No More What Ifs (DreamNotFound)

16. Reconciliation

"Clay!?"

"George!"

He had a bandage wrapped around his forehead, but that didn't cover the other abrasions and bruises that absolutely covered his face. There was barely any normal skin left. His left eye, like mine, was swollen and purple, but his was so much worse. His cheeks were purple and brown with bruises while his chin was scraped to hell. I teared up, only imagining how much pain he was in from all of that.

"Wh- I- Clay!" he sputtered, taking a tentative step towards me.

"George..." I repeated, standing up and taking a few steps towards him.

He looked around. "Did you... are those cookies for me...?"

"Yes! I-I wrote you a card and got you some cookies. U-Um..."

I couldn't believe I was tripping on my words. I loved him, I was so positive that I did. So why couldn't I be firm saying that?

"Wait, but I don't... C-Clay, I don't deserve this-"

"You do, George. Read the card, I explained everything. I want to tell you with my voice, but I-I... don't think I can..." My voice faded as tears welled up in my eyes. My brain was going haywire and I was starting to hyperventilate. He struggled to grab the card, missing it a few times before picking it up. I just realized that he probably shouldn't be reading with a concussion, but his mom didn't make any effort to stop him.

I followed his eyes trace the words on the page slowly, even doubling back quite a few times. Finally, he put it down and choked, "Are you... serious about all this?"

"Yeah..."

We each took a few more steps towards each other. His face was now only inches from mine as his hand traced to my waist. I brought my hand to his cheek and we titled our heads together so the tips of our noses touched. His was rough from being scraped, but I didn't care. 

His voice was a soft whisper, barely audible as he mumbled, "So... do you... um..."

Though he didn't finish his sentence, I knew what he wanted to say. "I... I think we should get back together."

"I do too. B-But I didn't know if you wanted to..."

"Of course I do. I love you so, so much."

We closed the gap, now only half an inch between our faces. I could feel his breath as I'm sure he could feel mine.

"Are you okay with this?" I asked, my heart practically in my throat. 

"Y-Yeah."

The hands that were hanging at our sides became intertwined. His palms and knuckles were scabbed and rough like his nose. I felt so awful for him, but right now, I was more focused on how my heart was beating rapidly and my cheeks were flushing warm.

We finally tilted our heads back up and our lips met in a soft embrace. It felt so great - it wasn't exactly making out, but simply pure, slow kissing. He tilted his head to the side a bit to make it easier, causing the hand on his cheek to slide into his hair. I stroked it before gently placing it behind his head, fiddling a little bit with his dark brown locks. The bandages were in the way of my giant hands being able to securely hold his head, but I was more than content with this anyway.

After many moments of bliss, we broke apart. Tears were coming down his cheeks, as was the same with me. His brown eyes, though probably dull because of his pain, seemed to sparkle to me.

The hand that was playing with his hair went down to grab the one at my waist, locking together like the other pair. He gave me a wobbly smile before throwing his arms around me and crying into my chest. I was crying too, but he was heaving out sobs whereas I simply had tears trickling down my face.