Kalem's Kisses (English Version)

Chapter 30

Kalem was standing in front of me.

I remained frozen in surprise, unable to take my eyes off him. The brunette wore a hoodie and jeans soaked by the immense rain falling that night, not to mention his dripping hair. My heart squeezed when I saw him trembling from the cold, tears in his beautiful blue eyes.

"Heather..." he said as best he could, his voice choked with emotion. He took a step towards me. "I'm crying, after days of not being able to, I'm finally crying. I don't want to keep holding back the pain."

"Oh, Kalem."

Without a second thought, I launched myself to wrap my arms around his neck, disregarding the fact that his wet clothes soaked me. He didn't hesitate to embrace me around the waist, holding me as if he had missed me terribly. I had no doubt about that.

"Cry all you need to cry, feel everything you need to feel, and let go of everything you need to let go. Everything will be okay," I whispered to console him. I felt him hug me tighter in response to my words, his crying growing louder, making my heart ache.

"Heather, don't let me go," he spoke so softly it was hard to hear.

"I won't."

And it was true. I had no intentions of letting go; I wanted to be by his side for a long time.

After a while, Kalem's tears subsided, and he became calmer, so we went up the stairs to my room. I made him take off his wet clothes and lent him a pair of my father's pajama pants, the blue hoodie he had given me, and a pair of socks to keep him warm. While he changed, I took the opportunity to put on my pajamas. He was sitting on my bed, and I stood in front of him, gently drying his hair with a towel.

"Kalem, you didn't have to get wet in the rain. What if you get sick?" I scolded him as I dried his hair and looked at his face. I had missed him. "What if you catch a cold? I'm not good in situations like that; I wouldn't know what to do."

"Just hug me like you know how to do, and that'll be enough to make me feel better," he said, placing his hands on the sides of my waist as he looked up at me.

I finished drying his hair and set the towel aside.

"You didn't seem to mind getting sick either," I heard him say. "I noticed you were about to leave. In this rain, no less? Lazy? Also, I saw the suitcase by the door." He looked at me with his beautiful blue eyes, then I felt his arms wrap around me affectionately by the waist. "You were going to see me, right?"

I nodded, and that seemed to please him as he rested his head on my chest without letting go.

"I had to see you, and have you here with me like this, Kalem," I whispered, enjoying this moment. One of my hands was on his back, and with the other, I gently stroked his wet brown hair because I knew it comforted him.

"I love you, little writer," he whispered with a voice that made everything inside me stir, and I felt as if time stood still. My caresses stopped, and I fell silent. My heart squeezed at the way he said it, so sweetly and with so much love.

Kalem Taylor had said he loved me.

My silence caused him to pull away slightly to look up at me without releasing his arms from me.

"You don't have to say it back right now; do it when you're ready," he gave me a small smile that made me react. "Really, you don't have to say it; I can feel it, Heather."

"Kalem," I said after a while in silence. I gently ran my hands over his eyebrows, his cheeks, his nose, and finally his lips, which parted slightly at my touch.

"Heather," his eyes seemed reluctant to leave mine.

"You've told me you love me for the first time, but you've shown it to me so many times," I spoke, causing him to give me one of those smiles I liked so much.