𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚎 𝚋𝚎? {𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚕𝚒𝚎 𝙳𝚊𝚕𝚝𝚘𝚗}

'ᴀᴄᴛɪɴɢ ᴄʜᴏᴘs,

Of all the reactions I was hoping my statement would elicit, him backing away from me was not one.

"Dels, you can't say stuff like that and expect me to act like a gentleman," He leaned on the desk behind him. I was still standing near Mr Keating's desk.

"I mean it, Charlie," I pleaded, all the rational thoughts were thrown out of the window the minute I decided to like him. "I want you. In all the ways a girl could want a guy."

He groaned, and his breathing quickened ever so slightly. He kept shaking his hand no, I wasn't sure if it was to convince me that it wasn't right or to lie to himself.

"You are what I want. I hate it, trust me, I do. I hate how much I want you, I hate how I crave you every minute of every day, I hate that even when you're being a total asshole like right now - all I want is to kiss you," I inched closer with every sentence. "I hate that I can't control how I feel about you. I hate that I don't hate you."

His breathing trembled, and he put his hand up to stop me from coming any closer. My heart was threatening to jump out of my chest, while my brain screamed at me to run away and hide. I forced myself to stay put, to wait.

And so I said something that he would have no choice but to respond to, "Carpe Diem, Charlie."

He chuckled lightly, finally meeting my eyes. He was searching for something, any sign that I was unsure, or reassurance, perhaps. Whatever it was, he seemed to have found it because the next second, he did reply.

"Carpe fucking Diem."

His lips were on mine with a burning need that I had never felt before. I let out a sound of approval or pleasure, I wasn't sure, but it drove him further.

He turned me around so now I was backed up to the desk. His mouth travelled to my neck, then my jaw, and finally, he claimed my lips again. I felt myself matching his ravenous desire. At that moment, I wouldn't have recognised myself. This Della was someone I had fought all my life to suppress, but I knew in my bones that Charlie was the one person I could trust to bare myself.

"You are everything," He said into the kiss, letting his hand roam more freely than last time.

He hesitated at my back, interrupting our kiss, "Are you sure? I don't want you to regret anything, Della."

I didn't answer. Instead, I pulled him back into the kiss and ghosted the back of my hand to his aching need. His breath hitched, he almost whimpered, being caught off-guard.

"I'll take that as a yes," He whispered and grabbed my backside to bring us even closer, making me squeak in delight.

"They're still in there?" A voice came from the hallway, causing us to stop altogether.

"That's where I saw them," Cameron replied from a distance. We both groaned, and moved a little away from each other.

I fixed my hair, while he redid his tie all the while we stared at each other with a longing deep enough to be a promise to continue later. He gave me one chaste kiss before I heard the door creak. I pushed him back and turned around, trying to keep the most innocent face I could muster.

"See?" Cameron gloated, "I told you."

"Why are you guys here?" Knox asked, glancing down at my neck for a second too long. He looked back at Charlie with a perplexed expression, studying his current state. "Neil has been worrying, you know how he gets."

He turned to Cameron, and by turn I mean jumped in front of him. "Let's go, they're old enough to take care of themselves."

"But–" He argued.