"Didi, look at the sky," Carly prodded the other girl's side, trying to wake her up. Deanna groaned and rolled over. This only encouraged the younger girl. She crawled on top of Deanna so one leg was on each side of her torso.
"Wake up," Carly giggled, poking Deanna's cheek and pointing to the window. "You are going to miss it, Didi."
"Miss what?" Deanna's raspy morning voice finally filled the silence. She opened her eyes to come face to face with a smiling Carly, already attempting to make her sit up. Deanna groaned, but allowed herself to be pulled upwards.
"The sky," Carly turned Deanna's head and pointed to the window. "It is pretty. Like you. We have to appreciate it, right?" She turned back to the other girl and tilted her head to the side.
Despite having just woken up, Deanna managed a soft smile. She wiped her eyes and sat cross legged, gazing out the window for a few moments.
"I guess it is pretty beautiful, huh?" she laughed softly. Carly nodded, crawling over to Deanna's side and leaning against her shoulder.
"Why don't we go get a better view of it, then?" Deanna smiled softly and stood up. Carly watched her, confused, as Deanna dug through her drawers. The older girl handed Carly a pair of leggings and a sweater. Carly tilted her head to the side.
"Go get dressed and let's go watch the sunrise," Deanna nudged her towards the door. Carly's face lit up and she nodded excitedly, scurrying across the hallway and into the bathroom. Deanna quickly got changed into jeans and a hoodie, pulling a beanie on over her tousled morning hair.
"Knock knock," Carly giggled, standing in the doorway. Deanna crinkled her nose and slipped into her boots before leading Carly out of the bedroom.
"I have a surprise for you too remembered". She pointed to Carly's converse, signaling for the girl to put them on.
"Surprise?" Carly sat down and tugged on her shoes. She eyed the laces questioningly and then looked up at Deanna
Bending down, Deanna giggled as she began to tie Carly's shoes. "Yeah, a surprise. It's at the park," she double knotted the laces and then helped Carly up to her feet. "C'mon, you'll like it."
"I like you," Carly smiled proudly, grabbing the doorknob. She surprised Deanna by turning around and placing her hands on her shoulders. "There are oceans in your eyes, Didi. I see them."
Deanna's breath caught in her throat when Carly locked eyes with hers. This girl had a way of evoking the deepest emotions out of her. For someone so innocent, Carly certainly knew what she was doing.
Both girls leaned in at the same time. Deanna wrapped her hands around Carly's waist and pulled her closer. She felt the smaller girl smile against her lips. It was soft, it was sweet, it was gentle. But it was perfect nonetheless.
When the kiss broke, Carly smiled widely. "I want to see the surprise," she looked hopefully up at Deanna, who was still recovering from the kiss. Deanna could have sworn that Carly could hear her heart pounding against her chest.
"I, yeah, the surprise," Deanna cleared her throat. "C'mon, let's go to the park."
Carly smiled excitedly and grabbed onto Deanna's hand, tugging her towards the door. Giggling, Deanna followed the small girl, making sure to lock the apartment door behind them.
"Slow down, Carly," she laughed, squeezing Carly's hand and slowing her to a walking pace. "It's not going anywhere."
"What is it?" Carly asked as they stepped onto the elevator. Deanna grabbed Carly's hand just as she was about to push the wrong button on the elevator.
"Press this one," Deanna tapped the correct button, and Carly obeyed. "And you can't know yet. That would ruin the surprise."
"Oh," Carly giggled. The elevator lurched downwards and the small girl instantly clung onto Deanna.
"It does that sometimes," Deanna wrapped an arm around Carly to comfort her. "Don't worry. See?" she motioned to the doors as they opened to reveal the ground floor of the building. Carly sighed in relief and pulled Deanna out of the elevator, through the lobby, and into the cold morning air.
"Cold," Carly shivered instantly. Noticing this, Deanna giggled and pulled the smaller girl into her side, keeping an arm wrapped around her waist. Carly hummed contently.
"C'mon. We'll walk around the whole park," Deanna led them towards the park entrance, knowing the surprise would be at the very end. Carly smiled up at Deanna and crinkled her nose.
"The whole world is sleep," Carly observed, looking around the empty park. Deanna laughed and ran a hand through her hair.
"Well yeah. I would be too if someone hadn't woken me up," she teased. Carly raised an eyebrow and tilted her head to the side. "That's you," Deanna explained, poking Carly's nose. The smaller girl giggled and hid her face in Deanna's shoulder.
"Didi, I have a question," Carly stopped walking suddenly. Deanna grew worried, turning around to face Carly and taking both of her hands in her own.
"I'm listening," Deanna nodded, telling Carly it was okay to go on. The smaller girl's eyes flickered down to the ground, and then back up to Deanna. Carly bit her lip.
"Why did I scare you?" she tilted her head to the side slowly. Deanna grew even more confused.
"You never scare me," she laughed nervously and squeezed Carly's hand. Carly shook her head and shuffled her feet on the gravel pathway, frustrated with herself for not being able to get her words across.
"No, no Didi," she shook her head and took a deep breath. "I mean... you were scared, of me. When I came here," she turned and pointed to the apartment building across the street.
"Carly, I wasn't scared of you then, and I'm not scared of you now," Deanna bit her lip. "What are you talking about?"
"You..." Carly sighed and let her hands fall to her sides. "You did not... talk to me, or... or smile at me," she pointed to Deanna's lips. "Why?"
Deanna's mouth formed an 'O' shape. She looked down at the ground nervously and back up at Carly, who was glancing up at her hopefully.
"Do you really want to know?" Deanna asked, biting her lip and hoping Carly would take back her question. She nodded, and Deanna sighed. Leading them both over to a bench a few steps away, she sat down and took a deep breath. Telling Carly the truth hadn't been her ideal plan, but she also didn't want to hide it. Plus, part of her was curious if Carly remembered any of what she had done.
"I wasn't scared of you," Deanna confessed, reaching out and taking one of Carly's hands in her own. "I was mad at you."
Carly's eyes widened and she sat up slightly. "Mad? Was I bad?"
Deanna didn't respond, instead she looked down at her hands and continued talking. "Do you remember me in high school?"
Carly tilted her head to the side and looked up at the sky, as if she were trying to remember. After thinking for a few moments, she looked back to Deanna and shook her head slowly.
"Okay, well," Deanna took a deep breath. "You did... something. To me. And it was mean."
"Mean?" Carly bit her lip.
"Yeah," Deanna glanced up at Carly, noticing the worry in her brown eyes. "You outed me in front of the whole school."
Carly stared at her blankly
"You told everyone in the school I liked girls. Before I was ready to tell them that," Deanna tried to explain it in a way that Carly would understand. She saw understanding wash over Carly's features.
"Oh," Carly stood up and shook her head. "Stupid," she balled her hands into fists and brought them up against her forehead, continuing to shake her head.
Deanna quickly stood up and pulled Carly's hands away from her face. "Hey, Carly, look at me," she said once Carly squeezed her eyes shut.
Slowly, Carly looked up at Deanna. "I am bad," she whispered, talking a step backwards and shaking her head.
"You are not," Deanna pulled Carly closer to her despite the girl's attempt to move backward. "You're not bad, listen to me, okay? Look me in the eyes."
"Your uncle is bad. He put you up to it, okay? You had no choice," Deanna slowly took a step towards the bench once more, pulling Carly with her. "I didn't know that at the time. If I had, I wouldn't have been mad at you. I would have been mad at him."
She sat down slowly, urging Carly to do the same.
"I am sorry," Carly swallowed hard and hung her head down. "I am sorry, Didi."
Deanna's heart dropped into her chest. The words she had wanted to hear Carly say all those years had finally been spoken, but she felt utterly horrible. Shaking her head, she reached forwards and cupped Carly's face in her hands.
"You have nothing to be sorry for, okay?" she said quietly, but still with finality in her voice. "Everything bad that has happened to both of us has only brought us here." She pointed between them. "And we're good now, right?"
Carly nodded slowly. Deanna felt her heart break when she saw a tear roll down Carly's cheek.
"I forgive you, by the way," Deanna whispered, folding her legs on the bench underneath her and pulling Carly into her side. "I forgave you long before this, actually. I think I forgave you the day you crawled into bed with me after you had a nightmare."
"I am sorry, Didi, I am very sorry," Carly mumbled, burying her head in the crook of Deanna's neck.
"Carly, you don't have to apologize," Deanna bit her lip and looked down at the smaller girl. Maybe telling her the truth was a bad idea.
"You have a good heart," Carly whispered, looking up and Deanna and studying her face intently. A few moments of silence passed between them. Carly then reached up and pressed the tips of her fingers against Deanna's lips.
"And ocean eyes," she whispered, moving her hand away and leaning in to kiss Deanna gently. When Carly pulled away from the kiss, Deanna only snaked her arms around the girl's waist and pulled her back into another kiss.
"You..." Deanna whispered once they pulled away from the kiss, gazing into Carly's eyes. "Have a beautiful soul," she finished, reaching out and tucking a loose strand of hair behind the girl's ear.
"Me?" Carly pointed to herself. Deanna giggled and nodded.
"Yes, you. Who else would I be talking to?" she raised an eyebrow. Carly looked around the park and shrugged her shoulders, which made Deanna laugh even harder.
"Do you want to keep walking?" Deanna asked, looking down at Carly. "There's still a surprise waiting for you."
Carly looked up slowly as a small smile spread across her face. That was enough of an answer for Deanna, who rose to her feet and held out her hand for Carly.
"Thank you, Didi," Carly said quietly, taking the girl's hand as they continued their walk around the park.
"For what?" Deanna kicked a pebble on the asphalt. Carly giggled and did the same, watching the small rock bounce along in front of them.
"Being my Didi," Carly hummed, kicking another pebble and nearly tripping over her own two feet. Deanna quickly grabbed her to keep her from falling, and both girls laughed.
"What do you mean by your Didi?" Deanna asked curiously, biting her lip.
"My Didi," Carly raised an eyebrow at Deanna. Her answer alone was sufficient for her, she didn't understand what Deanna meant.
"Do you know what a girlfriend is?" Deanna asked.
"Yes," Carly nodded once. "You."
Deanna's heart skipped a beat and she nodded slowly. "Well, alright then," she laughed softly. "Easy as that?"
"Yes," Carly smiled widely. "You and me, right? I am your girlfriend right? "
Deanna smiled, squeezing Carly's hand. "Me and you," she nodded once. Carly clapped her hands excitedly. Deanna noticed how close they were getting and stopped walking.
"Do you trust me?" she asked, walking up behind Carly and covering her eyes. Carly tilted her head to the side slightly but nodded.
"Walk slowly forwards," Deanna kept Carly's eyes covered, leading her around the corner of the park and positioning her in front of the flowers. "Ready for your surprise?"
"Yes, now?" Carly clasped her hands together.
"Now," Deanna confirmed, letting her hands drop away from Carly's face. The small girl gasped the moment she saw the colorful flowers that lined the small corner of the sidewalk.
Carly turned and smiled widely at Deanna. Without another word, she padded over to the flowers and knelt down in front of them.
Deanna watched as she looked at them all intently. Turning around, Carly reached for the water bottle in Deanna's backpack and made her way back over to the flowers.
"What're you doing?" Deanna asked, watching as Carly opened the water bottle and filled the cap with a few drops of water.
"Feeding them," Carly nodded once, turning the cap over and sprinkling the water on top of the flowers. "Feeding them, and not killing them."
Deanna couldn't help but smile, and she sat down on the bench to watch as Carly continued to water the flowers, one capful at a time.
As Deanna watched her, so immersed in her own world, she realized why she was so addicted to the girl. Carly was mindlessly innocent. She was genuine. There were no ulterior motives to her actions; she did what she wanted to do without questioning herself. In doing so, Carly made herself easy to love. Deanna could easily recognize the inner workings of Carly's mind because she was so open.
Carly loved endlessly. Deanna realized that Carly didn't put up walls to prevent herself from loving. Carly forgave eternally, which hurt Deanna to think that someone would take advantage of that. She decided right then that she'd do everything she could to make sure that didn't happen.
The smaller girl's love of flowers was quite ironic, actually. Deanna considered Carly to be the human equivalent of a flower. In fact, if she hadn't know where Carly had come from, she would have assumed that Carly grew out of a budding flower in the garden.
In the same way that flowers slowly rise back up, even after being stepped on, Deanna realized that Carly would love continually despite the things she'd gone through. Carly was effortlessly beautiful, Deanna knew this for a fact.
The thing that scared Deanna the most, though, was the fear that Carly wasn't aware of her own fragility. She saw how Carly gave and gave without asking for anything in return. She feared someone would come along and hurt the younger girl because of that.
"Thank you."
Carly's voice brought Deanna out of her thoughts. The smaller girl was standing in front of her with the empty water bottle in her hands.
"They are pretty, Didi," Carly smiled and twirled a piece of Deanna's hair around her finger. "Like you."
"Like you," Deanna giggled, standing up and pulling Carly into her side. "They're yellow, see?"
"Yes," Carly pointed to the flowers. "I love them." She turned to Deann, standing on her tiptoes and kissing her cheek. "Thank you."
"You're welcome," Deanna smiled softly, wrapping an arm around Carly and kissing her forehead. "What do you say we go get some breakfast now?"
***TO BE CONTINUED***
a/n: Next chapter is the final chapter, but the epilogue is super long, and i think you'll enjoy that. Tatapusin ko na itong story, I know mapapansin nyo bitin or kulang, it's because May book 2 ito, called "Blue" pero Hindi ko na sya gagawin 😀 hehe actually Hanggang book 3 to.
Book1: Yellow
Book2: Blue
Book3: Green
Pero Hindi ko na pupublish Yung book 2&3 New story na Tayo after Ng epilogue nito. .
Anyways.
Thank you endlessly for the continued support, ily all. have a great day bbies.
LAST TWO CHAPTERS!!