The Carters | ✓

Chapter Five - I Love You

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Max's POV

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When I pull into the familiar driveway of the Stevens residence, I can already feel my heart start pounding faster in my chest. I've been to this house too many times to count over the years, but this last week has been different. Every morning I have driven here at seven o'clock – way before we need to leave for school – and I have woken Bella up, sat with her while she eats breakfast, waited for her to get ready. I never usually do that. But ever since I admitted my feelings for her, I have been asking her one question over and over again.

I just want her to be mine.

But every time I ask her to be my girlfriend, she shuts me down. Her reasoning is logical, of course. We've been best friends for years and this is a big change. We need to take things slow. I've taken her out on three dates since that night I told her how I felt. I've hardly even kissed her since then. But still, she's making me wait.

So, like every other day this week, I get out of my car and start walking towards her front door. It's Saturday, so she'll be sleeping in, but I don't mind. I already know she'll let me cuddle up with her in her bed and we'll spend most of the rest of the morning doing that.

I don't bother knocking on the front door when I reach the top of the front porch steps. Instead, I walk right on in. When I enter the kitchen, Mr. Stevens is already sat at the dining room table, reading the newspaper and sipping on a cup of coffee. He looks up at me with a smile. "Morning, Max."

"Morning, Mr. Stevens." I nod at him with a smile. He wasn't at all surprised when he found out I had feelings for Bella. He even gave me his blessing and told me he was glad the two of us finally confessed. It seems everyone but the two of us has known for years how we felt about one another.

"Is Bels up yet?" I ask him, stopping at the bottom of the stairs and turning back to look at him.

He shakes his head, eyes not moving from the words in front of him. "She's not waking up anytime soon, son. Good luck with that."

"Thanks, Mr. Stevens." I chuckle and start heading up the stairs. I walk over to her closed bedroom door and knock twice. I hear a stifled groan of acknowledgement and I grin, opening the door and letting myself inside. As I expected, Bella is still bundled up under her covers, mostly asleep.

I slip my shoes off by her door and shrug off my jacket as well. I'm glad I chose to wear sweats instead of jeans, because denim is fúcking uncomfortable to sleep in. When I approach her bed and kneel on it, Bella's eye flutter open slowly. I smile down at her. "Good morning, Angel."

A lazy smile lifts her lips and she lets out a quiet sigh, snuggling into her covers. She doesn't say anything as I get in beside her, but the second I'm under the blankets, she shuffles over to me and rests her head on my chest, practically lying on top of me. I love every second of it.

"Missed you, Maxy." She murmurs tiredly, burying her face into the crook of my neck as I wrap my arms around her.

We stay that way for a while, her sleeping peacefully while I hold her in my arms. Throughout our friendship, there have been multiple times where we fell asleep similarly to this during our movie nights. But nothing has compared to the way it feels to hold her in my arms, knowing she feels the same about me. It's still a little hard to believe.

What must be at least an hour later, Bella finally starts waking up. We ended up with her lying completely on top of me with her legs on either side of mine. When she starts waking up, her thighs tighten around my hips and she presses her face firmly into the skin of my neck. A harsh sigh leaves her lips before she slowly lifts her head and brings her hands up to cup my cheeks. She's pretty much straddling me and I have absolutely no complaints.