The Moon Is Beautiful

Chapter 43

Kaden's coming.

I didn't have any morning classes today, and so I decided to sleep in, only waking up from the sound of my phone ringing. My mother called to tell me that Kaden was coming to the city today and asked me if I could pick him up. The mere mention of Kaden and the thought of being able to see him again had me jumping out of bed and scrambling around my apartment for who knows what.

I still don't know. I was just so excited that I had no idea what to do.

My mother said that Kaden took a taxi about an hour ago, meaning that he'll get in in approximately one hour, giving me not much time to get ready as I usually like to take long showers, but now I have to cut it short.

Kaden is more important than some shower.

I quickly slip into a pair of leggings and top before grabbing my bag and phone and leaving my home. I reach the place where Kaden will be arriving quite a while before Kaden will actually arrive, but I don't mind. I'd rather be too early than be late.

It's his first time coming to the city alone since Ms. Anderson always comes with him, and so I didn't want to be late and have him confused when he arrives.

I'm not sure how long I wait, but as soon as I see a car pulling up, excitement wraps itself around my bones and I rush over to the car, hoping that it's Kaden.

When the doors open, I hold my breath in anticipation, watching as the figure gets out of the car. When the figure raises his head and I see those sparkling blue eyes, I smile.

Unable to stop myself, I launch myself at him as soon as he's fully out of the car. I realise that I startle him with my action when he stumbles back a few steps before balancing the two of us.

"Rosie?" he whispers out in shock. I forget that I didn't even alert him of my presence, and so my sudden hug must have startled more than I initially thought it did.

"It's me." I whisper to him.

He smiles. "God, I missed you."

He pulls me back into his arms, burying my face in his chest. He has no idea how much I missed him. He is all I could think about these last few days, and I thought that I would go crazy without seeing him for any longer.

This time apart made me realise how I truly feel about him. I was unsure before, but now, I can't be more sure.

I like him. A lot. And I can't wait to tell him.

I'm not sure how we just stand there, wrapped in each other's arms until I finally force myself to pull away from him.

"Come on. Let's go to my place." I say, taking his suitcase from him.

"I'll carry it." he insists, reaching out for it, but he fails, reaching out in the opposite direction to where I'm holding it. I smile at the little pout that appears on his face when he fails to find his suitcase.

"I've got it." I say and even though he looks like he wants to protest, he merely sighs in defeat. He must have realized that I'm not taking no for an answer.

We walk in silence. It's only when I realise that I haven't asked him if he has a place to stay that I open my mouth. I just figured that we'd go to my place for now.

"Do you have a place to stay at?" I ask.

"Well, there is the apartment I lived in with my parents before they died. I haven't gotten round to selling it even though it's been years." he explains and I hum.

"Where is it? I can take you there." I offer, not about to let him go somewhere alone in his state. Even though it's his previous home, the journey he has to take to get there might be a struggle for him.

"Well...that's the thing," he awkwardly says, rubbing his hands together. "I was young and so I never actually learnt the physical address. I would be able to find it if I can see, but I can't tell you the address out of my head."

It makes sense.

"Well then, why don't you stay at my place for now?" I suggest and his eyes widen. "It's just until after your surgery. Once you can see again, you can head to your home."

I'm being optimistic about his impending surgery, because I know that it bothers him and I want to at least be the positive one out of the two of us.

"Right. The surgery." he says, almost as if he had forgotten about it. How could he, when it's why he came to the city in the first place?

"Let's go." I say, grabbing his arm with my free hand. I start leading the two of us to my apartment, but I stop when we reach a familiar path surrounded by cherry blossom trees. The cherry blossoms are still falling from the branches, littering the path.

"Why are we stopping?" Kaden asks.

Letting go of his hand, I bend down and pick up a cherry blossom from the pile of the ground before standing up again.

"Do you know the saying about cherry blossoms?" I ask, staring up at him and he shakes his head. ""Catching a falling cherry blossom makes your first love come true" is the saying."

"Do you really believe in that?" Kaden questions, his eyebrows furrowing.

"Mm," I say. "Don't you?"

"No, I don't." he simply says, and the firmness in his voice as he says it suggests to me that he is not willing to be open to whatever I may say to try to change his mind.

"Well, I do. I don't believe in many things, but this is one of the few things I do believe in," I say, staring down at the cherry blossom on my palm. "I mean, isn't it better to believe in something, no matter how ridiculous, instead of believing in nothing?"

He hums and even though he doesn't directly disagree with me, I know that he's not suddenly going to start believing in the saying. And that's fine. I wasn't planning on shoving it down his throat in the first place. I merely wanted to share my beliefs with him.

"Let's go." I say, wrapping my hand around his arm again and resume our walk to my apartment. Luckily, my apartment isn't far from where we are and when we pass the university on our way, I immediately make the decision to not attend my afternoon classes. I can't leave Kaden alone in my apartment.

Not only does not know the environment, he also knows no one and if something happens, he won't be able to contact me. I should remember to ask for his number later. It's becoming ridiculous that I still don't have his number, especially with everything that's going on between the two of us.

"We're here," I announce when we arrive at my apartment, inserting the code on the lock and leading Kaden inside. He shrugs off his coat as I can imagine, he is perplexed by the sudden difference in weather from the town. "Do you want anything?"

He shakes his head and I lead him to the table in my the kitchen, allowing him to sink into his seat.

"Make yourself comfortable. Feel free to ask if you need something. I'll be busy with my work." I say and he nods. I grab my sketchbook from my bed along with a pencil and take a seat at the table opposite him. I have a lot of work to do, nevermind the year-end assignment that I have due. I haven't even started on it yet, and in simple words, I'm screwed.

Just as I am about to start my work, the doorbell rings, grabbing my attention. Kaden looks up in anticipation and I stand up, walking to the door and pushing it open. I'm instantly surprised by who I see.

Raine.