Here I Go Again [Talen]

[Ariana Simone]

Slowly, the teen dipped her finger just onto the surface of the water, pulling it back up quickly as she watched the ripples form. Her mother had always told her that life always worked like the ripples in the ponds near her old home. Everything started with a single action, a dipped finger. Then everything brought on reactions, just like the ripples that formed as the finger was taken away. It was the natural law of nature, written clear in the water before her. Every action had a reaction. Her parents’ death had definitely had a reaction on Ariana; she was scarred for the rest of her life, never wanting to get too close to anyone in case they were ripped away from her as suddenly as her parents were. She never wanted to go through that sort of pain again, so she did her best to just stay detached. Sometimes she regretted it, but she continuously reminded herself that it was better this way. No attachment, no pain, right?

Still… a part of her wondered if it really would be better. She’d be alone for the rest of her life. No family to call her own. She didn’t even think of her foster family as family, more like donors to her art. However, she still would get love, in a way. She loved everyone, and everyone loved her. Wasn’t that better? No attachment, but still plenty of love to go around? It sounded like the best way to live for her. Ariana could live as a single mother, right? Just adopt or get an organ donor if she ever wanted kids. She had an answer to every question people asked her about her life choices, and she stuck tenaciously behind each and every one of them.

However, there were always the what ifs. And one what if had been haunting her for some time. What if she had actually gone on that date with Talen those months ago? She hadn’t intentionally blown it off…her terrible memory for dates had screwed that one over. But she hadn’t been able to see him before she had flown back to New York City to apologize. Talen was dangerous to her. He made her actually consider settling down, and she didn’t know what to think about that. She couldn’t, wouldn’t settle…but he had her so tempted. It was better to just get over it, find a few others to entertain her and get her mind off such ridiculous thoughts. Ariana Celestia Simone, have a boyfriend? The thought was simply preposterous.

Her fingers plucked up a small daisy beside her, twirling it thoughtfully as she bit her lip. Where was he now, she wondered? He probably had a girlfriend, that one…he was too much of a gentleman not to. She still remembered their last meeting at the café, how he’d paid for her drink and asked to kiss her…and the kiss had left her breathless. Of course, she’d never told him that and never intended to tell him that. No, it’d be best to keep that piece of information to herself. It was only a matter of time before she saw him again. After all, Hammel wasn’t that big. She just wondered when.

She looked down at the snowy white petals, her fingers rubbing one of them between the soft pads. It was silky under her fingertips, almost velvety to feel. Her lips twitched as she thought of pulling the petals off like all the other lovesick girls did when thinking ‘Does he love me? Does he love me not?’ It was an amusing thought, and she plucked a petal from the rest of the flower, bringing it up to eye level as she analyzed it Nothing too hard about that. She plucked another, thinking herself silly but unable to stop. Soon, a small puddle of petals lay at her side, and a thoughtful expression was on her face. She’d ended on ‘He loves me not.’

[Talen Trahan]

Everything was messed up for the boy.

His dad was sick with some sickness and Talen couldn’t fly down to heal his dad. His mother, a healer like him, was doing what she could to help his dad get better, but she wasn’t a people healer like her son; rather, she was a self-healer. Her power was useless when it came to other people getting sick, so she was helping the doctor with his father. Talen loved Hayden very much and didn’t want his father to suffer anymore.

Then there was Rhett. The blonde boy haunted his thoughts every single day, so much so that Talen couldn’t sleep without dreaming those hot, passionate dreams that made him wake in a cold sweat from a sound sleep. In his mind, he was cheating on Adrianna, but in the eyes of everyone else, he was merely sating his desires with someone of the same sex. It made him nervous and jumpy, avoiding Adrianna’s calls and text messages and staying away from her in school. Memories of Rhett’s kisses made his skin go bumpy and made his heart accelerate.

Then there was Adrianna herself. The girl was bright and bubbly, like the California sunshine. She was attentive, as girlfriends went, but lately Tal had been feeling awkward in their relationship. It was like…she was there, but he wanted her to be someone else. Someone who he could talk to, someone he could confide in, someone with expressive hazel eyes and soft brown hair that he longed to touch and lips that he had kissed.

Someone like her, the one who had gotten away from him.

He walked to the lake in a depressed mood, dressed in the rarity of jeans and an open flannel shirt over a tank top, expressive eyes hidden behind shades perched on his nose. Girls passed him with flirtatious eyes and little waves, and he ignored them, continued to walk and think about how messed up his life was. He liked Adrianna, he lusted after Rhett, he was worried about his dad…

And Ariana?

He loved her. More than she ever knew.

Looking on the lake’s shores, he spotted her. As if conjured from his dreams, she sat with her back to him, surrounded by white daisies, looking like a forgotten princess waiting for her prince to arrive. The memory of their last time together, of the kiss they had shared…it made him want to make more memories with her. She was his first love, the one that would never go away. He would always think of her, always dream of her; the sketch he had done of her still hung over his bed, haunting him with her beauty and those eyes that looked at him like twin stars.

Damning himself, he walked to her side and sat beside her. Almost a full year ago, they had done this once before, on her birthday, as he tried to console her over the loss of her parents. He took off his shades and looked at her, those dark expressive eyes taking in every nuance, every freckle and wrinkle and inch of skin he could see, and there was nothing about her that he didn’t like.

“How long has it been since I’ve kissed you, Ariana?” was the question he asked, a stupid move on his part, but he wanted to be reminded of how much time had passed since he had touched this angel sitting beside him.

[Ariana Simone]

There had been a few upsides to leaving. She had been distracted from her attraction for a while in NYC. Cassandra had been a welcome distraction, a vixen if she’d ever seen one. Every minute spent together was another minute that she didn’t have time to dwell, too caught up in the moment with the mahogany haired singer. That’s how she liked to live her life, in the moment or thinking of the future, never looking back. She doubted she’d see Cassandra again; the fact that they’d met up again so soon after their first meeting was sheer dumb luck to her, though some welcome luck. After all, each kiss they’d shared was making her forget more and more. However, it hadn’t erased any of the small buds of longing that had started to dwell within her heart. She still felt his lips, his kiss on her lips. The few times that she actually had dreamed, it had been of his expressive dark eyes, his dark raven hair, the feel of his lips pressed against hers. It had been vivid, so vivid that she had forced herself awake, wiping sweat from her forehead as she tried to catch her breath.

Sweeping a few inky locks behind her ear, Ariana looked down into the lake in front of her, her gaze thoughtful. She remembered her father talking to her about the myth of Narcissus, who had looked into the pool and fallen in love with his reflection, slowly dying of starvation from his inability to leave his reflection. She’d always loved that story in a morbid sense of the word. It was one of those stories where the arrogant and haughty got what they deserved. Become too obsessed in your appearance and it could get you sunk into nothing. Narcissus reminded her a lot of Zachary LaRousse, actually. She chuckled, her eyes lifting to the skies. She wondered how her old friend was doing. They didn’t talk so much anymore after their break up years ago. Zac had changed…so had she. Still, she missed him every once in a while.

Her fingers combed over the petals at her side, feeling them and the grass underneath as she stared up at the clouds. It had been a while since she had just relaxed and just cloud gazed. There were so many stories told up there that people just forgot about in their everyday lives. Feathery clouds, fluffy clouds, wisps and blankets of clouds. There were animals and shapes that she could point out-whales and cotton candy, hearts and clovers. It was almost enchanting, watching them evolve and change as they swept over the skies. She wondered if they were doing that naturally or if one of the metas was changing them into shapes. It was always plausible.

She jumped with a slight start as she felt someone sit down beside her, expressive hazel eyes flashing over as she drank in the sight of the guy she had been trying to forget. Dark hair, dark eyes, handsome smile…oh yes, it was Talen Trahan. He was as handsome as ever, though he looked more worn down and sad than the last time she’d seen him. She wondered what was going on in his life to burden him so. She bet she could get it off some of his items, but she didn’t really feel like it. Every time she did, she felt like she was cheating. Everyone else had to ask questions to figure things out, she should too.

Admittedly, she was a bit taken aback by his question, but she answered anyway. “Exactly five months today,” she whispered, looking at him before she looked back up at the clouds. She had kept track of that date, if she hadn’t kept track of any other well. She wondered if he’d recognize the significance of that fact. She twiddled with her handmade bohemian style skirt, biting on her lower lip as she inhaled deeply. “How have you been? It’s been a while.”

[Talen Trahan]

Her voice was like honey to his ears, rich and slow and amber with its huskiness, her eyes that expressive shape and size and color that he could drown in forever. She told him the time, and he was a little surprised that she could remember. Knowing her, and everything she had done, he would have figured that she would have forgotten. The last time he had talked to her, they had made plans to go to the fair earlier that year.

Then she had left him, without so much as a goodbye or note or anything.

“Yeah, it has,” he answered her, settling his shades on his head and leaning forward, placing his elbows on his knees and cupping his chin with a hand. The other plucked a daisy and tucked it behind her ear, his fingertips leaving the faintest whisper of a caress on her cheek as he drew his hand back. “To tell you the truth, things have been complicated for me.” He looked away from her and towards the water, noting the calmness of the surface. He wanted that peace for himself.

“My dad’s sick, and my mom can’t heal him,” he started off, sharing what was going on with him. “I have this boy who likes me, like really likes me, and we kissed and now I have all these conflicting emotions inside me. Then there’s my girlfriend, who just…” He sighed, closing his eyes and hanging his head. “She’s a great girl, but I don’t feel good about the relationship anymore, and I don’t know what to do.”

After a moment, he opened his eyes and looked at her. For all that he was sixteen, the eyes that looked at her were those of an older boy, the man he could become one day. “I keep thinking and dreaming about you. You’re in my head, in my thoughts. I have drawings of you all over my room. This girl of mine…she looks like you, but she doesn’t act like you. She doesn’t have your witty personality and your way of making me feel like I can achieve inner peace. And I know it sounds like I’m crazy, but I can’t help it.”

He sighed and dropped his hands to the grass, looking out over the lake again. The wind blew and ruffled their clothes and hair, and he felt like the wind, wild and untamed and dangerous. “You left without telling me goodbye, without going to the fair with me. You left me with a fun afternoon and a kiss and memories to hold me over until I succumbed into something I don’t want.”

He ran his fingers through his hair, frustrated, and looked at her with eyes gone angry; not at her, but at himself. “You left me without giving me a chance to wait for you, Ariana. You left me loving you, and I haven’t stopped.”

[Ariana Simone]

A part of her wanted to reach out and touch him, memorize his face, his smell, the sound of his voice whispering in her ear. Another wanted her to run as far away from this mesmerizing boy, away from the tantalizing temptation that was dangled right in front of her eyes. Part of the reason she had left for New York again right after his invitation was because she was scared of getting too close, and she had hoped distance would make her forget. It had nearly worked. But…she’d come back. She couldn’t stay away from her home, and with her home came Talen. It was almost expected, in a way, that they’d cross paths again. She had felt it, deep down, that they’d always find each other somehow. She didn’t know why, but she always expected him to turn up when she came back.

Her eyes darted over as she felt his fingers brush against her cheek, leaving a soft tingle over her skin where he’d touched. Her fingers reached up to gently brush at the daisy he’d tucked behind her ear, a small smile appearing on her lips as she looked back towards the sky. It was a sweet gesture, but then, Talen had always been sweet since the first day. She still remembered helping him with his math homework the first time they’d met. He’d been polite asking questions, always paying her the greatest of respects. She bet it came from his Southern roots. He was a perfect gentleman, and she had always wanted to meet the parents who had made this wonderful human being. It was rare to find chivalry nowadays.

“I’m sorry about your father. Is there any way you can go visit him?” she asked in concern, her brow furrowing as she looked over at him. Ariana had never met his parents, but she knew what it was like to lose them. She hoped the illness wasn’t life threateningly serious. If it was, Talen deserved to be home with his father. Ariana hadn’t been able to be there for her parents when they’d left, and it was better that at least Talen’s father had a chance of recovery. There was no chance for their car crash.

She quieted as he spoke of a girlfriend, her fingers playing with her skirt. Of course, she had thought about him having a girlfriend. She knew the word had more meaning to him than it did for her. He was ever loyal when he put his heart and soul into it. Girlfriend meant commitment, something she’d never be able to grasp onto fully. Girlfriend, boyfriend…they were empty words to her, but she knew they held much significance to him. Which was why there was a sinking feeling in her stomach that she really wanted to deny. He was called for, it looked like, by not one but two people.

But then he spoke again, and the words filled her with a sort of dreaded warmth that filled her stomach. How was she supposed to react, when he told her that he dreamt of her, that his girlfriend looked like her? How would any normal person react? She supposed she was somewhat flattered, but it also frightened her that he felt that deeply for her. It only echoed what was deep inside of herself, something she’d been trying to ignore for quite some time. She’d gotten close on the last time they had been together, but she’d ran. Would she run again? She didn’t know, but it was hard to face what was inside of her. It had always been hard, and it was only getting harder.

“I don’t think it’s crazy,” she whispered softly, peeking over at him as she bit her lip. She looked down at his words, her fingers combing through the grass as she took a deep breath. “I had to do it that way. I’m sorry, I really am…I hadn’t meant to miss the date. Honestly, that was never my intention. I wanted to go that day…but I forgot.” Her head hung down in slight shame. “I’d gone back in time the day before by accident, and my dates always gets messed up afterward. By the time I figured out the date, it was already over, and I felt intensely guilty about it. An offer for a new seminar back out in NYC presented itself on my doorstep the next day. I thought it was fate. I left the next morning. I thought it’d be better to just…you know, get a clean break. I don’t know.”

Her brow furrowed as she looked over at him, biting her lip at the anger in his eyes. Was he angry at her? She guessed she deserved it. She’d acted little better than a child, running away from the bogey man. Her eyes darted downwards as she shifted, swallowing thickly. “I thought…maybe you’d get over it. Maybe I’d get over it. Guess that didn’t work.” Her finger dipped into the lake once more, watching as the ripples spread out over the surface.

[Talen Trahan]

Her words wouldn’t soothe him, not this time. “I tried getting off school to go see him, but they won’t let me. Mom has all the best doctors helping Dad recover from whatever it is he has,” he answered, looking away from her. He was truly worried about his family. His sister, Ali, had gone home to help his mom with the chores around the family home, but it didn’t matter. Tal wanted to be there too, helping his family, and he just couldn’t.

When she spoke again, his eyes closed on a measure of pain. She had always run away; from her past, from people who cared about her, from him. The part about her running from him hurt him the most; he understood what she was going through, even though he still had parents who loved him. He was a healer, but he couldn’t heal her heart pain, the wounds on her soul that echoed through her life and kept her from enjoying what others could bring her. She was just making excuses now, and it hurt.

“I didn’t get over it, Ariana,” he whispered. “I couldn’t get over you. You’re a girl with shadows in her eyes that I want to get rid of. You’re a person with a dark past that I want to give a bright future to.” He looked up at her, his eyes sad. “You’re a person I would do anything for, and yet you would still run from me. I’ve done nothing but be your friend, Ariana. Why do you do this to me?”

Because he hurt when he looked at her, he stood up slowly, brushing off his jeans and slipping his shades over his eyes. He then looked down and started kicking stones into the water, looking at everything but her. “Please, stop running from me, Ariana,” he told her softly, his voice showing the sadness he felt. “Please let me in, be your friend, if that’s all you want me to be to you. I understand that need to be away. But please…don’t shut me out anymore. I’m tired of waiting for you to understand that I’m not going to leave.”

[Ariana Simone]

“Well…maybe I can help you talk to administration. I mean, I’ve taken basically a year off school to do my seminar work, I’m sure you can go home to take care of your father.” She peeked over at him, worrying her lower lip between her teeth as she sighed. “I know if it were me, I’d want to be there.” If she’d had a choice, she’d have wanted to be by her parents’ sides when they’d died. Of course, she’d gone back and seen what had happened with her power when she’d found the wreckage of their car all those years later, but it wasn’t the same. It was horrifying, actually, but she’d needed that closure, needed to see how the end had come upon them, how her parents had been torn away from her in a split second. She could still remember it; actually it was a frequent nightmare that she still had that she never told anyone about.

One terrible thing about Ariana was that she always ran when things got tough. It was instinct: if things got complicated, she left so her storms settled out again. When she got scared, she ran. It was a defensive instinct meant to keep her from getting hurt, but it only made things more complicated in the end. Why was it that the action that was supposed to make things less complicated always made it more so? It seemed so ironic, but that’s how her life always seemed to work, unfortunately. Irony turned out into her best friend and her worst enemy.

Her eyes turned to him at his admission, an ache in her dark expressive eyes as she watched him. “Talen…” she sighed, looking back at the emerald grass. “I…I just…It’s hard, you know? It isn’t you. God, I’d be so lucky to have you as a friend, to be able to accept that. I just…getting attached is always hard for me. I always worry that one day, either from your own will or by natural causes, you’ll vanish. Blow away with the wind. Become…just a memory. I’ve hardwired myself all these years to keep things casual, and dammit, Tal, I don’t know if I can keep just casual with you. That’s why I ran. I’m scared, Talen Trahan, and I don’t know what to do.”

She’d never felt so vulnerable In her feelings before, but her walls began to crumble whenever he was around. The words just seemed flow, and as he stood, her pained eyes watched as the stones sunk into the water. “You don’t know how hard it is for me not to run. It’s natural, that urge to flee when the goings get tough. I…I get that you yourself probably won’t leave. But what about things that you can’t control? My parents didn’t want to leave me and they’re gone. I’ll never see them again and I’m scared to go through that again.” It was easy to see how traumatized she’d become from that experience. There was a panic in her eyes and her body was rigid, stiff with a fear of getting too close only to have things torn away from her again.

[Talen Trahan]

Her loss was something Talen would never be able to help her deal with. She had lost both parents in a tragic accident, and he hadn’t been around to even try and help. It didn’t matter; he wanted to be there for her, wanted her to understand that while he still had breath in his body, he would fight and continue to fight until there was no more, or until she accepted him. He sat beside her again, tired of kicking stones into the water as he listened to her speak, every word a chip in his heart that fell away.

He turned to her and cupped her cheek, bringing her forehead to his as he looked into those liquid hazel eyes of hers. “I’m sorry I scare you, Ariana,” he whispered against her. “I’m sorry that what I feel for you makes you run away from me. I guess I should back off, huh?” He closed his eyes and chuckled, but the small laugh was pained, showing her just how much of himself he was holding back.

He was trying to give her the space she needed.

He pulled back after another moment of just being with her, letting her go and looking away as he leaned back on his hands.

[Ariana Simone]

Sometimes, Ariana hated all her fear. With everything else, she was fearless. She loved standing under the spotlight, bearing her soul to an audience through her performance. Face to face with people on the other hand -at least people that actually had the ability to be more than just friends- made her freeze up and want to disappear. Why couldn’t she learn to just have a bit of faith? Being jaded hurt not only her, but the people around her that just wanted to help her, like Talen. She wanted to trust, to have faith that he’d be there for a long time, but she always had second guesses. It was starting to really get to her psyche, but she hid it the best she could.

She looked over as he sat down next to her, swallowing thickly. Ariana couldn’t deny the attraction she had to him. At first it had been purely physical, with her admiring him secretly in class a few times. Then they started to get to know each other, and it evolved into this hot mess. He had a girlfriend now, an admirer, and…her. What was she, even? She didn’t know. Her eyes lifted as she felt his palm cup her cheek, locking with his as she felt their foreheads press together. She listened as he spoke, trembling a bit with her emotions. What she did next was purely instinctive; she leaned forward, connecting their lips for a few, brief moments before she pulled back, looking away.

“I…I shouldn’t have done that,” she whispered, her fingers playing with her hair, “You…you have a girlfriend…gods.” Her eyes closed as she rubbed her temples, biting her lip as she let out a sigh. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to, I just…” Her head turned as she looked over at him, swallowing thickly.

“Forgive me? That was out of line.”

[Talen Trahan]

Her kiss shook things inside of him that were normally rock steady, breaking his focus and turning his gaze hazy. She had always had that power over him. It didn’t matter than he was younger than her; it didn’t matter that she would probably never accept him. Every word she spoke, every caress of her gaze…he cherished everything about her. Such strong feelings coming from a boy of sixteen, but his parents had been as young when they had met, and now they had been happily married for over fifteen years, with two successful children who were on their way in the world.

He looked at her as her world shattered, as she broke his oath of being someone else’s, as she trembled and asked for his forgiveness. He leaned back towards her and cupped her cheek again, taking her mouth in a passionate kiss that told her everything she would need to know about how he felt for her.

Adrianna was the girlfriend he had now. Rhett was the forbidden desire that he should have never had. Ariana was the first love that would possibly never go away and that he would fight for her.

“I will never forgive you for following your instincts, Ariana,” he murmured against her mouth when he pulled away, his voice dark and filled with the pent-up frustration he had for her. “I will never forgive you for every kiss you give me, or every touch you bestow on me. I love you, Ariana Simone, and I don’t think I’ll stop loving you for a very, very long time.”

[Ariana Simone]

Ariana hadn’t meant for it to happen. The warmth of his hand combined with the sweet scent of his breath and the soft tenor of his voice made her lean in those last few inches until their lips were sealed, that bright intensity flowing between them. It was everything she dreamed she’d feel and more. The guilt kicked in, however, and she had pulled back, asking for his forgiveness. She’d just helped him cheat on his girlfriend…what was she doing? Her fingers massaged at her temples as she sighed softly, eyes closing. It looked like she’d need some headache medicine…

Then all of a sudden, their lips met once more in a heated kiss, a gasp leaving her as their mouths connected. He had started it this time, and she wasn’t inclined to stop. Her mouth opened as their tongues met, her arms wrapping around his neck as she pressed in closer, needing the heat of their bodies. She gasped for breath as they broke apart for a moment, her eyes connecting with his as he spoke, her body trembling against his.

“I’m so confused, Talen,” she whispered, hazel eyes hungrily staring into his, “A part of me wants you more than anything…I want what you have to offer. I want you. I can’t, though, I can’t….” She closed her eyes, her fingers stroking his hair gently as she took a deep breath. “You have a girlfriend, Talen. Maybe neither of us care, but she will. I…Fuck, I don’t know what to do…”

She opened her eyes, torn for a moment before she pulled him back, their lips pressing together once more as they kissed again. Ariana was slowly becoming addicted, and all she wanted was more of his touch. More until they burned together. This was wrong, but it was also so right. Her tongue surged into his mouth as she pulled him closer, leaning forward as they kissed with passionate vigor.

[Talen Trahan]

She was wrapped around him like ivy, clinging to him as he was wrapped around her little finger, ready to do anything and everything she wanted him to do. Her words, spoken in a smoky tone that made him think of wicked things to do with her, caressed him like her fingers did, made him look into her hazel eyes and see his hunger for her reflected in them. He bent his head and closed his eyes as she stroked through his hair; a weakness he had never told anyone, and yet she had conquered him like a queen searching for new territory.

“Let me handle things,” was all he could say before she bombarded him with new desire, sending his head into a whirlwind of kisses and hot breath and tangled bodies. He cupped her cheek and held her close, thoughts of Adrianna and Rhett and his family and school drowning in the passion of Ariana, the taste of her in his mouth and the feel of her skin under his hands.

His tongue tangled with hers, gentling the wild kiss into something he could control, something he could pull her under and make her see that being with him was the only choice she could ever make. He turned his body so that it crowded hers, his arm winding around her waist, his other hand still cradling her cheek and holding her still for his possession. A few more minutes passed before someone whistled, calling him back to the present.

He pulled back with a nervous chuckle and ran his hand through her hair, his eyes tender. “I’m glad you’re home, Ari,” he murmured softly.

[Ariana Simone]

There was just something about him that made her want to get closer, to learn more, to feel more. Yet, she felt like running all the same. It was like a tug of war between her heart and mind, and at the moment, neither was winning. What was winning was her body, and it knew exactly what it wanted right now. Her body tingled with each second that passed in which their lips were connected, this kiss like none she’d ever experienced before. Maybe it was because there was actually some emotional attachment connected with it, but she wanted to deny that fact through and through. She wasn’t attached… she couldn’t be. That just spelled disaster.

“Let you handle things… sure,” she whispered, a bit too disoriented to think clearly at the moment. Their dance of tongues made her breathless, her thoughts racing as she clutched at his shoulders. Each minute was pure pleasure, and she honestly didn’t want it to end. With the ending came the realization of what she was doing, and the guilt and fear would flood her system once again. Soon enough however, they were interrupted by some rude person who decided that whistling was a good idea. Her head turned so she could glare over at whoever it was before she turned back to Talen, her gaze softening slightly.

Her eyelids fluttered slightly as his fingers stroked through her hair, a slight blush coloring her cheek as she watched him. “It’s good to be home, Tal,” she murmured, a small smile appearing on her lips as she kissed his nose softly. It actually was good to be home. The Big Apple was an amazing place, but at times she still longed for the small town feel of Pilot Ridge. She’d grown up in a small town, and even if it did get claustrophobic at times, it still felt like the only place she could truly call home.

A soft sigh left her lips as the dreaded realization began to settle onto her shoulders. “We can’t…continue. Not right now. Sort things out with Adrianna and Rhett or whoever they are. Then…maybe we can talk. Okay?” She peeked up at him, biting her lip tentatively as she watched him. “No matter what happens… I’ve missed you, Talen.”

[Talen Trahan]

“No matter what happens…I’ve missed you, Talen.”

Those words were like a balm to his wounded heart, fixing it and making his world spin. She had missed him. That was enough for the brightest smile he had ever given to appear on his face. Forget Adrianna and Rhett. Those two couldn’t make him as happy as this one girl could. That one sentence erased her previous words and the sinking feeling they brought to his psyche, his body and his heart. Unlike all the girls he had met, unlike Adrianna, he really wanted this one, this girl who smiled at him and made him feel like he was king of the world.

Ariana was The One.

“Oh, we’ll definitely talk,” he murmured hotly, pressing a kiss to her temple as he held her to his chest, never wanting to let her go ever again. If she ran, he would chase her; if she hid from him, he would find her. He loved her, it was as simple as that. “We will talk and I’m going to make sure you never leave me again feeling unwanted and unloved.” He looked at her with that dark promise in his ebony eyes, the fire of his will making his gaze smolder when he looked into her hazel eyes.

“That is a promise I intend to keep, Ariana.”

[Ariana Simone]

Her eyes closed as his lips pressed against her temple, swallowing thickly as she let out a soft sigh. The promise in his voice made her stomach twist in anxiety. It was too much, too quickly. Her head was starting to take over again and she pulled back, her eyes a bit more guarded as she watched him. The depth of the emotions she saw in his gaze made her want to get away. She needed space to think about all of this. Her mind was too muddled right now to make any sense of what she was thinking about right now. Gently, she squeezed Tal’s forearms, pulling back a bit more.

“I trust you’ll try to keep that. I just… need some time to think, okay? Settle things on your end.” Slowly she slipped out of his lap, smoothing down her skirt as she stood. Hazel orbs looked down at him as her expression changed from vulnerable to impassive, not wanting to let any emotion leak out. He’d follow if he saw any reluctance and right now she just needed to get away from it all. As much as she’d needed this meeting, she’d also need some time to think things through logically. Getting in too deep too fast could complicate things more than she wanted them to.

“I’ll see you around, Talen,” she murmured, the faintest hint of emotion flashing in her eyes before she turned, walking away. They both needed time to think. She was doing the right thing for both of them by walking away. Her fingers ruffled through her raven hair as she sighed deeply, walking back towards Hammel. She’d need a long therapeutic session with her beloved tea and her collection of ‘I Love Lucy’ dvds.

~Fin~