The lights start to brighten back to life while simultaneously, the ending credits start to roll through but not before the screen presents an announcement for the movie.
TO BE CONTINUED…
"You've got to be kidding me," I say under my breath. "I didn't know this was a two-part movie!" I exclaim.
Kyran can't help but to chuckle at me again as he helps me out of my seat.
I turn to him and say, "I hate being edged." And then I pause, seeing that his hand is still in mine. I look up at him and he's already looking down at me.
His eyes are crowding me, closing me in and I start to feel my hand get sweaty in his.
"Is that so?" he asks in a darkly flirtatious tone, and I question it for a second before I realize the meaning behind what I said.
"I mean cliff hangers. I hate being left on a cliff hanger." I clarify, blushing again.
We stand in the aisle for what seems like minutes, and maybe it is. But I look around to see the small handful of people who had watched the movie with us have already left the theater and furthermore, I note that neither of us touched the popcorn or our drinks.
"Wow, I didn't mean to be so wasteful," I say as I lean over and grab the full cup.
"It happens. We were both hyper focused," he defends as he snatches up the uneaten bag of popcorn and the other drink, causing us to have to let go of where our hands were connected.
I miss the warmth, because for a while I didn't even realize I'd reached for his hand. But now that it's gone, I want it back.
We both head out of the theater, silence upon us as we reach the trash cans and toss our wasted snacks. As he leads us out of the movie theater, the wind from outside approaches us and I feel the chill immediately upon exiting.
"Damn, it got cold," I say as I pull my jacket tighter over my chest.
"Here," Kyran says when I see that he's taking off his own zip-up hoodie, leaving him in just his white V-neck t-shirt, and offering it to me.
I have to avert my gaze out into the street to avoid staring at his arms or his chest or just him in general.
"Oh, no. I'm fine. The walk to the car isn't far." I decline the jacket, but he insists.
"Take it, Weslyn." It sounds kind of like a demand but I know he doesn't mean it that way, or with any aggression at all. So I grab the jacket and let it cover me, wrapping it around the back of my shoulders and pulling it closed, not putting my arms through or zipping it up.
As we walk to the car, I notice the lights all around us. The moon can't be seen over the towering buildings but there's still so much light everywhere, coming from the flashing billboards and the pretty lighting from some of the stores around us. We get to the crosswalk and wait for a clear signal to cross over to the parking garage, and while we wait, I decide to take a spontaneous risk.
I pull one of my hands out from under the jacket I'm holding together and reach for Kyran's hand.
He looks down at me as I snake my fingers between his. "Is this okay?" I ask, not entirely wanting the consent and more so just wanting to be bold, but again, I get nervous.
"Or course it is," he says as he squeezes my hand gently in his and leads us through the crosswalk and back toward his car.
24
Kyran
I need something to break her out of this spell she's in. Maybe the intimacy of the movie theater, being so close and exposing her vulnerability with a scary movie, wasn't the best idea. But it washeridea. I could just tell that she was tense the whole time, likely anxious to be herself around me once more.
I know exactly what to do to get her to feel like she can be herself with me, but first I have to get her back to my place.
Though, when she laced her fingers in mine at the crosswalk, I felt a sense of pride fall over me at her attempt to exit that awkward space she sneaks to. It's natural for us to fall back into a place where we feel the need to hide ourselves but I don't want her to hide. I want her to give me her all. Because fuck, if I thought Weslyn via text messages and FaceTime was worth so much more than I could have imagined, having her in front of me is doing something else to me entirely.
She's unlike anyone I've ever met and even when she recluses, she's cute as hell. But something about this does kind of feel like starting over, getting to know each otherin a different way and I am okay with that. I know I'll do whatever I can to put a smile on this girl's face.
"Remember when you got drunk at that party and called me?" I turn to ask her with one hand on the steering wheel of the car as I drive us back to my place.
"Oh my god, please do not remind me of that." She laughs and I love seeing that she's relaxed a bit. "That feels like so long ago," she adds, and I agree. It's crazy to think that it only happened a few weeks ago.
