Oh God… yes…!

It was hard being at my dad’s house. It was already late and I went to the only place I liked in that tiny flat: the balcony. The cold night air calmed me down slightly. If there was one person on Earth that drove me nuts and made me lose all my patients, it was my father. He had the most wonderful way of making me as self conscious as possible, pulling my confidence way down to the floor.

I leaned on the bar and watched as a couple of cars drove by. It was quite cold, and I crossed my arms and sighed. I really wanted to get out of here.

It was a couple of seconds later that I heard someone whistle and I jumped and looked to my right. The fright actually made me cover my mouth with my hand to stifle a scream. It was him!!!

“Hello Layla.” He grinned at me.

“What are you doing here?!” I breathed out and tried not to show how absolutely delighted I was to see him. It had been almost 5 years since I last saw him. He was probably 26 now but looked the same as I remembered. Brian was probably the first real crush I had. I was 14 when I first met him. He was my bad guy – older guy first crush, and I had forgotten how sexy he was. He had that rocker look: hair that was a little too long and dark blond, tattoos on his arms and on his back, wonderfully muscular… he had the hottest face with the best smile you could find.

He breathed in his cigarette and shrugged, still grinning and looking me up and down. Even now, 18 years old and out of school he still had me blushing like my 14 year old self almost 5 years ago.

He looked even better than I remembered. And even as we stood maybe 3 or 4 feet away I could see he was looking at me in a different way.

When I was 14 I had met him a few weeks before the beginning of the summer holidays. As I found out later on, he was 21 and on house arrest, probably because of drugs or something of the sought, but he never went into it. We would sit on our balconies until 3 or 4 in the morning just talking. I remembered he used to make me laugh all the time. And blush. Every other sentence he let out of his mouth would make me go ridiculously red. And when we wouldn’t talk he would play the guitar and I would sit watching as he smoked and played and smiled at me, making my 14 year old self fall for him very painfully…

I leaned on the bar, now in-front of him, and smiled. He was still grinning back, staring.

“You look amazing Layla.” He said finally.

I smiled but said nothing. Like back then, he had come out to the balcony wearing nothing but a pair of old jeans and I was slightly distracted. I had really good taste way back when I was 14…

“So what are you up to now?” he asked and lit another cigarette without taking his eyes off me.

“Oh you know… not much really.”

“Finished school?”

I smiled and nodded as I remembered how he used to tell me how much he regretted not finishing the 11th grade.

“Working?”

Again I nodded. “At a book shop.”

He smiled. “Still reading as much?”

“Oh, much more.” I said and he laughed. I remembered that summer. I had finished a book every 3 days. It was an excuse to sit outside and be with him.

“I thought you moved away.” He said after a short silence.

“I did. I live with my Mum.” I said, and for the first time in 3 years wished I was living with my dad, not with her. “Not very far though.” I added.

Again we were quiet. He was looking at me, now not smiling, but with a thoughtful look on his face. “How old are you now?” he asked finally.

I raised an eyebrow slightly. “18.”

After I said that I felt as though I was shouting to him, ‘I’m legal! You can take me now!’ And of course my cheeks burned…

He nodded and put out his cigarette. “So… are you busy now?”

Oh God… “No.” I said, maybe a little too quickly.

That made him laugh and he stood up straight. “Come over then. No one is here.”

My heartbeat raced. I laughed nervously and took a step back. “It’s almost 1:30am.”

He shrugged. “So?”

So? So nothing. My mind raced and I nodded slightly as I went back in.

Oh God, what was I doing? Brian, Brian who I had the hugest crush on for almost two years… Brian had just asked me over…

I quietly unlocked the door, managed to sneak out without waking up my dad and walked over to his parent’s flat. I knocked on his door and in seconds he opened it.

“Hey Layla.” He smiled.

“Hey Brian.”

He leaned against the door, grinning, still wearing nothing but those worn out jeans. His muscles seemed to scream for my attention as I barely managed to tare my eyes away.

“You’re shorter than I remember.” He said, again looking me up and down.

“And you’re taller.” I smiled. He was probably about 6ft. I was 5’3. I only just passed his shoulder.

“Come on in.” he didn’t move so I just walked passed him. He smelt good and I realized how turned on I was.

He closed the door and we went to sit down in the lounge. On the table in front of us I noticed a bottle of wine with two glasses. Without asking me he poured me a glass and handed it over.

“It’s been almost 5 years hasn’t it?” he asked and leaned back watching me.

I nodded and took quite a large sip, trying to relax.

“So what are you doing now?” I asked him.

“Nothing special.” He carried on. “What are you planning on doing now that you’ve finished school?”

“Well I got into university, planning on becoming a doctor.”

He smiled and I already managed to finish the glass.