A/N: This is another triple update to get on track for NaNoWriMo. Please make sure you read Chapter 27 first as it's important for understanding this chapter as well. 

Thank you, dear readers. <3

___

While we were watching The Empire Strikes Back, Eric had stealthily drawn a fraction nearer to me. I hadn't even noticed until the scene when Han kissed Leia for the first time.

Casting a sideways glance at Eric, I realized his knee was now pressed against the left side of the beanbag. Because of his long legs, he still remained a polite distance away, his palms cupping his shins.

So close, and yet so far away.

What would it be like to kiss him?

Enough! You've only known him for what? Five minutes?

I've known him for well over a year. Granted, this is our first maybe-date...

So? You never wanted to kiss anyone before. Get a grip!

This is...different.

That realization made a jolt of adrenaline surge through me, followed by a cascade of tingles. A rushing sensation. Warm, fuzzy, and comfy like relaxing in a warm bath after hours in the freezing cold. And it spread over my whole body.

I nestled further into Eric's beanbag, causing a soft rustling of beads. And I could have sworn that I detected the tiniest hint of extra pressure from his knee against the chair.

Just the thought of him sitting close enough to touch me but deciding to stay a gentleman made my head spin.

What does this mean? Am I really asexual?

Don't be silly. Infatuation doesn't negate asexuality.

What is it, though?

Romantic attraction, dummy.

It's too soon. It can't possibly be that.

Hormones? Who the hell knows?

Infatuation is sexual in nature, isn't it?

My rational mind huffed with impatience. Infatuation is chemical, but it doesn't have to be sexual. When was the last time you had a sexual thought about him?

Uh...

Exactly, now hush and let me watch the movie.

After the rolling credits, everyone got up to stretch, and Eric hit the lights. "Right, time for our usual coffee break."

"Cool Beans Café, here I come," Teddy said in a triumphant voice.

"More like instant coffee for me, I'm afraid," Eric said as he filled the kettle in the bathroom sink.

"Aww, man!" Teddy burst out laughing. "C'mon, dude."

While the other guys were distracted hunting for snacks, I tapped Helen on the arm.

"Hey, what's up?" she asked.

"Mind if I head back to the room real quick?" I asked in a soft whisper. "Personal issue."

She gave me a nod and a wink. "I got ya covered," she whispered. Turning to the other guys, she said, "Hey, dudes, we're going to fix up our makeup. Be back in five."

"Awww!"

"What the hell do ladies do in there for hours?" asked John with an arrogant smirk.

"Do you really wanna know?" Helen retorted with a wink, prompting a quick shake of the head from a blanching Dave. Eric raised a quizzical brow like Spock. "Right, so we'll be right back."

Once we got to the room, Helen took a walk outside to give me privacy. I snuck my phone out of my bag. Already three missed calls from them. Good grief.

When I dialed the home number, it didn't even give the full first ring. Mom answered the phone with a panicked greeting.

"Hi, Mom," I said, shaking my head. "It's Jess."

"Well, it's about time," came her sour retort. "I was starting to wonder whether I needed to call the campus police."

"Oh, for the love of God!"

"Language!"

Rolling my eyes, I muttered, "I meant gosh." 

A heavy pause hovered in the air. Without saying a word, Mom demanded an explanation, but I refused to give in. I was an adult now. At some point she needed to respect that. 

"Anyway, I'm about to head to bed," I said.

That was such a lie. Shit, we hadn't even started the third Star Wars movie yet. But it was a convenient believable excuse to get her off my back for the rest of the evening. 

"Are you having a good time?" asked Mom in a wary tone. 

"It's awesome so far!" I exclaimed with genuine enthusiasm. "The language labs are amazing, and Helen is super friendly. Her friends welcomed me too. I could stay forever."

Mom chuckled. "Aww, I knew you'd love it. Wouldn't it be amazing if you got a Jesuit education just like my brother?"

Oh, boy! Here we go again...

"Anyway, Helen wants to head to bed soon," I said. "So I better say goodnight now."

"Don't forget to call tomorrow morning," said Mom in a firm tone.

At that I heard Grandad yell at her on the other end of the line. I didn't catch everything he said, but it was the usual argument with him fighting on my behalf. 

"Awww, Mom! Come on!" I huffed with frustration. "We have a busy day planned. Don't you trust me?"

"It's other people I don't trust," she replied.

"Ugh!!! I'm always having to find time when no one's around," I insisted. "It's really embarrassing. No one else's parents call them every five seconds."

"Jessica!"

"Please, Mom? I'm eighteen."

She sighed. 

"At some point, you need to let go," I said in as rational a tone as I could muster. "Most normal parents let their kids have a good time and talk when they come home to visit."

Grandad muttered in the background, She's right, you know. Jess needs to stand on her own two feet. At which point Mom shushed him, presumably with her hand over the receiver.

She sighed audibly but finally conceded.

"Fine, Jess," she said, weary. "You don't need to call again. But at the first sign of trouble, you call us. Or 9-1-1 if it's an--"

"Yes, Mom. I promise." I could hear Helen's footsteps as she approached the door. "Okay, I love you. I-gotta-go-bye."

While Helen was punching in the door code, I hung up before Mom could change her mind.

Helen giggled when she caught me red-handed with my phone. "Strict family, huh?"

"Ugh, you don't even know the half of it," I replied, rolling my eyes. "If Mom knew we were hanging out with guys at this time of night, I'd be hanged at first light."

Helen chuckled. "Well, your secret is safe with me. As far as I'm concerned, we watched Star Wars in my room with a bag of popcorn and a gallon of Diet Coke."

I shook my head. "They'd believe it. I'm such a nerd at home."

She chuckled. "Well, come on. Time to corrupt your very soul and turn you over..." She did her best Darth Vader impression. "...to the dark side."

"Oh, wow. That's bad."

"I know, right?" she said with a laugh. "I suck at impressions."

We topped up our lipstick to make our covert operation more believable and headed back to the room. Eric opened the door this time. "Come in, ladies."

"Where's everyone else?" Helen asked.

"Teddy and John are getting emergency snacks at Hogan," he replied, "and Steve and Dave decided to stretch their legs in the meantime."

Helen gasped. "I just realized I have something that I needed to do for the resident assistant application," she said, her voice wavering. "You know, the thing with the thing. I'll be back in five minutes."

"Should I come with you?" I asked.

"No, you stay here," Helen insisted before she softened her tone. "It's...confidential, I'm afraid."

She closed the door quickly behind her as she left. Eric chuckled and walked over to his keyboard. "She's about as subtle as a flying brick."

I laughed, and he played a rapid succession of scales.

"Eric?"

"Hmm?"

"Can I ask you something weird?"

His eyes twinkled when he braved a glance in my direction. "Now I'm scared."

"Can you play that piece of music again?" I swallowed the lump in my throat. "It was so beautiful."

"Which piece?" he asked, curling his lip.

"The one you were playing this evening before The Imperial March."

"Moonlight Sonata?"

I nodded.

He ran his fingers over the music stand to remove the dust. "If only I had someone to turn the pages for me," he said in a low baritone, staring down at the keys.

But...he didn't need music before.

"I could," I said with enthusiasm. "If you tell me when. I can't read sheet music, I'm afraid."

"Very well," he said, reaching into the music bench. "Feel free to sit beside me if you like."

When I joined him, my heart began to race. We sat close. So close I could smell the faint scent of his body wash. A fresh, masculine tone with a hint of citrus. The same scent inside his coat. 

He stretched his fingers, took a deep breath, and began to play the languid first movement.

His fingers moved with beautiful grace--long, lithe, and nimble. My heart slowed to match his rhythm. I imagined us on a lake, paddling in a canoe by moonlight, staring at the ripples we made in the still water.

Eric nodded at me, and I turned the page.

My daydream morphed into us walking side by side along the shore, hand in hand, the breeze teasing my hair. Listening to owls hooting in the distance. Staring up at the clear, starry sky.

Towards the end, I realized he wasn't even glancing at the music. Helen was right about his memory. Eric could render this completely by heart. 

From time to time he closed his eyes, pouring himself into the poignant notes. Joining us with a magnetism I'd never known.

Caressing the keys with a gentle touch, he finished the last remaining chords. "Was that the piece you meant?" he asked in a deep whisper after the last note had faded.

I couldn't clap. It didn't express the depth of my feeling. Instead, I allowed the tears to well in my eyes. He turned to me and smiled in his shy way.

"Thank you," I whispered.

"My pleasure, Jess." He watched as a tear trickled down my cheek. "Allow me?"

I nodded.

It was crazy. Even though I'd known Eric for well over a year, I hadn't actually been with him like this--outside of school--for more than a few hours. I shouldn't have wanted him to kiss me. No one had ever touched me that way. I wouldn't have let them.

And yet even after that short a time, I knew I was ready to try. Just once. With him.

What am I thinking? Have I lost my mind?

Expecting his kiss, I closed my eyes, my heart on the verge of implosion. What would I feel, if anything, once his lips touched mine?

His hand cupped my cheek with the gentlest touch. My eyelids fluttered closed. But his lips never grazed mine. Instead, Eric brushed the wayward tear from my face with a swipe of his thumb.

The tender gesture almost made his effort for naught.

When our eyes locked once more, it felt like staring into the depths of space. He braved the second swipe while we gazed at each other. In that instant, time had no meaning.

Clearing his throat, he withdrew his hand to retrieve the music book.

"Perhaps you will let me play for you again sometime?" he asked as I relished his deep voice. "I rarely find such a keen and appreciative audience."

"Yes, please."

A smile tugged at the corner of his lips as he turned off his keyboard. "Next time I'll play for you in the Music Hall or at the chapel. They have a beautiful organ."

"I thought you weren't religious," I said, furrowing my brow.

"Music transcends dogma," he replied. "It is the language of the soul. Perhaps that's why it touches you. You can synthesize the words. The phrases. The deeper meaning."

"Heeeeey!" Teddy shouted outside the door, jarring me to my feet. "Lovebirds! We're back!"

"Stop it!" Helen hissed at him in a voice loud enough to hear. "You're worse than me."

I rolled my eyes at their banter. Eric took one last look at me, his eyes twinkling with delight before he raced towards the door and let in his friends, armed with caffeine and sweet treats.

After Return of the Jedi had ended, Teddy wrapped me up in his big arms to bid me goodnight. I suppressed a yelp of surprise. The poor guy didn't understand the concept of personal space. 

Still, I didn't want to make a fuss or embarrass anyone. After all, he treated Helen the same way, and they were just friends. It was just his way.

Teddy gave me one last squeeze. "It was so good to finally meet you."

"Finally?" I asked with a quizzical brow.

"Eric's been talking so much about you," he exclaimed. "Couldn't wait until you joined us for movie night."

Poor Eric turned beet red just before he busied himself with cleaning up the leftover debris in his room. I stared at my feet. God help me! I couldn't stop the widest grin from spreading across my face.

Helen gave a frustrated sigh. "Well, if you ever want the Sixth Fleet to know something..."

So that's where he got the expression...

"Oh, oops!" Teddy said with a look of chagrin. "Sorry."

"Yeah." She huffed but opened her arms wide. "Come here, you big bear."

Dave, Steve, and John were content to wave goodbye to us as they headed back to their dorms. Helen winked at me and whispered, "I'll meet you back in my room when you're done."

That left Eric and me alone for the second time that night. He approached me but couldn't meet my gaze. "Don't mind Teddy. He's a good guy--one of my best friends. But..."

"It's fine," I said with a nervous chuckle. "At the risk of sounding silly, I couldn't keep quiet about it either. Care is dying to hear some news."

He grinned. "I bet."

I took a step closer to him. A part of me was dying to hold his hand, but I didn't risk it. Not after everything had gone so well.

"It's not just you, you know," I said.

Eric directed his intense gaze at me. It looked like he wanted to say something, but he closed his eyes and shook his head with a scoff.

"What is it?" I asked. "You can tell me."

"I was thinking about what Helen said...at lunch...about..." He shuffled on his feet and ran his hands through his hair. "About teaching you to dance."

"Well, don't feel any pressure. You know Helen."

"That's what I said," he said with a curled lip. "To you."

"I'm a really blunt person," I admitted with a shake of my head. "I've been hiding it to be polite, but it's very hard for me not to speak my mind. Quite brusquely, I might add."

"Please do," he said in an insistent tone that sounded almost foreign coming from him. "I hate trying to guess what a woman is thinking. Why do you think Helen and I are such great friends?"

"I would love to learn how to dance."

"Then let's do it," he said with a smile. "When do you have time?"

"Tomorrow evening maybe?"

"Perfect. I'll see you then."

We both exchanged a relieved smile. "What should I wear?"

"Whatever makes you comfortable," he replied. "Just bear in mind that we will have to touch even though I won't do anything that makes you uncomfortable."

My heart beat furiously at his words. "Of course, you have to teach me how to dance with a partner. So we have to dance like we're partners."

His cheeks flushed crimson. "Yes, I suppose we do."

I drew a step closer to him. "Thanks for inviting me to movie night. I had fun."

"My pleasure." He paused and ran a hand across his short bristles. "Jess?"

"Hmm?"

Eric drew a step closer to me as though we were improvising our own dance.

"May I hug you goodnight?" he asked.

I nodded.

Eric dipped down as I rose on my tiptoes. Because he was so much taller than me, I rested my head against his chest. As he wrapped me in his warm embrace, his heartbeat was strong. Insistent. Fast. Like his fingers dancing over the keys during the third movement of Moonlight Sonata.

Eric moved his hand back and forth in a soothing motion, while my forearms extended up his long torso. Once again, I caught the gentle hint of his shower gel.

I have to know what that is. It's intoxicating.

My head spun as he pulled away and pursed his lips.

"See you tomorrow," I said.

"See you then, Jess."

He opened the door for me, and I disappeared down the hall.