safe in my arms

Jude

You're blushing your cheeks
and I'm falling for it

Color in her cheeks has never failed to make his stomach squirm, but this time it feels particularly intense as she sits on the edge of the bed and simply watches him watching her. They're both a little slow on the uptake sometimes, as if neither remembers their age most days, nor what it entails. Innocent in their intimacy, the friendship that has always cemented them side-by-side. Right now though, her hair a spill of gold over his pillows, Jude feels clammy with the realization that neither of them are children.

Her fingers are gentle in his curls, having long since learned how to comb through them without tangling them irreparably. Though the comfort of the motion makes his eyes half-lid themselves, the strange tension of the moment keeps him from slipping away into sleep. It feels like there is a timer ticking down, and even Jude doesn't know what lies at the end.

When her hand pulls back, bumps rise up and down his arms as it caresses his cheek instead. Fingers tangling with hers as naturally as breathing, Jude finds it's the only thing that does, because his lungs feel strangely empty. The late sunlight on her cheek and the ridge of her brow makes her look painted, like something he shouldn't touch no matter how many times he has already indulged.

Jude is too young and unwise to the world to know to ask for permission. Whatever timer had existed is up, and the knot in his stomach reaches its breaking point. There is little grace or romance to what he does next; he simply leans closer across the pillows and presses his lips to hers, chaste but lingering.

Because everything sweet
comes with a warning