It felt like free falling, the world crashing and fading to a halt around him as she reached up to kiss him. It wasn’t a dream this time, wasn’t some hallucination meant to hurt and wound and remind him of things he’d never grasp. Because she was here now, in his grasp, one sliding down to her hip to anchor her to him while the other tangled into her hair. Ollie kissed her back like it was what he’d been born to do. Hell, sometimes it felt like it was. Their lips pressing again and again, the male doing nothing to hide the soft groan at the sensations. It hadn’t happened since her birthday and after the mess of it all he’d truly thought he’d never have it again.
His smile could have blinded someone with how brightly it shone, his eyes never leaving her as he stared down into her face and took it all in. Her words, her hands on him, it didn’t feel real. “God, I fucking love you.” Ollie breathed against her lips, no longer caring what it cost him to say. In that moment consequences paled in comparison to the way his heart rabbited in his chest. There was no stopping as he spun them, pressing back against the wall and pulling her to his lips once more. He’d been given all the permission needed, and so he took. Kissed her with everything he’d ever held back, the want and longing and need to hold her to his body. Only when he broke for air did he trail lips down her neck, the effect soon ruined by the kisses he placed over her cheeks, eyes, nose, ending on her forehead in the softest of touches.
The cold night air was seeping in though, and with it came the clarity of where they were and what it all meant. Fuck. Could they even…did this even mean? He let them catch their breath, unable to release her from his hold just yet. What if once he did, she vanished? Another dream he’d wake up from alone in his bed and chest aching at the reality lost. No, he’d hold her until she asked him to let her go. Never again.
But there was a time and place for this and even Oliver West had lost all semblance of cool when presented with the one thing he’d always wanted. His smile was sheepish, voice a low whisper between them. “Can I walk you home, sunshine? I’ll take you back inside if you want but honestly being surrounded by strangers is about the last thing I want right now.”
He loved her. That she knew. But hearing him say it out loud again was something she couldn’t return. At least... Not yet. Even if she knew. She rarely even said it to her brother or parents. She was sentimental, sure. But she’d rather give gifts or time than say how she felt out loud. Taylor let out a giggle as he spun them around, holding onto him tight with the trust he wouldn’t drop her. He never did. She only got a moment of a break when his lips were back onto hers and she accepted them with utmost care, sliding fingers near the back of his hair. Her head hit the back of the brick wall lightly as lips touched her neck and she shut her eyes, forgetting the world around them for a moment.
Opening her eyes as he pressed kisses elsewhere, this was what she wanted. She wasn’t sure until recently and back in California, she made her first mistake rushing into things in the wrong way. This was right, though. It was simple. She gave a small smile and nodded, bringing her hands down to lace fingers in between his. “Wow, such a player...” She slipped under his arm, keeping hold of his hand and dragged him in the direction to her apartment. Her gaze looked at him from over her shoulder. “You know, you’re lucky we made out in an alley. Paparazzi would have made it official before we did.”