Oh Baby, I'm a Fool For You

The doctor on-set gave me an ointment and bandaged my neck, and while I was there, he took off the bandage from my head.

"Be careful," Nikolai said as we walked back to the hotel, "I think this movie is trying to kill you."

I chuckled as he hugged me. He walked me to my door, kissed my forehead, and left.

An hour later, I had stepped out of the shower and was in the process of re-wrapping my bandages when someone knocked on the door. I looked in the peep hole, holding my towel tightly around myself. "Ben?"

"Kaya, let me in."

"Give me a-"

"Open the door."

"Look, I'm-"

"Damn it, let me in!"

"Fine!" I shouted, frustrated. I swung open the door and glared at him, completely forgetting that all I wore was a towel.

He walked right past me and stood next to the bed, then put both of his hands onto his head and pushed back his hair. "I've got to tell you something," he finally said.

"Okay, go!" I snapped, tapping my toes.

"Why are you being so..." He finally looked at me, and his own cheeks flushed. "I didn't know, I'm sorry."

"Forget it, what do you want to say?" I asked, walking to my suitcase and yanking out a waiting set of clothes.

"Uh..." was all he said, staring at me.

I sighed and began to walk back to the bathroom. "I think this conversation will be easier if I'm wearing clothing," I told him, and walked into the small bathroom, locking the door behind me. I tugged on an old green tank top and black and white checkered pajama pants. When I came back out into the room, Ben was sitting on the corner of my bed, twisting strands of his hair around his fingers. "Having fun?" I teased, moving to stand in front of the full length mirror that hung to the side of the bed.

"I just wanted to tell you how sorry I am about splashing you with my coffee. I feel awful." He stood up and moved behind me, brushing my hair to one side of my neck, the side that wasn't bright red and puckered.

"It's fine," I told him as I pulled out a thick roll of bandages from my bedside table.

Ben gently pried my fingers apart and took the roll from me. "Can I help?" he asked softly.

I nodded meekly, and held my hair away from the burn, but as soon as his fingers touched my skin, it felt like it was burning all over again.

"You're bright red," he observed, which made me turn even more red because he said it directly into my ear. When I didn't say anything, he began to unroll the gauze, his eyes not leaving mine through the mirror.

I held up a tube of ointment to him, which he took.

He gently applied the cooling cream to the patina of burns that were on and surrounding my neck. His hand traveled down, further and further until it reached the last burn. His warm fingers began gently massaging the burn with the ointment, causing me to emit a soft gasp and my eyes to flutter shut.

He was helping, right? There was nothing sexual or wrong about this... Right?

His face changed as he wrenched his hand away. It was contorted in confusion and want. Without speaking, he unraveled more of the gauze and began to methodically wrap it around my neck, using the clear tape to attach it to my skin. He did the same thing with all of my burns, and when he was finished, he sighed and took a few steps back. "Okay, I think I'm done," he said conclusively.

"Thanks," I said softly, not turning to face him in fear that he would make fun of how red I was.

"Look, Kaya, I didn't just come here to tell you that I was sorry. I have a question."

I took a few deep breaths and finally turned around, showing off what I thought was a confident smile. "What is it?"

"Are you okay?" he asked softly. "You're still red but you look... flushed, not embarrassed." He took a step towards me.

"What's your question?"

He sighed and moved in front of me, sitting on the bed. "Are you dating Nikolai?"

If I had been drinking something, I would have spat it out in shock. "What?" I exclaimed. "No! Where did you get that idea?"

"Well, whenever he touches you, you don't blush. You even touch him back. It's like you two are so close that it doesn't matter how you touch," he said all in one breath.

I knelt in front of him. "You see... You and Nikolai are extremely different. I feel different when I'm around you two."

"In other words, you feel more comfortable with him than you do with me."

"No!" I exclaimed, inadvertently grabbing his hand. I looked down at our hands, gently lacing my fingers with his. "The thing is, Nikolai doesn't give me butterflies in my stomach. He doesn't make me feel like my every move is being watched. He doesn't make me feel like I'm the only girl in the world. He doesn't give me those feelings of discomfort that I get when I'm around you."

Ben pulled me up by the hands so that we were almost at eye level. "Kaya," he said quietly, "do you love me?"

I swallowed the lump in my throat and nodded, determined to keep eye contact even though I was flushed.

He smiled and yanked me backwards, making me land sloppily on top of him. "Good," he said, and pushed himself up to place his lips on mine, "because I love you too."

I squealed quietly and wrapped all of my limbs around him, burying my face in his shoulder.

"Hey," he scolded gently, "don't hide your pretty face from me." One finger came under my chin and forced me to look at him again. "Ah, there you are."

I giggled and cautiously kissed him again, and before I knew it, I was lost in a flourish of kisses.