10 | damsel in jitters-2

8th round @ Riverton Marcel says he's not allowed to tell you exactly where & she doesn't know either. The note seemed so secretive, the information so sparse, that I couldn't help but worry even more. I exchanged a brief look with Ean, before heading over to the counter at the back, where my car keys were hanging on the rack where we hung the rest of the keys. "Miles? You still there?" A slight pause, and then - "I'm still here, Darcy." "Good. Okay, I'm just getting my car and then I'll go over to meet you. In the meantime, just breathe. Deep breaths. You're going to be fine." Ean raised his eyebrows in surprise as he noticed the car keys in my hand. I seldom, if not never, drove. Driving made me nervous, I was jumpy and couldn't parallel park to save my life. But situations like these warranted one to step outside their comfort zone. I shook my head at Ean as he made to follow me and motioned for him to stay instead. One of us needed to be manning the shack and it had to be him. I headed out of the shack through the back door and instead of going towards the direction of the bus stop like I normally would have, I took the route to the parking lot instead. "I'm still here," I said into the phone. Miles' breathing on the other end was still ragged, but it was a lot steadier than it had been awhile ago. "I know you're not allowed to tell me where you are. But I'll be at the main gate waiting, alright?" "Yeah - t-thanks, Darcy," came his reply as I got into the car, putting the phone on my dashboard and setting it to speakerphone instead. "Just get out quickly and safely," my voice was loud amidst the silence in the car, and I wondered if he could hear the nervous tension in my tone. It seemed crystal clear to me. "Stay calm. I'll talk you through it." And that was what I proceeded to do. After he described his surroundings to me, I got a pretty clear idea of what the eighth round of initiation entailed. Miles was trapped in a large box that was tied up from the outside. There were two holes where his arms could reach out to untie the series of knots that sealed the opening. It seemed rather doable. If only Miles wasn't claustrophobic. So it was rather difficult to keep calm during the drive to Riverton. A part of me was frustrated with the situation - it would've been so much easier if he knew exactly which part of the school he was at. I could get him out of there in a jiffy. But no - the frat members had blindfolded him before putting him in the box, and I guess the lack of sight must've terrified him even more. But we worked through it all the same. Like all other tangles in life, this too was bound to become undone sooner or later. I arrived at Riverton within ten minutes or so and parked my car just outside the main gate. After locking the car door behind me, I held the phone to my ear again. "Miles? Are you out yet?" There was a pause. "Yeah - " came his reply, a while later, " - just, hold on, I-I need a moment." I glanced at my watch. He didn't have a moment to spare. There were barely three minutes left on the clock, because he'd wasted quite a bit of time panicking at the beginning. On the one hand, I didn't want him to fail. We'd come so far, and he couldn't get out. Not now. "You can do this," I told him, sounding far more confident than I felt, "I'm waiting right outside." I heard muffled scuffles in the background and all I could do was wait. It felt agonising. I was a generally impatient person by nature but this really topped it all. Then I spotted a familiar figure in the distance. The relief I felt was tremendous, like a tidal wave that had built up over time and was now absolutely crushing. It was then that I realised just how frightened I'd been for him. Worry was secondary. It was plain fear that I'd felt all the while - fear of not knowing what he was going through, fear of not being able to help him, fear of simply feeling so terribly helpless. Miles came up. "Hey Darcy." He managed a weak smile, but I could see it perfectly - the past terror in his eyes, the sheen of sweat across his forehead and his staggered breathing. It was all I could do not to break down there and then. I wished I could be strong enough for the both of us, but at times like these, it was difficult to. "Hey yourself," I murmured. And call it irrationality, call it impulsiveness, I didn't know what made me do it, but I found myself stepping up to him, my hands reaching up for his face. I felt his skin clammy beneath mine as I cupped his cheeks. Then I pressed my lips against his. And it was something else altogether. I supposed, somewhere in my subconscious, that this had been coming for awhile now and that I'd wanted to do it for equally as long. But it wasn't what I was expecting. It took my breath away yet kept me grounded all the same. He was still against my lips, his inexperience showing clearly, but he was responsive. There was something undeniably thrilling about the prospect of kissing a boy who didn't know how to kiss. I heard the quick hitch of his breath, his fingers tightening their grip on my hips and felt the slow heat rising between us. It was a brief kiss, and I quickly pulled away, blushing when I saw his eyelids flutter open. It meant we'd both had our eyes closed, just soaking in the simplicity of the moment. Hardly wanting him to see my flushed cheeks, I hastily slid into his arms again, wrapping mine around his waist. "I'm so glad you're okay," I whispered against his chest and knew he heard me, if his arms tightening around me were any indication. Odd. It felt like he was trying to shield me from the world, when it was in actuality the opposite. ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬ It was a short walk back to Miles's house, since it was right on campus. The afternoon air was stale in the summer heat and we were both quiet, walking off the awkwardness of the earlier kiss. It was the kind of awkward I knew neither of us were going to be addressing anytime soon, but not awkward enough to throw us completely away from each other's company anytime soon. I could live with that. The neither here nor there, the maybe we will or maybe we won't.