Flame and Leah

Leah closed the front door of her house behind her and dropped her messenger bag next to the table in the hall. “Hey, I’m back. Anyone home?” she called, looking up the staircase.

“We’re in here, honey,” Leah heard her mother call from the kitchen. She tried in vein to wipe the tremendous smile from her face, but she was just in too good a mood.

“Hello-o,” she sang to her parents, going over to where her father was sitting at the kitchen table going over paperwork. He was a lawyer, and often brought home work on the weekends. She kissed him lightly on the top of his head, where his hair dark hair was thinning just a little. She walked over to her mother, who was reading a newspaper and drinking a cup of coffee at the breakfast bar, and gave her a quick squeeze before going to the fridge to get something to drink.

“Well, you’re in a good mood,” Leah’s mother smiled at her and slipped a piece of fine blond hair behind her ear, as Leah poured a glass of lemonade. “Did you have fun at Callie’s?”

Leah cringed a little, feeling guilty about lying to her parents. “Yeah, uh… we had a, um, great night,” she said uncomfortably. She concentrated on her drink, taking a long sip before continuing. “Movies and, um, ice cream and… and girly stuff, you know.”

“Well, good, I’m glad to hear it,” her mother said, not noticing Leah’s averted eyes. She looked back down at her newspaper.

“Well,” Leah said, glancing between her parents once more and pausing to see if they had anything else to say to her. “I’m going to head upstairs… to study.”

Walking into her bedroom, Leah headed straight towards the full-length mirror in the corner. She looked at herself, studying her face, her posture, even turning around in a circle and examining the way her loose army pants and small black t-shirt looked on her from every angle. She had expected her parents to suspect something, but they hadn’t, except to comment on her good mood. And the reason they hadn’t was because she didn’t look any different.

Leah bit her lip, trying to see if there was any physical difference, but to no avail. But then she caught her eyes in her reflection and smiled. There was a difference; it was just that it wasn’t something you could see in a mirror. There was a glimmer in her eyes, a spark that hadn’t been there before. She was changed, and in a good way. Thinking of how Flame had been acting that morning while having coffee with her made her giggle at the memory.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” he had asked at least half a dozen times. They were seated at a small table in the corner of a crowded artsy-styled coffee shop, surrounded by dozens of strangers, but Flame couldn’t concentrate on anyone but Leah. “I mean,” he lowered his voice a little and leaned in towards her, his dark blue eyes filled with concern. “Do you feel okay? Did I… did I do anything to hurt you… last night or today?”

Leah had smiled affectionately at him and reached over to touch his hand gently. She had told him over and over that she was okay, but he was still anxious. Finally she took one of his hands, looked him in the eye, and said, “Stop it. I’m fine. I’m, I’m better than fine. I feel wonderful.”

Flame studied her face for a moment and smiled, finally believing her. “I’m so glad,” he said, squeezing her hand. “I just love you so much.” He leaned across the table to give Leah a light kiss on the lips. “I just really love you,” he repeated.

The phone rang, breaking Leah’s thoughts and she picked it up. “So you guys finally did it?” Leah heard Callie squeal into the phone.

Leah walked over to close her bedroom door, and took a seat on her unmade bed before responding. “Tell Chuck he’s dead,” Leah replied, but she was smiling. After having seen Chuck earlier that morning, Leah had known he would tell Callie.

“So,” Callie demanded impatiently. “How was it?”

Leah twisted around until she was lying on her back, resting her feet on the headboard and staring at the ceiling. “It was great,” she said with a sigh.

“You’re lying,” Callie said flatly. “No one’s first time is great. It’s awkward and uncomfortable and generally just something you need to get through.”

Leah smiled. “No, you’re right. It was uncomfortable, physically, in the beginning, or truthfully, throughout most of it. But it was also great. He was so gentle and sweet, and so worried about hurting me.” Leah felt a lump form in her throat, but she knew Callie couldn’t stand much more sentimentality, so changed her angle. “But that was last night,” she said. “Then he was more aggressive this morning in the shower, and it felt better for me, too.”

“You did it twice?” Callie said, with true surprise in her voice. “I didn’t want to have sex ever again after my first time. Actually, I waited another six months before I did it again. Then again, I was only fourteen. Besides, that guy was way big, so maybe that was the problem…”

Leah heard a knock at the front door as she listened to Callie go on about her early sex life. A few moments later, she heard he father call from downstairs to her. “Leah, Flame’s here.”

“Oh, God, Callie, I’m sorry, but I have to go,” Leah interrupted her friend. “Flame’s here.”

Callie was once again surprised. “Didn’t you guys, like, just have coffee?” She pondered this for a moment before adding. “Ok, but call me later.”

“I will,” Leah promised. She hung up the phone and ran downstairs.

Flame was in the kitchen with Leah’s parents, and they were obviously talking about his record contract. Leah listened for a few moments outside the room, appreciating how nice her parents were to Flame and how genuinely interested they seemed to be in what he was saying.

“Hey,” she bopped in the room and gave Flame a quick kiss on the cheek. She knew her cheeks were burning with a blush from being in front of her parents with Flame just hours after they’d had sex, but she couldn’t help it. “Um, want to come into the family room?”

“Yeah, sure,” Flame smiled at her. “It was good to talk to you,” he said to her parents. “And thanks for the words of encouragement.”

Leah’s parents smiled at Flame and nodded. They had never cared what Leah’s friends looked like as long as they were good kids. And over the last few months, Flame had shown that he was completely smitten with Leah and wouldn’t do anything to hurt her. That’s all they cared about. They looked at each other and headed back to their respective seats in the kitchen.

Leah and Flame took a seat in the family room, and Leah turned on the television to try to make it more difficult for her parents to hear the conversation. “So what are you doing here?” she asked, her eyes bright. “I just left you,” she added in a whisper.

Flame surprised Leah by reaching behind her neck and pulling her to him, kissing her deeply. He never did this in her parents’ house, but Leah couldn’t think about that just then. She was too caught up in the passion of the kiss.

“I’m sorry,” he said, his cheeks turning a little pink as he pulled away from her. “I’m sorry if you wanted to be alone, but I just had to give you something. I bought this for your birthday, but I don’t think I can wait another month and a half. I want you to have it now.” He handed her a small gold box.

Leah took the box and looked at Flame’s face. He was so excited. “Thank you,” she said, touched by his enthusiasm. She opened the box and found a beautiful silver necklace in the shape of the infinity symbol. Her eyes glazed over with tears as she gingerly picked it up and examined it. “God, Flame, it’s beautiful.”

Flame smiled a relieved grin. “You really like it?” he asked, and smiled wider when she nodded. “I wanted to give you something to remind you that I’m always going to be here for you. I’m always, always going love you.”

Afraid that her tears would spill if she tried to talk right away, Leah looked at the necklace again. It was beautiful, and its meaning was even more lovely. She looked at him finally and said, “Thank you so much, Flame. Will you put it on me?” She handed the necklace to Flame and turned around in her seat.

Leah had pulled her dark hair off her neck, and Flame noticed how much it had grown since he had first met her. It was now skimming her shoulders. He carefully clasped the necklace, making sure it was closed properly, and kissed Leah’s shoulder lightly, eliciting a giggle from Leah.

“So,” Flame said as Leah looked down at the charm and quietly fingered it. “Can I take you to dinner tonight?”

“No, Flame,” Leah immediately refused. “You don’t have to do that. It’s too much. Being so worried, coming over here, giving me this necklace… it’s, it’s too much.”

Smiling with that cocky grin that had won Leah’s heart on that first night they met, Flame shook his head. “No, it’s not too much. It’s just enough. I’ll come by at six to pick you up.”

Lowering her voice to a whisper, Leah leaned in towards Flame’s ear. “But I can’t… afterward… I can’t stay the night or anything.” Flame looked her in the eyes and shook his head. He couldn’t believe that she thought that was why he wanted to take her out – to get more sex.

“Leah,” he whispered back. “I don’t care about that. Don’t get me wrong, I am so happy about… you know,” he glanced over towards the family room door, as if he were afraid Leah’s parents would barge in at any moment. “I am happy about it, but if you decided you didn’t want to do it again for a while, I’d still want to take you to dinner… I’d still want you to have this necklace… I’d still love you, silly.”

Beaming at him, her eyes shimmering with more tears, Leah leaned over and gave Flame a big hug. “Pick me up at six, then,” she told him. “And by the way,” she added in a whisper, “If you didn’t want to do it again for a while… I’d dump your ass.”

Flame looked at Leah and cracked up. He was so lucky to have her.