Lips Made of Yarn

"It sounds like you’ve got everything covered, would you just relax?"
"Relax?" I scoffed into the phone, turning in frantic circles around my room. "Ashley, when have you known me to relax, especially in these kinds of situations?"

Ashley laughed as I tripped over my own feet, still searching through my room.
"I can’t find those boots you gave me," I sighed heavily. "Where the hell could they be?"

"I love how nervous you are about this."
"I’m not nervous, I just want everything to go smoothly."
Ashley snorted. "Face it, you’re nervous because you’re in loooove."
"I’m hanging up now," I said bluntly in response to her sing-song voice.
"Good luck! Be safe!"

I rolled my eyes and clicked the End button, throwing the phone in the general direction of my bed. My room was in complete pandemonium, clothes thrown everywhere in my desperate attempt to put together some type of respectable outfit. Eventually, I had settled on a short navy blue sweater dress and tights, but not before calling Ashley and begging her for help.

Falling to my knees and scuttling forward to kneel in front of my closet, I dug through the boxes and random objects cluttered in it. I spotted a bright blue shoe box and tugged it out, opening to find the ridiculously expensive knee high leather boots Ashley had bought for me two Christmas' ago. Hurriedly, I took them out and zipped them up, standing up and almost falling over. After a few steps I got used to them a little more and hobbled to the kitchen, checking the pots on the stove to make sure everything was in order.

I had opted to make a simple baked ziti, not trusting myself with anything more complicated. I just hoped Brendon liked ziti, or didn’t have some type of weird food allergy. My small kitchen table was covered in a dark red tablecloth and the plates were already set. To me it looked a little too romantically cliché, but Ashley had thought it was a good idea and I trust her enough. Sometimes I really wonder how I would even get on without her.

The clock read six fifty and my stomach convulsed. Ten minutes and Brendon would be in my home, sitting at my table and eating my food.
This is why I was never good at this sort of thing. All I could think about was all the things that could go wrong.

I smoothed down my hair and jumped when the stove timer went off, it’s shrill beeping making me hurry to shut it off and slide on oven mitts in order to drain the pasta. I arranged the pasta neatly on each of our plates and poured a generous amount of sauce on each, taking a moment to appreciate the fact that I hadn’t screwed up the food at least.

I took a sip of the water I had poured for myself and checked the clock again. I faltered once reading the 7:14 and my heart sunk. Brendon was early for everything, this was out of character. He knows where I live so it’s not like he could get lost or--

Wait. Shit. I never told him what apartment I lived in. I coughed on the water I was swallowing and dropped it roughly back on the table, running to my apartment door and wrenching it open, feeling more and more stupid with each passing second. How could I have forgotten to tell him where I lived? For all I know he could have been wandering around the building and knocking on random doors, and it’s not like the most respectable people lived in this place.

"Crap," I muttered to myself, wringing my hands tensely. Brendon was smart, so he had probably just stayed downstairs or worse, hadn’t bothered to show up. I took off determinedly, the heel of my boot clicking nosily against the floor.

"Oh, Melanie dear."

I came to a skidding stop and looked over my shoulder. Ms. Crowley was hanging out of her door, bright smile on her face. She only ever wore that smile when she had acquired some new gossip on someone on this floor and insisted that I knew it also. There were one too many times where I had been pulled into her apartment and seated on her aging sofa and told pointless facts about someone who I didn’t even know.

"I’m sorry I don’t have time to talk right now," I said as politely as I could, already taking a few backward steps in the direction of the stairs.

"I found someone," She continued nonetheless. "Walking around and looking for his date."

"What? Brendon?" I asked dumbly, blushing at the incredibly knowing look on my neighbors face.

"Yes, I do believe that is his name. I brought him in for some tea," She smiled and I had the sneaking suspicion Brendon would never have been allowed to leave if she hadn’t heard me tramping down the hall. "I’ll bring him out."

I nodded feebly and she disappeared behind the door.
"Here we go then. Have fun you two," Ms. Crowley reappeared, her hand dragging a familiar brunette behind her. She more or less pushed him out and slammed the door right away, though I would bet anything she was watching from the peep hole.

Brendon was dressed in tight jeans and a casual white button down, hair messed up as usual, only now he wasn’t wearing his glasses. It was a magnificent difference, now that his whole face was open at once, his bright brown eyes seeming more vibrant than usual.

We stood a little ways away, each assessing over the other. To say he looked good was a bit of an understatement and I suddenly became self conscious of my own appearance.

"Uh," I spoke aloud to break the awkward silence. "I forgot to tell you my apartment number. Sorry."

Brendon smiled crookedly and signed a 'That’s okay.'

"So, um, let’s go inside," I skirted nervously past him and to my apartment door. Brendon followed tentatively and I worried he might still think this was some joke.

"Are you--I mean," I stopped myself and turned around to face him, the thought crossing my mind that I knew how to sign what I wanted to say. 'Are you hungry?'

Brendon watched my hands, his face positively lighting up as his smile spread clear across his face. 'Yes, very much.'

I nodded and continued leading him to my small kitchen, head ducked low to hide the goofy smile on my face. Once he entered the kitchen, Brendon’s face edged back into tense and nervous lines as he sat down at his chair gingerly. I smiled shakily and sat opposite him, so nervous I really don’t think I'll be able to eat at all.

The need to fill the silence became too much and I swallowed my mouthful, opting against sign language. "So, what did Crowley do with you in her apartment?"

Brendon grinned and set down his fork. 'She tried to make me drink this weird tea. And also, she introduced me to all her cats.'

I chuckled and shook my head sadly. "Yeah, she can be a bit much sometimes. Though, somehow she manages to get all of the gossip on the floor and spreads it ruthlessly."

'Yeah, I got that vibe. She told me some things.' Brendon grinned again before eating some more, his plate almost empty.

"She didn’t say anything about me, did she?" I asked nervously, mind jumping to conclusions.

Still grinning, Brendon shrugged nonchalantly, but I could tell from the look on his face the he defiantly knew something that he didn’t know before running into her.

"Don’t believe whatever she said," I said quickly, getting worried.
Brendon pursed his lips together in amusement. 'I was just kidding. But good to know you’ve got something to hide.'

I rolled my eyes and bit my lip to stop from laughing, offering him some more pasta. Conversation continued at a nice pace, casual enough that Brendon had to time eat between signing to me. The dim light in the kitchen played on his features so beautifully that I actually had to restrain myself from jumping over the table and kissing that grin off his face, which is significant since I've never wanted to do that in my entire life.

Brendon let his fork clang nosily on his dish as he dropped it, leaning back and sighing happily.
I smiled, leaning both elbows on the table ad resting my chin on my conjoined hands. "Did you enjoy it?"

In response, Brendon rubbed his flat stomach and tilted his head back. I laughed at just how adorable he was, not seeing how I could have ever thought he was a rude prick. He couldn’t have just changed personalities that quickly, this Brendon was there all along.

'What’s the time?' Brendon asked and I turned around to read off the digital clock over the stove.

"Almost nine. Wow," I said in astonishment at how fast the time had gone.

'I should get going,' Brendon got up and stretched, ruffling up his hair.
"Oh," I didn’t particularly like how disappointed I sounded, but it was inevitable that I would rather he stay for much, much longer.

I got up with him and together we walked slowly to the door, Brendon trailing closely behind. I don’t know what I was expecting from tonight, but I can’t help but feel disappointed that he was leaving so early. I opened the door and stepped to the side to let him pass. As he did so his arm brushed against mine and I shivered, gripping onto the door harder to keep myself up.

Brendon hesitated on the threshold, turning to me. I became instantly aware that this was the closest I had ever been to him and my back straightened itself on impulse. Brendon’s face was bright red and looked plain terrified, his eyes never fixing on one point, instead skitting around my face, pupils dilated fully. I bit my lip and blushed, embarrassed because he was so embarrassed. We stood there for an ungodly amount of time, just staring at each other as Brendon grew redder and redder, until he lifted his shaking hands and formed a single word.

'Sorry.'

"For what?" I stuttered, fingering the hem of my dress.

'I don’t know what usual happens after a-' Brendon cut himself off, looking too scared and mortified to finish the sentence. 'I don’t know what to do.'

Our gazes caught and I inhaled shakily, flicking out my tongue to lick my lips slowly. Brendon’s eyes danced down to my lips and his eyes widened so much I thought they would pop, jaw going a little slack. The blush crept down his neck and a single bead of sweat presented itself along his hairline. Brendon took a deep, obvious gulp of air, and then another, gaze still fixed on my lips.

Feet shuffled closer and all of a sudden he was too close, my heart jumping clear out of my chest and stomach flying to settle in my throat. I swallowed, eyes now as wide as his.

Brendon’s neck tilted forward then pulled back abruptly, coming forward again after another moment’s hesitation. I tried not to drop to the floor right there, letting my eyelids drop halfway as I felt his breath roll over my lips and cling to my cheeks. His eyes caught mine and I’ve never seen him look so terrified.
I watched Brendon’s lips purse as he closed his mouth, adrenaline pounding in my ears and back digging into the side of the door. His lips were right there, he couldn’t take this any slower, and then his head jerked to the side at the last minute and his warm, wet lips pressed against my left cheek.

They were barely there for a second when Brendon was wrenching his whole body backwards and inhaling air profoundly. I let out the breath I had been holding and my eyes slid shut, the feeling of his plump lips still tingling on my skin.

When I reopened my eyes, Brendon was bowing his head and walking backward, hands running roughly through his hair.

"Brendon," I said and he stopped short, almost tripping. He looked up at me with apologetic, petrified eyes. Letting my emotions take over, the widest smile I had yet to experience spread across my face. His eyebrows furrowed when I lifted my hands and formed a word.
'Bye.'

Brendon bit his lip harshly, but no matter what he did I doubt he would have been able to hide his smile. He gave me a shaky, nervous wave and turned his back, walking slowly to the stairs.