Pink And Fluffy ~(hetero)~

“Come on, ‘Riah, just hold my hand.”

“I can’t, Ray. If I held your hand… It would make it, like, official.”

“No it wouldn’t. It would only become official, when I officially ask you to be my girlfriend.”

“Oooh, I just can’t hold your hand, Ray. It’s too…”

“Too what?”

“Too… Embarrassing.”

“You think holding my hand is embarrassing?”

“At the moment, yes.”

“Well, what’s it going to be like when we are boyfriend and girlfriend, are you still going to think it’s embarrassing to hold my hand?”

Mariah stared down at the ground, and Ray sighed. It had been like this for a few months now. The unbearable flirting, admitting that they like liked each other, and now that it was finally time for them to move their relationship up onto the next level, Mariah kept getting all shy and embarrassed. Needless to say, they weren’t getting very far. If anything, they were going backwards.

As they walked down the street, someone stopped them and asked if they could take a picture. Mariah and Ray agreed, but it meant that they had to be close for the photo. Ray put his arm around Mariah, making Mariah turn a slight shade of pink.

Once the fan had taken his picture, Ray and Mariah continued to walk down the street, a good foot apart from each other.

“‘Riah, this is ridiculous. We’ve been best friends for years, things shouldn’t be this awkward between us,” Ray said reasonably.

“I know that, but… I’ve known you so long that to try and do something that friends wouldn’t do, is just…” Mariah trailed off.

“Is just what?”

“It’s just… I don’t know,” Mariah sighed.

“Strangely, I think I know what you’re trying to say,” Ray smiled.

“That’s good considering I don’t even know what I’m trying to say,” Mariah smiled back.

“Come on, let’s get back to the flat. It looks as though it’s about to rain,” Ray said, glancing at the sky.

----*----

Once back at the flat, they took their coats off, and put them on the radiators to dry. They’d just gotten caught in the start of the rainstorm, but had just made it back in time to miss the heavy rain.

Mariah turned on the T.V., and slumped down onto the couch, cuddling into the mass of cushions. Ray headed into the kitchen, and started making some tea. They shared the flat with Lee as well, and Ray knew that he’d probably be back soon. Trying to get his and Mariah’s relationship to progress with Lee around was pretty much impossible.

Lee had reminded Ray on more than one occasion that if he ever hurt Mariah, or tried to make her do something she wasn’t comfortable with, then Lee would personally remove Ray’s, ahem, family jewels. Ray could understand that, though. Lee was only looking out for his younger sister.

Walking back into the lounge with two cups of tea, Ray smiled at the sight of Mariah lay on the sofa, with her one arm above her head, just like the scene in Titanic where Jack drew Rose. Except, Mariah was less naked.

Ray set the two cups of tea down on the coffee table (hey, who says the coffee table is for coffee only?), and sat down at the opposite end of the sofa, moving Mariah’s feet so he didn’t squash them when he sat down.

“Thank you,” Mariah said, not taking her eyes away from the T.V.

“It’s OK. You look as though you need something to warm you up,” Ray replied. “Come here.”

Mariah looked up then, and looked at Ray with enquiring eyes.

“You’re shivering a bit, and you look cold,” Ray explained.

“The heating’s taking ages to warm up,” Mariah said, looking back at the T.V., “I’ll be OK in a minute.”

“‘Riah, come on. Just cuddle up to me. You’ll be warm, then,” Ray said, letting out a small sigh. She could be so stubborn.

“But… Lee could come back at any second,” Mariah said, looking back at Ray.

“He won’t mind us cuddling, ‘Riah. Please? It’s just a cuddle,” Ray said, trying to look a bit sad.

Mariah sighed and sat up. She shifted closer to Ray, who put his arm around her again, and held her close. Mariah let her head rest on Ray’s shoulder, and decided that she liked being this close to him.

‘Maybe cuddling isn’t so bad, after all,’ Mariah thought, as she tried to cuddle into Ray a bit more.

Ray kissed the top of Mariah’s head, and smiled. He couldn’t see Mariah’s face, but she had blushed a little again when she felt Ray press his lips to her head. But overall, she liked that feeling, too. Maybe she was just being too hesitant with Ray? She’d known him for years, she knew he was a decent guy, and she knew he liked her just as much as she liked him.

“Do you want to hold my hand now?” Ray asked, holding his left hand out to her to hold if she wanted to.

“I don’t know… I mean, cuddling is OK, but…” Mariah replied, staring at Ray’s outstretched hand.

“Holding hands isn’t any worse than cuddling,” Ray said.

“You’re right,” Mariah said.

She gently placed her left hand in Ray’s, and entwined their fingers. Upon feeling Ray grasp her hand back gently, she decided that she liked this feeling, too, and realised that she’d been putting something off that she wrongly thought was going to be bad.

“See? It’s not that bad is it?” Ray asked Mariah, who was staring at their joined hands.

“No… I don’t know why I was so afraid to do this…” Mariah whispered.

“I think you’re just nervous,” Ray mumbled to her, and kissed the top of her head again.

Mariah looked up at the raven-haired blader that she’d known all her life, and she’d never wanted to kiss him more than in that moment. She slowly put her face to his, and just as their lips were about to touch, she pulled back and squealed.

“What was that all about?!” Ray asked, his eyes wide and staring at Mariah in concern.

The pink-obsessed girl had moved a foot away from him again, and looked as though she was in shock, and trying to process what she was about to do.

“I don’t know…” Mariah admitted. “I think I just got freaked out.”

“Well… Do you want to kiss?” Ray asked, tilting his head at Mariah, who was looking down at the floor.

“Yes,” she whispered in reply. “But I’m too scared.”

“Well, we don’t have to today, if you don’t think you’re ready,” Ray said.

“I am ready… It just scares me as soon as it’s about to happen,” Mariah replied, shuffling back to Ray.

Ray wrapped his arms around her waist, and pulled her into a tight embrace. Mariah automatically lifted her arms and put them around Ray’s neck, toying with the long ponytail at the base of his neck.

“Do you truly want to try it now?” Ray mumbled into her ear.

“Yes,” Mariah mumbled back.

Ray pulled away from her, and brushed a few stray strands of hair out of her face. He loved her hair… He always had done, even from a very young age. So pink and fluffy… Just like Mariah herself.

Mariah found herself staring deep into Ray’s eyes, and saw nothing but kindness, hesitancy and sincerity there. She slowly started closing the gap between their faces again, and closed her eyes this time, hoping that she wouldn’t freak out at the last minute.

Ray also started closing the gap, and just when their lips were a centimetre or so away from each other, he made sure one last time that Mariah was 100 ready.

“Are you sure?” he mumbled.

Mariah nodded, and so Ray closed his eyes, too, and pressed his lips right against Mariah’s, softly, but firmly. He didn’t move his lips, he didn’t force his tongue down her throat, he just wanted to give her a simple kiss. Start things off small, and then work up to the more passionate kisses.

After a few moments, both Ray and Mariah pulled away from each other, and looked at each other. Mariah had gone a little pink, again, but looked extremely pleased.

“Want to have another go?” Ray asked, his smile wide.

Mariah nodded, and just as they started moving in towards each other once more, the door slammed open, snapping them out of their trances, and making them jump about a foot away from each other.

“Stupid weather, and it’s stupid rain, and the stupid wind!” Lee moaned loudly as he shut the door and hung his coat up. He turned to see Ray and Mariah looking at him, a bit shocked. “What’s the matter with you two? My God, have you seen it out there! It’s ridiculously stormy, and wet, and I was out in it. You guys could’ve warned me there was a storm coming!”

Lee grumped around for the next five minutes, complaining about anything and everything, especially the weather, and seemed to miss the meaningful glances Ray and Mariah were giving each other.

“Oh, and Ray, you’d better have not tried to make any moves on my sister,” Lee added finally, before stomping into the kitchen.

Ray and Mariah looked at each other, before grinning. Ray beckoned for Mariah to go closer to him, again, and she did this time without any hesitancy. She immediately wrapped her arms around his waist, and buried her head into the crook on his neck, as Ray put his right arm around her. He knew now that things weren’t going to be that awkward.