"I-I've been wanting to ask you something for a while now," Christian says.

"What is it?" I softly ask.

"I . . . I want your permission to kiss you," Christian whispers.

My breath catches, and I think, Garrett never asked me for permission, he just wanted to take. What should I do? Should I kiss Christian, or not, and regret it later?

I bite my bottom lip, and I feel my hands begin to shake as I tentatively raise them to grab a fistful of Christian's shirt. "I want to kiss you too," I whisper as Christian glances from my hands to my face.

He reads my face and whispers, "I won't force you, Beau, this is your call."

I nervously chew on my lip as I slide my hand up Christian's chest, and gently rest it over his cheek. His skin is so warm and soft, and I just want to caress his cheek. Christian's eyes slowly close as I hesitantly stroke his cheek, my hand shaking at the closeness and the warmth of his breath against my skin. It feels incredible, and I know Christian's intentions are meant to fill me with confidence and I can feel a little of bravery coursing through me but I'm still hesitant. I've never kissed anyone before, what if I do it wrong or accidentally bump our noses or knock our teeth together?

I don't want something so special that I'll always remember as my first kiss too be ruined by my lack of experience and confidence. I want both Christian and I to remember this moment for all the right reasons, so as I slowly lean forward to press our lips together, all I can hope for is something that lives up to all my fantasies of a first kiss.

My lips meet Christian's hesitantly, and never in my life could my imagination have prepared me for how soft and warm a pair of lips would feel against my own. It's an amazing quick peck, that has me wanting to figure out how to do it properly. So slowly, with a hesitance I can feel melting away, I kiss Christian again and this time, I feel him kiss me back. His lips move against my own with a maturity and level of experience that has me quickly growing insecure, but I fight it back and try to match what Christian does; although with much less success.

We kiss until we can't breathe, and when our lips break apart Christian's hand slides into my hair and gently pulls me forward until my cheek is resting against his chest. My body tenses at first, but as the calming beat of his heart fills my ears, my body begins to relax and I allow myself to melt into his comforting embrace. It feels too good and warm to ever move, so slowly I wind my arms around Christian's waist and hug him back. It feels amazing, and I never ever want the feeling to go away.

As we stand there in silence, my mind naturally begins to wonder what all of this means, but I don't want to break this new found intimacy; I want to stay as far away from reality as I possibly can. I want to freeze this moment forever and live in it until my very last breath.

When Christian gently unwinds my arms from around his waist, I'm saddened by the loss. He notices my mood immediately, and gently pecks my forehead and mutters, "Let's finish the laundry, and then maybe we can find some food?"

I smile and nod as I reply, "Okay."

Christian smiles too and mutters, "Okay."

And together, while enveloped in a new and gentle silence we finish folding the laundry before taking it upstairs and leaving the neat piles in the proper bedrooms before going into the kitchen to make food.

I wouldn't consider myself a horrible cook, but alongside Christian, who's parents own their very own restaurant I feel out skilled —- not to mention the fact, that despite kissing him and staying in his arms after our kiss, he still makes me so incredibly nervous. And despite my best efforts to not let Christian's close proximity get to me, I still manage to burn too many pieces of chicken for the enchiladas, and as a result I happily relinquish my cooking detail over to Christian's more than capable hands.

As he does his best to salvage what he can of the remaining chicken, I move away to sit at the table and ask, "Do you like cooking?"

Christian shrugs. "I don't mind it, but cooking isn't a life goal. The restaurant is my parents dream, they always wanted to open up an Italian restaurant to bring a bit of culture to our little town."

I purse my lips and slowly nod, and then I'm asking another question. "Are you Italian? You don't have an accent . . ."

Christian laughs and replies, "No, but my mother is, my parents actually met in Italy. They moved here when my mother got pregnant with me, and she wanted the restaurant as a way to bring a little bit of her home here to Greystone."

I smile. "That sounds romantic."

Christian chuckles and glanced over at me, he smiles as he teasingly asks, "Are you a sucker for romance, Beau?"

I laugh, and I feel my cheeks redden. I cover them as I cry, "No!"

Christian just laughs at me, and a moment of content silence passes before he asks, "Do you know what time your mom will be home? I want to meet her, she sounds amazing from what little you told me of her."

I bite my bottom lip and my cheeks fill up with warmth once again as I quietly mutter, "You want to meet my mom . . .?"

Christian frowns at my question, and says, "Yes, I just told you I wanted too . . ."

I purse my lips and nervously fiddle with my fingers, and I feel Christian watching me before he pulls out a chair and takes a seat. He gathers my hands into his and asks, "Beau, if you don't want me to meet your mom, just say so."

I cringe and shake my head before quickly glancing up at Christian from beneath my lashes, only to look away again when I reply, "That's not it, I just.... I'm nervous because I've-I've never brought a guy home with me to meet my m-mom."

"Does she know your gay?" Christian asks confusedly.

I laugh, unable to help myself as I cry, "Of course, she knows! She knew when I was fifteen, even before I did." I say with another laugh.

Christian smiles thinly. "So what's the problem then?" he asks.

I chew the inside of my cheek and mumble, "She's never met one of my-one of my . . ." I trail off, not even sure if Christian is my boyfriend now.

"She's never met a boyfriend?" Christian asks.

I blush and mumble, "Is that what we are?"

Christian softly laughs and squeezes my hands as he replies, "If that's what you want, Beau. Then yes, you are one hundred percent my boyfriend, and you'll never have to worry about getting hurt by another douchebag like Garrett Reyes again."

I feel my cheeks redden and I peek up at Christian slowly before hesitantly scooting forward. I don't want to waste my life on guys too in love with themselves to ever see me for who I am. I want someone like Christian Philips, who has shown to be kind and caring and thoughtful, time and time again. I want to finally find my happiness.

So slowly, I find myself braving up as I carefully sit on his lap and wrap my arms around his neck. The moment I do though, I immediately begin to worry that I'm too heavy and that I might be hurting Christian. But when I try to get up, he gently grabs my waist to hold me in place and whispers, "Please, let me hold you?" And hearing him say that causes my cheeks to burn like never before, and I swear, I can hear my heartbeat in my ears.

I let him hold me though, and the longer I sit there the less I think about my weight and the better I begin to feel. I don't know what it is, but Christian has this amazingly weird way of wiping away all of my insecurities and filling me with a bravery I've always lacked. With Christian, I feel like I can do anything, and the feeling —- much like when I had kissed him —- is something I never want to feel fade away. But at the same time, I'm afraid of growing too attached because what if he leaves me one day and everything he's made me feel goes with him?

I'd be hopeless, and I know, the support he has given me to build myself up little by little would crumble away and I'd be lost. I don't want Christian to suddenly disappear, and I don't want to stop being close to him or have to distance myself to spare my heart the lose if he ever does leave. I just want something good in my life to remain good; I don't want to have to experience the heartache that always seems to inevitably ensue.

I want this new, happy intimacy with Christian Philips to become my reality.

Word count: 1,575

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A/N: *sigh* Hello, lovelies! Thank you for reading, and please, don't forget to vote, comment, and share with your friends. Thank you, have a lovely day/night!

Love from,
BunnyBaekkiee ❤️