Words Without Words

Samantha and Van walked up to her door, both looked forward, saying nothing. Both felt as if they had shared enough at dinner to warrant the silence that now enveloped them, it was almost peaceful as if they had the type of relationship where silence was more of an honor than a reason to worry or freak out. It made her feel slightly uncomfortable, it didn't seem right that she should have a connection like this with a guy she had just met, let alone one that she felt as though she should hate. There was nothing in her that would allow her to hate her companion though, he was just as hurt and scarred as she was.

Once they reached her door, they looked each other in the eyes, both wanting to say something and neither being able to find the right words to say. Sam brushed her blonde hair from her face and watched as Van twiddled his fingers, intertwining them and breaking them apart again. While she waited to see if he would break the silence, she began her own unconscious habit of twirling her hair between her fingers. It was something she had done since she could remember, a way of making her feel better even if it made no sense to anyone else. It was her guess that Van's habit was the same, he must have done it for years. It was the one thing that had not been discussed at dinner.

She surveyed him as she did when they had first met in the restaurant, he was taller than her but only by a few inches, and while he was broad shouldered, he was not as built as her beloved boyfriend Ryan. Guilt washed over her as she thought of Ryan, he was overseas fighting a war and here she was, connecting with another guy. A guy who under different circumstances would have definitely held her attention, a guy who had a beautiful soul, which matched his gorgeous exterior.

Fighting back the tears that felt as if they were about form in her eyes, she turned to open the door. She needed to get inside, she needed to get away from these thoughts that would make her betray the man she loved. There was no way she would do anything to hurt Ryan, he was sacrificing everything for her and here she was in this situation, having dinner with another guy. Her best friend, Jeff's words rang in her ears, when he was trying to convince her to go on this date. “Ryan would want you to eat, and he knows how much you love him and that you would never betray him. Worst case just tell him that your dad made you go,”

Her father, the man who should always protect her had arranged for her to marry a Senators son to make sure he got a lucrative military contract. It infuriated her and they had been warring ever since, placing her mother in the middle of their very heated arguments. Jeff was right, her dad was to blame for everything and when she got in she would let him have it. He had no right to place her in a situation where she would feel as if she were betraying the man she loved, the man whose ring she was wearing.

Van grabbed her shoulder, and turned her around to face him. His eyes were as blue as hers, but while hers twinkled, his were more intriguing. At once they offered a glimpse into his mind, what he was thinking and at the same time they kept people out, making them uncomfortable because of the sadness they exuded. Sadness that was caused by his girlfriend abruptly breaking up with him and dying shortly after that. He had told her that he believed she had dumped him to protect him, to release him from the responsibility of grieving for her. If that had been her mission then she had clearly failed, not that Sam blamed him, if anything happened to Ryan there would be nothing that could console her.

His face moved towards her, lips slightly puckered. She stood in place frozen, she knew she should move to yell at him but there was a part of her that was curious, that really wanted to kiss this man back. There was a connection between them, there was no way she would deny that but nothing could come of it except friendship. That was all she had to offer, her heart was taken by someone else, and Van knew that. Maybe he was just going to peck her on the cheek, or even the lips and say goodbye. Not every kiss was romantic, she reasoned. A smooch was nothing more than a symbol of affection, and she held affection for a number of people in her life, and since they had bonded during dinner, van was feeling affection for her, nothing more. She felt silly for having thought that anything more was going to happen.

His soft lips grazed hers, leaving her head swimming and her knees weak. Falling into him, he caught her and smiled. Their eyes locked and neither dared break the look, not that they wanted to. Slowly they moved their heads together again. Samantha parted her lips slightly as Van pressed his against her softly. Her hands moved up to his hair tussling it, mussing it, she found herself wanting to twirl his hair around her fingers. He brought her body closer to his, arms wrapped around her tighter.

He gently inserted his tongue into her mouth, she accepted it gladly. It felt right, it felt as if this were the right thing for her, at least in the moment. Van was gentlemanly about all of his movements, not asking but pausing every so often to make sure it was the right thing for him to be doing. When they pulled away from the kiss, Van left without saying goodbye.

Word Count 1000