1/30/2021 - Just a reminder that the rest of the book is going to be rather different from the original! I told you guys before that I didn't plan on relying so heavily on the Tyler vs. West jealousy arc. The major plot point I was leading up to has clearly already happened (West knowing Raine's secret), but I have a few small things I want to alter as well. I will be posting the OG story soon.

Silently Falling: Chapter Thirty Three

Fortunately, I was able to drift to sleep. I would say Mr. Buttons did the trick, but I think it was more so the fact I mentally projected the warmth from West's arms into Mr. Buttons and imagined that the stuffed toy was truly West. 

My lips are still buzzing from his kiss. The second his lips touched mine, I felt it all the way to my toes. His lips were so soft, so smooth, and they warmed my entire body despite the coldness that stuck to them from his walk here. My senses were overtaken by him; the delicious yet faint scent of firewood that was stuck to his clothes. Everything about it was perfect. Even the feel of his tattered Spongebob pajama pants against my legs had me melting. 

My eyes snap open. Why am I laying here in my bed when West Love is downstairs alone on my couch? I throw my covers away from my legs and goosebumps dot my skin as the cold air hits me, so I drape a blanket over my shoulders and quietly tiptoe out of my room and down the steps, Mr. Buttons clutched between my hands. Despite how quiet I tried to be, West stirs as soon as I step foot into the living room and sits up, running a hand through his hair as his eyes adjust to the darkness.

"Sunshine?"

Oh God, his sleepy voice is so deep and coarse that it makes my knees shake. I shuffle closer, pulling the blanket tighter around me since it's much colder downstairs. I wonder if the one blanket I gave West was enough.

"Are you okay?" He asks, leaning up on one arm as he faces me. When I don't instantly respond, his concerned expression flits to one of amusement as he eyes the stuffed toy in my hands. "You always sleep with a stuffed Narwhal, Sunshine?" 

I bite my lip sheepishly. "Do you always sleep in Spongebob pajama pants?" 

He grins, "Now I will, since they brought me enough luck to have you kiss me and sneak downstairs to sleep by my side."

My eyes zero in on his exposed arms, freed from his leather jacket that's draped over the back of the couch. Now he's wearing a wrinkled, white V-neck. I squeeze Mr. Buttons a little tighter and drag my gaze back to West's amused eyes, fumbling in my mind for some excuse to use as to why I'm standing in front of him in the dead of the night so that I can wipe that smirk off his face.

"Or did you have a nightmare?" 

Ah. That's a good, believable excuse. 

I quickly nod. Too quickly I suppose, from the knowing glint in West's eye. He shifts so that his back is flush against the cushions of the couch, leaving enough room for me to come lay with him. His blanket is only covering his legs at this point, but he makes no motion to lift it back up. 

I shuffle toward his open arm, settling into my half of the shared cushions and resting my head on half of the pillow. I lay facing West and shyly snuggle into his chest so that my butt doesn't hang off of the couch. His arm tentatively rests around my waist, over the blanket, only relaxing when I've fully cuddled into his warmth. I drink in his familiar scent; woody, like a warm, burning campfire that keeps you safely hidden from the cold air. It's amazing how secure he makes me feel.

"Your dad may kill us if he sees us in the morning," West murmurs as he rests his chin atop my head. "Cuddling like this."

"We're under different blankets," I whisper, pleasantly surprised at the lack of pain it causes my throat. 

West's body rumbles as he lets out a deep chuckle. "Does that mean he can't get upset with us?" 

I nestle my nose against his chest. His body stiffens and then melts into the feeling. His hand is absentmindedly rubbing little circles on the small of my back as he holds me firmly to him so as not to let me fall off the couch. Mr. Buttons is squished between us and his horn is digging into my stomach. But I don't mind. I'm sure his plush fur is soaking up West's scent so that when I'm having a rough night and need to find comfort in Mr. Buttons, I won't have to try as hard to picture him as West. 

God, you're being borderline creepy, Raine. 

"I was hoping you'd come down here. I was one dream away from coming upstairs to you," West admits quietly. "Maybe I should have, because this couch is definitely not made for two people to lay side by side on it."

His chest vibrates with his chuckle and I laugh with him. His arm tenses as I nearly slide off of the couch, further proving his point, and he pulls me impossibly closer to him. Mr. Buttons horn digs further into my stomach, but nothing could take me away from the euphoric feeling of being cuddled so closely to West. 

"I didn't want to startle you, though. So, I waited for you to come. I knew you would, too."

"Why's that?" I whisper.

His voice comes out softer as he replies. "Because of the way you kissed me... the way you looked at me when we pulled apart. It's the same way I've looked at you since the first time you taught me sign language." 

My heart skips a beat and then thuds faster against my chest, and I would be incredibly embarrassed that West can feel it if his weren't doing the same. And, as we both drift back to sleep, I catch the deeper meaning in his words. He didn't just wait for me to come downstairs tonight. He has patiently waited for me all along. 

---

Distantly, I hear a gruff voice behind me that attempts to disrupt my peaceful slumber. 

"You know, when I said the couch was comfy, I was strongly implying that you stay on it to sleep alone." 

Ignoring the distasteful voice, I shut my eyes tighter and snuggle deeper into the safety and security of my pillow. I need to remind my dad to buy a few more of these because somehow, they are incredibly warm and feel almost lifelike. 

"Uh, is that- When did he- Did I miss something?" 

Another familiar voice threatens to wake me up and I grumble, pointedly cuddling even further into my pillow and the scent of a campfire to show them that I do not want to be woken up right now. However, suddenly the pillow vibrates and a deep, husky chuckle fills my ears. 

"I think we may have been caught, Sunshine."

My eyes snap open.

Those first two voices definitely belonged to my dad and Toby who both are definitely standing behind me and are definitely staring at the rather intimate position West and I are currently in. 

With a squeak, I shove myself away from West. I do it so suddenly that West's arm draped around my waist doesn't have time to react and I go plummeting to the ground as I fall from the couch. I land on my back, flailing my arms out but only getting them tangled in my blanket.

I blink and stare above me at my dad and Toby. Dad is standing there with the bridge of his nose pinched between his fingers, looking annoyed, and Toby is staring between me and West with eyes full of shock. I tentatively move my eyes to West who is now sitting up with a stupidly handsome smirk as he looks down at me. 

"You got a bit of drool caked by your lip there," he remarks, touching the corner of his mouth. 

My face gets hot as a blush takes over, and I quickly reach for Mr. Buttons to wipe off the dried drool. 

"You are walking on thin ice, West," Dad states.

West awkwardly chuckles behind me. 

"Oh God, is that Mr. Buttons?" Toby groans, taking a small step back.

I pause and glance up at him. When we were kids, I used to terrorize Toby with this thing. I would stick the horn in his eye, in his nose, and stab him with it during every meal. I gave him a black eye on accident one time, which I thought was quite funny but Mom and Dad didn't. I even used to make Mr. Buttons do a deep, scary voice. I did it often enough that it actually started to work and Toby would freeze in slight fear every time he heard it. 

"You're scared of a stuffed Narwhal, dude?" West asks from behind me.

Toby rubs his right eye as he recalls the tragic memory of the horn being shoved into his eye when we were toddlers. "She used to terrorize me with that thing."

"She did actually give him a black eye once," Dad adds.

"God, she even used to do this ridiculous voice..." he trails off, a shutter going through his body. 

West quirks a brow and sits back, crossing his arms over his chest with a grin. "I would love to hear an impression of that." 

Toby starts to mock the voice I used as a child, getting it horribly wrong. I know I told myself to wait before letting anyone else know I'd regained my voice, but hearing his terrible impression of Mr. Buttons makes me throw caution to the wind. So, I sit up and lean my back against the couch, tucked against West's legs, as I correct Toby.

"You have it all wrong, Toby. It was more like this..." 

As I proceed to show off the voice, Toby cringes away and covers his ears quickly with his hands. I can't help but bite back a grin. He's definitely missing something.

"Yes, that's the stupid voice! I haven't heard that in so long and it is not bringing up any good memories, so Raine could you please- wait." 

While Dad and West both smirk at Toby, his eyes shoot open and he stares at me.

"D-do the voice again," he says hesitantly, as if he's scared that he imagined the entire thing before.

I quirk a brow, "My voice or Mr. Button's voice?"

His eyes become glossy all of the sudden and his bottom lip nearly quivers.

"Again," he says, his voice barely a whisper.

I finally stand up from my spot on the floor and walk over to him, sending him a small smile.

"Hey Toby."

In an instant, he throws his arms around me and hugs me close with shaking arms. 

"H-how did...how are you talking?" 

I hug him tighter, "Something came over me after Warren...and then again yesterday. I don't really know how, but I think it's here to stay."

He lets me go and smiles at me through his glistening tears, letting out a laugh as he teases me.

"Well, you sound just as annoying as ever."

"I will make Mr. Buttons attack you again."

He laughs and hugs me again, then he glances at West and Dad.

"You two already knew?"

"I helped her through some remedies yesterday," Dad explains. "We wanted to make sure her voice could strengthen before telling anyone else. Now come on, Toby. We need to drop my car off before 9:30 or else they won't change the oil today." 

He and Toby head to the front door, but West perks up and clears his throat.

"Uh, Marcus what about-"

"You." Marcus says, stopping him as he points a finger at West with a stern glare. "I will deal with you later. Different blankets or not, I didn't let you stay the night so that you could sleep with my daughter." 

Then, both he and Toby leave and the door shuts behind them. I glance at West and see him scratch his head.

"I guess he forgot he was my ride home." 

A short while later, West and I are in the kitchen as I brew myself a cup of coffee. The whole time, West stays by me, but I can tell he's keeping his distance and it confuses me. Even now, as I mix my creamer into my coffee and stand with my back leaning into the corner of the counter, West is standing an awkward length away from me. I feel his eyes on my lips, but he's making no move to come any closer.

It was like this earlier, too. After Dad and Toby left, I sat back on the couch next to West. He seemed comfortable, settling back with his arm around me, but that's all. When I looked up at him, he seemed like he wanted to kiss me, but waited until I lifted my own lips to his. Even last night he didn't rest his arm around me until I made it clear that I wanted him to by cuddling against him. 

I sigh and stare into my coffee as the creamer swirls around, blending in with the darkness to turn it into a light, caramel color. I take the spoon out and tap it on the rim of the mug, twisting my back to place it in the sink with a satisfying clunk. I eye West as I delicately lift the mug to my lips, slowly taking a sip. He watches me carefully, darkening gaze stuck to my mouth as I dart out my tongue to lick away the excess coffee on my bottom lip. But he makes no move to come closer.

"West?"

He snaps his eyes to meet mine and clears his throat. "Yeah?"

"You know I'm not some fragile, glass doll that's going to break if you touch it, right?" 

His eyes widen in surprise and he shifts in his stance as he fumbles for a response.

"I know that, Sunshine."

But there's still hesitancy in his expression. When his eyes drift to the bruise on my cheek, it clicks. 

"West, I don't want my story or what happened to me the other night make you hesitant around me."  

He straightens up and fumbles his hands into the pockets of his pajama pants, shrugging slightly as he finds the words to say.

"I just...I don't want to do something to make you uncomfortable or-"

"I trust you." 

He stops his sentence and stares carefully at me, waiting for me to continue.

"I'm not broken, remember? You don't have to think so hard about if it's okay to touch me or kiss me. It's okay. I-I want you to."

My last sentence comes out sheepish, shy. I divert my eyes to my coffee when I blush, unable to hold his gaze after his eyes widened slightly as though he knows everything I'm trying to say, everything I'm feeling. I feel the mood shift. Suddenly, he starts walking closer to me. Slowly, but with purpose. No longer tentatively. I keep talking to distract my rapidly beating heart. 

"If you want to reach out a-and touch me, I want you to. If you want to kiss me...I don't want you to overthink it. What happened to me doesn't mean you can't react to how you feel with me." 

Then he's right in front of me. His body is holding me against the counter, so close that I have to pull my mug against my chest so that he's not bumping into it. When I meet his gaze, my grip on it becomes tighter. There's no more indecision in his eyes. No, all he needed was my approval for all of that to go away and melt into exactly what he wants. Me. 

With his eyes holding me captive, he reaches down and gently takes the mug from my grasp, placing it on the counter behind us without breaking our gaze. He rests his hands on both sides of me, leaning down just enough so that our faces are level with one another. I swear I stop breathing as his scent overwhelms me. His lips come closer to mine and I hitch my breath.

"So, what you're saying is, if I want to kiss you then I shouldn't hesitate?" 

I nearly gulp at the sudden shift in his tone and I nod, unable to say anything because I fear my voice will give me away more than my physical reaction to him has. 

He moves his lips to my cheek, grazing them over my skin and sending electricity through my body. 

"Kiss you where, Sunshine? Your cheek?" 

His voice comes out husky and I bite my lip to hide the breathy gasp that wants so badly to escape. He presses his lips gently against my skin, the heat from his kiss making me bite my cheek. His lips skim over my skin, leaving a trail of fire down to my jaw.

"Your jaw?" 

Another kiss and I barely contain a shudder before he guides them to my nose, and I can now see his smirk. 

"Your nose?" 

He leaves a hot kiss on my nose. Then his lips are hovering right over mine, he stares longingly at them before he lifts his lidded eyes to mine. 

"Or did you mean somewhere else?" 

I know how badly he's teasing me and I want to play along. I want to pull back a little to show that I can play this game like him, but I'm so sucked in that all I can do is force myself to remember how to breathe. But West overestimated his own ability to play this game and he can't wait for an answer. 

He presses his lips against mine eagerly, hungrily, as if this is what he has been wanting ever since I gave him a taste last night. This is entirely different. His hand moves from the counter to my body, smoothly dancing from my waist and up my side, and then to my arm where his touch on my bare skin sends a blaze over my body. He lightly bites my bottom lip when I tangle my hands in his hair and pull his lips impossibly closer to mine. His hand drifts from my arm to my neck where he slides it under my hair and gently holds the back of my head as he kisses me breathless. 

I've never been kissed like this. I've never been held so sensually, never had lips on mine that show me how much they crave my taste. But West is kissing me like I'm everything he's ever wanted and suddenly every thought I've had that wasn't him fades from memory as he expertly works his lips against mine. 

But then a piercing scream floods both of our ears and we abruptly break apart. West's eyes go wide with worry as he scans my face, fearing the sound somehow came from me. But I look behind him to where the noise actually came from and my face erupts into a massive blush when I see Alyse standing in the doorway of the kitchen, staring at West and I with her jaw dropped. 

West furrows his brow and follows my line of sight, twisting his head around to glance behind him. When he looks back at me, though, he can't help but grin and leans back down to set a soft kiss on my now swollen lips. He brings his lips right next to my ear so that only I can hear him, his breath fanning across my cheek.

"Is that what you meant, Sunshine?"

He pulls back to see my blush that somehow got deeper and I shyly nod at him. His grin deepens and he steps away, settling for standing next to me. He crosses his arms over his chest while we both stare at Alyse. She finally seems to be coming down from her shock when she starts bombarding us with questions.

"Oh my God. I knew it! I so called this! Why didn't you tell me? How long has this been going on!" 

I'm so caught up in my embarrassment of being caught in my first, and rather intense, make out with West that I forget I was vocally challenged for three years and respond to her. 

"Just since last night!"

But Alyse is too shocked to realize that I just spoke and she keeps going.

"You kept saying that you didn't have a thing for him but I knew it from the very first day! I tried to tell you but nooo, I was the crazy one! You guys made fun of me because I watched How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days, but who's the hopeless romantic now? And- hold up. Rewind." 

A small grin plays at my lips while I try not to laugh at her expression. 

"West. Did your voice suddenly raise a few octaves or did she just..."

"Talk?" I finish for her.

Now Alyse screams for a whole different reason and bolts across the kitchen toward me, tackling me into a hug. 

"You just fucking talked!" She screams, jumping up and down with me awkwardly in her arms. 

West laughs at us from the side and I send him a glare as I'm manhandled by my best friend, but he doesn't stop laughing. However, my glare drops as I see the happiness in his eyes and I smile at him. His laughter subsides as he smiles tenderly back. 

Alyse finally lets me go but keeps her hands firmly on my arms as she stares at me with a pointed look. "You have so much to tell me!" 

I eye her outfit; namely the sweatshirt she's wearing that belongs to Toby and I grin at her. 

"Seems like you have so much to tell me, too." 

Alyse blushes and starts to tug me into the living room but not before yelling to West over her shoulder.

"Sorry to steal your girlfriend, but we need girl time to gossip about you. I'm sure Toby has Robin League or whatever it's called ready to go in his room for whenever he gets back. Go make yourself at home!"

---

1/30/2021 - I have a feeling you guys like this particular edit hehe. Also, I have had a lot of people ask me when I will be edited again. Trust me, I understand that you're frustrated that I don't stick to any schedule and I'm sorry! But you guys have to understand that I am in college and have 2 jobs. I write in my free time, and when I'm always so busy that free time is very scarce. Please continue to be patient with me! I appreciate each and every one of you <3