movements my lips already missed. I could almost feel the raw emotion in the way his fingers dug into my sides. I wasn't thinking about anything other than the way he was making my feel, the taste of him was silencing almost all of my thoughts.

My body was on fire, a flame lit by the way his body felt against mine. I often forgot how much bigger Chase was compared to me, but his frame was overpowering me in this position, making me feel tiny against him.

His hands were moving against my back this time, never stopping in one place for long, like he was trying to touch me in every place that he could. I didn't think his movements could feel any better, until his hands slipped under the large shirt of his I was wearing.

He didn't try to move his hands toward the front of me, he simply pressed his large palms against the bare skin of my back. Even so, I was sure he could still feel the way my heart was pounding.

Chase moved away first, his lips fading from a thunderstorm to a light shower in the summer, until they finally disappeared from mine all together, like clouds fading away.

We were both still, our faces still only inches away. I had the feeling we were both processing what just happened. I wondered if he felt the same way that I did, I wondered if this was the best kiss of his life, too.

He ran his fingers down the side of my face, his thumb moving gently over my lips as I tried to control the rate of my breathing.

"Like I said," Chase said breathlessly. "You're everything."