Playful

Long strands of auburn curls glinted bright red in the midday sun. A few pieces separated and drifted around my face, and I tucked them, once again, behind my ear.

"Why won't they stay?" I muttered in frustration. I turned and looked at the tall and slender teenage boy sitting next to me. "They never stay.. Why do they never stay?" I blew the hair away from my face, watching the strands float back downwards. I made a sighing sound, then looked back at him. "Make them stayyyy," I complained to him in a slightly whiny voice. He smiled at my annoyance, then reached over to try to push the few strands out of my face; in doing so, only more hair came untucked from my ear, and fell into my view in the slight breeze.

I groaned in irritation, mumbling that it wasn't worth it to keep it down, etc. I began to pull the wavy curls up into a ponytail when he reached a hand over and stole the hair band that was clenched in my teeth, waiting to tie up my hair. He smiled at me in defiance, then held it up tauntingly just out of my reach.

"Hey, gimme that back!" I struggled to hold the hair up with one hand while reaching for the black elastic band. I let it fall as a small smirk played on my lips and I tackled him from the side, reaching for the hair tie.

We playfully fought over it for a few minutes, trying to pin each other until he sat on my stomach, finally keeping me down; I went completely limp, closed my eyes, and let my tongue hang out for that extra effect. He cocked his head to the side, his light blonde hair shifting slightly. I peeked and eye open and smiled at him.

"Shhhh, I'm being dead," I told him, resuming my 'dead' facial expression.

"Oh, no! Don't die, don't die!!" he mock-yelled as he poked my sides repeatedly. I squirmed and tried to get away, laughing wildly all the time.

"Okay, okay, I give in, I give in, I'm not dead anymore!" I said with a huge smile, little giggles escaping from my lips. Seeing as he still had me pinned, I just waited and stared at him for a moment. I grinned at him, once again noticing his amazingly beautiful eyes.

There was a ring of a bright, brilliant shade of gold surrounding the pupil; radiating outwards from the gold was a span of light grey blue, with flecks of silver sprinkled throughout, all within a dark, steely blue ring. 'I love his eyes...'

He was staring back at me almost as deeply as I had been staring at him, and he let me up, taking hold of my hand and pulling me close as I stood. He wrapped his arms around me; they were strong, sturdy, and they sent my heart fluttering. I laid my forehead to his chest, and he set his chin on my head. I turned my face upwards and giggled quietly, like a small girl would when she's excited. His eyes crinkled up at the corner and he kissed my forehead lightly.

"I love you," I said softly, very gingerly letting the words come out. Again, my dark auburn hair tumbled in the breeze, into my face. He brushed the hair behind my ear, and lightly tilted up my chin so we were only inches apart.

"I love you too," he breathed deeply, then closed the gap between us.