As Cold As Ice // Charlie Gillespie

Chapter 40

When I wake up Charlie is laying next to me, watching me through sleepy eyes. "Good morning" I whisper. "Good morning" he whispers back before gives me a gentle kiss. I could seriously get used to waking up like this every morning. Only that today is the last morning I'll wake up like this because as soon as we get to school Charlie has to get into a bus and leave. "Hey" Charlie says while he brushes a strand of hair out of my face "don't think about it just yet." That he knows immediately what I'm thinking about tells me he was thinking about it too. He's right though, I shouldn't spend the last hours we have together thinking about him leaving.

Somehow I manage to grab my phone to have a look at the time. It's 6am which means we have 4 hours until Charlie has to be on the bus home. "How fast can you pack?" - "Really fast, why?" I smile and give him another kiss. "Wait and see. Now hurry up and get ready." I don't think I've ever seen someone jump out of bed at 6am that quickly. "Alright, see you in 15min." He kisses me once again before he practically sprints out of my room which I can't help but laugh at. I force myself to get out of bed too and get changed into some proper clothes. Right now all I'm wearing are my underwear and Charlie's shirt. Exactly 15 minutes later Charlie knocks on my door. I literally just finished fixing my hair so I reach for my bag and my crutches and head over to the door.

When I open the door and Charlie's smiling face appears I drop my crutches, wrap my arms around his neck and place my lips on his. For a moment he seems startled but then he wraps his arms around my waist and kisses me back. I can't help but remember where that lead to last night. A comfortable shiver runs through my body at that memory. When we pull apart Charlie tilts his head "What was that for?" I shrug as I say "I just felt like it." - "Well, feel free to feel like it more often." Immediately his cute smirk appears and I quickly kiss him once again.

"So you shooed me out of the house to eat?" I know he's teasing me because on the way to the diner Charlie's tummy did rumble more often than mine so I just nod happily. When our pancakes get placed in front of us Charlie licks his lips hungrily and for some reason that makes my heart skip a beat. Without any further words we dive into the food. We didn't leave bed last night so we both didn't have dinner. I know we'll miss first period for this but right now I don't care. I'd rather sit her with Charlie and have a little bit more time than sit in different classrooms. The voice in the back of my head tells me I should stop eating so carelessly because I'm not doing any sports at the moment but I shush it. It's my last day with Charlie, I can care about food again tomorrow.

"Mia, this was delicious!" - "It was, wasn't it?" I had forgotten how good the pancakes at Sam's Diner are. I really wish I could eat that stuff more often but I guess than it wouldn't be as special anymore so I assume it's fine this way. We sit back down in the car, both holding out tummy's. "Are you as stuffed as me?" I laugh before I say "I feel like I'm about to explode." As soon as Charlie starts the car we both grow silent. The whole drive over to school we stay that way, both caught in our own thoughts. When we get to school it's 9:30am. Sam's is a bit further away from my house and from school so both drives took up quite some time.

As we pull into the parking lot I can see Charlie's bus being parked in front of school. A few exchange students have gathered in front of it already. I look at Charlie who looks at me with the exact emotions I'm feeling - sadness that this over. "It's only two months. We'll make this work" he says as he reaches for my hand. I just nod, biting my lip to suppress the tears that are forming in my eyes. Charlie squeezes my hand before he lets go to get out of the car. We walk over to the bus extra slowly and the closer we get the more I have to fight the tears. Charlie quickly throws his bag into the bus while I wait a little offside.

I can see Sarah approaching in the corner of my eyes. "Hey" she says, softly wrapping an arm around my shoulder. "Hey" I whisper back. It's hard to stop my voice from trembling. Before we can talk any further Charlie comes walking back over. "Hey Sarah" he says with a smile. She nods at him but doesn't remove her arm from around my shoulder. When Charlie looks at me his eyes turn soft. "Mia" he whispers before he pulls me into his arms. At some point Sarah must have let go without me noticing because she's now standing a few steps away.

"I'm sorry, I promised myself not to cry." - "Then you better keep that promise because I don't want to cry either." We both laugh at this but I can tell he isn't joking. This isn't easy for Charlie either. "Time to go boys!" someone yells from the bus. I take a step back so that Charlie can walk away. He looks over his shoulder to find his classmates getting on the bus. I think he's about to turn around but then he turns back towards me, takes a step closer and kisses me so passionately it takes my breath away. "I love you Mia Carter" he whispers before he turns around and walks away.