Chapter 49
"Admit it, Elouise," he urged with a cheeky smile, "you sooo love me."
I snorted. "Really? You're going there--this soon?"
He smiled smugly, an expression I've grown familiar with. "Yes," he replied, his yellow eyes alight with joy. "As a matter of fact--"
"As a matter of fact, I think you should stop kidding around and ask her out. God knows you have dragged this on slower than Slowpoke Rodriguez," Zeke interrupted, cutting Charlie off and eyeing him like a disapproving father.
Zeke's bluntness rendered everyone at the table silent; slack jaws, wide eyes and all. We stared at him, stunned, asking the same question in our heads: did he seriously just say that? Although, since I'd been his friend for a whopping thirty days, I knew better than to forget that he's as crude as they come. Nevertheless, it still took a solid two minutes before someone got over Zeke's rude interruption. I tried to suppress my smile as I watched Hector hit him upside the head, but I failed miserably at that. Count on Hector to break shocked silence as quick as he did.
"Aren't you such a Romeo," Hector said sarcastically, laughing it up with the rest of us.
I saw Cindy roll her eyes as she giggled at me. "Actually, I agree with Romeo over here," she stated, sipping from the straw of her juice box. It earned her a shit-eating grin from Zeke. "I say we kick 'em out of this table."
Benjie, Diana, Henry, Hector, and Zeke all agreed cheerfully, making me red in the face and just about ready to shrink. I dared not to glance at Charlie who was probably in the same embarassed state as I was. Unfortunately, without warning, Zeke pushed Charlie off the edge of the metal bench, making him land on his butt. For Charlie's sake, I held back my laughter. A few seconds later--and I should've seen it coming--Di, of all people, nearly made me face plant when she gave me, and I quote, "a little push". Everybody was laughing as I glared at all of them. Charlie was chuckling too, though I had no idea why. I guess I would never really know what could've happened if I told them off about how immature they were being or how much they all sucked, because Charlie's already snatched me away by the hand and pulled me along. Zeke even winked at me before I turned my whole body around.
Double-crossing bastard.
"C'mon, Eli-cat, stop pouting," Charlie requested, flicking my nose with his free hand. "On second thought...maybe I can kiss it away for you?"
I looked at him with a raised brow. "As if," I quipped with a shake of my head. "Where are we going anyway?" Looking around, however, I start to form a tiny hunch.
"Behind the bleachers," he replied with a carefree shrug. "You'd think it would be digusting and suffocating down there, but it's actually a pretty neat spot," he elaborated, smiling at me with that boyish look in his eyes.
We walked in comfortable silence until we sat down at his spot. It was just sunny enough for it to be nice and there was a cooling breeze, which was great. Sitting cross-legged opposite Charlie, I started picking at the luscious grass. It always made me feel bad doing this, but it was a habit of mine and the guilt it gave me wasn't strong enough to make me stop doing it.
Look at you, thinking about grass and ignoring Charlie, my brain narrated.
Shut up, stupid, I replied harshly, shaking my head in exasperation.
Wanting to prove the voice in my head wrong, I decided to turn my undivided attention to Charlie. "You don't have to do anything, you know," I muttered quietly, afraid of looking up at him. "Don't let them peer pressure you," I added, feeling the texture of the grass.
Charlie put two fingers under my chin, lifting my head up gently. If I was being completely honest, I felt like I was in a movie. I couldn't help but wonder if Charlie had seen this...trick from somewhere. Either way, it was probably from a movie based on a Nicholas Sparks novel. Cindy adored his books and their film counterparts.
"That's rich coming from the girl who peer pressured me into dating her twin," he joked, tilting his head sideways like a little boy.
"Ha-ha," I retorted, equally annoyed and embarassed. "It's not like I had to torture you to get you to agree with my ministrations. Like, say, the carefully orchestrated perfect date."
"Speaking of dates...you wanna know what I think is the perfect date?"
I rolled my eyes, pausing from my grass-damaging habit. "Not really, but I'm sure you're gonna tell me anyway. Am I right?"
He nodded, his dimples pressing in like cute little ditches on his face. "You know me well," he remarked with a smirk, pulling his hand back to his sides.
I shrugged half-heartedly, though my stomach flipped with anticipation. "Come on, let's hear it."
He nodded, looking thoughtful as he stared at me intently. "Well, let's say my perfect day was with you," he paused, looking at me with a little bit of uncertainty. "I--I would spend the day with you and only you. We'll do whatever you want; go to the beach, buy some ice cream, maybe watch the ocean for a little while because I know you love doing that. We'll ride bikes around town, and watch the sunset like a couple of die-hard cliché retards. I'll even let you make me sit through a few episodes of Teen Wolf, but only if you ask nicely." He exhaled deeply as my heart pounded against my chest.
When I didn't say anything, Charlie's gaze grew even more intense. It never strayed from my eyes, making it even harder to not feel guilty about my silence. I guess I just didn't know how to respond to that. His words were so...heartfelt, so full of sincerity--the kind you could feel from a mile away.
"I honestly don't think there's even a definition for it," he mumbled.
I blinked, my brain still trying to connect all the dots. Without realising, I heard myself ask him, "And why's that?"
"Because...if you wanted to spend the day in the library or go treasure hunting in a swamp, I'd say yes. I'd say yes because, well, as long as I'm with you it'll always be a perfect date, Eli."
Charlie carefully cups my cheek and surprisingly, I found myself leaning into his hand. I examined him in this new light; his dark hair a disheveled mess, his eyes far too vulnerable than I'm used to. There's that glint in his gold eyes again, its the same one that hooked me when I first saw him in kindergarten. I never understood it then, not even when I had a crush on him in third grade. Honestly, I still didn't, but I guess that's the beauty of it. I'll never be able to explain it because part of me will never really know what it is about Charlie that I liked so much.
Look who's cliché now, I thought in passing as a small smile made it's way to my lips. I wondered about how goofy I must've looked, but I quickly shook it off because I knew that Charlie looked just as ridiculous. Knowing that eased my nerves to a certain extent. As selfish as that sounded, it reassured me that it wasn't just me feeling these emotions.
"I'm in love with you, Elouise, more than you'll ever know," he murmured, just this side of a whisper. This newfound tenderness beneath the surface of the joy in his eyes was so shocking to me. Without waiting for a reply, he leaned in and he kissed me. At first I just sat in astonishment, but then something clicked in me.
My arms began to snake around his waist, and I moved just a tad closer to him. I could hear my heart beat as it rang in my ears and raced; I'm sure Charlie heard it too but he was nice enough not to say anything. Instead, he just held me by the neck and kissed me tenderly--and I couldn't get enough of it. It was as if I needed to get closer to him but I wasn't sure why. So I just savoured it, the feeling of his soft lips on mine. In the back of my mind, I knew that this kiss wouldn't last very long, but I wish it did.
It was over before I could fully process everything. Truthfully, I only had two words to describe it: short and sweet. When we finally pulled away, our silly smiles said it all. Even as my breathing started to slow, I just felt so...content. It was like my quasi-CW life suddenly became less hazy--no suppressing, no confusion. My eyes began to wander from Charlie's slightly red lips to his flushed cheeks. He was smiling too--which made me feel happy too--though he sort of resembled a crazy person, which was a little concerning.
I really like Charlie, don't I?
"I don't know what to say," I stated like a clueless idiot. Way to go, Captain Obvious.
Chuckling, he said, "Then don't say anything, because I wasn't looking for an answer." He reached for my hand and interlaced our fingers carefully.
"You're so--"
"Funny? Amazing? Insanely good looking?"
I covered his face with my hand as the two of us laughed in unison. "Uhm, no, Charles. Get over yourself."
"Alright," he kissed my knuckles, "whatever it is, I don't care."
"Do you really?" I retorted teasingly, though when I looked up, he was simply smiling at me.
He nodded. "I don't care if you don't like me back--okay, maybe just a little--but no matter what, I just wanted you to know how I felt."
"Well, I'm glad that you did," I replied, blushing. "I guess I wanted to know that too."
~
I felt like I was floating for the rest of the day. Nothing was official, but I was fine with that. Just knowing that the boy you liked, liked you back--it was the best feeling. I felt like I won the lottery, to put it simply. I couldn't care less about the people giving me strange looks; they were irrelevant. Nobody at school, not even the most dreadful teacher, could wipe off the grin on my face.
Before Charlie walked me back to my locker, the two of us made plans to do exactly what he'd said on the weekend. The only thing I had left to do was to "ask nicely" so that he'll watch Teen Wolf with me. He should probably watch it anyway; no one should ever miss out on knowing Stiles.
"Dear lord, someone's gone crazy," I heard someone said from behind me.
"Not quite," I replied, smiling as I turned around to face my best friend. Linking her arm with mine, she pulled me down the hall, straight to the parking lot. I went along with it, since I didn't really have another choice.
"You're coming with me," she announced, unlocking her black car with a press of a button.
I rolled my eyes. "You don't say?" I mocked, hopping in and shutting the door behind me. "So, what's on the agenda, ma'am?"
"I'm staying over at your house," she stated, but, as if she forgot something she suddenly whipped her head around. "You're not working tonight, are you?"
I shook my head. "My next shift's on Sunday, from ten to three."
We chatted the rest of the way, stopping at Walmart to buy some snacks. I asked her about Ethan and in return, she asked me about Charlie. Of course, she found out about the thing on Saturday in no time at all, but I was fine with that. If Cindy could openly speak to me about going to Ethan's grandparents' house a few hours away and his birthday next month should be able to I talk to her about the closest thing I have to a love life. In return, I told her that I was happy for her and that I was both excited and nervous about doing this 'perfect date' on Saturday.
"It's just so nerve-wracking, Cindy," I grumbled as I shoved popcorn in my mouth. "What if I mess up?"
Cindy shook her head at me, her blonde ponytail swinging from side to side. "First of all, it wouldn't matter. It's my brother, Eli, you shouldn't have to be afraid! You'd known each other's shenanigans for a long time, I don't think it's even possible for you to scare him away. Second of all, not knowing is part of the fun."
I sighed, nodding at her admission. "Maybe you're right."
"I am," she said proudly, smiling at me with chocolate on her teeth.
I laughed and turned back to the TV.
* * *
Hey guys! Here's the second last chapter of My Best Friend's Brother :)
Just letting you know that I entered this on Wattys 2015, so please help spread the word by supporting this story! Remember to VOTE, COMMENT, and SHARE.
It's reached 126K so thank you all so much. I've got a list of people who I want to dedicate this book to, but there's so many of you that I'll just write them all down in the acknowledgements after Chapter 50.
Coldplay's True Love is on the multimedia. I hope you all liked this chapter--they finally kissed! Haha ;)
Okay, talk to y'all soon.
J~