The John Hughes Club

Chapter Forty Eight

Sat in the back of the car together, with mum in the front passenger seat and Rob driving, Chas looks breathtakingly stunning tonight. With his onyx quiff gelled strikingly high, his jutting jawline just as high and striking, I am fit to burst with happiness. Attractively by my side, our little fingers tenderly lock in the space between our hips and thighs on the seat. Peering beneath his long lashes, his dark eyes sparkle with a secret expression in my infatuated direction. I need no surprise from Chas to complete my birthday, for just being here with him, already feels like the best birthday present ever.

"What are you guys watching at the cinema?" Mum asks, straining her neck to look at us.

"Not sure yet. We thought we'd all decide on the night," Chas answers mum, staring out through the windscreen with his relaxed spheres.

"Cinematic Pot Luck!" Rob jokes, glimpsing at mum as his grin widens across his rugged face.

In this pocket of time, all seems right in the lives of the Diaz's and the Summers'. All of us appear to be content and satisfied with the direction our lives are going in. Day by day, our contentment and satisfaction has been increasing. We're no longer battling against circumstances, or each other. A calmness now swathes us. And I'm glad of that calmness. I'm glad of the ease felt when in each other's company. I'm glad that I can now be sixteen, be with my boyfriend, and focus on my mocks without being drained by the resentment and the arguments that me and my mum used to always engage in. The truce between us all, remains strong and it remains resilient. It's allowing ourselves and our relationships to flourish. Allowing us the emotional freedom to just be happy.

"You both have your taxi money to get home, don't you?" Mum hurriedly checks with us, her protective instinct kicking in.

Alertly, I nod just the once. "Yup!"

"We'll both share a taxi from my workshop, as we're going there after the cinema, remember?" Chas reminds both my mum and his dad of our plans for later in the evening.

"That's fine. As long as we know you're both able to get home safely," Rob comments, "Chas has put a lot of thought into your surprise, Mindy." Using his rear view mirror he focuses on me, a broad smile appearing within them.

Observing Chas briefly with a fondness in my eyes, they then swiftly return back to Rob's. "I can't wait to find out what it is," my voice now light with cheerful curiosity.

It's then that I feel Chas's fingers lacing with my own, strong and warm as they sensuously curl around mine. As mum and Rob begin chatting amongst themselves in the front, myself and Chas quietly just hold hands in the back. No words need to be exchanged. Nothing needs to intrude on our innocent intimacy. We have plenty of time later on to talk and to laugh together. That's the wonderful thing about he and I, we are just as happy to not be saying anything to one another. There's just as much comfortable connectedness in our silence, as to when we are conversing. I love that about us. I love that we are able to quietly appreciate us just being that...us.

**

"See you later!" Rob calls out with mum leaning in beside him, waving our way.

"Have fun!" she musically shouts, her waving becoming more enthusiastic.

Our temporary parting of ways makes Chas and I both smile. Breathing in the nippy autumnal evening, I prepare to stride towards the warmth of the cinema foyer, where we have all arranged to meet. As my energetic pace builds momentum with my Dr. Martens, I am so quickly caught by my elbow and turned on my booted heel, that my tennis skirt twirls around my thighs. "Happy birthday," sweetly and chorally breaks from the depths of Chas's throat. Against his body, he holds me in place, studying my face like lyrics are written upon it that he touchingly needs time to admire. "Being sixteen beautifully suits you," he devotedly adds as his fingers lightly skim my cheek, leaving a tender line of his love invisibly upon it.