Falling into Summer

Chapter 18

Haley

"Well I'm going to the grocery store, but I made plenty of breakfast," my mother says as she grabs her purse and heads out the garage door. I then make my way back to my room, and quietly open the door only to see Carter is clearing sleep from his eyes.

"Morning," I greet leaving the door open, knowing we're alone in the house.

"Morning," he replies with a smile.

"My mom just left for the grocery store, but she made extra breakfast if you're hungry," I share.

"Sounds good," he says as he gets out of bed and stretches his arms over his head, revealing he's only in boxers. Surprising me, he heads to the kitchen without putting on any other clothes, but I guess with us being the only ones here, he's not worried about how that would look to my mother. Besides, we've yet to retrieve our pants and shoes from the porch.

It was after two in the morning when we got to my house. With it being so late, I wasn't going to make Carter drive home, so I invited him to stay, knowing he was just as tired as I was. He agreed, and when we got to the front door, we could see under the porch light that everything from our knees down was covered in mud. We had no choice but to leave our shoes, socks, and pants on the front porch. Although he was still covered in a t-shirt and boxers, I was left in a pair of underwear and a t-shirt. I was thankful my shirt was long enough to cover my bottom or else he would have gotten a free show as we walked through the dark house to my room. After I changed into pajamas, I joined Carter in bed. Although we slept the whole night on our own sides, careful not to touch each other, I can't deny the thought crossed my mind that the last time we laid in this bed together we were clinging to one another. The memory made me crave his touch again.

Although it has been nice to spend time with Carter, it's been hard fighting the urges to slip back to the way it used to be with us. When we were alone, touching each other came naturally and was totally normal. The way we are now, being careful not to touch one another, feels extremely unnatural. Last night was especially hard because he spent the whole night doing whatever he could to make me feel safe, including holding my hand, regardless of the potential aftermath the simple gesture could cause. Then in the car ride home, it was so nice to have him be so accommodating to how I was feeling, and again I loved the feeling of his hand resting on me. It's like no matter how hard I try, I can't help but crave his touch, and I can't stop myself from falling for him... and wanting him. Needless to say, I know I have to get these feelings under control or else I'm going to lose even his friendship.

Then this morning I heard my mom in the kitchen around nine, so I got up and filled her in on why Carter was here. She didn't seem mad or even concerned; instead, she told me her plans for today before we head back downtown for the final charity event later this afternoon.

After eating in our pajamas, I go back to my room to lay down with a heating pad on my stomach and watch tv. Surprising me, Carter lays down after putting on his shirt from last night, and watches tv with me, seemingly not in a hurry to leave. When I start to laugh at the program we're watching, I don't think about it when he laughs also, but when our laughter dies down, he interrupts my concentration, "I love your laugh," he says, and because I'm not sure I heard him right, I shoot him a playfully suspicious glare. "Seriously, it's so..."

"Loud?" I interrupt not sure where he's going with this.

"No, it's so infectious... It makes me laugh," he compliments, and it makes me blush.

The minute I look away from Carter's eyes, embarrassed by his compliment, I feel him firmly squeeze at my side tickling me unexpectedly. Instantly, I scream with laughter and his fingers begin to fervently tickle me all over. Unable to control myself, my laughter becomes loud screams, and my arms and legs go flaying about as I try to break free of his fingers. However, in my attempts to maneuver away I accidentally roll myself right into him as I continue laughing hysterically with tears in my eyes. Laughing himself, he finally stops as I begin to settle down, and before I know it, his arms are around me. No longer willing to fight this magnetic pull between us and finally getting what I've craved for over a week, I relax against him happy that it seems he wants me close to him again also. We remain cuddled together for the next hour watching tv.