Love Birds - First Kiss

  There he was, standing outside her house, holding his umbrella above her as she searched for her keys. It was funny how destiny could take such unpredictable turns. Coincidence or not, on that day, rain wouldn't stop and she had forgotten her umbrella. On the contrary, he had taken his. Being the last costumer, he offered himself to walk her home, after watching her sighting and looking desperately through the window.

  "So, hmm, are you going home now?" she shyly questioned, holding her belongings against her chest.

  "I suppose so" he said. He wanted to look cool, but the answer came out a little too cold.

  "Oh, yes, of course! What would you do outside on a day like this, right? Yeah..." she pointed out clumsily, shaking because of the chilly weather (or because he was there). Being her nervous and impulsive self, she resumed her speech, giving him no time to answer. "I was going to invite you for a cup of coffee," his eyes widened "but you must be very busy. Thank you for the walk home. I'll see you around. Goodbye." and with that she walked in, leaving him bewildered.

  After a two-second recovery, he felt like hitting his head against the door. And so he did. For a couple of minutes, he stood there, banging the wooden door with his forehead, angry with himself for being so stupid and 'cool'. Eventually, he stopped. As expected, his head was aching, so he sat down on the sidewalk, letting the rain cool down his bruised forehead and also his temper.

  "Maybe you should really come inside..." a  voice came from behind him.
When he looked back at her, his eyes looked like the ones of a puppy, instead of the raging beast he had been moments ago from then.
  "Can I?"
  "Yes, please".

  And so they climbed up the stairs and got inside her apartment. It was rather small, compared with his, but the light colors and lack of decoration and furniture made it look bigger.
  "You can go sit on the couch. Or maybe not, you are all wet." she stood there, looking at him, thinking of a solution. "Just stay there."
Again, so he did. He sure was cold. The thick layers of wet clothes against him body were beginning to feel way too umcomfortable.

  He was almost shivering when she arrived to the small hall and handed him a towel.
"You can change in the bathroom. The water will take a while to warm up, but it'll come out burning, so be careful" she informed while pointing to the first door of the hall.
After twenty minutes of undressing and trying to get the water to the right temperature, he was feeling warmer and better. Only wearing his underwear and his socks, he wrapped the towel, which seemed to be the size of a bed sheet, around his body and got out. She was in her room, whose door was perpendicular to the bathroom's, tiding up her bed.

  "Hi!" she stopped suddenly to the sight of messy hair and bare legs. "You need clothes. I totally forgot about it." she then opened her wardrobe and took a pair of sweatpants and a hoodie.
  " Sir, you are very lucky. I like having large clothes around and, luckily for you, they were washed."
  Shortly, he was back to the bathroom, putting on what she had given him.

  Around nine o'clock, they were sitting on the kitchen, by the table, in a rather awkward silence. She was drinking hot chocolate, sipping slowly from the cup. He, on the opposite side of the table, was figuring out what to say. Certainly he had to thank her, yet what else? Thirty minutes ago, he was desperate she had gotten the wrong impression about him; now, he was seriously regretting accepting her invitation. Being unable to start a conversation, and irritated, he finished his cup of black coffee she had so promptly offered and stood up, saying:
  "You've been very kind to me. I have to go now. It's getting late and you must be tired."

  "Wait! You don't have to go!" there was a tiny hint of desperation in her voice, that she tried to hide as she spoke again. "I mean, if you don't really need to go back home, then you can keep me company... It's not like I'll be sleeping at nine p.m. Plus, your clothes are still wet..."

  With that, he knew she wished for him to stay. There was no point on insisting to leave, because he also wanted to spend a bit more time with her.

  Finished the beverages, they moved to the small living room. There was a small couch, with two seats, a white table, matching the tall bookcase. The walls were painted with the lightest of greens and there was floral scent in the air.

  Having nothing else to do in her small apartment, they chose to watch tv. It was primetime, which meant soap operas in every channel, yet they eventually found a good documentary  about space exploration.
  "Is this okay?" she asked.
  "Anything is good" he tried to smile, hoping to let her know a nicer side of his. She smiled back at him, and pulled her knees to her chest, making herself comfortable. As he was sitting on a strange attitude, she told him to make himself at home. He did so.

  And like this, the hours passed, channels were changed, eyelids started to close and they both fell asleep.

  It was around five in the morning when he, slowly waking up, realized where he was. They were leaning against each other, his head on her shoulder. As he sat up, she sensed him moving and woke up as well.
  "What happened?" she asked.
  "We fell asleep."
  "No wonder... You felt so comfortable." she suddenly understood what she had said. "Did I really say that?"
  He hid his face in his hands, smirking. "You sure did. No worries, though. It's good to know I'm as fluffy as a pillow."

  That's how the ice was broken. She giggled back at him and leaned down, snuggling on the thick blanket. He joined her and closed his eyes.

  "What now, miss? I don't even know your name, yet already slept with you." his eyes move to the side, looking for hers.
  "Excuse me, sir, but the same goes to you." she avoided his sleepy stare.
  "I'm not the one inviting strangers to my house."
  "You are not a stranger." their eyes met for a second, as if erasing all doubts.

  The rain was still pouring, not as heavily as earlier.
  "Are you hungry? I don't have much in the fridge, but it should be enough for us" she offered, a bit embarrassed of not buying groceries as often as she should.
Even though they were quite close physicaly, a invisible wall was still kept between them. He wasn't sure of what she thought of him, so there was no need to take risks and embarrass both of them.
  "It's fine. I should leave, anyway. I need to go to work in a few hours." he yawned and stood up.
  "I'll check your clothes, then." she made her way to the kitchen, where his clothes had been drying throughtout the night.He followed her.
  "They are still wet."
  "Don't worry, I'll put them to dry once I get home." they helped each other folding his clothes and putting them into a plastic bag.

  At the door, it was her who talked first. She wasn't looking directly at him and her hands were shaking a little bit, so he guessed she was nervous.
  "Thank you for keeping me company..."
  He interrupted her. "It's me who should be thanking you, and apologize for falling asleep like that."
  "No, you don't. It was quite nice!" now she was looking straight at him, however, as he expected, it was just for a moment.
  "I should go" he grabbed his umbrella and the bag. "Again, thank you."
  She answered with a big smile "You are welcome, Mr. Stranger."
His heart melted, his hands dropped his things and soon she was being kissed. In the heat of the moment, he pushed her against himself, rubbing gently her back, yet soon he stopped. However, before he could cease the kiss, she put her arms around his neck.
 
  It was not a long kiss, but they did stay close for a while more, forehead against forehead.
  "I really have to go." he finally spoke.
  "Yes..." Awkwardly, they let go from each other.
  He took a hold of his things again. "Again, thank you." and left, winking at her before closing the door.
  She was left breathless and radiant, leaning against her door, smiling like a teenage girl.