His arm went around her waist and he pulled her towards him. He touched her cheek and sighed when her blue eyes intentionally averted his own. “Are you that afraid of me?”

Her eyebrows furrowed together in an incredulous fashion, although her eyes still focused on the strings of his grey sweatshirt, “What kind of question is that?”

His arms tightened around her. “An honest one.”

She pulled away from his embrace and walked to the other side of the room, and ran her hand through her strawberry blonde hair as she proceeded to look down at the floor. “Don’t be ridiculous Ryan” She turned to face him, her hands tugging at the hem of her shirt, as if she were uncomfortable. “Of course I’m not afraid of you.”

He cocked an eyebrow, “Really?” keeping her gaze, he slowly walked around the cream leather sofa, and made his way over to her. “So when I watch you like this, it doesn’t make you nervous? When I get close to you, your stomach doesn’t erupt into butterflies?”

She stepped back from him and her back met with the wall. “N-no.”

His eyes traveled up and down the length of her body, and he grinned, “Is that so? So stuttering is just a new character trait is it?” This made her laugh, and it encouraged him to close in the space that was between them. He pulled her close once again and cupped her face. He was surprised to feel her body trembling, but he was even more in awe by her eyes. The raw vulnerability in her beautiful, ocean blue eyes was enough to make a grown man cry. “Alyssa…” he said softly, his eyes still searching hers. If only she’d open up to him, if only she’d let him in…“Don’t think.”

He brought his other hand to her face and she instinctively leaned into him. His lips slid over hers, and he kissed her in a way that he hoped would show how much he did care…

And then she was gone.