Summer Went Away | Cam Cameron (2)

Soft

New Year's Eve

Mom practically forced me to go to Cameron's for the week. I wasn't going to, I was going to ask him to come here or just spend the New Year apart and FaceTime at midnight, but she said that it was a hard no. She preached to me how important it was for us to celebrate every first holiday and milestone together as normally as possible. Nothing about any of this is normal though. In a normal relationship, someone isn't constantly worried for their safety because of people who hurt them in the past. In a normal relationship, someone isn't constantly worried about their mother dying, knowing they will be a shell of themself when she's gone. We aren't normal, but I will do anything to make my mom happy.

So if that means trading out Boston winter for North Carolina, that's what I'll do. I guess when you look at it on paper it's a win-win. I get to spend time with my boyfriend, ditch all my responsibilities, and be in warm sun, not cold air.

Somehow the responsibility and stress are almost comforting. They are familiar, they are real, and they prove that I can still feel.

Hands went around my waist and I felt warm breath on my neck, "What are you thinking about, beautiful? Do you want to come back to planet Earth to be with us?"

I looked up at Cameron's smiling face and perfect eyes and kissed him softly. "Nothing. I'm back, I'm here."

"I'm so glad," he smiled.

I hugged him and pressed my cheek to his chest, "So what is our plan for the day? You never really told me."

He kissed the top of my head, "We are going to my friends' party at fiveish like we talked about, but the rest of the day there are literally no plans so we can do anything."

***

The parties Cameron's friends threw were much different than the ones any of my friends ever had. I started to put on a little black dress and Cameron stopped me. He made it clear that it didn't matter what I wore, but most people would just be in jeans and a shirt.

That sounded perfect to me. It was enough for me to throw on a pair of jeans and one of his shirts and head out the door.

His hand was placed comfortably on my leg the entire ride. I know he wouldn't have moved it, but I held my hand on his to keep it there.

He held my hand, walking me into the house. They had food there, nothing like mom would have done before she got sick. Her parties always had so much food and so many things to do.

There were board games on a table, it was all really relaxing. I sat next to Cameron and leaned my head on his shoulder.

We played games, laughed, joked, and everyone made me feel like I truly belonged there.

It shouldn't be shocking to me that Cameron has such good friends though. He's amazing and apparently a magnet for amazing people.

What I gathered from stories taught me most of them have been friends since they were little. I would do anything to have a friend like that.

Except I was either too much to handle for them or drove them away when I was with Easton and when Mom got sick the first time. The one person I thought I had left right when it all got bad. She left all of us.

I shook the thoughts out of my head and smiled up at Cameron. "Ten minutes," I whispered.

"I can't wait," he smiled.

His friends had made the rule of no kissing till the time you got there until midnight. Seven hours shouldn't sound that long but it definitely felt like it.

Cameron tried to pull the 'we never see each other' card but his friends weren't taking that as an excuse. There was no changing their minds.

I hid my face with my hands and yawned.

"How are you sleepy when you're normally up until two in the morning, running on like four hours of sleep," Cameron laughed, pulling me into his side.

I looked up at him, yawning again and laying my head on his chest. "I don't know. I guess I just feel safe and like I can sleep around you."

His face turned slightly pink and he rubbed his thumb on my cheek "We can go home right after midnight and go to bed. Then we can eat a super yummy breakfast tomorrow."

"One minute!" His friend yelled.

We all stood up counting backwards from ten.

Confetti, streamers, fireworks, Happy New Year, and clinks of champagne glasses filled the air, but the only thing I could focus on was Cameron.

The way his hands gripped my hips and pulled me into him, crashing his lips into mine like he was desperate to remember what it felt like to kiss me.

I stood on my toes and cupped the back of his neck, playing with the curls at the base of his neck. We kissed again, softer this time.

That was it. Nothing more. We said goodbye to his friends and went back to his car. He held my hand on the way home and opened my door when we got to his house. He braided my hair back for me to sleep after I changed a shirt of his that went to my knees. We brushed our teeth, and laid in bed. My head on his bare chest, his hand rubbing small circles on my back. He kissed my head softly and whispered how much he loved me.

That was it. Soft love. Normal love. Contestant love. Cameron's love.