Chapter 20: chapter twenty

~ N O W ~

“So you guys did it,” Sarah clarifies with a pleased smile on her face, eyes shining as she reaches for my hand to give it a light squeeze.

I bite my lip slightly and nod.

“Was it nice?” she asks, not in an intruding way, but rather casually – like a close sibling asking how a first kiss was.

I blush slightly, but otherwise couldn’t help the way a smirk tilts my lips.

“It was… he was,” I correct as I get off the park bench and prepare to walk back to the café. “I mean, it wasn’t typically romantic or perfect; there weren’t any candles or music or anything. No morning-after cuddling considering dad was on his way home. But…” I trail off as we both start walking, arm in arm as she led and I once again got lost in my thoughts. “But he was perfect and it wasn’t awkward at all like I always feared it would be.”

Sarah nods and sends me a smile as I met her gaze, “Good – that’s great.”

I bite the inside of my cheek and look at the people we now walked by, hiding a grin as I replayed the way Storm had to get changed quickly once I’d realised my father was coming home at any moment; the way it took him almost five minutes of continuously giving me small kisses and uttering promises of seeing me soon before he’d finally leave my front porch.

“So when did he ask you out after that?” Sarah asks me, pulling me out of my thoughts again and making me realise we were getting closer to the quaint and popular café – closer to Storm himself.

I laugh softly and shake my head, “He hasn’t – not yet.”

Her brow furrows, “But… he called you his girlfriend back in the café? And I asked if he was your boyfriend and you said yes!”

“He was kidding,” I laugh again, louder this time at the look that crosses her face, “It’s his way of annoying me now, apparently. Also, I never said yes, I just never denied it.”

She scrutinizes me from the corner of her eyes, a mock-annoyed look in them. “You’re a little shite, you know that?”

I grin and kiss her cheek hastily before unlinking our arms as we cross the road, “Love you too, Sez.”

“How long ago was this, exactly?” she asks, fixing her hair mindlessly in a habit that she did.

“Three days ago, on Wednesday,” I reply without skipping a beat. “And since it’s the first week of holidays no one was home – obviously,” I mutter the last part.

She almost trips over nothing before her hand shoots out and she grabs my wrist to stop me, eyebrows raised high on her forehead. “But you guys act so… together. You’re both just so casual and comfortable.”

My cheeks heat up which only made her eyes narrow, knowing there was a reason for her observation.

“What?”

“What?” I ask, trying and failing to hide a smirk.

“There’s no way you could act so comfortable with someone unless…” her eyes narrow even more. “Unless you guys have spent a while together, and since you guys had sex-”

“Sarah!”

“-Only three days ago, I’m betting that you slept over at his house the other night,” she says, disregarding my embarrassment at her crudeness.

My cheeks burn hotly but I laugh because of the childish grin that slips onto her face, making her look like she just hit the jackpot thanks to my reaction. “Yeah,” I relent at last, trying to ignore her stupid grin, “The day after we finally did it, he invited me over to spend the night-”

“Did you guys have sex?” she asks, eyes widening and causing my cheeks to heat up even more until my entire face felt hot.

I shake my head at her, giving up on trying to make her censor her thoughts.

“Yeah,” I reply, now grinning as well. “A few times actually,” I couldn’t help but admit which made her throw her head back and laugh.

She grabs my shoulders and shakes me slightly as she exclaims; “Oh, Mia, who knew you had it in you ya little minx!” She laughs loudly before giving me a quick hug and then practically shoving me back to look me over, as if to look for any physical differences.

“I mean, it wasn’t my intention to… you know,” I quickly explain feeling embarrassed for my actions but not at all regretting it. “It just happened. His parents weren’t home because they had a wedding to attend and they brought his little sister, so we had the house to ourselves and-”

“Mia,” Sarah laughs, linking our arms and pulling us toward the café again. “You don’t have to explain yourself. If you think you’re a slut for having great sex with a guy you’re clearly in love with, then what the heck am I?”

My cheeks burn and I give her a glance that she ignores, “That’s not what I meant – I just-”

“I know what you meant,” she rolls her eyes with an amused grin, “But there’s nothing you should be ashamed of, babe. If you like him, then I say screw each other until you get bored, and then when you do get bored; screw each other differently.”

I slap a hand over my face and try to stop my laughter.

“Sarah, oh my god!” I exclaim pulling my arm away from hers and sending her a look, “Remember that talk I had with you about needing to filter your thoughts and words?” She nods and looks slightly confused – trying her best to act innocent. “Well, right now is where it applies!”

She giggles stupidly as we turn a corner and rounded the street full of shops, “What? I can’t help it if it’s true.”

I sigh, unable to stop the grin that stretches across my face. “I give up with you – it’s like trying to tell Tom and the boys off for their vulgar language.”

She huffs and pouts childishly, “Excuse me, I’m not that bad.”

“No, but-” I stop the second my eyes land on a certain someone shoving their tongue down a certain someone else.

Sarah’s mouth drops open and within moments I was storming over just as Storm – one of the someone’s – managed to shove the blonde-haired girl off him.

“Gemma, what the hell!” he exclaims just as Sarah and I came to a stop beside them.

“Storm, just lis-”

“Who the fuck are you?” Sarah spits stepping in front of Gemma’s view just as Storm steps beside me, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand with a clenched jaw and the most repulsed look on his face.

“Who the fuck are you?” she threw back, giving Sarah the most disgusted look ever.

I grab Sarah’s sleeve and pull her away before she could hit the other girl, “Don’t. Let’s just go-”

“Ew, you again,” Gemma’s sneer cuts me off, causing Sarah and I to turn around to look at her again, making us to notice her crossed arms and the way she stared at us under her nose like we were scum.

I grit my teeth and finally step forward, sick of her and everything she’d ever done to Storm. “If you ever touch Storm again – if you even step anywhere near Storm – I swear I’ll make you regret it.”

Her eyes narrow, “Who the fuck do you think you are?”

“Mia Jones, Storm’s-” I cut myself off before I say girlfriend because that isn’t what I was. “Friend,” I finish lamely, faltering slightly and stepping back in embarrassment.

“Nice,” the girl snorts just as my back bumped into someone’s chest. Obviously no longer seeing me as a threat, she bristles at the way Storm puts a hand against my waist to keep me close to him, and then she smiles and sets her gaze on him. “Storm, let’s go. We have a lot to talk about.”

I feel him tense slightly and I lift my hand up to cover his, our fingers intertwining instinctively against my hip.

“No, there’s nothing to talk about and nothing at all that I want to say to you,” Storm says lowly, jaw clenched so tightly I could see the outline of his jaw line clearly and the muscles that were ticking.

Gemma stiffens and uncrosses her arms as she says, “Babe, come on. I think a few months is enough-”

“It’s been a lot longer than ‘a few’ months,” Storm growls.

The girl raises her eyebrows and scoffs, lip tilting up into a smirk.

“Are you sure? Because I’m pretty sure the last time we had sex was at Taylah’s party, remember?”

I stiffen because I remembered that party specifically – it was the first time Storm told me he liked me.

Storm tightens his fingers around mine and pulls me tighter against him, not at all backing down or even slightly fazed. He tells her; “No. Because it never happened.”

Gemma glares and soon enough her act fades away and crumbles into nothing, her face going from stunning to ugly within seconds as an unpleasant scowl crosses her expression.

“Fine – have it your way. But just so you know this isn’t over, I know people,” she says threateningly, flipping hair off her shoulder. “My brother will be hearing about this,” she tells us before she turns her gaze to Sarah and gives her a look that makes my best friend pale, something I’d never seen her do before because of a girl. “Tristan will hear about this,” she adds in a bitchy tone before she spun on her heel and leaves without another glance.

I look at Sarah the second Gemma leaves our sight. “Are you okay?” I ask worriedly, watching as she swallows and fixes her already-perfect hair.

She meets my gaze and forces a smile, “Of course. She’s just another bitch on the street.”

Storm lets me go as I turn toward her.

“Yeah, but… yeah, I guess she is,” I finish lamely once I caught onto her expression, knowing that I won’t be getting anything from her any time soon and knowing that she’ll tell me when she’s ready.

“Look, I think I’m gonna go,” she says stepping forward to hug me. “I’ll talk to you tonight, yeah?”

I watch as she prepares to leave, knowing I couldn’t have stopped her even if I tried. “Okay, and we can set another coffee date so you can tell me your story, right?”

She smiles and rolls her eyes, turning into the Sarah I know once again. “Right, of course,” she laughs shaking her head at me before she turns to Storm and puts a hand out for him to shake, “It was nice to finally and officially meet you.”

“Yeah,” he replies giving her a warm smile despite his tensed body considering what had just happened, “you too.”

I watch as she walks across the street and out of our sight before I turn to Storm and regard him for a moment as he turns to look at me as well, holding my gaze intensely in that way of his.

“You and Gemma didn’t actually… you know?” I had to ask as he shoves his hands into his pockets and shook his head almost immediately.

“No,” he says, “God no.”

I nod and bite the inside of my cheek, not completely believing him considering how serious Gemma had sounded when she said what she did.

Storm sighs and steps toward me, brushing hair out of my eyes before tucking it behind my ear gently and then leaving his hand against my jaw and neck. “She tried to,” he says at last, jaw clenching again, “after we came out of that office and you left me to go find Sarah, she found me and pulled me into the closest room before I could do anything about it.”

I stare at him stare back at me, trying to eye him for the truth and unsure if I really wanted to know it.

“I stopped things before it could go any further than kissing – which didn’t last very long by the way.”

I nod, believing what he was saying.

“So that’s where you must have disappeared off to.”

He smiles at the fact that I remembered and mutters; “Yeah, unfortunately.”

His smile slips off.

I frown.

“What’s wrong?”

Taking his hand back and dropping it to his side, he runs his other hand through his hair and walks toward the café wall behind him before leaning against it – presumably to stop himself from pacing back and forth. “I’m worried about Gemma.”

My brow furrows and he must have seen the look of confusion on my face because he’s quick to explain himself.

“Not for her; just about. What if she comes after you?” he frowns, hands fisting before he forces himself to cross his arms across his chest – not at all able to hide the way his body tensed up all over again.

I frown once again and walk over to him, “Then let her, I don’t care.”

“No, but I do,” he growls dropping his hands down and leaning off the wall again, never one to keep still when he got worked up over something. He was like a caged tiger. “Jesus, I won’t be able to live with myself if she or Matt or anyone does a thing to hurt you because of me. What Matt did was fucked up enough and you have no idea how much convincing Tom and the boys had to do to stop me from doing something that would’ve put me in jail.”

“Well, I’m glad you didn’t do anything but… come on Storm, just three days ago you were telling me how much you liked me – showed me how you really felt – and now that your crazy ex-girlfriend came along to say a few things, you’re questioning it?”

“I’m not questioning my feelings, Mia, just my decision. All actions lead to consequences and, to be honest, I’ve been too selfish to even think about what would happen to you if Gemma set her sight on you. I just… I can’t let anyone hurt you,” he mutters the last part as his hands fist by his sides again. “Not again.”

“Storm,” I sigh, reaching out to cover his fists with my own hands before I force them both to open and relax in my hold. “Nothing will hurt me more than if you just walked away from me. This is no longer your decision, but mine because I know what may or may not happen, I know that there are people who want to hurt you and take advantage of you. I also know that I’m here for you, just like you have been for me and if those people want to come after me because I’m happy with one of the most perfect guys I’ve ever met – then so be it.”

He eyes me for a moment and I squeeze his hands reassuringly.

“How you even remotely like me I will never know,” he murmurs letting my hands go to slide them around my waist, before dipping his head down to kiss me on the forehead. He sighs softly and then mumbles; “But I’m honestly not complaining.”

“Good,” I smile leaning back until I met his gaze again, hoping that he could see how sincere I was. I say, loud and clearly, “Because I want you to be my boyfriend.”

He blinks.

Blinks again.

“What?”

“Storm Riviera, will you go out with me?” I grin now, aware of the fact that only three days ago I’d broken up with him because our relationship was developing faster than I could handle, but now no longer cared at all considering the last few days had been absolute bliss for me. “Be my boyfriend… again?”

For the longest moment he just stares me in complete shock and after a few more moments it finally starts to fade just as a grin turns his confused expression into an amused one. “Did you just… ask me out?”

I smirk as his grin widens even more at the realisation.

“Yeah, I think I just did.”

Before I knew it his lips were on mine and his hands were on either side of my face and I was laughing amongst his kisses because just like the night I kissed him on my couch after crying, it was fast and messy and sloppy and he was saying yes yes yes in between kissing my mouth and cheeks and nose and lips and all I could think of was: why did I not notice my feelings for him any earlier? Why was I so stubborn in believing he couldn’t possibly like me in such a way even after he admitted his feelings for me?

There was so many questions but within moments I realise it no longer mattered because right now he was kissing me like it was the last time he’d see me and right now we were both laughing and right now is where I was.

We stop once we realise we weren’t at all in private considering cars were driving past and people were still going about their daily business around us. He doesn’t pull away but instead rests his forehead against mine as he brushes hair from my face, such a content and genuine smile tilting at his lips that all I wanted to do right then was take a photo of him to save forever.

“I hate you for asking me out before I could ask you out; but yes – God, yes – I’ll go out with you.”

I laugh and lean up to give him a chaste kiss before pulling away properly, linking our fingers together before pulling him away from the café and all the prying eyes I could no longer ignore. “To be fair, you asked me out first. It’s only fair that I get my chance, right? Even though it wasn’t as romantic and adorable.”

“Yeah, because me exploding on you, asking you out and then disappearing for three weeks was totally romantic,” he rolls his eyes, a smile adorning his face as we turn a corner as he follows me without a single question or hesitance in the way that he does.

I grin, “It’s the thought that counts.”

He brings my hand up to his mouth and kisses my knuckles delicately, “Does the thought still count if I tell you I’m in love with you?”

I stumble to a stop and face him.

I blink and this time I’m the one who just stares back stupidly. “What?” I splutter, not at all expecting it – not at all believing that he just said what he did.

Storm smiles and tells me; “I love you, Mia – so much. And I don’t care if it’s too early or sudden but I do, and I have for quite a while now.”

I feel my insides start to warm and my nerves and skin come alight as he brushes hair behind my ear gently and I stare and stare and stare at him for so long that a part of him must have been creeped out, and yet, the endearing and crooked grin that lit up his face said otherwise.

I lift up my hand and trail my fingers lightly across his jawline, his face tilting slightly into my palm before he kisses the inside of my wrist, eyes never once leaving mine as I continued to stare.

As a warm feeling filled me for the hundredth time since the night I lost It, I thought that this is what it must feel like to be so sure of something, to be loved and unafraid of the future with a person you know will undoubtedly break your heart at some point and to trust that he wouldn’t. This is what it must feel like to be in the moment with the boy you love who’s smiling and holding you like you’re the last girl on Earth and he’s happy with that, instead of being in the future and worrying about every damn thing that could happen.

I love you too, I wanted to say, I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you.

Apparently my mouth thought otherwise though.

“You’re perfect,” I find myself saying instead but he doesn’t seem to mind as he laughs and presses his soft lips against mine tenderly, not needing me to say the words back as he must have already known how I felt for him.

“I’m the absolute opposite meaning of that word, but for you? Maybe I am, just so long as you believe it, then I guess I do too,” he grins as I throw my arms around his neck and buried my face against him, cheeks warm and sore from grinning.

“Screw Gemma and her brother,” I mutter against his shoulder, eyes closing as I breathe him in whilst his arms wrap around my waist tightly and his face presses against my hair. “Screw society’s expectations of who I should be for someone as attractive as you. Screw our fears – I love you,” I finally say, leaning away so only our lower halves were touching and I could meet his gaze properly again to show how much I really meant it.

He leans his head down a little and stares at me through half closed eyes, that contented and genuine smile on his face for the second time. “Say it again,” he murmurs, so close now that his lips brush against mine with every word.

“I love you,” I sigh as a smile curves at my own lips, “I love you I love you – I love you,” I say even louder, hooking my fingers behind his neck to keep him in place – lips so close but so damn far away.

And when he grins, any last worries I had of him breaking my heart flew straight out of the window because, for once, I didn’t care – he was here and so was I and that was all that mattered right now.

“I love you,” I repeat one last time.

And then he kisses me like we really were the last two people on Earth. He kisses me like there was no tomorrow, like the Earth was about to end and a black hole was about to swallow us up at any second. As I feel him smile against my lips and wrap his arms even tighter around me I couldn’t help but think: this is how everyone should be kissed, no matter who they were or what they’ve gone through or done, everyone deserved someone who looked at them like they were special. Everyone deserved someone like Storm, and they should accept them for who they are – imperfections, past and all. Love them and never let them go, because I sure as hell plan not to.

“Well,” Storm says once we finally break apart after hearing a passers-by grumble ‘teenagers’ rather loudly and disdainfully. “It’s a good thing I can officially say you’re no longer a terrible kisser,” he teases as he intertwines our fingers and pulls us toward his awaiting car that I realise had only been metres away this whole time.

I laugh and elbow him lightly in the ribs just as he unlocks the doors with his key. “I guess it’s a good thing that you think I’m a “pretty hot chick”, too,” I couldn’t help but tease right back, causing him to smirk his stupidly sexy smirk and press me up against the car door in such a way that I couldn’t help but wish we weren’t in public – but rather in his room naked and alone once again.

“Oh, shut up and kiss me,” he all but growls lowly, smirk never once changing and his honey-coloured eyes darkening in what could only be pure lust and – now that I realised what it was – adoration and love.

So of course, being the girl who could barely say no from day one of meeting him, I did.

And I loved every damn moment of it all over again.

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again; curse this boy and his damn good looks.