Spellbound

Part 21

Lera

He's sitting just out of sight on the sand, head bent low and arms wrapped around his legs. He's only wearing a pair of shorts and a sweatshirt, the ends of his messy hair dripping with rainwater.

My heart beats fast as I try to run over to where he is sitting, my eyes never leaving him. He must hear my thudding feet, because his head snaps upwards, his eyes meeting mine. My emotions come flooding through as I bound further towards him, tears making my vision blurry. He stands up as I near him, opening up his arms. Without thinking twice, I jump into his outstretched arms, burying my head in his neck. My legs wrap around his waist as he holds onto my hip, using his other hand to cradle my head.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry." I mumbles into his neck a thousand times. He doesn't reply, he just rubs circles where he hands are placed.

I lift my head off of his chest and wipe tears from my eyes, Christian's hands never leaving my body. Once my eyes are clear, I look up into his, only to find them just as watery. I lift my hand up, swiping his eyes with the pad of my thumb. My hand moves to cup his cheek, the feeling of his skin almost feeling surreal.

"I finally know what I want to say to you." We both say simultaneously, as if we'd planned our conversation. Laughter fills the quiet beach as we take the time to look at each other. To feel each other, as if we've been apart for years, not days.

"You first." Christian whispers, planting a soft kiss on my cheek. How I've longed for one of them in the last few days.

"I'm scared." I start, running my fingers over the curves of his jawline.

"I'm scared that... we might be risking everything. I'm scared that our lives will be moving at different paces, and things will just fizzle out. I'm not sure if it's just insecurity or if it's the whole self-esteem and feeling like everyone ends up leaving, but... that stuff scares me." I continue, seeing Christian's face droop slightly at some of my words. "Although, I'm not saying you're not worth it, because you are, Christian. You're worth feeling scared for, you're worth the risk. And I'm not giving up on you, you'll have to deal with me for a little longer." I finish, tears springing to my eyes once again.

"It's okay to be scared Leers, neither of us are perfect at this whole thing. If it helps, I'm scared too. I think it's because I've basically spent my whole life pining over you, so I feel like if one bad thing happens between us, everything may come crashing down. I know it won't, but I feel scared too. Vulnerable, I guess." Christian replies, stroking the back of my head soothingly.

"We're so stupid." I say after a moment of silence, which is followed by a snotty laugh from each of us. For some reason I can't stop crying, the snot disgustingly spilling out of my nose. Christian doesn't seem to mind though, as he reaches up and brushes it away. I laugh again, swatting his hand away.

"Ew, my snots disgusting, stay away." I say, burying my head back into his neck.

"Nope, I'm going to keep doing it until the day we die." He whispers back, planting another soft kiss on the top of my head. The rain gets heavier as we stand in the sand, just enjoying the feeling of being in each other's arms. Oh how I've missed this feeling, feeling like I belong to someone and someone belongs to me.

"Wait, what did you want to say to me." I mumble into his chest, willing it's not anything bad.

"Well, it's sort of stupid but for some reason I feel like you'd be proud of me." Christian says, rubbing the back of neck softly.

"I'll always be proud of you. Speak away." I reply, adjusting my grip on his neck and lifting my head to be at eye-level with him.

"Well, over the past few weeks... I've been reading that book series you were reading the night we first kissed. And... my english teacher would be proud of me because I actually inferred something."