Her hands feel good against his skin, and Chuck leans into the kiss for it, a little more intent, a little more sure. He may still have no idea what he's doing — God, it's hard to when they never did anything more than this when they were dating, and he neither knows nor wants to know the details of her relationship with Daryl — but this much is easy. So, too, surprisingly, is keeping himself in check. He's had a lot of other experience, and usually that's much more to the point. Even if the destination is the same here, though, the circumstances are different, and he can go slow, let her lead.

She always did bring out another side of him. It's really no wonder that the same is true now, even after all this time.

His thumb brushes along her cheekbone, and then his hand moves back, sliding into her hair. Even if she changes her mind, even if they don't get past just kissing, he thinks it still will have been worth it. At least they will have had this, something much better than the way things ended between them before.