Sunshine Kisses

‘I thought you weren’t supposed to have girls here when mum and dad aren’t home.’

‘There have to be some perks to giving up my weekend to babysit you two. A bed without a roommate six feet from it is one of them. Besides, you do.’

Erik frowned, opening cabinets in search of painkillers and any receptacle he could leave out in case Abby needed to be sick again. ‘She’s actually supposed to be staying here this weekend. And it’s not the same.’

Alex slumped against the wall, rolling his head lazily to look up at Erik. ‘Isn’t it?’

‘She’s my best friend.’

‘And you’re in love with her.’ He said it as casually as he would state any other mundane fact.

The sky is blue.

Grass is green.

You’re in love with Abby.

And that…that was what this was, wasn’t it? That ache in his chest every time he looked at her. The fact that a single moment with her made him happier than anything else could ever hope to. The way his world went quiet when she touched him, even while his heart raced.

Love.

Erik had fought his feelings for her for so long. Misunderstood and ignored them even longer. Maybe it was time to finally give them a voice. ‘Is it that obvious?’

‘Only to people with eyes.’ Alex laughed. ‘The way you stare longingly at her every second you’re together. You’re so soft and simpering when you talk to each other, too. “Oh, Abby, you’re so lovely” this and “Oh, Erik, you’re so wonderful” that. He adopted a breathy falsetto as he mimicked them.

Erik glared, though it probably wasn’t too far from the truth.

‘You need to tell her, dude.’

‘What if she doesn’t—’

‘She does.’ Alex’s voice was firm. ‘What got into her tonight anyway? You’re fifteen; neither of you should be drinking that much. And why weren’t you looking after her?’

Erik shouldn’t have been surprised to hear the concern creeping into Alex’s voice. As much as he enjoyed winding her up, his brother really did care about Abby.

Moments from the party flashed through Erik’s mind.

A group of them had been relaxing outside while a band droned through the speakers about how good 1996 had been. Abby’s eyes had caught his at a line that always made his heart stop, about needing a lover rather than a friend. She had looked away quickly. He hadn’t. He had still been staring intently at her profile when a voice whispered in his ear.

‘Do you want to dance?’

He turned to find Claire, a pretty brunette from his English class, smiling at him. He hadn’t, really. But he was unfailingly polite and incapable of saying no to a reasonable request. So he had spared one glance back at Abby, suddenly engaged in a spirited conversation with a boy from the year above them, and followed Claire into the house.

‘Yep, that would do it,’ Alex said, interrupting his recap of the night.

Erik raised his eyebrows. Alex cocked his head.

‘Think about how you’d react if you saw her grinding with some guy—’

‘We were not grinding.’

‘You’d probably also get trashed.’

‘It was a party. Everyone was drinking. I hardly think it was because I danced with some girl.’

‘Was Abby sober before that?’

Erik paused. ‘Mostly, yeah. She’d had one drink in the hour we’d been there.’