CHASING CHARLIE GRAY

44

One minute I was sleeping and then the next kisses were being peppered onto my face, droplets of water falling from Charlie's hair and onto my skin.

"Babe" I grumbled sleepily, hands raised to try to get the water falling onto me to stop.

She chuckled, quickly tying her hair up before moving back to littering my  face in kisses.

"What's up?" I asked tiredly, a quick look at the clock showing it was 4 am. Even if I wanted to, I couldn't be mad at her for waking me up.

"I was swimming!" She gushed.

"I mean not near how I used to but I was swimming" Charlie rambled on excitedly like she couldn't even believe it herself.

Now that she said that, it was all making sense. Her wet hair and even wetter swimsuit.

"Really?" I sat up in her bed, rubbing my eyes blearily.

"That's great" I yawned.

Charlie frowned.

"I'm sorry for waking you, I just got so excited" She apologized, beginning to look slightly guilty.

"No it's okay, I'm glad you woke me. Wanna show me?"

She nodded happily and I climbed off the bed, going into the closet to find one of my swimsuits to follow her.

She lay spread out on the bed until I was finished, eyes on the ceiling and not paying any mind to the way the bedsheets were turning darker around her.

"C'mon" I coaxed gently and Charlie bolted up, grabbing my hand to hurry down the steps and out to the back.

I left my towel besides her things and made my way to the edge of the pool to watch her do laps.

She was fluid in the water, body moving smoothly, and when she was finished Charlie made her way excitedly over to me.

"You're right, that was really good" I praised, smoothing her wet hair away from her face.

She smiled brightly, nuzzling into my palm slightly.

"How're you feeling?" I checked.

"Not bad, I mean I'm tired but it's not the same as how I feel before I get sick" She pondered, a far away look in her eyes before she was grinning up at me again.

"I'm glad"

We stayed at the poolside talking for a while, me sitting with her resting between my legs before I eased into the water to meet her.

"It's warm" I commented.

"Yeah, I had my mom put in a heater when I realized I wanted to swim at the ass crack of dawn" she laughed, swimming around me in cute little circles.

Seeing her happy made my heart ache in a good way.

We swam to the shallow end of the pool, my face against her shoulder and her's pressed to the side of my head, swaying gently in the waves we had created, hands wound around each other in a way that said what we were both thinking.

I don't want to let go.

"I love you" She said with so much emotion my throat felt like it was closing up.

I held her tighter.

"I love you too"

She kissed the side of my head sweetly and we stayed like that until the sun broke over the horizon.