#flsh

I had fistfuls of frills and tulle in my hands as I tip-toed down the stairs, careful not to step on a rickety stair. The bright headlights driving down the street turned in my driveway just as I was opening the door and sneaking out, successfully avoiding disturbing anyone in the house.

A small smile forced itself out and my heart did little flips in my chest as I approached the car and saw the glow of a phone on the driver’s face, who was completely oblivious to my presence. I tapped the cold glass lightly, my hot breath fogging up on the side after I laughed at my boyfriend’s startled shriek. I quietly opened the door and got in the car, immediately being brought into a kiss as I turned around in my seat.

The soft lips against mine felt comforting and reassuring and made me forget any worry about our plans tonight. “You are so beautiful”, Noah sighed when he disconnected our kiss and took in my appearance. I moved to try and bury my head in my shoulder as his hands came to roam my waist, gripping at the material in different places. I took note of the tight dress shirt that hugged his arms just right and the beautifully tied fabric that lay flat on his chest that was threatening to pop through the white buttons. The black jacket defined his shoulders well and matched the darks of his hair. And those big brown eyes that were filled with love and lust. A few more little kisses and shy compliments were passed before we drove off into the night, all the way downtown to the historic district.

The boring rows of houses soon turned into skyscrapers and the flickering, old streetlights became hundreds of bright lights reflecting off the sea. “I heard about this big gala from a friend, said his dad’s company was putting it on. Tons of fancy people flew in for this charity thing”. Noah had this idea that he wanted to sneak into a big gala and pretend as if we belonged among the rich despite being two teenagers from a small town where everyone struggled to get by. We ran to the nearest thrift store, snagging the most elegant-looking pieces we could find. Noah had a suit that surprisingly fit him well and almost looked like it was made for him. I on the other hand had this A-line ball gown with a tied-in corset and beautiful beadwork on the top with a big tulle skirt that sparkled in just the right light. I had originally been skeptical of our hand-me-down costumes, worried we would never get passed the door. Turns out the security of this gala wasn’t too on top of things because Noah dragged me straight to the delivery bay and sneaked us into the building.

We rushed up endless flights of stairs, giggling like schoolchildren as we cut through the kitchen. Screams and protests from the chefs in the kitchen were drowned out behind us as we tripped over our own feet and stumbled into the hallway leading to the gala. We quickly composed ourselves and cleared our throats as we sent smiles and a slight head tilt to the party guests that were sending us confused glances. Once they had rounded the corner, we broke into laughter and I fell into Noah’s chest, gripping at his suit jacket. “Okay, time for us to get in there!” We locked arms and took slow, long steps in the same way that all the other couples were. The big ballroom had bright white walls, all dressed in what must be ridiculously expensive artwork. Everyone was sipping on small glasses of wine and obnoxiously laughing at jokes that were probably very unfunny. I became very conscious about how much I just did not fit in here among the walking money bags.

As we officially entered the room and mixed in with the crowd, a man, who looked like he was racking his brain to figure out who we were, approached us. My arm reached up so I could grip Noah’s bicep and I could feel him tense up under my touch. “Hello there you two.” His soft tone was accompanied by his bright smile, both of which shocked us both. He went on to introduce himself as the man in charge of the charity that was hosting the event and that he was making his rounds to talk to the guests. “Excuse my bad memory, but I cannot seem to recognize you two. And I know all my party guests.” As I stumbled over my words, completely prepared to be thrown out, Noah jumped in with the best thing he could think of at the moment. “Well I am Prince Foolish, and this is the beautiful Duchess of Twitch. We are big donors for,” Noah’s eyes quickly scanned around to the large banners on the wall “the Children Reading Foundation. Don’t you remember meeting at your last gala?” The well-dressed man seemed to believe the story as he apologized profusely for not recognizing us sooner.

We directed ourselves to the table filled with drinks and even offered to grab us one, which we declined in a mad dash to get far away from him, coming up with an excuse that our friend was waving at us from the other end of the room. “Prince Foolish? Duchess of Twitch?” Noah’s eyes scrunched up as he laughed at my shocked expression. We were both hunched over and leaning on each other from laughing so hard, both of us in disbelief that we just got away with that. Noah pulled me into his chest, his hands finding their place on my waist and our tear-filled eyes locking with one another. “What? It was the best thing I could think of. No way he knew what Twitch was. And everyone here must be of some sort of status, so I came up with that.”

Despite the crazy reasoning behind his excuse and the loud party around us, I focused on Noah’s features, mainly how his eyes sparkled as he talked. His tanned skin was contrasted by the bright white walls and bland colors of the clothing passing around us. The giant chandeliers created a shine on his slicked-back hair that stayed in place through our trip running through the kitchen. His large hand was intertwined with mine and he had pulled me closer into his chest. “Let’s go dance.” I cut him off as he was babbling about how fake the artwork looked and dragged him to the center of the room. We ran to the middle of the dance floor, directly under the biggest chandelier in what must have been the whole world. We stood across from each other and just smiled as the world around us became obsolete. Noah took a step back and placed one arm behind him and the other across his stomach as he took a small bow. When bent over slightly, he looked up at me through his lashes and gave me a slight smirk. I picked up the sides of my dress and dipped my body in his direction. Suddenly, Noah’s hands were on my waist, and I brought mine up to his neck.

“What a marvelous tune.” Noah giggled at my attempt of mocking the other couples around us who kept noting the orchestra in the corner playing the music that we were all swaying to. “Only the finest of music for you milady.” We spent the rest of the night moving around to the music, our eyes never once breaking from each other. Chests pressed together and hands gripping at skin, feet occasionally tripping over the fabric of my dress and bumping into someone because we didn’t pay any attention to anyone else. We talked about our future and where we want to go next. The topic of kids was brought up when a young child in a tux ran in between our bodies in search of his parents. Noah said he wanted his future kids to dream so big they would be invited to things like this party. The idea of marrying Noah and having kids with him sent butterflies through my body and left the biggest smile on my face. I had never been more in love with him than I was at this moment.

We were living without a care in the world and were just happy to be with one another. I brought one hand up to lay on Noah’s cheek as I took a mental picture of him at this moment, not wanting to ever forget how happy and carefree he looked. My movement interrupted his ideas of baby names and caused him to fully look down at me. Slowly leaning into one another, even more, we locked ourselves in a kiss that felt like fireworks were going off around his. His touch on mine began to feel hot and like I was burning from the inside out. Both of his hands cupped my face and mine stayed at his neck, slightly twirling his hair in between my fingers.

It wasn’t now that we noticed the party started to get smaller and the staff began moving chairs and tables. The music cutting off tore us from one another as we looked around to see no one else on the floor. My face heated up as the workers caught us in the act of PDA. I was sending them an apologetic face as I attempted to pull away from Noah and leave the floor, but Noah had other plans. My attempts at leaving were no match for his strength as he spun me back into his chest. “Now where do you think you are going?”