All nice and warm (Tanner)

[Deleted]

There was no point for Kiara to ponder about how she felt towards Tanner. Perhaps a hidden reason behind the initial kiss might have been a small amount of fondness and feelings towards him. All she was certain about right now was that her love for Jackson was still flaring through her veins and that it wouldn’t be fair to even attempt to move on if she couldn’t reassure all of this was caused by emotional pain and heartbreak. It hurt to witness Tanner’s confusion, to know she might have unintentionally stirred his hope, and to know none of this would have happened had she not given in to that horrible urge to feel cared for again.

Knowing Ki, she could continue to apologize profusely, but luckily Tanner’s statement cut it short. ”It just happened.” The blonde confirmed, slightly upset, biting her bottom lid before giving a weak nod to his prediction of the future. If it wasn’t going to happen again, perhaps she should steal one last peck to cherish? Kiara caught herself leaning forward an inch, only to remind herself that it would only worsen things. Plus, the boy moved and she took it as her cue to move off of his chest.

”Sorry,” she mumbled again while sitting up as well. A meek nod followed and she slipped from under the covers, avoiding eye contact while stepping to the pile of cold moist clothes. The girl picked them up, already grimacing of the prospect of putting them on again. ”I’ll just…” A hand motioned as the bedroom door, casting the briefest of glances at him before looking away and wordlessly stepping out of the room. Of course she heard his objection, telling her to keep his clothes on. She closed the door behind her, draping clothes over the back off the couch before tugging the warm comfy sweatshirt of her head. Was she really going to replace it with coldness? It didn't sound tempting to walk out there wearing Tanner's pajama pants, but it seemed better than the jeans which would most probably cause a struggle to tug over her hips.

Exhaling a small sigh, the girl slipped arms into the warm sleeves again and poked her head through. Slipping feet into boots, Kiara zipped them up and searched for her coat. As if the current outfit wasn't an offense against fashion rules already. Darn. Blue eyes reluctantly drifted to the bedroom door. She stepped over, hesitated about two seconds and then slowly opened it. ”I… forgot my coat.” The blonde mumbled apologetically, feeling as stupid as she was and most probably looked as well.

Moving further, she snatched it from next to the bed. "I'll... you'll get them back." Possibly once she was certain Tanner was at class. Avoidance was tempting at this point.

[Tanner Larson]

Tanner remained confused about Kiara's feelings and motives, and he had a feeling he would remain that way for quite some time. That said, had he known she had only kissed him because she was missing Jackson's affection, he would feel rather used, if not betrayed. The young man's feelings towards Kiara were rather fragile at this point, and even he didn't quite understand them, but such a revelation would surely upset him a great deal.

Tanner saw the girl's look of mild disappointment and was again confused. Were girls always this confusing, or were they just in a very strange situation? Well, he knew the latter to be true, but he hadn't had many interactions with girls this close to have any theories on the former. Had he known she had wanted to kiss him one last time, he likely would have consented, knowing it was a bad idea but being unable to help himself. But he had turned away by then, and it wasn't meant to be.

Tanner frowned as she got up off the bed, knowing it was for the best but desiring her company. He almost reached a hand out to touch her, but buried his hands under the back of his head to avoid the temptation. He tried not to watch her leave; he had a lot of thinking to do and needed to start wrapping his head around a number of things. But when she picked up her wet clothing, he had to speak up. "You can keep it," he said of the clothes she was wearing. "I'll... pick it up later." Whether that would ever actually happen, they would have to find out some other time.

When the door shut, a deep sigh Tanner hadn't realized he was holding in was let out as he sank his head in the pillow. None of this really made sense. Hell, just a month ago Tanner hadn't harbored any of these feelings for Kiara. If only they hadn't had that stupid cooking session before break, none of this would have happened. Stubbornly, he kicked the mattress under him out of frustration. Part of him felt that Kiara had been selfish for kissing him if she hadn't really moved on from that other guy, but the other part of him was still happy she had done so. It just didn't make sense.

When the door opened once more, Tanner looked up; had he realized Kiara had forgotten her coat, he would have mentioned it to her so that they could both avoid an awkward second goodbye. He sat up out of politeness as she left a second time, disappointment evident in his face as he gave a small sort of wave. "Yeah," he agreed. "Uh... see ya." He looked away: he wasn't used to feeling this way, and it annoyed him. He wished he could articulate his feelings, but he had a feeling he would never be able to voice his thoughts.

Unless I write them.