A Trip Down Memory Lane (Gabriel)

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Ugly side or not, Kiara was more than willing to get to know him better at this point. Perhaps it would be a good thing for him to expose that part. It could be the twist they needed to get over their reluctance of expressing the feelings for one another. Then again, Gabriel questioning her words pretty much pushed her closer to that leap already. Despite the slight discomfort that it caused, drawing a weak and nervous chuckle from her lips, the blonde managed to maintain eye contact. First the glass got placed down on the nearby nightstand though, afraid that her anxiety and the growing tension in her hands might cause it to break due to the constant fumbling. Instead fingers now occupied themselves with smoothing over the blanket.

It could have been brushed off as having no specific meaning, but something about the situation lured her into being honest. “You might end up wanting to kiss me as well.” Without the intention of being that honest. A few seconds passed before she seemed to fully realize this, eyes widened a bit upon realization. The stuttering that followed right away was probably a futile attempt at undoing it. “I mean, kiss me again. Again. Like before. Like the first time we shared some wine.”

Of course that explanation made her want to slap herself as well. Now Gabriel might think she didn’t want that. But, god, did she… Exhaling a deep sigh, Ki tore her gaze away. Maybe that one glass had been enough already? As if sharing a bed wasn’t awkward enough yet. It wouldn’t surprise her if he were to decide on the floor now.

[Gabriel James]

Gabe was nowhere near drunk enough to miss Kiara's statement about wanting to kiss her 'as well'. Of course, her immediate stuttering to correct herself convinced Gabe it was a fluke, but he still raised his eyebrows in a sensual manner and smiled wide. "Why, Miss Lilien," Gabriel started in a mock startled tone, placing his heart upon his chest. "You couldn't be implying that you want to kiss me!" He continued dramatically with a chuckle, face softening and eyes crinkling at the corners as they often did when he laughed.

"Now that would just be wildly inappropriate, don't you think?" Gabe continued in a teasing tone, taking a bit of pleasure in Kiara's flustered demeanor. It was kind of cute. And it was nice to not be the one saying something stupid for once. He didn't want a replay of last time. He'd promised Everett that nothing was going on. Nothing would happen. Though he'd be a liar to admit he didn't want to kiss Kiara... just a little bit. Just to confirm that little bit of spark he'd felt back at the hospital...

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Nice to not be the one saying something stupid for once? Gabriel probably didn’t realize that, despite the teasing, it dumped quite an uncomfortable feeling on her shoulders. It truly was wildly inappropriate, and for a second Kiara had been able to neglect this. At least until Gabe took it upon himself to rub it in. It was why she struggled to stick to a specific facial expression. It varied between a forced smile and faltering hope. “Maybe,” was all the blonde mumbled when shoulders elevated for the briefest of seconds. The man could decide to whichever question this was applicable, if not to both.

Normally the girl would tease right back, but Gabriel had just touched a very sensitive topic: her heart. She wanted to be honest so badly, if it were not for all the mixed signals the music teacher was giving her. It kind of hurt. “Would… it really be that bad?” It wasn’t to ask him to kiss her. She just felt horrible about even having thought about it in the first place. With a small frown plastered to her face, the blonde looked over. She was somewhat upset now. Flustered and upset. His attempt was sweet, but the timing was way off.

[Gabriel James]

Gabe chuckled at Kiara's somewhat tentative response. It was as if she was rethinking everything that had, and was coming out of her mouth. It was something Gabe wasn't used to seeing in the blonde, and as strange as it may be, Gabe found it strangely charming. "Oh I'm just messing with you!" Gabe promised, when it seemed like Kiara was getting upset at the situation. The last thing Gabe wanted was for his companion to be upset. "Come on, we both know that it wouldn't be a bad thing.... assuming your brother didn't know about it," Gabe added softly with a chuckle.

Gabe gazed over as Kiara's head turned back toward him, a small frown gracing her lips. He shouldn't have found her pout as attractive as it was, but there was something about Kiara's lips that was drawing the man in. Her blue eyes looking at him, a strange sort of sparkle in them, though perhaps they were tears from the discomfort. Gabe hoped what he was about to do wouldn't make things worse. He hoped that it would lighten the mood again... and also give the man some closure about what happened at the hospital.

Gabe reached out and placed his finger under Kiara's chin, lifting her face out a little bit. "Fuck it, Everett doesn't have to know," Gabe said, still a bit of a joking tone in his voice as he leaned in, placing his lips lightly upon Kiara's. The kiss likely didn't last more than two seconds, but it affected Gabe more than any other two seconds he'd spent with Kiara had. Because instead of telling Gabe that what he'd been feeling toward Kiara was just silly, brought upon by proximity, it made Gabe realize that he wanted to do it again. And again. Ang again. But he couldn't. And while those two seconds were amazing, in a weird way, they crushed him.

As he pulled away, Gabe's face was probably slightly unreadable. A small smile managed to appear on his lips when his eye's met Kiara's again - an attempt to hide all other conflicting feelings that were swimming through his head. "See? Not bad at all," Gabe said, way more confidently than he felt.

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If given the chance, Gabriel would get to know Kiara as someone who struggled to find the right words during nervous moments. Someone who would constantly wonder about just what certain words or statement meant. It tended to make her a tad bit blind to joking tones, and even more so if it could be interpreted as being serious as well. The fact that wanting to kiss him was wrong… A joking and serious matter all at once. Even when the man tried to reassure her, it didn’t eliminate the sadness that now colored her features. In the end, he continued to make it sound like a bad thing – unless Everett was not aware of the matter.

When he reached out, eyes settled on his in surprise and wonder, but no chance was given for her to loudly question his action and movements. Instead she felt herself drawn into the kiss with her upper body instinctively leaning forward. Legs had even started to shift out of the pretzel shape and more sideways, despite the contact between their lips barely lasting two seconds. By the time eyes had closed, they practically had to open again, immediately searching for his with no attempt made to sit up straighter into her previous position.

“Not bad at all,” Kiara repeated in the softest of whispers as her gaze seemingly scanned his features for a brief second. Given the flock of butterflies that rushed through every single vein in her body, it quite probably shouldn’t have come as a surprise that her focus eventually fell on the man’s lips once more. Eyes. Lips. Her own hand reached out now to gently cup the man’s cheek. She didn’t speak and the only movement made at that moment was the briefest movement of her hand as it slowly smoothed down his jawline. When the side of her thumb met the corner of his mouth, the fingertip drifted over his lips. Halfway they halted.

For a second she hesitated, but then leaned in again. Her own lips meeting the back of her thumb for a swift moment. “Everett doesn’t have to know,” Ki repeated as seductive eyes briefly made some contact. Contact that got broken as soon as her thumb run down his lips, being replaced with her own. Gabriel could pull away if he wished, but if it were up to the girl, this one was going to last longer than two seconds – and would quite possibly be fueled with more passion.

The fact that she was still somehow seated while he was laying down on his side didn’t seem to form an obstacle. It was doubtful anything would.

[Gabriel James]

Gabe didn't pull away, even though his conscious was torn on weather or not this was really ok. Ok with him? Sure. Ok with Kiara? It seemed like it was. But he'd promised Everett... Still, he propped himself up a bit more, allowing his lips to press against Kiara's once more. He gently placed his hand on Kiara's neck, running his hand along her jawline and into her hair, running his fingers through her blonde locks briefly. The kiss lasted much longer than two seconds. Perhaps pushing two minutes - not that either of them seemed to mind or moved to ever stop.

Gabe did finally pull away, though, when a loud rendition of 'Carry on my Wayward Son' erupted from across the room. Gabe sighed, giving Kiara a slightly embarrassed and apologetic look as he quickly rolled out of bed to retrieve his phone. He groaned inwardly as he read the caller ID. He held his phone in his hand briefly, staring between it and Kiara - still laying in bed - trying to decide if he really should take it. Turning it off and jumping back in bed to kiss Kiara some more was always an option... Then he considered the consequences of ignoring the call, and pressed the accept button. "Hey mom," he said, turning a bit away from the blonde as he took the call.

"Yeah I'm in town... yeah..." he started, rolling his eyes a bit. Kiara couldn't hear the other end of the conversation of course. But it would become clear what the conversation was about. "Yeah and I'm going back tomorrow.... she's not... no mom she's not my girlfriend.... I don't care what Noah thinks, Jen said it was fine," Gabe went on looking over at Kiara, and rolling his eyes again - visibly - so Ki could tell that he wasn't really having a great conversation... in case that wasn't obvious.

"Jen invited her mom!" Gabe said again, forcefully, clearly annoyed. "Mom I'm done talking about it. It's kind of too late to send her back to Vermont..." Gabe listened on the phone for a long time, his face completely blank as his mom ranted on the other end. The man was too compliant to just hang up - no matter how much he wanted to. "Well if you care enough to find out, you know where I'll be tomorrow," he said finally, "Bye mom."

Gabe set his phone back down on the dresser, and rubbed his face with his hands. "I'm... I'm sorry you had to hear all that," Gabe said honestly as he flopped back down on the bed. Staring up at the ceiling. That phone call basically killed any buzz the wine had created, and left Gabe in an incredibly annoyed state.

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The least that could be said when Gabriel pulled away was that the girl felt disappointed. She had begun to lose herself in the kiss with one of her own hands gripping the white undershirt he was wearing. When his ringtone began to fill the room, fingers attempted to linger, but it wasn’t long before Kiara had to let go. A sad look gracing her face as this allowed her to sit up straight again, gazing over at the man as he picked up the phone after some clear hesitation. The fact that he picked the least fun option dragged a soft exhale from the blonde’s lips. Well then, his priorities were being highlighted.

The conversation didn’t even sound like it had been worth the interruption. If anything, it sounded as if his mother was breaking her presence down, and it turn Kiara could feel herself grow uncomfortable. When Gabriel rolled his eyes for her to see, she forced a weak smile before shuffling under the covers and settling down. The fabric being hugged close, over her ear in an attempt to block out some of the conversation. It wasn’t hard to tell what this was about, and Ki immediately felt awful about having brought this upon Gabe. What also hurt was the fact that his mother already seemed to dislike her before they had even met.

When the call ended, blue optics peeked over the covers and followed the music teacher. With having needed something decent to hug, most of the blanket was cocooning her body. Only when Gabe plopped down did some of the tension diminish. “She asked for me to be send back to Vermont?” While asking that, her arm rose and gently draped his half of the covers over his body.

The hesitation that was mixed in during that action was slowly smoothed off the table as her own shuffled closer. No eye contact was made though, a tad bit ashamed after the sudden interruption of the kiss, before her head settled on the transition from his torso to shoulder. Fingers almost weightlessly and absentmindedly smoothing over the man’s sternum. Kiara could tell Gabe was revved up, and hugs or cuddles tended to help.

“I could just wait in the car tomorrow,” she decided in a small whisper as eyelids gave in to gravity. Then a brief pause. “Sorry.”