Perpetual Bliss
"Mickie! You're not going to believe this," Bayley squeaked, running up to her friend and sometimes confidante, Mickie James. "I would tell Sasha but I can't find her and I need help!"
"What?" Mickie asked, turning to face Bayley. "Fire, flood or blood?"
"Worse!" Bayley exclaimed, gripping Mickie by the forearm. "Come with me." She dragged Mickie over to a quiet corner. "I almost kissed Elias." She blurted it out, afraid that if she held back anymore she wouldn't say it.
"You did what to who for how many cookies?" Mickie retorted. "You're speaking too fast, Sugar."
Bayley inhaled and exhaled, doing her best to calm her breathing. This situation was so outside of the realm of normal for her. She was the one the guys always saw as the little sister. She wasn't the kind of girly girl that guys wanted to date.
"We were practicing because I really want to get this guitar figured out. He put my hands over mine to help show me the fingering because I couldn't get it. Before I knew what was going on, we were about to kiss!" Bayley said, playing with her bracelet. She fidgeted around as she continued to speak. "I panicked so before we could do anything, I ran."
"You ran?" Mickie asked, cocking her head. "The grumpiest guy on the roster tries to kiss you and you run?" She burst into peals of laughter. "Okay, I'm sorry, Bay. I don't mean to laugh but I just can't believe..."
"Me neither! We have another lesson tonight. What the heck am I gonna do?" Bayley asked. She nervously drummed her fingers against the table. "I don't want to ruin the chemistry of this match!"
"Chemistry? Bay, you don't have chemistry. That's why you wanted to learn the guitar and why you insisted on learning from him. You know I offered to teach you!" Mickie slammed her hand on the table to accentuate her point.
Bayley turned bright red as catering went quiet and turned to stare at them. She coughed awkwardly until everyone slowly became absorbed in their conversations again. Once the room was sufficiently noisy, she turned back to Mickie, her eyes pleading for help.
"You're just going to have to kiss him. Do you want to? I mean- don't do it if you don't want to...obviously," Mickie said, staring at her fingernails.
That was a question that Bayley had never considered. What did she think of the grumpy musician? Ever since they'd been paired together, she'd started to develop butterflies in her stomach whenever they were around each other. As much as he pretended to not like her, he was finding more and more excuses to be around her. Clearly, there was something there even if they didn't know what.
"Scary response, Mick? I think I do. Don't ask me where it came from or why. He's not even my type!" Bayley sighed, staring at the tabletop. She sped up her drumming. "How did this happen?"
"I learned to stop asking when it comes to the situations you get in. Remember when you asked me to help you because you'd accidentally kidnapped the waitress?"
Bayley stared down at the outfit Mickie had insisted she wear. It was simple but still 'payed attention to her feminine charms'. Those were Mickie's words. She wore a white v-neck t-shirt, dark wash denim jeans with holes placed strategically and black Doc Martens. It's not something Bayley would normally wear but she thought Mickie might know better for situations like this.
"Hey, about last night-" Elias spoke as he walked into the room. As he came into her view, she couldn't help but notice the way he stopped mid-sentence and glanced up and down, taking her outfit in. "You're beautiful."
"Thanks?" Bayley replied uncertainly. She played with the French braid that Mickie had put in. "Trying something new. Mickie said-" She was cut off by Elias coming closer to her. "I mean-she..." She looked surprised as he pressed one finger to her lips.
"I believe we have some unfinished business from last night?" Elias asked, pulling Bayley into a tight embrace. Bayley surprised herself by melting into Elias' touch. She was so used to being the hugger that she didn't how to respond to being the hugged.
"Yeah, you were going to help me with that chord?" Bayley knew what he was talking about but she wanted to see where the conversation went before going any deeper.
"There's that and the other thing?" Elias gently caressed her cheek. "Remember last night?" He leaned down, angling her head up. "Please tell me you want this."
Bayley surprised herself by nodding. This wasn't what she had expected to happen but she had known it was a possibility.
There were worse people to kiss than a grumpy musician. Besides, who knew where it might lead? What if her prince wasn't a prince but a man with a guitar?
He pressed his lips to hers in the faintest kiss. She marveled in the softness and the taste of the cherry chapstick. She never would have pegged him as a cherry guy. He seemed way more honey or mint. She found herself pressing back, enjoying the taste of the chapstick and the feel of his lips on hers.
"Wow," she whispered, pulling away. The corners of her mouth turned in the slightest smirk. "That was...wow."
"Yes," Elias said, grinning. "Now about that F chord..."