Chim - Keep Holding On

Chapter 23

Chapter 23

Kimberley woke up suddenly, her eyes falling on the clock beside her bed to see that it was half past two in the morning. She felt her stomach tying itself in knots when she remembered the previous evening’s events. She rolled over, wondering what had made her wake up so suddenly, and saw the other side of the bed was empty.

Panic grabbed hold of Kimberley when she realised Cheryl wasn’t there. She sat up to turn on a light and hurried over to the bathroom to see if she was there. She wasn’t. Had she gone home while Kimberley was sleeping? Was she so desperate to get away from her that she was willing to travel at an obscene time of the night? Kimberley’s worries built up and up as she walked out of the bedroom.

The first thing she noticed was a light shining from one of the lamps in the living room, enabling her to see Cheryl curled up on the sofa, crying. Although feeling relieved that Cheryl hadn’t left, the sight made Kimberley’s heart jolt. Cheryl had her knees pulled up to her chest, her head resting into them while her arms were wrapped tightly around her legs. Her whole body convulsing each time she sobbed.

“Hey,” Kimberley said quietly as she made her way over. She sat next to her and gently pulled Cheryl’s arms away, allowing her to see her bloodshot eyes and the endless tear tracks down her cheeks. “Come here,” she opened her arms wide, signalling for Cheryl to fall into them, which she did.

“I’m so sorry, Kimberley.” She cried, her arms clinging around her waist while her tears soaked through her top.

“Shh, it’s ok,” Kimberley soothed, rubbing her back.

“No, it’s not. I shouldn’t have reacted so badly. It just freaked me out when Justin turned up to tell you he loves you. And then I got paranoid about the letter. It just felt a bit familiar, you know? Like I was finding out things which were supposed to have been kept a secret from me.” More tears fell as she finished talking.

“You mean from stuff with Ashley?” Kimberley asked softly. She felt Cheryl nod against her shoulder.

Kimberley sighed, feeling bad for not having worked it out sooner. She squeezed her tightly and stroked her hair.

“I’m sorry, I understand now why you were so upset by it. But I love you, no-one else. You’re the one I want to be with. Please believe that, you don’t need to keep looking over your shoulder. I wasn’t trying to keep secrets from you, I honestly just didn’t think it was worth talking about.”

“I know,” Cheryl turned her face to look Kimberley in the eye. “I’m sorry. I guess I just got scared that maybe you might want to change your mind.”

Kimberley stared into Cheryl’s big sad eyes and felt her heart flutter. Only now had she been able to see just how much damage Ashley had caused, and how insecure it had left Cheryl.

“Cheryl, I’m never going to change my mind.” She kissed her forehead in an attempt to soothe the worry lines.

“I don’t deserve you. I’m sorry for being so horrible all evening from the moment I walked through the door.” Cheryl hiccupped.

“Don’t worry about it baby, we’re all allowed to have bad days.”

“Yeah, but I was a b!tch.” Cheryl sniffed, turning her head again to bury her face in Kimberley’s top.

“Well...maybe,” Kimberley giggled. “But you had your reasons. And I should have told you about Justin, I’m sorry.”

“Just so you know, I do trust you,” Cheryl murmured into her chest, grasping her top with her hands. “I don’t want you thinking I don’t. I love you.”

“I love you too, Cheryl, with all my heart.” Kimberley gently pulled Cheryl’s chin up and kissed her sweetly on the lips. “Just please don’t be so quick to doubt me in future, ok?”

“I won’t, I’m so sorry. It wasn’t so much that I doubted you, it was more just about my own issues. Not that I’m defending myself – I know I was out of line.”

“It’s ok babe. Lets just not argue like that again, ok, because I hated it.”

“Deal,” Cheryl smiled up at her. “I hated it too. And then all night I was thinking you must hate me after the stuff I said and the way I acted. I haven’t slept a wink because I’m so angry with myself.”

“Well that’s silly, I could never hate you, ever.” Kimberley put her hand on the side of Cheryl’s face as she kissed the top of her head. “How about we go back to bed and try getting some sleep?”

Cheryl nodded as Kimberley pulled her up from the sofa. “That sounds like a good idea.”

They walked hand in hand to the bedroom, Kimberley climbing into bed first and pulling Cheryl in after her. They wrapped their arms around each other and sighed contently.

“See, this is how it’s always supposed to be.” Kimberley whispered, feeling the warm glow surrounding her heart once again.

“Yup, definitely,” Cheryl agreed before leaning up on her arm to give Kimberley a deep but tender kiss. “Night, Kim.”

“Night babe, sweet dreams.”