AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“People know you’re with me now, anyway,” he tells me when I don’t say anything. “There’s nowhere to run.”
“I want to run away from here. I don’t know that I can stay here, Bastian.” I don’t know why that’s what comes out of me, but it’s all I can say.
His answer is simple and unexpected. “When you figure out where, tell me.”
His hand falls from my cheek and he gets off the bed, making my body sway where it is. My gaze drifts to him, watching him stand at the dresser and open a drawer, and then to the faint light of early morning filtering in through the window.
“Where are you going?” I ask him and then add, “To Carter’s?” He only nods solemnly. Of course, he’d want to be with him. I’m sure Carter needs him there too.
“Do you want me to go with you?” I offer. I’d do anything for him.
“You keep looking for a way to run from me, Chloe Rose,” he says and although he isn’t facing me as he slips on a white cotton t-shirt, I can hear the smile that must be gracing his lips, “but I need you this time. You’re not allowed to leave now.”
“So, that’s a yes?” I push him for more, feeling a warmth spread through my body and cloaking the sadness still buried within.
“It’s a, ‘you should have known you’re coming with me.’”
SEBASTIAN
Iknew it was coming. We all did. But we’re dying every day, coming closer to the end of our time here on earth, and it’s never easy to accept.
It’s been four days since she passed. And four days of Carter not calling. I keep texting him, but he just gives me one-word answers. His dad was right, nothing can prepare you; I didn’t think Carter would push me away though, not when he needs someone there for him. Even if it’s just to sit around and do nothing, I don’t care what, I just want to be there for him.
But he has his brothers.
Let me know when I can come over, I text him. And it takes a few minutes with only the sound of the paper bags rustling from Chlo getting the Chinese food out before Carter replies that he will.
I think he’s lying though. I don’t think he’s going to ask for help or for anyone to come around. He’s not okay.
“You should go to him,” Chloe speaks up, dishing out the lo mein on both of the paper plates with the white plastic forks they threw in the bag. “I think he’d like that,” she adds. She’s on her knees in front of the coffee table in nothing but a shirt of mine.
Tossing my phone on the sofa, I get down on the floor with her. It’s awkward and I have to push the coffee table away a foot, so I can fit between it and the sofa.
The sound of her small laugh soothes a piece of me that’s hurting for Carter. I peer up at her with a smirk on my lips. “Not everyone’s a tiny little thing like you,” I tell her and watch that soft blush creep up in her cheeks.
“I love making you smile,” I say and it only makes her blush harder. She bites down on her lip, reaching for another carton. She dishes out the General Tso’s quietly until both plates have more than enough on them.
“I love it when you make me smile too,” she says sheepishly, sitting back on her heels. “But seriously,” she tells me, “I think he’d be happy if you stopped by.”
“Yeah,” I agree with her, remembering how she was at Carter’s house and then at the funeral. She was quiet and polite, but the moment someone was ready to break down, she was right there. For Carter, but for Daniel too, his younger brother. All she wanted to do was be there to take away the pain as much as she could.
I love her for it.
I love her for being her.
She peeks up at me as the thought occurs to me, but she quickly looks away and repositions herself. She’s barely eating, just pushing the food around on her plate.
“What’s wrong?” I ask her, a nagging feeling inside of me that what we have is going to go away. It’s all going to slip through my fingers and I’m going to lose her.
She clears her throat and glances at me, her gaze shifting between the untouched plate and then back to me. I have to put my fork down and push the plate away to face her. “Tell me what’s wrong.”
“I think I love you.” Her answer is immediate, although each word feels hesitant like it was afraid to be spoken. “I think I’m weird and needy… and that I have problems,” she says then swallows thickly, and the blush that was on her face turns a darker shade of red before she looks up at me again with those blue eyes shining with vulnerability. “But I think I love you, and I don’t know if… if it’s okay that I tell you.” She bites down on her bottom lip and then nods once like she’s said her piece. “But I wanted to tell you,” she adds quickly before I can answer her.
She’ll never know how she breaks something inside of me with her confession. With how genuine and sincere those words come out. I know she means it. She feels that she loves me, and she loves the part of me she knows. It shatters something deep down inside of me. The part of me that’s hiding from her sight, the part of me I hate, that part of me falls to my knees for her, praying I could atone for all my sins and be worthy of that love.
“Lie down, Chloe Rose,” I give her the command, feeling my heart slamming against my chest, begging me to tell her how I feel. I’m not ready though. I love seeing her squirm, and a part of me thinks if she knew how much she meant to me, she’d run.
She glances at me warily before setting her fork down and scooting out from between the coffee table and the sofa to lie down on her side only to ask, “On my back?”
