𝐆𝐎𝐋𝐃𝐄𝐍 𝐅𝐋𝐎𝐎𝐃. ᵒᵘᵗᵉʳ ᵇᵃⁿᵏˢ ²

14

14 . 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗵 𝗼𝗳 𝗺𝘆 𝗹𝗼𝘃𝗲 .

    "𝐉𝐎𝐇𝐍 𝐁," 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐖𝐎𝐑𝐃 𝐅𝐄𝐋𝐋 𝐏𝐀𝐒𝐓 𝐇𝐄𝐑 𝐋𝐈𝐏𝐒 𝐈𝐍 𝐀 𝐖𝐇𝐈𝐒𝐏𝐄𝐑.

    It seemed to echo throughout the alley, and suddenly his name was the only sound audible. In a split second, every noise slipped away from the real world and all that was left was the sound of his name falling off her tongue, so sweet and so utterly breathless. She hadn't said his name out loud much, if not for the conversations about him, or the times she'd whispered his name in the dark at night just to feel that comfort again. But this time it was different. This time, saying his name out loud was different. Because it was no longer in the figurative sense, or to ease her nerves, or whatever it was. It was because he was standing right in front of her, now.

    His dirty converse stained with mud, the same shorts he'd been wearing when he left that day on the Phantom, and the yellow shirt. The bandanna around his neck. His tanned skin. His messy hair. He was all there, all of him. Like he'd never left at all.

    And her heart damn near stopped beating entirely.

    It fell, her heart, somewhere far below her at the sight of him. Somewhere beyond the concrete ground, fluttering into oblivion. Her chest constricted around her ribcage as the air slipped from her lungs with the snap of a finger, her body spiraling into a wave of shock. This was unlike any other feeling she'd ever felt in her entire life. It was one thing to learn he was alive— but she'd thought that she'd have more time to anticipate what the reunion would feel like.

    But this was not something you could prepare for. Not in any sense. Not even if you tried. It was an indescribable feeling, impossible to be fully explained until it is felt. Her body went completely breathless, as if somebody had swept away all the air particles in her lungs and shut their doors, leaving her sitting on that pavement at his feet— chest rising and falling to try and break through that barricade. Her eyes were as wide as a deer's in headlights. And then an unanticipated gloss coated her eyes and the sight of his face became blurry.

Her body exploded with a feeling that was entirely consuming— thousands of emotions washing through every part of her body. It was bursting into flames all over her skin, tingling everywhere, this overwhelming feeling. But it felt good. Better than anything she'd ever felt before. Good was an understatement because this was something beyond the line of euphoric— this was euphoria on a million steroids. And it exploded in fireworks throughout her bones, synchronizing with the phantom beat of her racing heart.

    "Charlie," he breathed out, his word echoing through every part of her body.

    The shape of her name in his voice was entirely overwhelming, and she felt it all the way down to her feet, to the edge of every single fingernail. Charlie. The tone of his voice that she replayed over in her mind every night. At that, she pushed herself up to stand with a speed she'd never known, and he rushed for her at the exact same time— as if they'd been destined to do this all along. As if all of this was a reflex.

    She wasted no more time before flinging her arms right around his neck. He rushed for her at the same moment, wrapping his arms around her torso in a tightness neither of them had ever known before. In want— need. Desire. She immediately erupted in sobs against his tight grasp, the very second she felt the familiar material of his shirt.

    The moment their bodies collided, it was as if someone had brought the moon down to earth. Like every goddamn cloud in the stupid sky vanished. Something clicked in her chest— clicked back into its rightful place. Back into place. And it suddenly felt like everything was knocked into its original slot, like they were meant to be pressed together like this all long. Everything night crying and every melancholy conversation about him led up to this moment. The sounds of driving cars vanished completely, whatever noise coming from her phone on the ground had dissipated— and all she could hear now was the sweet, sweet sound of his breathing weaving with her own. The heavy beat of his heart against her own chest.