122 Closer

"Regan?" Antonin called out again. This time his voice reached her subconsciousness. 

The armored figure stood up and swung at the shadowy figure. Though its blade went right through the figure, it somehow seemed to make damage and the figure screeched, launching at Regan. The armored figure jumped in front of Regan and shielded her from the looming darkness.

"Regan?!" Antonin called out again, holding Regan tighter. 

Regan's body shivered again before it's trembling slowly reduced. 

"Regan?" Antonin muttered, his voice quivering as he noticed the lack of movement in Regan. Anxiety clouded his mind. 

"Regan are yo-" Antonin began, his words being cut off immediately when he felt the quivering at his waist. 

Regan's hands shakenly traveled up Antonin's back, pulling him closer to her. Her fingers curled up and pulled on his clothing. They were so close that she was being stifled but she didn't care. It felt warm. She felt safe. 

Antonin's shoulders slumped in relief when he felt her on him. A tear built up at the edges of his eyes. He heard sniffling from Regan, her face burying into his shoulder. She was sobbing into his shoulders, her eyes tightly shut. 

"Regan?" Antonin muttered. He tried to turn his head to look at Regan but Regan pushed herself closer to him and hid her face in the side of his neck, her long eyelashes tickling his neck when she tightly closed them.

"Regan?" Antonin called out again, "are you ok?"

"N-no…" Regan muttered. 

"What? You're not ok?! What happened," Antonin pressed, his voice growing more concerned by the moment. "Let me see you."

"N-no," Regan's arm tightened their grip on Antonin, keeping her face pressed against his neck. She took out a deep breath.

Antonin shivered, her breath tickling his ears and neck. His face heated. 

"Y-you can't see m-me," Regan stuttered, " I-I can't l-let you s-see me."

Antonin shivered again, her breath on his neck. "Why not?"

"I look h-horrible right now, haha," Regan stuttered with a light chuckle, "I'm trembling, my hair is probably a mess and I-I should look like a g-ghost. More horrible than I did before."

"Pfft, have I not been looking at you this entire time? If you looked like a ghost now, guess what you looked like while you were asleep or going through the situations," Antonin chuckled. 'Angelic,' Ryder thought, 'even while she's scared and when she's sleeping she looks the same.'

"H-ha, real funny," Regan sighed.

Antonin's hand travels to hers and holds them, pulling them away from him slowly, in the process pulling Regan away. "I'm serious, you look ok."

Antonin's heart throbbed as he watched Regan. Without realizing it, his hands raise to Regan's and hold them for a moment. 

"What is it?" Regan sighed.

"Look at me," Antonin asked.

"N..no I don't want to," Regan turned her face away when Antonin pulled away her hands from her face.

"Please," Antonin begged. 

Regan paused for a moment before turning to him. Her eyes looked down for a moment before looking up at him, her eyes interlocking with his. "Fine. Only because you helped me though…"

Antonin examined her, his eyes in hers for a moment before they ran down and up her face. Down her cheeks to her hair and back to her eyes. There was nothing wrong with her. 

"You look fine," Antonin muttered, his voice low and calm.

"Ha, funny joke again," Regan sighed, wiping her eyes, "I-I know I look horrible."

Antonin's hands grip Regan's tightly. His eyes following her every movement, he was in a trance.

Without knowing it, his hands raised to her face. They brushed against her hand, pushing them lightly off her face.

"What is it?" Regan turned to look up at Antonin. His eyes were staring straight at hers. They were bright and clear, with a rich hazel color. 

His hands ran down her wet cheeks, wiping away her tears, and brushed against her cheeks, his heart racing when she brushed her face against his hand. She was ticklish. He continued to wipe her face, his hands then moving to under her eyes, wiping away the forming tears before they began to fall.

He looked at her hair in a messy bush and smiled, his hands pressing down on it to brush it down. It felt nice to have her curls brushing against his hand.

Regan's eyes were fixed on Antonin. She didn't know where to look, her eyes wouldn't turn away. They were fixed on him, his eyes.

Antonin looked down at her and she flinched, looking away from him. "W-what?"

"You look pretty," Antonin smiled, his hand running down to her chin, lifting it up slightly.

"Liar," Regan huffed, her eyes shyly turning back on him.

Antonin's eyes were fixated on her and despite all the red flags going off in his head, he wouldn't stop. He didn't know how to. 

He moved in closer, face nearing Regan's.

There should have been a brake there but there was none. Ryder wasn't against it and Antonin had no plans of stopping. They weren't going to stop this time. He wanted to kiss her. And he did.

He lifted up her chin and moved in, his lips making contact with hers as his eyes fluttered shut.

The moment of contact didn't resonate with Regan. Her mind was blank and she didn't know how to react. He was just there, in front of her, his lips against hers. 

'What?' she thought to herself when another second passed. 

Antonin pulled away from Regan slightly, his eyes halfway open, long eyelashes like a little roof over his hazel eyes. His eyes lingered in her widened eyes for a moment before trailing down to her lips and then back up to her eyes. 

There was this hammer banging into Antonio's heart, his heart thumping harder than it did in any marathon he had run before. It was all because of her. He couldn't think clearly and he only wanted to do one thing.

"Stop me," he muttered.

Regan was frozen. Not even sure how to react. 

Antonin did it again. He leaned in and stole another kiss off her lips. She didn't stop him. There was no slap, no screaming. She just stood there looking straight into his eyes with nothing to say. 'She looks so cute…'

Antonin's forehead rested against Regan's forehead and his nose brushed against hers. His eyes shut for a moment before opening, his eyelashes nearly touching hers.

"I'm begging you," Antonin muttered, his eyes trailing down to her lips again. He forced them up to her eyes. "Stop me."

Regan didn't move. She had no idea how dangerous she was to Antonin at that moment. The more she kept quiet the more chances he had. 

"Why're you so quiet now? Was it not you that was teasing me this entire time? Why can't you move now? Stop me," Antonin teased, his eyes not showing one hint of hesitancy. "Stop me before I do worse."

No reaction.

He was about to make another move when Regan's hand raised up to her lips, stopping him from further advancements. 

Her eyes turned away from Antonin's, her face highly heated. "S-stop. Stop it."

Antonin smiled. "There it is."

Regan sat there for a moment, the gravity of the moment no hitting her yet. You could tell when she did. Her eyes widened and she touched her lips, pure anger filling her mind. 

"Y-you- YOU BASTARD!" Regan's fist raised up and slammed Antonin on his back, "HAVE YOU LOST YOUR MIND?!"

"Yea," Antonin muttered, a slight smile on his face as Regan hit him. 

"WHAT?! WELL OBVIOUSL-"

"You made me lose my mind," Antonin smiled, catching Regan's hand. "You're the reason why I'm like this."

"YOU-" Regan yelled. She sighed and flopped back on her bed, "you're so ffin' cheesy."

"If I were to continue… the fact that you're like this…" Antonin muttered looking down on Regan as she laid on the bed, "defenseless... just adds to my craziness."

"You're-" Regan sighed, "since when? Why? How???"

Antonin cocked his head to the side. "I don't know. I just- wanted to. For a while now."

"How??? When I look like this mess!!" Regan groaned.

"I think that was a part of it," Antonin chuckled, his eyes running her up and down. "It just makes you look cuter."

"You're crazy. Fucking crazy," Regan sighed, rolling her eyes.

Antonin chuckled, looking away from her. There was a silence in the room for a few moments before Antonin turned back to her. 

"Are you disgusted? Mad? You're not going to ask for a new server? I need to be thrown away right?" Antonin asked. 'Of course, she's disgusted... stupid…' Ryder thought, his voice a bit sad.

Regan looked up to him and smiled. "Huh? No. I'm mad, yes like… bruh. WHY?! AND CONSENT! But they are your feelings. I have no right to tell you how to deal with them and I certainly can't push you away just because of them. You're perfectly fine after all."

She sat up and shrugged, looking into his eyes. "You'll feel that way even when I tell you not to. It's not something you can automatically stop."

Antonin smiled, happy she had let him pass but for some reason, he felt rushed. Like there was something missing. He turned to Regan, leaning in. His eyes searched in hers for a moment. "Then…" his voice began, "can I do it again?"