Chapter 11

-Fire and Ice-

"So…you think I'm pretty?" I smiled slyly up at Laken.

The dance had ended a long time ago and we had never gone back inside. Laken had run back to the dorm a while ago to grab a few blankets and we had been stretched out across one of them, talking for the last few hours.

At the moment, I was teasing Laken about his attraction to me. He had confessed that he had been avoiding it for a few weeks now and I was teasing him unmercifully.

"I just said I did, Keene!" He replied gruffly, lazily drawing circles on my wrist. "And you think I'm hot, don't deny it!"

I didn't try to. I just sighed, closing my eyes at the light touch. "Does this feel weird to you?"

The gentle pressure against my wrist stopped and I opened my eyes, meeting his gaze.

"What?" I asked, shrugging uncomfortably under the steady look.

"Actually it is a little weird." He finally admitted.

He moved on to my hand, rubbing his thumb lightly over my knuckles.

"It doesn't seem like you think it's weird." I smiled at him.

He grinned in response.

I bit my lip, wondering if I should say what I wanted to. Curiosity won out though and the question left my lips in a rush. "Do you like this? Being here with me?"

He looked up, "…yeah. I do."

I nodded slowly. "I like being here with you too."

It was quiet for a few minutes.

"I have a question for you." Laken said suddenly.

"Shoot."

"You said in the coffee shop the other night that you were waiting to fall in love with me before you did anything."

"I did?"

"When you were yelling at Lyric? Yeah, you did."

"Oh. I didn't even realize…" I blushed, embarrassed. "Wow, that's…um…wow."

Laken sighed. "Did you mean it?"

"Mean what?"

"You obviously thought that eventually you were going to fall in love with me. Or am I just imagining that?"

I stared at him. "I guess I must have thought that or I wouldn't have said it." I looked down at our intertwined hands. "It might happen, you know. Us falling in love."

"You sound like you aren't too happy about that possibility." He noted solemnly.

"To be completely honest, I'm not really comfortable with it." I sighed heavily. "This could really change things."

"Maybe it would change them for the better." He suggested then.

"It could. Or it could totally ruin everything." I took a deep breath. "It's a huge risk."

"Gen, there are some risks you just have to take. Things that you have to do because if you don't, you'll spend the rest of your life regretting not doing them." He paused for a moment and then resumed speaking. "And we're immortal. That's a long time to spend regretting something."

"…You're right." I nodded slowly, looking over at him. He was sitting there with a goofy grin on his face. "What are you doing?"

"Memorizing this moment. Because you will probably never tell me I'm right again." He laughed.

"Shut up." I laughed with him. "But seriously, how are you not scared of this?" I waved my free hand between us. "We aren't always this nice to each other. This could be doomed from the start."

Way to be a pessimist, Genesis. I have got to find my old friend optimism and drag her out from whatever rock she's hiding under.

Laken chuckled. "Keene, of course it's scary. All relationships are. You just gotta decide whether the relationship is worth the risk."

It was quiet again.

Then I found myself saying something with a quiet determination. Something I hadn't expected to say just yet, but it felt right to say now.

"You're worth it."

His head jerked up, his green eyes meeting mine. "What did you say?"

I took a deep breath, gathering up courage to say it again. "I said you're worth it. You're worth the risk."

When he finally spoke, his voice was low, husky with emotion. "I'm glad you think so. Because I think you're worth the risk too."

I found myself shifting towards him, an unconscious decision to be closer to him.

"So what now?" I asked softly, sitting up.

He shrugged. "We'll figure that out later, but I have a pretty good idea of what I want to do right now."

I gave him a look of confusion. "What?"

His grin was mischievous as he scooted closer, stopping a few inches away from me.

I blushed as his eyes locked with mine.

"This." He whispered, so close I could feel his breath against my skin.

My eyes fluttered shut just as he pressed his lips against mine in a soft kiss.

I think what happened next shocked the both of us or maybe it just surprised me.

When he didn't immediately deepen the kiss, I let out a short moan of protest, bringing my hands up and wrapping them around his neck in an attempt to get him to do so.

He got the message.

One hand tangled itself into my hair and another went around my waist, pulling me into his lap.

"My dress…" I said against his lips, pulling away and looking down, attempting to fix my dress.

"Forget the dress." He impatiently drew my face back up to his.

"But…" Then his lips landed on mine again and I forgot about the way I was sitting.

He tasted like mint and chocolate and when his tongue slipped into my mouth, I let out a moan of pleasure and twisted my fingers into his hair, pulling him closer.

It was like a riptide, each kiss pulled me further under and the current was pulling me away from the shore. I was floating, hanging on to Laken for dear life. He was all I could feel, see, or taste and I felt like I was drowning in him.

Things were getting pretty heated and when I finally came to my senses, I was underneath him and he had moved on from my lips to my neck. Whatever he was doing felt pretty fantastic and I really didn't want him to stop.

I closed my eyes, only to have them fly open again, when he reached a particularly sensitive spot. "Lake!' I gasped out, trying to sit up.

He ignored me and I pushed at him. "Laken McGregor! We have to stop!"

He kissed me then, and I started to get pulled under again.

"Laken." I moaned against his mouth. "Please."

He pulled away from the kiss torturously slow and I bit back a whimper of protest.

"What?" He looked dazed and rumpled, and I was sure I looked the same way.
"We need to chill." I scooted away from him and attempted to straighten my clothes and hair.

The confused look disappeared and he ran a hand through his hair quickly.

We looked at each other.

"Wow." I finally said.

"Wow is right." Laken took a deep breath. "That was…"

"Unexpected?" I supplied helpfully.

"I was gonna say amazing, but unexpected works too." He let out a weak laugh.

I nodded in agreement. "I guess I see what Sadie and Lyric meant about unresolved sexual tension. Holy cow!"

He burst out laughing.

"What?" I glared at him.

"Nothing. That was just a total Genesis comment." He shook his head.

I narrowed my eyes at him.

"Relax! It was cute." He winked at me, before standing up.

"It's late. We should probably head back to our room." He offered me a hand, but I had already stood up.

"Yeah."

I felt shy all of the sudden and things were quiet as we folded up the blankets.

"Ready?" He asked.

I nodded and we headed in the direction of the dorms.
"I had fun tonight Genesis." I turned my head to look at him.

"Even with the mini make out session?"

"Especially with that. We can do that anytime you like." He smirked.

I shook my head, laughing silently. "Not a good idea, Lake."

"You know it was awesome."

"Yeah, that's the problem. " I sighed.

"So we got a little carried away." He shrugged.

"A little?" I snorted. "Try a lot."

"I didn't mind." He stated gravely.

I stopped and stared at him, trying to decide whether he was being serious or not. "You didn't?"

"Nope."

I began walking again. "I didn't either." I suddenly said, because if I was being honest with myself, I hadn't minded.

He laughed again, and grabbed my hand. "Good."

I realized something then. I felt content for the first time since coming to Athanasia. I smiled to myself. I was finally starting to feel at home here.

We got to the dorm. "Freeze!" Laken hissed. "The guard is at the door."

"Crap!" I exclaimed, diving behind a bush.
"Wait, he's going back to his donut. The coast is clear!" Laken whispered loudly.

We opened the door as silently as we could and snuck past the security guard in the lobby, running to our room. Breathless and laughing, I struggled to unlock the door.

"Wait." Laken grabbed my arm, dropping the blankets on the floor.

"What's wrong? Did we forget something?" I looked around to make sure we had everything.

"No. I just want to kiss you good night at your door." He grinned.

"Lake, it's your room too." I rolled my eyes playfully.

"I know." His green eyes were twinkling as he leaned over to capture my lips in another fantastic kiss.

"Geez." I breathed out when we came up for air. "Where the heck did you learn to kiss like that?"

"If I told you, then I'd have to kill you." He teased and I punched him in the arm.

"Come on dummy. Let's go to bed." I opened the door and went into the room.

"If you say so…" He followed me into the room.

"LAKE! Get out of my bed!" I yelled as the door shut behind him.

A/N: Well there ya go! It's been a long time coming, but they are finally together…for now. lol. I hope you like it! Please read and review! Let me know what you think! I really appreciate all of the reviews and constructive criticism! It makes me happy! You all are amazing! Thank you so much for subscribing to this story or adding it to your favorites!

~Jenna