Thread: Start of Darkness (Google and Skittish_butterfly)

RE Start of Darkness The touch of his hand on her bare leg, warm and firm just above her knee, was at first exciting and almost comforting to Erin. The cumulative effects of the risks she was taking, opening herself with Dominick in a way she just never did with anyone else, were having an effect on her. With her hand resting intimately on his leg, as if it were a normal thing for her to do, it was reassuring to her to know a wealthy and sophisticated guy like Dominick didn't find it forward, trailer-trash behavior but simply returned the gesture, as if they were in sync with each other. Erin watched the screen with about as much interest as an astronomy lecture, her thoughts instead orbiting tightly around the black hole that focused solely on every minor detail of her social standing, both with Dominick and the darkened shadows of the heads of some fellow students scattered throughout the hall. And for once it all seemed right. She sighed softly, content for once. Dominick's hand slid up on her thigh just a bit, the feeling of his fingers sliding smoothly on her bare skin at first thrilling. Erin stole a sidewise peek at him through a stray lock of her hair and found his face watching the screen totally relaxed. She took a breath and relaxed herself, and then his fingers slid upward again to mid thigh, gently pulling her leg toward him. Erin couldn't deny it felt good, his hand so big and warm and strong. But she was starting to lose the sense of comfort, the reassurance that the way she was behaving was leading to something better for her rather than to her own trailer. His hand slipped upward again slightly, the light tug on her leg toward him starting to feel a little possessive to her, entitled maybe. Erin didn't want to make any big deal about it, didn't want to turn it into her usual self-fulfilling prophecy of doom, ached for everything to stay perfect and good, but couldn't help tensing a little and trying not to let that tension reach her leg where he would feel it. She suddenly became aware of her breathing, that it was coming a little faster and shallower, recognizing the sign of tension, and that just made it worse in her head. Dominick's arm was still around her as he looked at her and smiled before turning back to the screen, his magnificent profile and strong jaw lit by the flickering light. Erin closed her eyes, repeating in her head over and over, this is good, this is fine, this is what normal kids do.... His hand slid further, close to the hem of her skirt now, and before she could stop herself she made a noise that sounded something like a moan, his hand reaching something of a sensitive spot for her there on her inner thigh. And as the heads turned and her cheeks flamed red with embarrassment she tensed up, her positive affirmations losing the battle against her many anxieties and the simple embarrassment of having her classmates hear her make that back-row trailer trash sound. Erin straightened up a little, realizing how their silhouettes would look locked in an embrace to anyone staring up from below, pulling away from him slightly and making a big show of reaching for her drink from the other armrest. Dominick's hand never moved, even as her own left his leg as she reached. After a long sip she put the soda back in its holder, but she didn't put her hand back on his leg, torn between the strong desire to somehow recover that moment of comfort and rightness she'd felt before and the anxieties swirling in her head, the vision of her moving her few possessions into a trailer right next to her mom's as all her classmates laughed. Her hands were in her lap now as she watched the screen, one hand very close to his but not reaching for him because she didn't know what she would do if she actually touched him pull his hand closer or push him away, so she sat stiffly and stewed in her uncertainty.