Cameron knew it was getting to be too much. He could feel his heartbeat through his lips as they pushed against hers, and he felt a tightness in his stomach that he couldn't identify as his nerves or desire. His hands had somehow snaked around her hips as they kissed, and she was so close that even the tiniest of pressure on his shoulders would have sent him backwards. Nothing about their relationship was appropriate, but this felt like a new sort of forbidden territory; he couldn't get the thought out of his head that he was seated on the edge of his bed, his bedroom door shut, while their families were only down the hall. When she pulled back, he knew they had to stay that wait.

"I know," he whispered, even if he couldn't find the willpower to take his hands off her completely. "I wish we had longer."

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Oh thank Merlin he was on the same page. She didn't really want to stop, but knew they had to, at least there was that? Gently and without much behind it, she kissed him once more before extricating herself from his grasp.

Sloane could feel the heat in her checks as much as she could her heartbeat echoing in her chest, but putting some distance between them helped. "Why don't I go first and say I got turned around when you stepped away for a few minutes?" Everyone was likely so busy they hardly noticed, it couldn't have been much more than a quarter of an hour, but it wasn't a huge social event either.

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Cameron kissed her back, but took care not to get too into it as he knew one more minute spent in his bedroom would be one minute closer they were to being caught. But as she pulled away and walked to the other side of the room, Cameron could not fight back the urge to make his way to her side again, and he kissed her one more time before he stepped back and took a shaky breath. It would be hard to come down from this, especially since he could feel his heart still pounding against his chest.

"It's probably a good idea," he said, smiling. "And Sloane?"

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Hovering by the door, Sloane hadn't expected him to follow her, or the kiss either. She leaned into it unwisely, having just as hard of a time stopping as he was, but thankfully he kept it brief, stepping back to allow for the space they both clearly needed.

Returning the smile, she had one hand on the door when he spoke. She quirked an eyebrow at him. "Cam?" It came out a little more breathless then she would have liked and she was going to have to fix that by the time she rejoined the party, but he could certainly understand where it came from.

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Cameron hesitated, his mouth parted as though he intended to speak. No words escaped, at least not for a moment. His heart leaped in his chest, and he finally mustered a shy smile. "I love you," he said in a small voice... and then turned pink in the cheeks almost immediately.

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The following 2 users Like Cameron Gillenwater's post:2 users Like Cameron Gillenwater's post
   Fitzroy Prewett, Sloane Bixby

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Of all the things she had expected him to say, those three little words were decidedly not it.

It took her a moment to really register the gravity of what he'd said, her heart hammering away in her chest, as she looked up at him, everything really sinking in. Slowly, a smile spread across her features, but she felt some level of uncertain. She honestly hadn't expected him to say it first, or this early, and she didn't exactly know what to say in response. At fourteen did she really know what love was? Obviously she cared a lot about him, enjoyed any time they got together and he was the only one who could get her to blush and her heart to race, but was that love?

Sloane knew she was taking too long to reply, every precious second counting, but she couldn't bring herself to loose the words in return. Gently she placed her hands on his cheeks, pushing up to her tiptoes to kiss him again, trying to instead pour what she did feel for him into that, praying it was enough for now.

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She didn't say it back.

Cameron had not really planned to say he loved her, but in all the times he'd imagined it he'd expected her to say it back. It was not that she didn't love him—(or did she not? Surely she could not-love him and still like him, right?)—because she would not have kissed him in response if she did not have intense feelings towards him. Still, the panic set in and his heart dropped in his chest, and he couldn't close his eyes in the same content way when he kissed her this time. He felt... well, embarrassed. There were plenty of things he could have followed up with: I didn't mean that was a terrible option, and so was actually I don't love you, which would have been his kneejerk response to the embarrassment had he not started to overthink it, and then there was always the equally anxiety-inducing so, do you love me?.

Instead, he said nothing and allowed her to kiss them, though he did not match her enthusiasm. When she pulled away, his cheeks were an even deeper pink and there was an uncertainty in his eyes that was reminiscent of their time in the Potts greenhouse.

"I-I'll see you out there," he finally breathed in a quiet voice, and he meant it. He would need a minute to recover, to regain his courage and act like nothing had happened in his bedroom.

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