These Four Words

"What are you thinking right now?" John whispered to Leighton. It had now been two months since they met each other at the lake, two months since Leighton showed up in Madison to see a band that she had heard before. Two months since she had been surprised that John was the lead singer. Two months, that's all. They felt like they couldn't be separated at this point, but John finished the tour and Leighton waited patiently for his return as they talked to each other every night, itching for closeness across the transatlanticism.

They laid still on the grass in front of Leighton's apartment building and heard the stream of the water foundation that was placed in the middle of the man made pond. Johns arm warped around Leighton's shoulder, squeezing her as close to him as possible while her head rested under his chin and her hand lay still over his heart. They had never been like this before, but after two months of yearning, it felt better than they imagined it would.

"Who said I was thinking about anything?" She said with a small voice and started tracing her fingers in small circles on his chest.

John shook his head. "Okay, Miss Mystery."

"What?" Leighton flipped herself so she could look at him, but her head remained on his chest. He propped up his arm behind his head and smiled down at her.

"You have to be thinking about something. Anything, really." He pried.

"I'm trying to figure out how you don't think that I'm the most boring person on the planet. If I were you, I would've stopped talking to me the day we met." She pursed her lips together, waiting for any answer he was ready to give, whether it was good or bad.

"You intrigued me from the start." She could see a smile creep up on his lips, it seemed like he didn't want to show it, but he couldn't help it. She just had this affect on him, one that he couldn't quite place his finger on.

"Maybe you're the boring one who likes plain, boring things." She laughed and paid attention to the patterns she was slowly tracing on him with her index finger.

"Maybe you're stupid." John joked with raised eyebrows.

"Stupid, huh?" Leighton asked. "Maybe I'll let you sleep out here tonight and wait for my little geese buddies to attack you." She teased.

"Don't get sassy with me, Bennett." He continued to laugh, amused by her response.

"Don't call me stupid, O'Callaghan." She winked. "Or else I will actually leave your pretty little face to be attacked by mama goose. She's really vicious." She explained with a playful tone.

Instead of responding with words, John grabbed her by the waist with the hand that was resting around her shoulder and pulled her on top of him to finally kiss her. It took Leighton by surprise, but it was something both of them had wanted even if they hadn't spoken about it. While John was nervous that his plan would backfire, he relaxed the second he felt her kissing him back.

John pulled back, leaving Leighton to catch her breath and want more, but she was taught to never be greedy. "I've wanted to do that for hours now. Months, actually." He looked at her with piercing eyes and thought about how great it felt. Her light pink lips were softer than he imagined and her touch was more than graceful. He wished that they could lay there forever and she could etch her little doodles into his chest for the rest of time. While it was silly, he didn't mind it one bit.

"I feel the same way." She admitted as her cheeks filled with a bright rosy pink cheeks. She laid her head back down on his chest and he played with her chocolate brown hair, twisting it around his finger and making a mess of a few strands before he combed it out with his fingers. "Shit!" Leighton hopped up on her feet as fast as she could.

"What?" John propped himself up on his elbows.

"I wish I was kidding and didn't sound stupid, but mama goose sees us and she doesn't look too happy." Her voice was filled with panic and John was amused by every second of it.

He rolled his eyes. "Do geese ever look happy?" John chuckled.

"I've gotten chased by her too many times and I'm not gonna add another to that list tonight." She sounded impatient, waiting for John to get up while over her should her could see the goose racing up to him. Before she could even think about the situation, John lifted her up and ran across the road to the door of the building. Once inside the first door, the two of them looked at each other without an expression for a moment before breaking out into laughter.

"What the actual fuck?" John choked out while still laughing. They fell against the wall, thinking about how ridiculous that was. Two full grown "adults" scared of a goose.

"Believe it or not, that's the most action Wisconsinites ever get." Leighton said matter-of-factly and John nodded his head in agreement.

"I've learned that this is quite the boring place, so I'm not surprised." He said as he waited behind Leighton as she unlocked the next door. He felt greedy, like he was getting impatient. He felt that there was something about this girl that he wanted more than anything. She had walls built up so high around her that he could climb over them and get in, but he'd have to take a sledgehammer and break them down with his bare hands. It was obvious that she was okay with any touch, kiss, whatever, and that alone was enough to make him stick around and wait for the walls to crash by themselves. She was a wreck, but John couldn't tell. She was an accident waiting to happen, but John didn't care whether she ripped his heart out of his chest and trampled on it until it was in a bloody mess on the ground.

Whatever it was, he was enticed by this tiny woman that stood beside him in the elevator to the third floor of the apartment complex. He looked over at her, trying to take in everything -- he loved the way she walked, talked, and breathed, and it turned him on whether he was ready to admit that to himself or not. She had some sort of power over him and already had him wrapped around her finger, but neither of them seemed to mind it.

Once they entered her apartment and she locked the door, John spun Leighton around to face him. Before the two knew it, their faces were close enough together that they could feel the warmth of each others breath. "I'm not good at the whole relationship thing." John blurted out as he looked into her eyes that were staring at his pink lips.

"No one said you had to be." Leighton locked her eyes on his and her breathing sped up with her heart beats. She was enthralled, so much so that her entire body tensed up.

"I don't want to hurt you, pretty girl." He admitted with a pained look in his eyes as he ran his thumb up and down her jawline. "You're too good for that." This was the warning that Leighton should have listened to, but instead she didn't care, she didn't believe him one single bit. Instead, she did what both of them had wanted at that point and pulled him in for a kiss. Neither of them refrained, they both wanted it so badly. Soon, Leighton's hands were muffing up his light brown hair as he moved his hands so one was on the back of her neck and the other was on the small of her back until he changed his mind and pulled away.

"You should stop doing that." Leighton told him full of embarrassment, but one corner of his lip turned into a animalistic, lopsided grin as he went in for more and carried her over to the couch and threw Leighton on her back so he was hovering over her. They remained like restless, handsy teenagers for numerous minutes until they were both completely out of breath and at that point they started to laugh at one another. "Well." Leighton laughed out.

"Well." John mimicked her before lifting himself up and sitting back against the couch. He watched as Leighton sat up also and adjusted herself. Something about her made his mind go in circles, she looked so fragile and she tasted like cherries, it almost made his head hurt thinking about it. "You're so tiny." He started chuckling at that fact.

"Maybe you're just freakishly tall." She pouted with wide eyes.

"Could be, yes. But you're just so little and it's kind of cute, even if I do have to crouch down to your height." It was true. John stood around 6'2" while Leighton was 5'3", making them almost a foot apart in height. "Not to be too blunt, I think this could be the beginning of something worthwhile." After those words escaped his mouth, Leighton reached over to grab his hand and stroked the top of it with her thumb, much like he had done earlier.

"I think you're right." They got lost in the moment, scanning each other, taking it all in.

That was until someone started to unlock the front door. "Leighton!" The guy yelled, making Leighton more alert than ever.

"Get the hell out of here, asshole." Her voice was flat as she raised an eyebrow and waited for him to leave the keys on the counter and slowly back away.

Way to ruin a perfect night.