Self Love • Christopher Velez •

bonus chapter 1

Christopher's POV

2 years. It had been 2 years since Dani came to Miami. One and a half years since I realised that I didn't love Dani like a best friend, that I loved her like someone more, someone I wanted and needed. One year since we got together.

I have always known I loved her. We were friends our entire life. We were never without each other. Even back home it had always been Dani-and-Chris, or Chris-and-Dani. The two who had never known what it was like to be without each other. Even when we were kids and didn't understand what the word 'love' meant, we were the two who had never known what it was like to not love each other. The only difference was that the type of love had changed.

"Why are they taking so long?" I complained backstage.

If you asked me, I would say that he was simply complaining, but everyone else told me that I was whining, but I didn't care.

I missed her.

It had been months since I last saw Dani, the last being the time she flew out to surprise me on tour, and that had been 4 months ago. We texted each other all the time and cramped in video calls whenever we could, but it just wasn't the same. Those video calls and pictures were not enough. I wanted to hold her, hug her, feel her.

"They have to wait for the crowd to clear before they can even leave, and they have to walk here, of course it'll take a while," Erick answered. I scowled at the younger boy. I supposed it did make sense, but I didn't want to wait anymore. I still had to wait for people to start leaving, had to wait for Dani to leave the audience, had to wait for her to walk backstage and had to wait for her to arrive.

There was a lot of waiting and I was done with waiting. I have waited 4 months to see her and I didn't want to wait even a second more. I could hear Richard and Zabdiel talking about Andrea, and Joel and Erick were talking about some anime, but I was focused on the door that led backstage.

The time away from Dani felt horrible. I loved performing, travelling all over the world and meeting fans, but I also missed Dani. It felt like a part of me was left behind in Miami, and that part of me belonged to Dani. We've known each other our entire lives and we have been separated before, but this time, it felt different. In the past, I was separated from my best friend, but this time, I was separated from my love. She was still my best friend, but she also became more. I wanted to spend more time with her, making her laugh, seeing the blush take over her beautiful face and just spending time with her.

After what felt like forever, the door to the backstage sitting area opened. Dani and Andrea came in, talking amongst themselves and giggling. I stood up from the sofa I was sitting on and walked towards them. Andrea pushed Dani towards me while waving at me. A huge smile overtook my face. After months, Dani was actually in front of me.

I walked towards her and picked her up, hugging Dani while spinning us. I ignored the background chatter and focused on Dani's laughter and her arms that were around me. I looked up and studied Dani's flushed face and messy hair, drinking in the sight of her.

"Aren't you going to kiss me?" Dani asked cheekily with a small pout. My smile widened.

"As my lady wishes."

I set Dani down and pressed my lips to hers, hands finding their way to her waist naturally while she cupped my face with her hands, soft fingers brushing my cheekbone. I felt a piece of me settle into place, knowing that I had her back in my arms.

"Finally, he has been moping so much that I considered jumping off a cliff to avoid looking at his face," Zabdiel said from beside Andrea. I scowled at him.

"Hey now, don't be mean-" Andrea started, nudging Zabdiel in the side.

"Thank you," I said pointedly at Zabdiel.

"-And leave me here. If you jump off a cliff, take me with you. I can't handle mopey people alone."

"Alexandrea!" Dani exclaimed with a huff. "You take that back. I was not mopey."

Zabdiel and Andrea shared a look, which I ignored in favour of looking at Dani again. She smiled at me – God, the way that smile made me feel – and leaned up to press another soft kiss.

"Go shower baby, I'll be right here waiting for you," she said, pushing me backwards with a finger. I grinned and bowed, blowing her a kiss as I walked backwards. I took the fastest shower of my life, quickly washing off all of the sweat off my body so I could quickly get back to Dani.

When I got out, I saw Dani sitting on the chair with my name on it, Andrea beside her. I walked towards them and wrapped my arms around Dani, pressing a kiss to her shoulder.

"We'll get going first. Get home safely and text me when you've reached home, okay?" Dani said to Andrea as she stood up, taking her bag. Andrea nodded, smiled at us before waving goodbye to us.

I took Dani's hand in mine as we walked towards the car. The entire way there, I kept turning to look at her. I knew I was being cheesy, but I didn't care. After so long, I was finally reunited with my best friend, with my other perfect half.

When we got to the car, Dani walked to the passenger side and I followed her there. She had a questioning look on her face, but I opened the door for her to get in. Once she got in, I leaned down, kissing her. I could feel Dani's smile against my lips, knowing that I had a matching smile on my own face. I couldn't help it. I was unapologetically in love with her.

The drive home was quick. I wanted to get home as soon as possible and be with Dani, just the two of us. We were both quiet, enjoying the company of each other after months of not seeing each other in person. We saw each other for a few days, when she came to surprise me on tour, but we could finally be together uninterrupted.

"Come on, I've ordered us food in the car," Dani said as I pulled her to the sofa, me lying against the arm of it while she lay between the back of the chair and me.

We didn't need to catch up. We talked or texted everyday, but we needed to feel each other, to breathe in each other after so long of being separated. I interlocked one of our hands together, while my other hand roamed around her body, softly caressing her.

Eventually, Dani fell asleep first, one of her arms thrown over my waist. A small smile appeared on my face. I leaned down, pressing a lingering kiss to the top of her head.

"I love you, Nila. Always have and always will."

yea this was the one of the versions of the epilogue, but i didn't go with this because it didn't make sense to end the book with christopher's pov when the entire book had been in dani's w