The Red Means I Love You

every word...it's like sunshine basking across her pelt, bathing her in a warm, golden light, effusing her with an excitement so giddy it borders on nausea. the rumble of his voice makes her head spin, and El leans all her weight against him, legs shaking as she sucks in rasping breath after breath. he's thought of her just as much as she's thought of him, has taken a piece of her with him everywhere he went. some of that crushing insecurity - that he'd meet someone he likes better, that he'd forget about the little princess trapped within her borders - melts away like snow on a summer breeze. in its place, a sweet ache that fills her up from head to toe, pulsing in time with her heartbeat. she wants this boy. the thought hits her like a physical weight, and she's certain her longing must be clear on her face.

oh, stars, does she want this boy, wants him so fiercely she trembles with it. "Red..." El's voice is rough, and she clears her throat with an embarrassed little ah-hem. "i don't...i don't want to be apart anymore. i wanna go where you go. because..." it shouldn't be this easy, baring her soul to another so plainly. but she trusts Red down to her bone marrow. "you feel like home to me." is that corny? who cares. El's stomach does about a million little flips as she stares into Red's face, committing every miniscule detail to memory. she meant it when she said she wanted to stay close. in this moment, she wants to rend her heart open and braid the arteries together, merge their veins so that he's a part of her forever. stamp him into her flesh the way he's been stamped into her soul. she can't, like, say those things though - it might come off as a bit clingy. so instead, she does the next logical thing:

she lifts her chin, plants a paw on Red's cheek, and tries to guide his lips to hers.