Neon Lights

30

Their kiss was... something.

It had been five years since he had felt Draven like this but it still made his knees weak and his mind blank. The press of those slightly chapped lips against his had him leaning closer, kissing him back. Pressing a hand on the other man's shoulder while Draven looped around his waist, pulling him close, Callisto could only drown in the warmth that was being poured all over him.

It felt like an eternity but what was mere seconds of them being close like this had him already wondering why he had walked away from him. Why he had let Draven go?

When he felt this safe in his arms, why had he decided he no longer wanted this?

A stronger grip on his waist had him gasping a little, pulling away and opening his eyes to stare right back at those darkened gold eyes. They were slightly hooded, looking at him with an intensity that sent shivers down his spine. For a brief moment, he flicked his eyes at Draven's lips and considered leaning in again — and then those very lips curled upwards.

His eyes widened as the reality of what he had done crashed over him.

Immediately, he snapped his gaze back at Draven, his heart beating wildly against his chest and his skin tingling from wherever the other man had touched him.

The soft atmosphere between them shifted into something headier and... Callisto didn't want this.

Pressing his hand properly on Draven's shoulder, he pushed him away. At least he tried to. Draven furrowed his eyebrows, his grip on Callisto's body tightening a fraction. No words could escape his mouth, but when he pressed harder on the other man's broad shoulder, a soft sigh escaped the lips that he had just kissed, lessening their grip on him.

Callisto immediately took a few steps back, pressing his own hand on his lips, the warmth still lingering on them.

"Cal?" Draven said, his voice soft but with husky in a way that Callisto hadn't heard since... since their one and only time.

Long ago memories of the first time he had allowed Draven to touch him threatened to surface in his mind. And... he couldn't do it. He wasn't ready. Whatever happened between them shouldn't have happened.

He extended a hand out, palm facing outward in an attempt to stop Draven from closing the distance between them. The other man's shoulders squared then and the atmosphere from before was now truly dead and gone. A few seconds of silence ticked by before he dropped his hand to his sides, taking in a shuddering deep breath.

"That..." Callisto swallowed a lump that formed in his throat. "That didn't happen."

"What?"

"That didn't happen." Callisto didn't dare to look at Draven, keeping his eyes firmly on the floor. "This... whatever this was didn't happen."

Another moment of silence echoed into the scene before a dry laugh came from the other man. It was followed by a tone of voice so sharp, it had Callisto's shoulders jumping upwards once. "Are you kidding me? Seriously, Cal?"

Callisto could only close his eyes shut for a moment. Whatever it was that was shifting between them — he had to put a stop to it. His heart had left it all behind for a reason. He had walked away for a reason. He couldn't just let himself fall back into Draven's arms like this.

"I—" Callisto opened his mouth and closed it but there was truly nothing else he could say.

His breath hitched in his throat when Draven grabbed him by his arms. He snapped his head up, eyes widening at the look the other man was giving to him. The grip on his body tightened a fraction until a whimper of pain slipped past his lips. Gold eyes stared into his, and then the emotions swimming in them died. Draven let him go, pushing him slightly and took a step back.