Falling into Summer

Chapter 12

Haley

"I should be home in five minutes if you want to head over," I inform Carter, after calling him while I'm driving home from class.

"Are you're sure it's not too late," he asks.

"Nah... Are you staying over again?" I inquire.

"Do you want me to?"

"If you want to," I insist.

"Ok, I'll be over soon," he replies and we hang up.

After talking last night and all that we confessed to each other, Carter did as we both wanted and stayed the night, but nothing happened. After we turned off the movie, we settled into bed beside each other, and then spent the next couple of hours just talking in the dark. We avoided the topic of Leah but that didn't seem to stop us from talking about plenty of other things. It was as if we'd crossed into new territory by putting everything out in the open earlier and there was no going back after. When we'd finally fallen asleep, we'd simply just laid facing each other, no part of us touching. Despite the lack of physical contact, I was keenly aware that he only slept in his boxers, as I was in my pajama shorts and a tank top. I'd be lying to myself if I didn't admit that I had hoped he'd pull me into him so I could be curled up against him, like I had at the beach, but he didn't reach for me and I wasn't going to make the move. This morning, he left around six and went back to his house to get ready for work. He'd emailed once he'd gotten to work, to see how my day was going and if we could hang out again tonight. We worked out that I'd call him when I got home.

Two hours later, as the movie finishes, I look over at Carter to see if he's awake. "Are you staying over?" I ask, when I see he's not asleep.

"Is that ok?" he asks looking over at me in the dark.

"Of course, I just wasn't sure," I insist getting up. "I'm gunna get ready for bed," I say and grab my pajamas on my way to the bathroom.

When I return a couple of minutes later, it's completely dark in my room and I have to feel my way to the bed after having put my dirty clothes in the laundry basket. When I find the bed, I pull down the sheets and crawl in. Instantly, I feel Carter's body heat and it sends a charge through my system. As I settle in on my side with one hand under the pillow and my other resting on the bed beside it, I feel a shift and I see his shadow turn to face me, and we resume our positions from the night before... looking at each other through the darkness.

"Are you tired," Carter asks softly, and that's when I realize he's a lot closer than I thought he was.

"A little, are you?" I reply.

"A little... Did you want me to let you go to sleep?"

"Not necessarily... Is there something you want to talk about?" I ask.

"Well there was something I wanted to ask you," he assures. "Last night, when you said you believe everyone should have some time to be alone after each relationship, what did you mean by that?"

"I just meant that I feel like the longer someone is in a relationship, the more it potentially changes them, and it may be necessary for some people to be alone after a relationship in order to re-discover themselves. In my opinion, a person loses some of their self when in a relationship... I think it's natural to take on personality traits learned from the other person," I elaborate.

"That's really... wise. Where did you get that from?" he inquires.

"I learned it. After my high school boyfriend and I broke up, I had to learn how to be by myself again," I explain.