Two Hours after Two Years of History

I'm in hell with the one person capable of pulling me out of it. When hell froze over, I thought: damn, he's beautiful as hell. And even after two years, it hasn't changed. I wouldn't let myself get used to him walking around the school corridors like he owned it but his heart was one purely carved out of gold. Because when you get used to something, you start to take it for granted. And that was the least thing I wanted. I was a goner the moment he'd aimed his smile at me, ready to run around the corridors, screaming, that he smiled at me. That I was one of the limited girls, that the swoon worthy man had chosen to smile at me. Simple Dimple. That seemed like a dream. But it happened. The best part? It stayed for more than two seconds. You know the kind of smile you reserve for only particular people, people who you genuinely liked enough to smile like your entire body was lit up on the inside? Adam had thrown that smile at me but I'd took notice of the nuances. Like, for instance, his eyes never wavered from me, even if that smile he smiled was in passing, his lips lifted higher when he passed me, his eyes would have done that twinkle thing, not that I was staring deep into those brown eyes like a creep. I just noticed things pretty well. But in that brief moment, I'd thought that the world had stopped rotating on its axis, that the winds had gotten stronger and that time had stopped.The way he'd go out of his way to help people in any way he could, make sure that everyone had a say during group projects, never let anyone be brought down because of others. He was a cinnamon roll.

It wasn't easy for me to trust just about anyone. I was careful with the people I chose to surround myself with because I was too scared to get hurt. We were, in the end, just naive little human beings trying to prevent our hearts from getting broken. So, I chose to stray as far as possible from all of it. But someone somehow managed to pierce through all of it.

Because presently, as I stand a few feet away from the love of my life, all I can think is: I'm in hell. Was it possible to feel extreme dislike towards someone you'd thought for the longest time that you loved? Maybe with my luck, it was. Right now, I'm inside a broken elevator with Adam. And itching to do anything except stand there, wishing he doesn't recognise me.

My heart's pounds as he grumbles, scrolling through his phone, which he has been doing ever since he got into this elevator that had chosen today to break down. He is oblivious. The longer he stays oblivious, the longer I'm safe. Soon this elevator would open and I would breathe. Just putting it out there in the universe. I'd gone into shock when he stepped inside.

The shock had faded as nostalgia hit and I took him in. Only difference, he has this beard on his jaw which looks just as good on him like the rest of him. When the nostalgia faded, my sensible self took charge and all the nostalgia faded into anger and panic.

I look up from the phone I'd been glaring at only to find those brown eyes aimed on me. I panic as I frown and smile a little uneasily. Why is he looking at me?

"You doing okay there?" That deep voice.

"Yep. What made you think otherwise?" I scoff.

"You are a little red and sweaty." He smirks at me. "Are you going to pass out?"

"Nope. I'm healthy." I am blabbering. Just as I scold myself internally, he leans away from the wall and walks towards me, closing the safe distance keeping us separate.

He is so tall that he has to lean down to meet my eye.

"Are you nervous, Dimple?"

"what?" I must look shocked because he smiles. That kind smile that I used to think was reserved just for some.

"You didn't think I forgot you, did you?" He laughs. "You are mesmerising to be forgotten that easily, Dimple."

Then, why did you break my heart all those years back?

"Huh." Out of the thousand words in my vocabulary, it was the only word I uttered.

"I was just silent because you looked like you were on the verge of losing it when I entered. As much as it breaks my heart at the thought of you panicking because of me and at the thought of you explaining the reason for it, I want to know why."

"It's nothing. I'm just...awkward." I chuckle. Those eyes fill with a tenderness I'd never seen in anyone, those upturned lips as he waited for me to just speak.

"I know. It makes you a thousand times more special." Now, he's just BS'ing me. I narrow my eyes at him. It feels pretty weird to be glaring when all I've done is throw him heart eyes.

"Why are you smiling?"

"Because you're adorable."

"I am glaring at you, for god's sake."

"And you still look adorable to me." I roll my eyes, all the anger and resentment surfacing. I am not like this, so easily getting riled up, but the universe has given me the choice to confront him, I'm going to take advantage. Before I can retort, he beats me to it. "God. You're still the sassiest."

"Are you high?" He lets out this bellied laugh that make my lips twitch but I scowl instead. He places his hands on my shoulders and grins. He's...ugh.

"No. Why don't we sit down? We're going to be stuck in here, so might as well clear things. Why you are depriving me of that killer smile, is the million dollar question." Maybe I am high on drugs. Because there's no way I'm hearing what he's saying.

But we still sit down. Because my legs are tired from standing so rigidly. He leans against the wall and I slouch forward. Those eyes have the power of hypnotising. It is harmful. Because as much as it disconcerts me, he still affects me. "So, what do you want to say?" He asks.

"How about you begin with the answer about where you were all these years?" I ask because it is scratching at my insides. He grimaces.

"Atlanta. My father got a transfer and we had to move. Sorry I couldn't tell you before I moved." Something clouds over his features and his grin fades, his gaze travelling away. I frown. So that's why he broke my heart when he left. I nod. "What about you?"

"What about me?"

"What have you been upto?" I smile, the first smile in hours and ramble on about my recent graduation, my recent achievements, all the while watching this proud smile taking over his features. "That's amazing, love. Really amazing." I shrug and lean back, not realising he has his arm over the handle bar so when I lean back, my back hits his arm. Warm. Comforting. I don't lean away from him. We exchange conversations about all the events that happened in his absence, about all the stuff that's changed. Well, I'd begun that conversation so when he frowns in confusion and starts shaking his head, my mind goes blank.

"You're the only one that's changed. I have not."

"Of course. But that isn't what I meant."

"I know what you meant." He says, softly. "If anything had changed, then I would've forgotten about you. But I didn't. To be honest, you were the highlight of my thoughts in the years that I missed out."

Drugs. I am on drugs. Because there is no freaking way, he is saying these words that his dream self said every night to me after he'd left and turned my world upside down.

"Don't joke, Adam."

"I would never joke about. You might be oblivious but I'm not. I'd rather not be. I still remember the first time I laid eyes on you and was a total goner, remember seeing you walk those corridors, exchanging these shy, kind smiles with me, remember being sweet with everyone even if they were not, remember taking a stand for everyone, even if they didn't deserve it, remember you laughing with your head thrown back, your eyes literally glimmering like you didn't have a care in the world and it was candy to my candy-obsessed eyes. I still remember you getting asked out for prom by this cheeky dude who didn't deserve to be near you, how much it broke my heart. But it wasn't the only instance, love. You completely, utterly kept breaking pieces of my heart every single time you smiled like the angel that you are until you had taken all pieces of my heart under your capture. Until I had nothing to give to you except for my heart."

Uh...

Um....

Words fail me. The only thing my brain registers is: My first love had loved me back for the first time too.