The Art of Gravity

NOAH ANDREWS

He was so close to me.

There was almost no distance between our lips, and that scared me. It scared me how much I wanted to close that distance. I wanted him to kiss me. Why the hell did I want him to kiss me?

My thoughts go back to what Sammy had said. Did I like him? What was it like to like someone? If you wanted someone to kiss you, did that mean you liked them? Was I attracted to men?

Tobias stepped away from then, leaving me breathless and wanting. Why did I want?

He started to walk away, but I called out.

"Tobias!"

He stops, and turns around to face me, dark eyes questioning. I swallow, moving closer to him.

He has that look in his eyes, like he's trying to hold himself back. From what, I don't know.

I make my way to him, standing right in front of him. I look into his eyes, and they stare back at me.

"I promised not to leave you, Toby." I say, eyeing him, but he lets no emotion show, "But don't think that means that you can just disappear from my life either. I can never keep track of you. You're here one minute, the next you're gone. I don't want you to leave."

Toby shakes his head, smirking a little, "You want me to stay here for you? Noah, you're so oblivious sometimes. ...Tempting..."

"You've said that before. How am I tempting? I just want you — I want us to be friends. We can be friends, Toby. Don't push me away, please..."

Toby frowns, looking down at his shoes, before flicking his eyes back to mine.

"Damn it, I can't handle this anymore." Toby grits out, angry now. I roll my eyes. He always does this. He gets angry any time I tell him I care.

Toby turns around, and starts to walk away again. There's an ache in my chest, and I feel like if he leaves now, I won't see him ever again. Which, in itself, was a stupid conclusion as he was my neighbor. Still, I reach out and grab his arm, stopping him from leaving.

I cry out as he turns around, grabs my waist and slams me against the back of the bleachers, but the way he lightly presses his lips against my neck takes my mind off the pain.

He skims his lips down the side of my neck and I pant, unconsciously tilting my head to allow him more access.

His lips touch my ear as he whispers, "I warned you. You're tempting, Noah. This is what happens when you tempt me. It's hard to keep myself in control. I tried. I warned you."

I swallow the lump in my throat, sighing out as he trails his nose along the vein in my neck, and behind my ear.

"You should know that it doesn't do any good," I say, weakly. My body was tingling, tiny sparks running through me. Closing my eyes, I can feel his lazy smirk against me, and his hands scrunch the fabric around my hips.

I bring my hands to his shirt, grabbing at it to keep myself upright. Tobias leans back, and grabs my hands, holding my wrist tight against his chest.

I don't open my eyes until I feel his hand on my cheek, a light touch coming from those rough hands.

"Naive..." he says, moving his hand towards my back, "I've hurt you."

I shake my head at him, "It didn't hurt."

His eyes are glossy, eyes on my face.

"And if I wanted to hurt you again? In the best way..." he says, a glint in those eyes, something predatory.

I lick my lips, "I'd let you do whatever you want."

"You can't say stuff like that around me." He says, and he backs away, still relatively close to me.

He takes in my messy hair, my rumpled shirt, and my eyes that are just as far away as his.

"You're straying farther and farther away from innocence, Noah. And I can't control myself anymore. Remember what I said Noah. We can never be friends. I want more than that. I want way more than I should."

"W—What do you want?" I ask him, my voice wavering. He's scaring me again. My body was way too hot, my mind way too gone to understand.

"You."

And this time, when he walks away, I'm too stunned to stop him.