For Forever

Chapter four

When they had gotten to the car he tossed his phone to her.
  "You can put the address in my phone." He says getting in the car and starting it. She gets in the passenger seat and opens his maps. She shakily puts in her address and hands the phone back. She crosses her arms and lightly strokes her left.
  "Are you okay?" Carson asks as he starts to move the car forward.
  "Yeah just a tad cold." She chuckles and looks out the window. He glanced at her quickly and then goes back to the road. Was that a hint that she wants a jacket or hoodie? He asks himself. He clears his throat loudly.
  "Do want a jacket or blanket?" He says putting more of a nervous grip on the steering wheel. She hums.
  "Do i? or do i not?" She says tapping her chin softly and shakes her head.
  "I'll be okay, thank you though." She smiles and leans her head on the window and looks up at the stars. He looks over at her. He feels his face heat up and looks away. Leah sighs contently.
  "I love the stars." She says once again. Carson smiles.
  "Yeah? and why's that?" He says bringing the car to the side of the road and parking for a second. He opens the sunroof and leans his chair back. She does the same with her chair and puts her delicate hands behind her head. Her smile gradually grows.
  "Just look at them. each one tells it's own story and then if it's part of a constellation, it tells a complete new one. They're beautiful and so meaningful to me i guess." She says. He starts to stare at her as she rambled on about some of the constellations. She talks about all her favorites, such as the Big Dipper, and Orion's belt and so many more.
  "God you're beautiful." He blurts out. She looks at him. Her eyes widen and she blushes. She puts her hand in his face and pushes it the other way softly.
  "Shut up." She says with a smile on her face. Why do i feel like this? I hate him. She says to herself contemplating if that was even true anymore. or...do i? She looks over at him and he's chuckling softly. They bring their seats back up and talk the rest of the drive to her house.
  "Thank you for the ride." Leah says putting a piece of her hair behind her ear and smiling softly. Carson smiles lightly and nods.
  "No problem." He says. She gets out and starts to walk to her door. He starts to breakdown. He overthought everything that had happened. What if he did something wrong? He sat there with his hands on the steering wheel and starts to cry. He was just so stressed. Football, homework, his little crush on Leah, his terrible family life. He couldn't do it anymore.
  "I forgot my pho-" Leah says opening the car door. Carson gasps lightly and starts wiping his tears. Leah looks at him with a soft look. She sits down in the passenger seat.
  "Talk to me." She says. He looks at her and sniffs lightly.
  "I probably seem like a wimp now huh?" He says sarcastically and wipes his eyes one more time.
  "No you don't, you're having a moment. Now tell me," She says putting her hand on his shoulder, "i'm not leaving until i know you're okay." She says. That warm feeling in her chest starts up again. What is that? She asks herself confused.
  "I'm just stressed is all." Carson says trying to not tell her too much. Leah had already known about his family life, from other people talking about it. His parents were divorced and his dad was an alcoholic and abusive.
  "Is it just your family? Or football?" She asks taking her hand away from his shoulder and taking his hand to comfort him. He nods.
  "both," he hesitates, "and there's this girl. She's beautiful and so kind...but she hates me, and i don't know what i can do to change that." He says.
  "Who is she?" Leah asks. Carson looks at her with the, you're not that stupid look.
  "o-oh." Leah says feeling guilty. She didn't hate him, but she didn't know if she liked him? She didn't know, she was confused.
  "I-i'm sorry Carson. I don't hate you. You just get on my nerves sometimes." She giggles and he starts to laugh. But soon his laughs turn into soft cries.
  "Hey, hey." Leah whispers as she pulls him into a hug. He wraps his arms around her from across the middle seat in the front. He cries into her shoulder softly. She starts to rub his back and lays her head on his and closes her eyes.
  "Let it out. it's okay to cry when you're upset." She says trying her best to comfort him.
  "I'm so sorry i'm just so stressed. With my family life and football. it's just so confusing and it takes a lot of my energy." He says. Her face goes from a calm to a sad look. She hugs him just a little tighter. After a couple minutes he starts to calm down and they stop hugging. He groans jokingly and wipes his eyes.
  "I'm sorry. I hate peoples seeing me like that." Carson says. Leah looks at him. She looks him in the eyes. They made heavy eye contact for a minute and then she looks away.
  "It's okay. don't even worry about it. Now come walk me to my door and we can talk about this later tonight on the phone." She says punching his arm softly and getting out of the car. He laughs and gets out.
  "M'lady." He says putting out his arm. She giggles. She links arms with him and they walk to her door.
  "Thank you kind sir!" She exclaims and curtsies to Carson. Carson laughs.
  "No worries M'lady." He says bowing slowly. They laugh for a second and then she starts to unlock the door.
  "Leah wait." Carson says putting his hand on her shoulder and turning her around. He engulfs her in a hug and squeezes her gently.
"Thank you so much." He says. Leah stands there, red faced and nervous.
"Y-you're welcome." She wraps her arms around his neck and hugs him tightly.
  "You can talk to me about anything. Anytime. Even if we aren't that close." She says. She leaves her arms around his neck and pulls her head off his shoulder so she faces him. He looks at her and pulls her closer to him, wrapping his arms around her small waist. Her face gets red and that strange feeling starts to hurt her chest. He leans in softly and places a kiss on her lips. She stands up on her toes and leans into it softly. He smiles in the kiss and pulls away from her. She smiles and takes a deep breath. He puts a price of hair behind her ear.
  "Good night Leah." He winks at her and goes back to his car. She giggles quietly.
  "Good night Carson." She smiles and walks into her house. She slides down her front door and smiles. She had figured it out. After hating the kid for a long as she can remember. She has finally figured out that she had liked Carson.