(Unedited)

"Ele..." He looked at my perplexed state and continued "do you even have to ask?"

I wondered what he meant by those words, was he implying yes for my proposal or a yes for rejection?

"I don't understand, is that a yes?" I asked him.

He looked at me in amusement, closed the gap between our bodies and our lips, it was slow at first, reassuring the new relationship between us, my insecurities breaking into pieces. I melted into his hold.

We broke apart breathing heavily, "that should do" muttered Aiden, with a satisfied smile on his face.

"Was it too much for you to say it directly?" I enquired.

"Hmm, mmm maybe" he replied lazily and placed a kiss on my forehead, got up from the bed, and walked to the bathroom.

The sudden departure shocked me, successfully confusing my hijacked brain, an involuntary smile curved at the edges of my lips, with the no-nonsense attitude I walked near the bathroom and banged on the door.

"What the heck dude? Tell it to me!" I screamed, concealing my smile behind the uproar.

The door opened, Aiden walked out casually, took the food tray, and settled himself on the bed. He glanced at me, feigning innocence. I quirked my eyebrows up, his lips curved into a mischievous smirk, he gestured for me to come closer with his pointing finger.

I sat next to him, he lifted a forkful of toast, sausages, egg, and brought it near my mouth, I took a bite, chewed, and swallowed it methodically.

Eating from his hands brought more pleasure than my wild daydreams, Aiden was a guy of simple forehead kisses and food sharing, that was what I loved about him the most.

It may be only a few days since I met him but his caring nature and unavoidable sweet gestures can sway away robot, so why not me? But I wanted to know more about him.

"Earth to girly!" He cooed, shaking the fork in front of my face.

I snapped out of my reverie and glanced at him, shook my head, and swallowed the mouthful. I heard a clink and I knew we've got company, I turned to the door and looked at my embarrassed mom, her cheeks pink from the intrusion.

"Uhmm, sorry... I... I'll wait downstairs" she said, Aiden politely nodded at her and ignored the situation by concentrating on the food.

My mother mouthed the words "be late!", winked at me, and walked away. This was something I expected from my mother.

"Guess we should go down" Aiden started slowly.

"Nah, she asked me to be late" I informed him and looked at his quizzical expression.

"Alright, so what do you want to do in the meantime?" He asked, a smirk forming on his lips.

I wanted to scream a lot of suggestions at him but my voice betrayed me "eat?" And I mentally facepalmed myself.

"Eat what?" He asked, the smirk disappearing behind a dark and unreadable manner.

I wondered what it would be to utter, for once what I actually wanted to say? I replied instead, "anything you feel like it".

His face darkened to my confession, placing the tray on the side, he closed the gap between us, tucked the few hair strands behind my ears, and started to slowly rub my earlobes in a circular motion, he traveled his fingers from my ears to my neck and my collar bones, I inhaled sharply.

My body started to heat up to his touch, leaving a trail of goosebumps wherever his hands traveled, he traced my collar bones, I didn't realize I was holding my breath for too long until the moment a slight moan escaped my lips, I felt embarrassed at the slip.

"You like it?" He asked with a dark look, I nodded at him.

"Say it" he commanded in a voice that clearly suggests no rejections.

"Yes," I stuttered, feeling shy at the situation, he gave an approving look, gripped my neck firmly, and crashed his lips to mine, this kiss was not the type I would like to call slow and tender, it was strong and heady, with our tongues ravaging each other's mouths, exploring boundaries and creating havoc between the steady pace of the heartbeat.

We broke apart, panting. He gave us a second to recover and placed another wet kiss, shortly this time but with a series of it, I didn't mind at all. We recollected ourselves after a few minutes, disappointingly he stopped kissing me, backed away slightly, and uttered in a rugged voice "we need to get down".

I wondered what was wrong, it felt right, my insecurities rushed back in, I started wondering if I did any wrong, I was new to the whole thing but with him, I felt like I have been doing this my whole life, hypocritical if I say I never wanted this although.

"Did I..." I started to pour my insecurities slowly but he placed his fingers on my lips and replied, "no, I wouldn't be able to control myself if we don't stop this right now".

And I felt it, his eyes displaying lust, hooded lids and clenched hands, he was trying to control his emotions, "I don't want you to" I muttered out of control, shocking him and me.

"I know but I do" he replied slowly, I immediately regretted saying anything at all. He didn't want to cross boundaries with me and the realization hurts.

I looked down at my hands and started to fidget with my fingers, he placed his hands on my cheeks and lifted my face to look at him.

"Hey, it's not anything like you are thinking, you recently had a heartbreak Ele, I mean with the letter... Er, you get the point right?" He stuttered, I nodded at him in acknowledgment, I knew what he was talking about and he was right.

"I want you to heal Ele, start fresh, I want this to be us, only us, always" he completed with sincerity and I melted to his words, my broken state recovering immediately.

"I like us," I said to him with a small smile.

"Me too" he replied and I knew, I loved him, truly, and it will always be us.

_________
•••

Best blurb 3rd place