◣ up in the clouds. ◥

watching the other acquire frustration and need from him touching her was all he wanted. bentley craved that between them and he wanted lorelai to crave it too. “you’re right, i did do it on purpose,” he teased as he slowly made his way over to where she sat on the bed. “but i didn’t do it for nothing. just think about how great it’ll feel to eventually release all that anticipation.” bentley smiled to himself once more before he slipped away into the hotel’s bathroom. a few texts were sent and some plans were rearranged, but after a few minutes of impatient waiting, things were finally situated and the next move was pretty much up to him from that point on. lorelai’s voice emerged from the other room about ryan joining in and bentley came back into view, nodding in response and dropping down onto the bed beside her. “he’s cool with all this, right? i mean, he’s not gonna like, make a big deal about anything?” he hated pushing onto the subject, but he deemed it better safe than sorry. “anyways, we’re ready to go when you are. tell ryan to just meet us out in the parking lot.” he stood up from the bed and pulled the girl up with him, embracing her small frame into his once again. “thanks for coming out with me tonight, i’m not sure exactly how interested in this whole idea you are. you don’t really strike me as the adventurous type, if i’m honest. but then again you always surprise me, so.” bentley started for the door and made sure to grab the key to the room, sliding it in his back pocket before heading out. everyone was supposedly ready and waiting on them outside, so the male tried not to take too long on his own. they took the elevator down and reached the first floor, the doors sliding open and revealing a quiet and rather vacant lobby, which seemed to be clear enough for them to make their way out. “alright, come on,” he ordered, leading her out the room. through the tall, dim and tinted windows it wasn’t hard to make out the small bunch of guys pushing around outside them, the amount of noise they were producing being enough to wake the whole building. as soon as bentley stepped out, his manner changed as he possessed a new leading demeanor and everyone around him stood quiet. “i could hear you from lobby, what the fuck are you guys doing?” no one hesitated to pipe up in response, but honestly the male couldn’t care less about the reasons they threw at him, cutting them off in mid explanation. “you guys aren’t ruining this for me, so stop fucking around or go back inside,” he huffed. taking lorelai’s side, he pulled the girl in front of him and shook his head. “i’m sorry for their immaturity, but these are a few of the guys,” he said, introducing her to some of the others, “guys this is my.. my friend, lorelai.” they gave their names and one of them even let out a few whistles, but stopped himself the minute bentley shot him a look. “there’s not really much of a plan in regards to where we’re going, but let’s just like stay together, okay?” there was a slight moment where he wanted to reach for the other’s hand, but he just couldn’t bring himself to do it. this was the first time his friends were meeting lorelai and he wasn’t sure if he was ready to actually be super affectionate with her in front of them yet. as far as they knew, she was just another girl tagging along as if she were some accessory to bentley. “i think we’re still waiting on someone..  — oh yeah, ryan. is he almost out?” the boy inquired, turning to lorelai.

“you’re an ass,” she mumbled, feeling a rush of warmth make it’s way onto her cheeks. playing with the hem of her dress, lorelai let a few different sexual scenarios run through her head for a few seconds, suddenly glad that she didn’t have the same problem as males did when it came to arousal. at least she could hide it. hearing bentley’s voice cut through her train of thought, she looked back up at the male, a small “hmm?” leaving her lips. “oh, yeah, totally. ryan and i used to sneak out all the time in high school. he kind of dragged my ass out on random expeditions like this and i hated it but...i usually ended up having fun.” she scrunched up her nose slightly as bentley received what she assumed was a text from whoever was looking out for them, a small smile curving onto her lips as he pulled her up from the bed and into his arms. “hey, you know me- i’ll try anything once for you. plus, it’ll be cool to meet your friends, i’m excited,” lorelai gave him a quick peck on the lips before following him towards the lobby. she couldn’t deny the anxiety building in her stomach as they got into the elevator. sure, she was with bentley and she trusted him enough but there was still that small part of her that would get nervous in situations like this. as soon as they stepped outside, her gaze fell upon a group of guys who were rough-housing, their voices probably carrying up towards the hotel windows. she froze and watched as bentley took control of the situation, shutting them up and telling a few of them to go back upstairs if they were gonna fuck around. she had to admit- leader bentley was sexy. hearing him introduce her to them as her friend, her smile fell for half a second before she brought it back up, lifting her hand up in a weak hello. hearing a wolf whistle from a shorter guy in the back, lorelai couldn’t help but chew on the inside of her cheek, before letting a cheery greeting echo around them. but before she could get more acquainted with his friends, she felt an arm wrap around her shoulders loosely, ryan’s smooth voice coming into play. “guess he is,” she looked up at her best friend with a grin and turned to face bentley and his posse. “lead the way,” she smiled over at bentley before instinctively locking her arm through ryan’s letting bentley and the boys take the lead, letting her and ryan trail behind slightly. she didn’t wanna get in the way of bentley enjoying a night out with his friends- he deserved that and she figured since he didn’t really wanna be super affectionate around them, that maybe bringing ryan along was a good way to keep her calm.

“good, you should trust me.. but no actually, i have no idea,” he chuckled. “i was planning on just taking everyone wherever we could find, y’know. spontaneous sort of thing.” though paris was a rather large city and there was no way that they’d be able to see everything worth exploring in one night, bentley’s prime focus was only to make it a night to remember. the trip overall had been great but he wanted something more, the need to venture beyond their restrictions becoming enticing. “it’s not you i’m worried about,” he responded lightly. “it’s them. in all the years i’ve known them, not once have i witnessed any sort of ‘best behavior’ but hey, at least it’ll make for an interesting night.” when she asked to invite ryan, something inside of bentley shifted and he didn’t know what it was or why it happened. to his own kowledge, him and ryan were on relatively good terms and he certainly didn’t mind lorelai spending time with him. but maybe it was because lorelai was the only person he’d actually know within the group and that would effect the boy’s chances of getting more alone time with her; then again, maybe it was because he hardly knew ryan and wasn’t sure if he was someone ideal of bringing along. but if lorelai trusted him, then he should too and after his conscious told him to just brush it off and let him come, he did exactly that. “uh yeah, sure.. i don’t see why not. he’s a pretty cool guy to be honest. i like him a lot more than i thought i would.” his thumb softly caressed down the girl’s skin before he buried his face in her neck, a trail of wet kisses being left along it. “they’re not gonna think you’re being clingy, babe,” he whispered against her. “i invited you to come with us, they’ll know it means i want you with me.” her hushed tone sent an arousing feeling through him and only egged on his teasing actions. “hm, i do like being in control,” he told her. his hand inched further up lorelai’s thigh and eventually met the thin material of her dress, pushing it up so that her leg was now fully exposed. “and we do have enough time before we go to do whatever i have in mind.” his hand continued to roam the lower half of her body, coming into contact with her ass and squeezing it firmly as he looked down at her with a complacent grin. two of his fingers hooked the band of the girl’s underwear as he pressed his lips to hers again, taking her into a deep kiss. he removed his fingers and instead ran them slowly over her cloth-covered entrance in an agonizingly slow motion, sending a groan into the kiss. but he didn’t hesitate to pull away the second he got any hint of a reaction out of her. bentley let go of her leg and took a few steps back, “but we can just save that for later.” sporting a smug smirk and giving her a wink, he walked away from her as she was still leaned against the wall. “i still have to check in with everyone else and find out who’s leaving when since we can’t all just sneak out at once. plus i have some girls looking out for me and they should be letting me know when the lobby and halls are cleared of administration,” bentley explained, a faint trace of his smirk still intact from his actions just moments before.

“winging it seems like the best thing to do. paris is way too big to pick a certain place, you know?” truthfully, lorelai had no idea what to do in paris. with a city so big, it was no wonder why their trip had been geared towards hitting the more historical sights. she’d spent so many months wondering what the place had to offer and she was definitely glad that she was going to get to experience more of it with bentley. it only made this all the more special. she noticed that bentley stayed quiet for a few seconds when she brought up ryan and she she suddenly felt a little bad. but before she could backtrack and tell him to forget it, bentley finally agreed and she bit her lip before giving him a small smile. “okay, cool, i’ll text him in a sec.” it took the girl a few seconds to realize that bentley was kissing her neck and she instantly let her eyes close slightly. “mmm, are you sure about that? i just don’t wanna mess anything up for you,” she mumbled, her hands trailing from his neck and down to his torso. at his comment, she swallowed the lump that had suddenly formed in her throat and she looked up at him with a smirk. “oh? and what exactly do you have in mind?” and suddenly, his hand kept moving further up her thigh until bentley had pushed the skirt of her dress up and his hand met her ass, squeezing it before she felt his fingers hooking into the waistband of her underwear. lorelai was trying hard not to give into him but the more his hands moved around her lower half, the more aroused she felt herself getting and she was insanely close to suggesting they have sex ---- but his lips met hers and her train of thought disappeared. her hands crept back up towards his neck, pulling him closer, kissing back eagerly. she was caught slightly off-guard by his fingers running over clothed entrance and a whimper left her lips and she instinctively moved her hips against him until he pulled away. blinking a few times, she pouted and let out a frustrated sigh, pinching the bridge of her nose. “you did that on purpose! you can’t just...get me all worked up like that and not follow through.” but she quickly shut up and pushed herself off the wall and moved towards the bed, plopping back down onto the mattress and grabbing her phone to shoot ryan a quick text. she tugged on the hem of her dress, pulling it back down into place and laying back onto the bed, waiting for bentley to do whatever it was he had to do with his ‘checking in’ and scrolling through her notifications until ryan finally texted back and agreed. “well, ryan’s in. so, looks like the rest is all you, boss.”

“not really the type of thing that needs planning, you just kind of go with whatever works. i mean who knows if we’ll get caught or not, but the fun is all in finding out,” bentley mused, feeling himself actually getting a little excited at the rush. it just went to prove how much he needed a break like this, to get away from being boring ole bentley and let loose and have fun again. “hm, i think tyler and jordan are for sure coming, but i don’t know if the other guys are. jordan will probably bring his girlfriend, so you won’t be the only girl there if that bothers you.” the group they were planning on accompanying were old friends of his and he genuinely missed spending time with them. granted, they were usually the ones that took part in him getting into the trouble he usually ended up in, but they were also people that had stuck by him through everything and he always felt most like himself when he was with them. though bentley had always been a little nervous that lorelai wouldn’t like the people he hung out with once she got to know them because of their rather brash behavior, but this seemed like a good enough way to find out. plus, it was important to him that the girl felt comfortable in whatever surroundings they encountered.. not like she had anything to worry about with him being there, but that’s besides the point. within only a few seconds of being pulled into a kiss, bentley felt chills elicit down his arms as he moved his lips against hers. every time she kissed him, he got lost.. his hands always wanted to roam every inch of her skin and his knees always got weak, her touch never ceasing to truly captivate him. but as soon as she pulled away, a smirk lined across his lips before he placed small pecks along her jaw. “yeah but.. it’s more alone time outside the hotel than we’ve gotten on any other minute of this trip. i probably won’t pay much attention to my friends anyway.. — not if you’re there,” he admitted, placing one more quick kiss on her lips. his light hues shifted briefly around their hotel room before meeting back with her, his tongue clicking in thought. “kill some time, hm?” he asked, his hand moving down her leg and pulling her thigh up slightly above his waist. “and how do you suggest we do that?”

“yeah, well, fine. i’m down if you are. i trust you, bentley. do you even know where you’re taking us?” she inquired, listening to him as he started talking about his friends. at the mention of one of the guys bringing his girlfriend, she couldn’t help but smile, nodding slightly. “alright, cool. well, this is kind of big for you. i’m meeting your friends, officially. i’ll be on my best behavior, of course. i mean, definitely not like when i met your mom but...you know.” the idea of finally meeting bentley’s friends was terrifying but also kind of cool. it meant something to her that she’d get to meet some of the people that bentley considered so important to her and she figured this was a step in the right direction for their relationship. “wait, can i invite ryan? i haven’t actually gotten to see too much of him on the trip and you two have hit it off before, right? or is this like...more of your friends kind of night? i don’t really care either way, i just thought i’d be nice and extend the invitation.” whenever they kissed, things were prone to get a little carried away; lorelai was always left wanting more but she never let herself take that step simply to avoid getting rejected by bentley. she knew that he didn’t exactly do sex with her sober to begin with, so why would that change now? “stop, you’ve gotta pay attention to them. i can’t be that clingy girl who’s always demanding attention from you. you’ve gotta bond with your boys, i get that.” she offered him a small smile, her arms winding around his neck once more. she tried to stifle a giggle from spilling past her lips as his hand moved towards her leg and pulled her thigh up towards his waist, her dress instantly riding up slightly. “mmm, i don’t know. why don’t you tell me since you’re the one making all the plans tonight?” she whispered, tilting her head playfully and letting her gaze fall onto his lips once more.

“that actually wasn’t french, smart one,” bentley teased, running one of his hands down the girl’s back. “just a big word, which i know -  how unlike me.” an unknowing frown settled on the boy’s lips at lorelai’s objection, a sense of disappointment filling him. he kind of just wanted to get out of the hotel room for a night and do his own thing while he got the chance. for the whole trip, he’d felt like it’d been constant do this and do that; and if there was one thing bentley knew, it was that he wasn’t going to be in paris and have this once in a lifetime opportunity of self-exploring pass by him all because of some futile rules. fortunately for him, the girl eventually gave in and agreed to the idea and even brought up a few issues that they’d face, but it was nothing he didn’t already have thought out. “i’m obviously not gonna make us climb down any balconies or fire escapes, so don’t get ahead of yourself. but the teachers eventually have to go to sleep, right ?? we’ll just wait it out and go from there and if we get caught -  well i guess i’ll just wing it from that point on,” he proposed, a playful smile lingering on his features. “it’s really nothing to worry about though.. i have people looking out and some friends are meeting me out in front of the main entrance, so it’s not just us.” in his own matter of opinion, it’d been far too long since bentley had done anything remotely unethical and it just didn’t feel right. not that he cared if he got himself in trouble for any of this, but he didn’t want to put lorelai in that position, that being his only concern. it was all apart of his blatant behavior, but nothing new. he walked over to the other side of the room and slipped on his jacket, turning slightly so that his light hues shifted over his shoulder and onto the girl a few feet behind him. “as for the dress, leave it on. looks good on you,” he told her with an evident smirk. the material zipped up his chest and the next step was all on lorelai; whether she wanted to go or not. “of course you don’t have to come if you don’t want to, but..” he trailed off momentarily as he made his way back over to her, grabbing one of her hands and pulling her closer towards him until they were both along one of the room’s walls, his taller frame easily towering over her own. “i’d really like it if you did. some fresh scenery and alone time seems almost too tempting to pass up,” bentley implored, his palm inching softly down the girl’s waist. 

“that’s not what i meant!” she whined, pouting up at him before she listened to his explanation of the entire plan. “well, sounds like you’ve been planning this for a few days now. it seems pretty foolproof though- who’s coming?” it’s not like lorelai hadn’t mingled with some of bentley’s friends already but this was slightly different. now that there was an obvious difference in their relationship, she was a bit hesitant on being around his friends; she didn’t really wanna deal with awkward questions and have bentley take a few steps back because of it. it took her a few minutes of internal debate to come up with a plausible excuse and truthfully? she really couldn’t find one. they were in paris and bentley was right --- most of what they’d been doing was being dragged to the major historical and touristy landmarks which was amazing but....there was way more to the city than the administration had let on. plus, she’d always been one for adventure and it wasn’t like her to back out of a situation like this. how many times had she snuck out of her parents’ house back in high school to go to parties or hang out with friends? this wasn’t really much different. she let her gaze look around the room for her flats and she took a few steps forward to grab them until he mentioned the dress looking good on her and she looked back up at him, a blush creeping onto her cheeks. “oh. thank you.” she flattened out the skirt of the dress before slipping her shoes back on, only to straighten herself back up and have bentley pulled her close. he’d managed to get her against the wall once more, her shorter frame becoming more apparent now that she wasn’t in heels. “mmm, you’re right. it’s quite the tempting offer but technically, it won’t be alone time if our friends are going but i get where you’re going with it.” a smile curved onto her lips and she moved her hands towards the nape of his neck before pressing a gentle kiss to his lips. “i’ll go, i’m convinced. it’ll be fun. it’s still kinda early though, we gotta kill some time while we wait.”

hearing the girl’s question, bentley just shook his head and gently laughed off the fact that the reason he wasn’t looking at the camera was because he was too busy admiring lorelai. a faint heat started to rise in his cheeks, but he played it off with a few shrugs. “nothing,” he responded, “i just didn’t realize we were taking the photo yet.” the pair shifted into a different pose and although bentley had to bend down slightly for his face to be level with the other’s, it only took one try this time around. with every touch they traded and every look they shared, it wasn’t hard for anyone around them to notice how different in behavior they were compared to their usual public interactions. there were even a few times when people from school would come up to bentley and ask him if he and lorelai were dating; but of course, he shot down every single one of them. teachers started signaling the groups to meet back up at the floor of the tower and bentley for one, was more than willing to do so. “yeah, it wasn’t so bad. i tried not to get too close to the ledge for the most part, but other than that the view was amazing. plus i got a lot of pictures, so.” he smiled over at her and pressed a kiss to the top of her head, leading her into the elevator, “but let’s go get some food in you, yeah?” and with that, they made their way down and headed back to the hotel, administration ordering them off to eat before sending every one back to their rooms for the night. the trip’s regulations were pretty strict but bentley managed to work his way around them, and after half an hour of waiting for everyone to slip away into their rooms, he eventually joined lorelai in theirs. hopefully the girl wasn’t too tired since the night was still considerably early and bentley was wide awake, the aftermath of walking around all day not effecting him like it did most people. “y’know, as much fun as this excursion has been.. i feel like we’re not getting as much out of paris as we could be,” the male started, slipping off his hoodie and changing into some more comfortable clothes. “i mean, we’ve been pretty limited with what we we’re allowed to do.. and they haven’t really let us do much of anything. the bigger tourist attractions are cool but i think the real fun is in the little places.” he stood up from the edge of the bed he’d been sitting on and made his way over to lorelai, decreasing the space between them as his hands met her hips and pulled her closely into him. “now i don’t know about you, but i think we should go on our own exploration.” he leaned into a gentle kiss before his lips started roaming and pressed warmly against the skin of her neck. “let’s do something,” he mumbled. “let’s sneak out.”

lorelai took notice of the blush forming on bentley’s cheeks so for his sake, she decided to not ask what had really happened. she figured she’d find out sooner or later when she saw the two pictures. after they’d taken the second picture and they’d pulled out of the pose, she noticed a few of their peers looking over at them, talking in hushed voices. it didn’t really bother lorelai but she definitely knew that people had caught onto their relationship. their interactions had changed drastically in a short time span and while they’d both gotten questioned about it ( her friends especially ), she was quick to inform them that they weren’t dating...yet. “that’s the spirit! pictures make everything more memorable and at least now, you’ll look back on this and be proud that you faced your fear and climbed the eiffel tower. that’s something you’ll be able to tell your children someday,” she grinned and bit her bottom lip playfully as the male leaned down and pressed a gentle kiss to her forehead, following him into the elevator with the rest of the groups. the walk back to the hotel wasn’t extremely long but it was enough to tire lorelai out. once she’d set foot into the hotel, she practically ran towards their dinner, not realizing how hungry she’d been until she sat down in front of a plate of food. after everyone had gotten some sort of dinner, administration ordered them back to their rooms for the night and of course, lorelai went first, letting bentley mingle with a few of his friends so the teachers wouldn’t catch onto anything. in his short absence, she’d kicked off the boots she’d insisted on wearing all day ( which she was now regretting ) and she let out a small sigh, leaning against the dresser for a few seconds just as the door swung open and bentley finally came inside. she offered him a small smile before she turned around and started taking off some of her jewelry, running a hand through her dark waves as she listened to him talk. “oh, really? and since when did you become an expert on the french?” she questioned, turning around and arching an eyebrow playfully. looking up at him as he approached her, she ended up wrapping her arms around his neck, trying to come up with a response before he’d cut her off with a gentle kiss. and just as she was getting used to it, bentley’s lips moved down towards her neck, and she let out another sigh, letting her eyes flutter shut for a few seconds. “sneak out? bentley, i’m so tired,” her voice came out slightly whiny in an attempt to annoy him before she pulled away from him, a smirk curving onto her lips. “but since i can’t resist a good adventure, i’m gonna say yes. but...how are we supposed to sneak out of the lobby without any of the teachers seeing us? i mean, i don’t know about you but i’m not really gonna climb down the balcony...much less in a dress.”

watching lorelai climb in front of the tower viewer, bentley centered himself behind her as a soft smile graced his lips, one hand in place on her back. “don’t worry, i got you,” he assured her. the male took in the enthusiasm that radiated from her and couldn’t help but to get excited with her. he loved watching her get excited over things that most people normally wouldn’t care for, like looking at a bunch of buildings that all looked the same for example. it was cute and he didn’t experience it much from anyone else he knew. though he didn’t know if he was ready to actually look out from the tower on his own and see exactly how far up they really were. lorelai grabbed hold of bentley’s arm and he shook his head in response to her apologizing, “see, that’s some scary shit.. it’ll make you dizzy.” but after a few seconds of contemplation, he stepped forward anyway and looked back at lorelai, his eyes dramatically wide open on purpose. “okay.. here i go,” he sighed out with a nervous and rather sarcastic laugh before looking into the tower viewers, everything taking a minute to adjust on the focus. the city was huge and littered with people wandering around it, bentley shifting the metal binoculars from one side to another. “you think people ever come to the eiffel tower with their own binoculars and just stay down there?” bentley asked out of a teasing curiosity. but of course it didn’t take him long before he gave up on the magnified view, preferring to just stick with the regular sight paris offered. “because i think if they’re anything like me, they’d just stick to doing that.” the boy’s stomach began to feel a little uneasy, but he tried not to pay it any attention, grabbing hold of lorelai’s hand and tugging her to the other side of tower instead. he pulled his phone out of his back pocket and tapped the shoulder of another tourist, asking them if they’d mind getting a photo of them while they were there. when they agreed, he told lorelai to pick wherever she wanted to stand and wrapped his arm around her waist. “let’s get a couple of them, alright? i’m pretty picky when it comes to pictures,” he mused, smiling down at her. but once the guy started to countdown for the photo and lorelai was already mid-pose, bentley caught himself with a fading grin still in place and eyes still locked on the girl next to him, the man behind the camera shaking his head. “ah, you weren’t looking man. let’s do that one again.”

lorelai couldn’t help but grin as bentley finally decided to step onto the tower viewer and she took a step forward and playfully wrapped her arms around his waist as he bent down to look through it. “don’t worry, now i’ve got you.” she mumbled, biting down on her lower lip to suppress a laugh from leaving her lips. “that’d be kind of weird, don’t you think? like...just looking back up at people? i can’t imagine someone would actually wanna do that but i guess.” as soon as he climbed down, the brunette let him go, taking a step back and letting her gaze shift back towards the buildings around them. she zoned out for a few seconds before she felt bentley grab her hand and pull her in the opposite direction. when she realized he was asking another tourist to take a picture of them, she felt a rush of warmth creep up her neck and to her cheeks before she took a few seconds to decide on a pose. after a split second she opted to just wrap her arms around bentley and leaned into him, a stupid grin taking over her features. she waited for the guy across from them to countdown before she perked up slightly and heard the familiar iphone photo shutter. scrunching up her nose at the comment, she looked back up at bentley and frowned. “where were you looking? --- here, i have a better pose this time,” she moved her arms to wrap around his neck and got on her tiptoes to press a kiss on his cheek as the guy snapped another picture. a giggle left her lips as she unraveled herself from bentley and graciously thanked the male and gave bentley his phone back. “send those to me, i’ll make one my phone screensaver,” she paused and gave him a quick peck on the lips, smiling up at him. she didn’t know why she was being so touchy feely with him today but she didn’t think it was a problem, especially since they were both making an effort to be public about their relationship. “you’re feeling better, right? i hope i distracted you enough. plus,” she paused and looked over at the teachers who were motioning for everyone to get back to them, “i think we’re gonna leave. good, i’m hungry, that buffet in the hotel is calling my name.”

“yeah, well.. it’s never come up, i guess,” he quickly let on, keeping his head low in an attempt to calm down a bit. he hated the feeling of showing how afraid he got over something so small, but even more so that he felt like he wasn’t letting lorelai enjoy this experience. when knowing he would be visiting the tower at some point in time, bentley just assumed he’d be okay and that he wouldn’t make a big deal over the height like he normally did. but he eventually proved himself wrong the minute he stepped foot onto the elevator. though feeling the comfort of lorelai’s hand supporting his own, he gave in to the fear and walked out of the elevator’s containment, finally looking up at the girl in front of him as she instructed. faint nods were given in response to her soothing inducement and finally, the male had built up enough courage to at least be able to look around him without feeling like he was close to suffocating. “yeah, i know..” he admitted, running his thumb over her hand. he was relaxed again and managed to hold a more appropriate demeanor — that is, until three little words were said and once again, elicited a quickened pace of his heartbeat. i love you; the words replayed in his head a few more times so that he could wrap around them and be sure he heard her correctly. “y-you love me?” he inquired, more out of reaction than anything else. but right as he was about to say something back, the two were interrupted and called out of the corner by one of the administration members. fuck, he thought. why didn’t he immediately say it back the moment she did? bentley knew that he loved her; he truly did. but he couldn’t just say it now after they’d been pulled away. the timing wasn’t right, and that was always something he was cautious about. as they moved back into the small crowd of their peers, bentley pulled his hand from hers and placed it on her lower back to pull her closer into him. “i’m alright,” he assured her. someone further up in front of them began talking facts about the history of the area and what the building had to offer, but truthfully, bentley didn’t care about any of it. he just wanted to look out and take in the view without getting dizzy and appreciate this moment he had with lorelai. like she said, this was only a once in a lifetime opportunity and he couldn’t let a ridiculous phobia ruin it. 

lorelai wasn’t sure if she was expecting bentley to actually calm down but she was slightly surprised when he did. at his reaction towards her words, she couldn’t help but feel a rush of warmth flood her cheeks and she smiled up at him, nodding. “of course i do. why would i say that if i didn’t?” she tilted her head slightly before pulling away and trying her hardest to pay attention to some tour guide with a heavy accent try to recite facts about the eiffel tower. the comforting sensation of bentley’s hand on her lower back calmed her nerves slightly and she instinctively leaned back into him, wrapping an arm around him. the girl let her thumb draw circles along his waist, ignoring his reassurance at feeling better, still feeling the need to make sure he was okay. lorelai was zoning out completely, her dark eyes looking out at the city below them, feeling herself get a little dizzy but she willed herself to keep looking. she refused to let her fear of heights stop her from enjoying this moment. once the tour guide stopped talking, the groups were let go to wander around the building and lorelai instantly moved towards one of the tower viewers. “don’t let me fall,” she told bentley, looking him straight in the eye before turning around and climbing onto the small metal platform and bending down slightly to look into it. a small gasp left her lips as she took in the city, moving the viewer towards the other side. “look through this! you can see everything. except everyone looks like fuckin’ ants from up here but whatever.” she hopped down and practically lost her balance, grabbing onto bentley’s arm out of habit. “s-sorry...”

as the classes began to split into their assigned groups, bentley made sure to snag a spot in the one lorelai was instructed to go to. this was probably the only thing he was really looking forward to on this whole trip, seeing the eiffel tower in person and getting to take as many pictures as he possibly could. “it’s too bad this thing has security surrounding it all the time. it’d be pretty cool to sneak up there one night and camp out,” bentley nudged the girl next to him, his eyes not once leaving the tower as they started to approach the bottom entrance of it. from where they were currently standing, the view of the building looked like it never stopped and could continuously lead up into the sky. “that’s — really high up, woah,” he pointed out, feeling a whim of nerves space through him. “what are the regulations of this thing anyway? are there a shit ton of rules that follow it, like a museum or something?” he inquired. he figured asking questions about the historic figure would distract him from the thoughts of possibly falling off or having the tower actually fall over. he usually thought the worst in situations like this, but that’s how he’d always been. once they reached the captivity of the elevator, bentley felt himself subconsciously mold in a lot closer to lorelai, the sudden realization of how high they’d be going setting in. “fuck, i hate heights,” he muttered out, picking up his breathing a bit and looking straight to the ground. his excitement to be there left him blindsided by one of his biggest phobias and he didn’t think he’d yet mentioned it to lorelai, but then again by this point, it really wasn’t hard to tell. the elevator beeped and the doors began to slide open, his hands moving to find one of the metal railings behind his back as he stayed put in his place. “alright.. i don’t wanna do this anymore, let’s go back down,” he spoke up, nervously nipping at his bottom lip.

the most exciting part of the entire trip had finally arrived: visiting the eiffel tower. lorelai was more than excited to finally get to see the thing up close, especially since they’d been looking at it from their hotel room for days now. the class got split into groups and lorelai noticed that bentley had managed to get a spot in her group and she instinctively went to grab his hand, lacing her fingers through his as they began to walk towards the bottom entrance. “well, i mean, there’s like guards around it night and day. i would assume this is a huge target for,” she paused and lowered her voice, “terrorist plans, you know?” she shrugged, looking up at the large metal building, eyes widening at the size. it seemed to go forever and from down here, she wondered if it went past the clouds and into space ( even though  the logical part of her knew it didn’t ). as soon as they stepped into the elevator, she could feel her excitement building and she bounced up and down on the balls of her feet, her shoes echoing in the small elevator. “i think we just can’t like...write on it? i don’t know, there’s not like a lot of regulations,” lorelai finally looked over at bentley, taking note of his sudden quick breathing and how he’d somehow melded closer into her. “you’ve never told me that....” she drifted off and just as she did, the elevator beeped and the doors opened. letting out a small sigh, she grabbed the hand that was gripping onto the metal railing and gently yanked him out of the elevator and towards a more secluded corner of the floor they were on. “hey, look at me. i’m terrified of heights too, alright? but this is...a once in a lifetime chance, bentley. we’re standing on the eiffel tower in paris! we’re never, ever gonna get to do this again.” she took a step closer to him, grabbing onto his hands and smiling up at him. “and we’re here together. and i-i love you and i’m not gonna let anything happen to you, okay? i promise. if you go down, i’m going with you.” but before she could say anything else, one of the teachers had called them over and she rolled her eyes before tugging the taller male along, squeezing his hand gently in a weak attempt to comfort him.