small world

chapter 32

“Gemma, I could never love someone as much as I love Charlie. It would be impossible for me to feel this way about anybody else… don’t you get it? She’s it for me, no one else could even begin to compare to her, she’s everything.” I stood up as I spoke, beginning to get defensive as I finished off my cup and set it down firmly on the counter.

“All I’m saying is, you’re in a soon-to-be world famous boy band. Charlie’s a small town girl. It may be that one day she won’t be able to fit in with your lifestyle, she may not be ‘the one’ for you.”

Gemma’s words knocked me down like a bowling ball to a pin. All my time with Charlie, these last few days especially, I was floating on cloud nine. She was the girl you dream about, the one I saw myself with fifty years from now sitting beside me on a rocking chair holding my hand as we rocked our days away. But Gemma had taken me from my high and brought me crashing down to reality, pulling me from my dreamland to the real world with a thud. I didn’t want to hear what she was saying; I didn’t believe it. She has no idea how real this is. I backed away from my mother and sister, hands up in surrender, slamming the back door angrily as I made my way outside toward the swing set. I sat on a swing for an immeasurable amount of time before hearing the car start and the two of them driving away for whatever they had planned. My feet were planted firmly on the dewy grass as my knees bent and legs moved causing me to sway lightly on the swing. Suddenly I felt a pair of thin arms weave through my own and around my body, I smelt the familiar coconut shampoo and fabric softener, and the smell that was completely unique to her. Charlie held me tightly, engulfing me with a squeeze before joining me on the swing beside mine. I could sense her gaze landing on her house in a distance, her mind in a memory.

We swayed in a comfortable silence, her presence soothing the rage that flowed through my veins previously. My mind relived the last few days, snuggled up in bed every morning, drinking tea whilst watching movies, Charlie throwing her head back in laughter, the laugh that was contagious to those who were lucky enough to have it bless their eardrums. I thought about the perfect Christmas we had, how she fit in so perfectly with my family, like she was meant to be there forever and always, for every year to come. I thought about how perfect her hand fit in my own, how her skin felt against mine between the sheets as we drifted off to sleep lost in each other and yet so at home. I thought about the look on her face when she opened my gift, and the same look when she noticed what the message was on her finger: my love literally becoming a part of her. My hands made their way up the thin fabric of my t-shirt, smoothing my thumb over the locket she had given me, it alone symbolizing our eternal love. And I realized then even more so how wrong Gemma was, and how right this is. I found myself leaning over to Charlie, my swing bringing me to her as I closed the space between us and placing my lips delicately on hers unexpectedly. She smiled into the kiss, our foreheads pressed against each other and out noses barely touching.

“What was that for?” she asked sweetly and I returned her smile.

“For loving me,” I put simply before drifting away from her on the swing, pumping my legs into the air. Charlie watched me for a moment before she started to swing herself, her snowflake pajama covered legs pumping in and out, gaining height and catching up with me.

“JUMP” I called out to her, the two of us soaring not only in the air but the nostalgia that weaved around us like ribbons, tying us together in the crisp winter air. We landed with a thud on the cold frosted grass, but the heat we shared from Charlie’s body pressed against mine made the winter feel so warm.

“This is crazy” she said breathlessly, her face hung over mine as her eyes sparkled down at me. I could feel her soul dive into my sea green eyes, wandering them.

“What do you mean?”

“You and I. This. It’s crazy. Months ago, when I got here, I never expected this to happen. The first time you really spoke to me after all those years we were just like this, tangled up around each other on the grass, full of feelings that didn’t have meaning yet. It was then when we first kissed, do you remember?” she smiled and I nodded up at her as she spoke “In a spot years ago where we used to play, and now here we are as a couple. Its just such a small world with you and me, like everything was meant to end up like this.”