That he made no response in return was not unexpected but it did hurt. I knew it to be what it was. A silent confirmation of my doubts.

I turned to my side and snuggled my face into the pillow. The urge to muffle myself altogether was there but I restrained myself. I didn't need Raven confining me to him even more than he already was. Knowing that I may have suicidal thoughts...

"You what?"

I found myself abruptly hauled up against him. Sleep evaporated in the space of a heartbeat as anxiety flooded in instead.

"I what?" I breathed out staring down at him confused.

"I heard you," he enunciated softly... menacingly.

"You heard me what?" I was frozen in mind and body as tried to get a grip on what he was saying.

His hands shifted to grab at my arms. Shaking me hard till my teeth actually rattled, he said," I heard you think suicide."

"No I wasn't," I denied vehemently.

"Don't lie to me."

"I'm not," I said. I wasn't lying. He misunderstood. I knew having suicidal thoughts would only land me into more trouble hence why I wasn't having any.

"I wish you wouldn't read my mind," I muttered unhappily as his shoulders suddenly relaxed. He pulled me close till I was nestled against him. My head rested on his bare chest and my hands felt branded against the heat off his skin. I tried to pull away but he refused to let me.

"Don't bother trying. I am not releasing you," said Raven tiredly against my ear. The light of the tv switched off and the room was engulfed in darkness.

"I won't be far. Just on my side of the bed," I started to explain but his arms around my waist tightened and he said instead," Its late. Go to sleep."

I laid tense on his chest feeling him breath and listening to the steady beat of his heart drum a rhythm in my own. Eventually the monotony of it sent me drifting off to sleep.

The shrill alarm flipped my eyes open at five in the morning. The room was already lit bright. As bright as the cyan depths of  Raven's intense gaze. Peering into those very depths the very first thing upon waking was no hardship and I laid there for a good while doing just that till ten minutes later the alarm went off again.

"Won't it wake your mum up?" I murmured in my sleep made husky voice.

"You're right," Raven murmured in his own after sleep hoarse tone. He was decidedly the sexiest man on the planet. Cosmos along with every other magazine that had labelled him such was not wrong. That they did so ringing praise over his false image said a lot about the magnificence of his real looks.

But I didn't want him overly conceited. No more than he already was. So with great difficulty I tore my eyes away and moved to rise for the day. It was still way too early for me but I could use the time in the library. I did however need to get back to my dorm room first.

I turned back to face him then intending to ask for the lift back when Raven best me to it.

"Since you're awake I thought we could practice," he murmured softly, a little hesitantly. That was so out of character for him that I forgot what I had been about to ask him and said instead," Practice what?"

"Practice kissing," he whispered huskily."You said you wanted to kiss. You love kissing. Since I am the only man you've ever kissed. And will ever kiss. I believe I can take that to mean, you love my kisses."

I shivered. My tongue felt swollen and glued stuck in my mouth. I didn't think I could come up with a rational answer to that regardless. My heart thudded heavily in my chest so that I thought it would burst free any second.

"Huh?"

"Here," he murmured softly before leaning in to brush his moist lips against my own. "Your turn."

"B..but I thought you didn't want me," I mumbled out disjointedly.

"Want to marry you- No. Want to kiss you is something else altogether. I told you before looking at you is no hardship. Sharing a bed with you- none at all. I don't think I can sleep away from you. Not anymore. Not since last night," he murmured wonderingly, as he continued to stare into my indigo eyes, before he offered me a rueful smile and corrected himself," I meant the night before."

I stared at him more confused than ever. He found me appealing? Is that what he was trying to say?

"I don't know," I muttered vaguely not sure how to respond. That I find him attractive was without question but did I want to kiss him. I couldn't say. Was I that shallow that I would allow the physical perfection that was Raven to woo me into taking my clothes off with him. I knew I wanted to but I really didn't know if I should.

"What don't you know?" He breathed out moving in to lean closer over me.

"I don't know if I should kiss you," I said simply.

"If not me than whom? Whom will you kiss? Whom will you allow to kiss you? You've known me your whole life. I was there for you when you needed me most. Now you'd rather contemplate kissing a stranger like Ralph then kiss me. Why?"

Why indeed?

"I don't know," I murmured unhappily. I just knew I couldn't. Kissing Raven was nothing simple. It was worse than complicated. He was complicated. I mean what if I liked it? I mean really really liked it. What then?

"Then we simply kiss again," murmured the ever eavesdropping Raven Blackthorn before leaning in to do just that.