CHAPTER 5
1401 Words
Chapter 5: The Fire Between Us
Clara POV
Sunday dinner at the Carter house is always the same. Big table. Fancy food. Lily's parents ask about work and life and when I'm going to find a nice man.
Today feels different. Dangerous.
Oliver sits across from me, cutting his steak like nothing happened. Like he didn't tell me he loves me. Like my world didn't flip upside down.
"Clara, dear," Mrs. Carter says, "you look lovely today. That dress is beautiful."
"Thank you." I smooth the blue fabric. I wore it because it's Lily's favorite. Because I'm trying to be a good friend.
Not because Oliver's eyes turn darker when he sees me in blue.
"Doesn't she look beautiful, Oliver?" his mother asks.
Oliver looks up. Our eyes meet for half a second. "Very beautiful."
The words are simple. Normal. But the way he says them makes my skin burn.
"Oliver thinks everyone looks beautiful," Lily laughs. "He's too nice."
If only she knew. If only she could see the heat in his gaze. The way his hands grip his fork like he's trying not to reach for me.
"Actually," Mr. Carter says, "I think my son has very good taste."
Oliver's jaw tightens. "Can we talk about something else?"
"Like what?" Lily asks.
"Anything else."
The conversation moves to work and weather and safe things. But I can feel Oliver watching me. Every time I reach for my water glass. Every time I laugh at something his father says.
My phone buzzes. A text under the table.
From Oliver: *Meet me upstairs in five minutes.*
My heart hammers. I type back: *No.*
*Please.*
*Too dangerous.*
*I don't care.*
I look at him. He's staring at his plate, but his leg brushes mine under the table. Just for a second. But it sets me on fire.
"Excuse me," I say, standing up. "I need to use the bathroom."
"Down the hall," Mrs. Carter says. "You know where it is."
I do know. I've been coming here for three years. But today, my feet carry me upstairs instead.
I'm standing in the hallway, trying to breathe, when a hand grabs my wrist.
Oliver pulls me into the coat closet and shuts the door behind us.
"What are you doing?" I whisper.
"What I should have done days ago."
The closet is dark and small. I can feel his body heat. Smell his cologne. My back is against the wall and he's so close I can barely breathe.
"Your family is downstairs."
"I know."
"Lily is downstairs."
"I know that too."
"This is crazy."
"Probably." His hand touches my face in the darkness. "But I can't stop thinking about you."
"Oliver."
"I can't eat. Can't sleep. Can't focus on anything but you."
His thumb traces my lip. I should push him away. Should run back downstairs and pretend this never happened.
Instead, I lean into his touch.
"This is wrong," I whisper.
"Does it feel wrong?"
It doesn't. It feels like coming home. Like finding something I didn't know I was looking for.
"No," I admit.
"Then stop fighting it."
His mouth finds mine in the dark. The kiss is desperate. Hungry. Like he's been starving and I'm the only thing that can save him.
I kiss him back just as desperately. My hands fist in his shirt, pulling him closer. There's no space between us. No air. Just heat and want and this terrible, wonderful need.
"Clara," he groans against my lips.
The sound of my name in his voice breaks something inside me. All my walls. All my careful control.
"We can't," I gasp, even as my hands slide under his shirt.
"We can't stop," he says, and his mouth moves to my neck.
He's right. We can't stop. This thing between us is too big. Too strong. It's going to consume us both.
His hands find the hem of my dress. Slide up my thighs. I bite my lip to keep from making a sound.
"You're so beautiful," he whispers. "So perfect."
"I'm not perfect."
"You are to me."
The words undo me completely. I pull his mouth back to mine and kiss him like I'm drowning. Like he's the only thing keeping me alive.
We're lost in each other. At this moment. In the fire that's been building between us for three years.
Then footsteps in the hallway.
We freeze. Hearts pounding. Breathing hard.
"Clara?" Lily's voice. "Are you up here?"
Oliver's hand covers my mouth. Not hard. Just gentle pressure to keep me quiet.
"I'm fine," I called out. My voice sounds strange. Breathless. "Just looking for... um... the other bathroom."
"It's the third door on the right."
"Thanks."
We wait. Listening. The footsteps move away.
"That was close," Oliver whispers.
Too close. If she had opened this door...
"I have to go back down," I say.
"Not yet."
"Oliver."
"Look at me." His hands frame my face in the darkness. "Really look at me."
I do. Even in the dim light, I can see the intensity in his eyes. The need. The love he keeps talking about.
"I meant what I said," he tells me. "I love you, Clara. Not just want you. Love you."
My heart cracks open. "You can't."
"I do."
"This will destroy everything."
"Or it will save everything." His forehead touches mine. "Give us a chance. Please."
"What about Lily?"
"We'll figure it out."
"What about the person who's been texting me?"
"We'll figure that out too."
He makes it sound so simple. Like love is enough to fix everything.
Maybe it is.
"I'm scared," I whisper.
"So am I."
"What if we lose everything?"
"What if we don't?"
I stare at him. This man who's been patient for three years. Who's been waiting for me to be ready.
"Okay," I hear myself say.
"Okay?"
"Okay, we'll try. We'll figure it out."
The smile that spreads across his face is like sunrise. Beautiful and warm and full of promise.
He kisses me again. Soft this time. Sweet. Like he's sealing a promise.
"I should go back down first," I say.
"Give me two minutes. Then I'll follow."
I smooth my dress. Try to fix my hair. Try to look like I haven't been making out with my best friend's brother in a closet.
"Clara?"
"Yeah?"
"I love you too."
The words slip out before I can stop them. But they're true. Somewhere between the fear and the guilt and the desperate wanting, I fell in love with him too.
His smile could light up the whole house.
I slip out of the closet and back downstairs. My legs are shaky. My heart is flying.
"There you are," Lily says when I sit back down. "I was starting to worry."
"Sorry. Got a little lost."
"In a house you've been visiting for three years?" She laughs. "You're so silly."
If only she knew how lost I really am.
Oliver comes back two minutes later. He slides into his chair like nothing happened. But when he looks at me, there's something new in his eyes. Something that makes my stomach flip.
Hope.
We made a choice. A dangerous, impossible choice. But we made it together.
Dinner continues. Normal conversation. Normal family stuff. But everything feels different now. Electric. Like the air before a storm.
My phone buzzes again. I check it under the table.
Another message from Jackson: *I know you're seeing someone new. We need to talk. Tonight.*
My blood turns cold. How does he know? How could he possibly know?
I look up and catch Oliver watching me. He sees the fear in my face. The confusion.
But before either of us can react, Lily's phone rings.
She answers it with a frown. "Hello?"
Her face goes white. Then red. Then something I've never seen before.
Fury.
"What do you mean?" she says into the phone. Her voice is sharp. Dangerous.
Everyone at the table stops eating. Stop talking. We all stare at her.
"I see," she says finally. "Thank you for telling me."
She hangs up. Look around the table. Her eyes land on me. Then Oliver. Then back to me.
"That was interesting," she says. Her voice is calm. Too calm.
"What was it, dear?" her mother asks.
Lily's smile is as cold as winter. "Someone just told me the most fascinating story about my best friend. And my brother.”
- Writer
