An Almost Kiss Scene...

Frankie Mallis, of Frankie Writes, is hosting today's No Kiss Blogfest. (Click the link to find the other blogs participating!)  In her own words:

Totally inspired by Sherrinda, I'd like to announce The No Kiss Blogfest! We'll be posting scenes from our WIPs, favorite books, movies, and tv shows that show the almost kiss-- the rising, crushing, excruciating, longing, tension that comes from when two characters get oh-so-close to kissing that you can just feel it....and then...they don't! 

I had so much fun with Sherrinda's Official Kissing Day Blogfest, (my post is here) that of course I jumped at the opportunity to participate in today's blogfest as well!

I usually only write with past tense POVs. So for today's blogfest, I wrote a new scene and used it as an excuse to push my boundaries of a writer. It's written from two different POVs and it's present tense... (So bear with me, as I've never written this way before!) (And, also, thanks to Shannon for some last minute proofreading!)

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(Abby)

Logan is dead. My brother. He’s gone. I don’t understand.

Last night, he ruffled my hair while we watched a movie. I was annoyed. Annoyed! So I tripped him when he left and he slammed his elbow into the corner of the doorway. It was his turn to be irritated—but only in that “you’re such a pest, but I still love you because you’re my little sister” kind of way. At least we grinned at each other before the door closed... at least there’s that.

When Reed knocks at the door, I open it to let him in. His deep gray eyes are as red rimmed as mine and we stand, for a moment, in silence. He’s Logan’s best friend. His roommate. And he’s the skeleton in my “I secretly love you, always have and always will” closet.

Today though, for the first time, my heart barely jolts at his touch when he puts his arm around me. I duck my face into his neck yearning for the comfort of his scent. As always, he smells of fresh fallen leaves on the morning after a night of rain. But the calm I search for sidesteps me and, instead, my eyes and nose begin to flow again. I sniffle into his skin and am belatedly embarrassed by the thought of what my snot must feel like against his throat.

(Reed)

Her shoulders shake against my chest and her tears fall silently into my neck. I smooth a few strands of hair that huddle against my chin and let my hand rest against her back.

I’m ashamed at what I feel as Abby’s body presses into mine. She’s Logan’s sister—off limits—and now’s not the time.

Because Logan is dead.

As the thought sinks in, I clear my throat to divert tears of my own. Abby shifts at the sound and pulls back just enough to look up at me. I can’t help myself. I cup her cheek and brush away a tear with my thumb.

Her green eyes are bright with sorrow, and yet still they pierce through my resolve. I force myself to look away and my gaze falls to her mouth. Her lips, just slightly parted, tremble as though in battle against tears. Again, shame floods through me at the temptation to close the distance between us. But the need. Oh, the need is there and it’s stronger than the shame. 

My lips graze her forehead… her right cheek… the left corner of her mouth…

Now my lips tremble. Like a magnet, they’re pulled toward hers. I pause—close enough to feel the shape of her mouth in the sliver of air between our faces. But here, in this instant, she takes a shaky breath. Anticipation? Fear? Grief? Whatever the cause, it jolts me back to reality—to the realization of what I’ve almost done.

 I jerk away from her.

“Christ, Abby, I’m sorry.” I run a hand through my hair, hating myself when her eyes fill once more. “This is the last thing you need. I… It won’t happen again.”

I stride to the other side of the room and resist the urge to punch a wall. Out of the corner of my eye, I see her reach out a hand, but by the time I turn to face her again, it’s dropped back to her side and she won’t meet my eyes.

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Thanks for reading!!

On a lighter note, I'll leave you with one of my favorite almost kiss moments... From the MTV awards—I saw it the night it aired, and all I can really say is... SIGH



♥ me