Lydia’s P.O.V
I moved away from Lyric a few seconds later, unable to keep the contact but when I went to remove my hand from his nape, he caught it in his own large ones.
“You know I’m here for you too, right?” He spoke softly.
“What do you mean?” I asked, but a sense of dread settled in my stomach, clawing out the tenderness from the earlier moment.
“Being brain damaged doesn’t mean that you have to refrain yourself from everything life has to offer,” Lyric tilted his head to the side, studying me with those intense eyes of him that often tended to make me nervous. “You avoid physical contact like it’s the plague. Or is it just with me?”
I felt my breath catch in my throat. Did he really figure it out? But even if he hadn’t yet, I think he just did because his eyes widened slightly before he told me accusingly, “It is just me, isn’t it!”
It wasn’t a question so I didn’t answer him.
“Why?” He frowned.
“I don’t go around touching everyone I see, Lyric.” I told him in an exasperated tone. “I genuinely don’t like physical contact all that much.”
“Well, we’re going to have some serious issues if you went around touching everyone you saw.” His eyes darkened as he said the word ‘touching’. “And besides, it would be highly inappropriate.”
I was pretty sure my cheeks were flaming red even if my facial muscles didn’t move and Lyric noticed it too because he just burst out laughing while pointing at my face.
“What?” I snapped, crossing my arms across my chest.
“Well, for starters,” Lyric said, catching his breath. “You look mighty funny with that straight face while your cheeks turned red. And second, it proves something, the reason why you try to avoid contact with me specifically.”
Oh, crap! “And what reason could it possibly be?” I asked anyway, even though I knew this was a bad idea. A very bad idea.
“That I affect you,” He said, shifting closer. “That you don’t just care about me because it’s your nature, you genuinely care about me. Maybe, just maybe, what you feel for me is more than just friendship.”
“I never said we were friends.” I told him hoarsely as my throat threatened to close in.
“Good.” His voice was suddenly very serious as he looked into my eyes. “Because friends don’t get to do this.”
Before I could comprehend what was going to happen, Lyric was wrapping his arm around my neck and pulled me in, gently placing his lips on mine.
The sensation was like fireworks exploding behind my eyelids, a whirlwind of emotions swept through me, forcing me to close my eyes and cling on to Lyric as I clutched a hold of his shirt.
I hadn’t thought it was possible; feeling this much from just a kiss. Lyric gently moved his lips on mine, as if he was afraid of breaking me. His hold on my nape was gentle too, allowing me room for escape…but I found out I didn’t want to escape. I wanted to be under this spell longer, to forget that I had missed out on so much in the last three years.
I had purposely distanced myself from everyone except my family, not letting myself take comfort from human touch because once I did, I would be reminded over and over again of what I’m missing. But Lyric had been able to break that barrier and I hadn’t even been aware of when I had started to develop feelings for him. I had lied to him that day, when I’d told him I didn’t think of him as anything other than a friend. But how can I love when I wasn’t whole?
But as Lyric’s lips moved on top of mine, consuming me with desire that made my heart pound and butterflies erupt in my stomach, I knew that I could never go back. I could no longer deny that he has made a place in my heart and that place was growing day by day.
My breathing was heavy when I opened my eyes to look at Lyric. My vision was a little hazy but it subsided within a few seconds.
Lyric was looking at me intensely, as if he knew exactly what was going on inside my head and I think he did. In this short period of time when we have come to know each other, he has been able to figure me out with an ease that even my family didn’t have. Maybe it was because of his brother?
“You lied to me.” He told me now. “You said you didn’t feel the same way, but your kiss says otherwise.”
“Does it really matter?” I asked him. “It’s never going to work out, not like this.”
“Stop doing this, Lydia! To yourself and to me.” Lyric snapped, letting go of me as he got up and paced the room. “Have you ever realized that maybe I’m not the one who considers you broken but you do that to yourself?”
I blinked back my surprise at his sudden outburst. “But I am-”
“No, you’re not.” Lyric came to kneel in front of me and took my hands in his. “We are just man and woman. Just Lyric and Lydia. Forget what you think is right or wrong, forget what’s going to work out and what never will! Just let us be us. Just think of us and what we feel for each other.”
I looked down at my lap, at our intertwined fingers. Was it really possible? Could we be just Lyric and Lydia, man and woman and forget everything else? Could we give it a try?
“You and I, we have a connection that I have never felt before.” Lyric voice was soft, only for me to hear. “You get me like no one else does. You’re always there for me when I need you; when I’m down, you’re the first person I think about. And I want to be the same for you too.”
“You are…” I whispered, because I couldn’t lie to him again. “It’s the same for me too, but I was scared to admit it. I don’t want you to regret being in a relationship with me, Lyric. I don’t want to wake up one morning and see regret in your eyes. I’m not ready for a casual relationship and we are far too young to take things too seriously.”
“I agree,” Lyric shrugged. “But if we started counting all the ‘what if’s’ even before we begin a relationship, we would never get anywhere. Please, just give us a chance, just once.”
Giving Lyric a chance was never the problem, but I think it was time to end both of our misery for once.
Taking a deep breath, I came to a firm decision…and took the plunge.
“Okay.”