Close Your Eyes
By Renay Walker
Author's Notes & Disclaimer
Author's Notes: This is the sequel to my story 'Crash.' However, while 'Crash' is NC-17, this one is really more of a PG-story. (Everyone may gasp in surprise). It is also a stand-alone story which doesn't require that you've read 'Crash' which is a good thing, I guess.
Teaser/Summary (Warning: I really suck at these): Adam and Ami share a moment.
Disclaimer: They don't belong to me. If they did, the show would still be on television. The characters of Adam Newman and Ami Jackson and Megabyte Damon and Jade Weston (who appear in name only) do not belong to me. They are the property of Roger Damon Price, Thames/Tetra Television, Nickelodeon, etc. They are used here without permission, but I'm not making a single red penny (or green dollar) off of any of this.
Feedback: Send it angstqueen@hotmail.com
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"You're awfully quiet," Adam nudged Ami lightly with his elbow as they moved along with the ebbing crowd that flowed from the movie theatre. "What did you think of the movie? I'm not used to not having an instant Ami Jackson review."
Ami gave her companion a quick glance, checking to see if he really wanted an opinion or whether he was going to go into one of his rare moments of Adam style teasing and banter. His dark eyes were intense, however, the question hanging there and as she met and held his gaze, he quirked an inquisitive eyebrow. Satisfied that he wasn't simply baiting her, Ami spoke up, voicing the thoughts that had been plaguing her since the closing credits began rolling up the screen. "It was good, but it kind of disturbed me."
She was proud that her voice didn't quiver, proud that she was learning to hide her feelings for Adam Newman. As always, her heart skipped and her breath caught when she held that chocolate eyed gaze for too long; and as always she had to count to five and remind herself that this was Adam, one of her best friends, who never had been and never would be anything more.
"Disturbed you?"
Again Ami had to check Adam's face to see if any mirth or laughter was hidden there before answering. His teasing was no where near as harsh or mean spirited as Megabyte's could sometimes be, but he could tease just as well as Megabyte any day of the week. "Well, it just seemed as though the movie was saying that all teenagers are simple minded, shallow, out of control and ruled by their hormones."
"Aren't they?"
"I'm not! I've never even had s-" Ami faltered in her steps, turning to face the other Tomorrow Person and stopped speaking almost at once. A slow, lazy smile was turning up the corners of Adam's mouth and his dark eyes twinkled. She had walked right into that one. Taking a deep breath, she made a point of exaggeratedly rolling her eyes, grateful that she hadn't finished her sentence. "Anyway, I've seen the movie before. Only it was called Dangerous Liaisons.
"So, what did you think of the movie?"
The movie in question was the theatrical release of Cruel Intentions, a modern day aimed at teens version of the French novel Les Liaisons Danguereses. Normally, Ami and Adam would have been sharing this outing with their fellow Tomorrow People as well, but Megabyte was actually spending the weekend with his father, and Jade was grounded for a shopping escapade that she was too embarrassed to discuss with them.
Adam shrugged. "I liked Michelle Pfeiffer and John Malkovich better, but I enjoyed it. And it wasn't about teenagers and their out of control hormones. It was about manipulation and revenge and justice - or did you miss all that?"
Ami gave him a glare that she normally reserved for the likes of Megabyte. "I got that part. Good wins over evil, true love conquers all, blah blah blah. Yes, I got it."
Adam nudged her again, actually he shoved her playfully. "And I thought that Megabyte was the cynic."
"I'm not a cynic but -" Ami stopped and shook her head, realizing that she was falling for Adam's baiting yet again. "You're really terrible sometimes, Adam."
The eldest Tomorrow Person laughed softly. "Sorry, I can't help myself. You just get so fired up, I can't help but encourage you." She felt him tug playfully on one of her braids and her mouth turned up into a smile. Ami could handle being just friends with Adam; he was a good friend and his affection ran deep. And she lived for these moments when he actually showed it.
"So, let me guess. You're saving yourself for marriage?"
Ami didn't know what surprised her more, the fact that Adam actually asked the question or the fact that he asked it with such a straight face that she hadn't a clue of whether or not he'd become serious or was simply teasing her yet again. Even so, she felt her face flush with warm and she looked immediately away, shoving her hands deep into the pockets of her overalls. Even more surprising was the fact that she heard herself answering the question. "Maybe. Yes. No. I don't know, I never really thought about it."
Okay, maybe answering the question wasn't the proper description. Spewing nonsense was a better description.
"Never?"
"I don't spend a lot of time thinking about it, Adam. I mean it's not exactly like -" Ami stopped and risked a glance at him, hoping to find that teasing smile dancing on his lips. It wasn't. Rather he was watching her, the scrutiny on his face almost unnerving in its intensity. Ami felt the familiar catch in her chest and willed her heart to slow its frantic pace. She hated it when he looked at her like that. She hated it because if she let her imagination wander for long enough and far enough she could almost imagine that the gaze precluded more than platonic interest.
Almost.
"Are you saving yourself for marriage?" Ami turned the tables on him, hoping he didn't notice the slight breathiness of her voice.
Adam blinked in genuine surprise at her question. For a moment, Ami thought that she had gained the upper hand and that he wouldn't answer, but Adam pulled one of his characteristic surprises. His eyes were clear, and his gaze never wavered as he answered in a soft, reflective voice. "No, I didn't."
It was Ami's turn to blink. When had their fun night out turned into such a study in seriousness? "Why are we talking about this, Adam?"
"Why not?"
"That isn't an answer."
"Sure it is."
"You don't answer a question with a question." Ami smacked him lightly on the arm in frustration. Sometimes Adam could be as infuriating as Megabyte, only he came by it in a much more charming way.
Charmingly infuriating. You really do have it bad, girl, Ami chastised herself.
"Who says?" Adam challenged, laughter again in his eyes.
Ami smacked him again for good measure and began walking again. "Sometimes, I really don't like you."
"Now, you're being mean, Ami." She felt the tug on her braids again, followed by the gentle tug on the back of her coveralls. Although she did a good job of feigning annoyance and indifference, she allowed her forward momentum to be stopped and waited for Adam to fall into step beside her. The firm touch of his arm around her shoulder as he pulled her close to his side made her entire body tingle. It was so unfair. He didn't even know what he was doing to her - or if he did he was very good at hiding it. "What would you say if I told you that you were hurting my feelings?"
Folding her arms across her chest, Ami shrugged. "I probably wouldn't believe you. Or maybe I would say that you deserved it."
"And you'd probably be right."
His words made her laugh in spite of herself, and she shoved her elbow into his ribcage. They walked like that for a while, a comfortable silence between them. Ami leaned contentedly against Adam, both of them absorbed in their own thoughts. The sound of her own voice was actually startling to her as it broke into the stillness of the night surrounding them.
"I guess I just don't get it," Ami said thoughtfully. "Maybe because I haven't been there yet."
"What is it that you don't get?"
Ami turned her head to meet the curiosity in his eyes. She should have been embarrassed. Any other time and any other place and she would have been. But at this particular moment, there didn't seem to be anything to be embarrassed about. "Sex."
"I thought we weren't talking about this."
"I know, I said that didn't I?"
Adam nodded.
"Right."
They lapsed into silence again, walking onwards. An unusual occurrence, Ami now realized. Normally, after a movie, they would all gather together for pizza or coffee and then go their separate ways, teleporting to their homes. But not tonight. No, tonight the subject of pizza or coffee never even arose, but neither did the need to teleport to opposite ends of the earth. Rather, by some unspoken agreement, Ami had begun to walk home and Adam had chosen to accompany her. Sometimes Ami wondered how deeply the telepathic links between the Tomorrow People went; the links that ruled them, the ones that they weren't even aware of.
Better not to think about that right now. Not when she walked so closely to Adam she could feel the heat of his body, not when his arm rested across her shoulder like it belonged there. There were certain thoughts that were best left alone lest they be detected. Like the fact that she liked Adam's arm where it was, that she liked stealing the occasional glimpse at his profile as they walked along. And it certainly shouldn't be known that she was sorely tempted to simply kiss his cheek and let the pieces fall where they would. She wouldn't of course - she didn't have that much bravery or courage in her little toe let alone her whole body - but it made for a pleasant fantasy.
Even if a fantasy was all that it was or could ever be. She could fantasize about kissing Adam Newman until the sun went dwarf and the earth stopped spinning, but it would never be anymore than that. And in her fantasies those kisses were always perfect, not the wet mouthed attack that had been her first - and last - kiss at the age of fourteen.
Seventeen years old and never been kissed. Pretty pathetic, Ami.
"What exactly don't you get?"
It took a moment for Ami to hear and grasp Adam's words as he pulled her from her thoughts. He was picking up the thread of conversation that she thought they had left behind.
"I don't understand what the big deal is," Ami replied without hesitation, again wondering why tonight of all nights she seemed willing to say things she would have never said otherwise. "It's like the world revolves around sex, and I don't get it. I admit that I've never had it - I mean, I really shouldn't be talking, I've never even been to first base but - what?"
Adam had ceased walking halfway through her monologue and was now staring at her with a mixture of amusement and disbelief painted on his face. If he was going to start baiting her again, she probably would just teleport home and leave him standing there. Enough was enough.
"What?" Ami demanded again when he didn't answer her immediately.
His head tilted slightly, doubt evident in his voice. "Never?"
Again, it took a moment for Ami to follow the thread of the conversation that they were having. At first she thought that Adam was questioning her virginity, but then she realized that he hadn't stopped to focus on her until she started babbling about first base. She looked away, her arms folded across her chest, suddenly uneasy with his scrutiny. "Once, okay. I was fourteen and his name was Brian Austere."
"Your boyfriend?" There was a hint of teasing this time, but not the malicious sort. Rather it was the sort that most people always received when speaking of their first loves and childhood crushes.
Ami actually gave a weak laugh and shook her head. "No. Not that I didn't wish it. I liked him a lot. A lot. And we were at a party and we were playing truth or dare and -" Ami shrugged, letting the rest remain unsaid.
"And that's it?"
Remembering the wet feeling of Brian's kiss and the absolute invasion of his tongue into her mouth, Ami actually shuddered and met Adam's curious gaze. "It was gross Adam. It was wet and I think I can live without having a tongue shoved down my throat."
Adam actually laughed. "I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that Brian Austere probably was doing everything wrong. It's not supposed to leave you scarred for life."
"I guess I'll just have to take your word for it."
"No, you don't." Again came that look, the darkly intense one that made her heart alternately skip and race and her stomach do tiny flip-flops. It was gone almost as quickly as it appeared, and if Ami hadn't seen it a million times, she might have imagined that she saw anything at all. But the look faded, replaced by Adam's good humor as he gripped her hand and pulled her gently towards him. "Close your eyes."
"What?" Ami stared at him, not even attempting to hide her confusion. She wondered what turn in the conversation she had missed.
"Do you trust me, Ami?"
"Yes, you know I do, I -"
"Then. Close. Your. Eyes."
Something in his voice made her obey without any further question. Eyes closed, she stood in darkness, her curiosity piqued. For half a heartbeat, she was tempted to brush Adam's mind, to find out what the other was up to, but she knew that was rude. And somehow, she knew what his intentions were the moment she felt his fingers tenderly stroke her cheek, traveling downwards to tilt her face gently upwards. When he spoke again, his voice was a whisper, his breath warm on her face. "Wet your lips."
If she had any doubts in her mind, they were banished as she obeyed yet again without question. Adam Newman was going to kiss her. Right there on the very public sidewalk and apparently he didn't mind at all. The anticipation was almost more than she could bear. Ami thought she would explode from that alone.
No, she realized belatedly as his lips touched hers, his kiss was almost more than she could bear.
The moment his mouth connected with hers, she felt the entire world ground to a complete halt. Ami swore that for one moment her heart ceased to beat, her lungs ceased to draw air and every single nerve in her body tingled in the same precise instance. Then the world began again, her heart began to beat again and of their own accord, her lips parted to receive his kiss, her mind recording the taste and feel of Adam's lips. She tasted popcorn and cola from the movie, but more than that, she tasted something distinctly different - distinctly Adam. Ami didn't even flinch as his tongue slid past her lips and teeth, easing its way into her mouth. His tongue teased hers, rubbing against it, and each brush sent a new tingle through her body. Her entire body trembled, her legs shaking and Ami knew that she would have lost her footing had she not clung to Adam and had he not held her up, holding her body against his own. Her entire world was spinning out of control and Ami lost herself to it.
Then, as abruptly as it had begun it was over. Adam drew back, enough to end the kiss but not nearly enough to put a safe distance between them. He continued to hold her as well, perhaps sensing that she would crumple to the ground a useless sack of jelly if he did not. Ami simply stared at him, trying hard to catch the breath he had stolen away from her and praying that this was not some dream that she would wake up from at any moment.
"Was that better than Brian?" Adam whispered the question, his voice sounding slightly breathless as well. His dark eyes flashed with a mixture of affection and something that Ami could not identify. Something dark and intense that made her entire body flush hot and sent a surge of something primal to the very core of her being.
Not trusting herself to speak, Ami could only nod.
"Good," Adam nodded, a slight smile turning up the corners of his mouth. Ami drew a breath as he leaned forward and planted a kiss on her forehead, another tremor racking her body. "You okay?" The last was asked into her hair because Ami had pressed forward, her face partially buried in his shoulder.
She nodded again, a part of her aware that Adam wouldn't really be able to see that reaction, and another part not really caring. She was okay. Except for the fact that she had just literally been swept away by a kiss from the one person she'd had a crush on for nearly two years. She was okay aside from the fact that her heart was still pounding and she wanted nothing more than to beg him to kiss her again.
Adam smoothed a hand over her hair, following that light touch with the familiar tugging on her braids. "Come on then, you'd better get home before your Mum gets worried."
"Why?" Ami lifted her head, daring to meet his gaze again.
Adam didn't even frown or pause to consider her question. Instead he answered her plainly and simply, as if kissing her had been the most normal thing in the world. "Because I wanted to, Ami."
"Why?"
Adam shook his head and gave a soft laugh. His hand gripped hers and he resumed walking, pulling her along beside him whether she willed it or not. "I think I'll let you figure that one out for yourself, Ami Jackson."
"Adam?"
He didn't stop walking, but turned those dark eyes curiously in her direction.
"Thank you," Ami breathed softly.
The squeeze on her hand punctuated the soft response, "You're welcome."
***
End