Between You and I

Chapter Twenty- Two

May 13, 2012: 2 Hours Before

The car slowly died as I parked and switched off the engine in front of her house. It felt weird to be back here. Back where we started. Valentine stared out at the front of her house, not saying a single word, or breathing a single breath. Just... watching.

"Home sweet home," I muttered, taking the keys out of the ignition and getting out of the ride that has been my home for the past day. The darkness was everywhere. It's around midnight. Barely any lights were lit.

Which is a good thing since that means my parents were sleeping. Let me remind you that Valentine threw my phone out the window, so I couldn't give them a call to tell them where I was... Yeah, there's going to be a huge ass whooping in the morning. My ass whooping. 

I walked around over to the passenger's door and opened it for her. It all felt wrong. She didn't even look up at me. Just looked down as she got out and muttered a thank you. 

"Hey... You alright?" She pushed the car door shut and the question finally made her look at me. 

"Yeah, I'm fine. Why do you ask?" I've known her forever. The look she pulled at that moment was  the look she always got when she was trying to keep herself from crying. Nononono-

"Don't cry. Why're you-" 

"I'm not going to cry!" She cut in with a soft yell, but she looked at me, then looked down at her feet. Yeah, she was. I felt it. I knew that she was going to. 

"Val..." I took her by the hands and whispered, "What's the matter?" In any other scenario, I would have said, "Bullshit." but it felt different. She felt different. After a sniff and a deep breath, she looked up at me and smiled. 

"Nothing's the matter. I just..." Her brown eyes glistened under the moonlight as they bore into mine.

"I'll miss you. I'll miss road- tripping with you." Miss? Who says that we won't go road tripping again? Who says I'm going anywhere?

"You won't have to. After graduation, we have the whole summer. We can go even farther than we did from here." Her eyes grew bigger, but she didn't say a thing. My heart was beginning to thump in my chest as she gave my hands a squeeze. 

"I'll always be with you, Valentine. When are you going to believe that?" Then I leaned down slowly... and kissed her. I kissed her, and she kissed me back. My heart pounded harder, my breaths came in slower, and she was the only thing on my mind. Everything about her. Her laugh, her smile... Everything. She was my everything. 

She pulled apart, and I caught a smile on her face as she once again stared up into my eyes. But, it wasn't a happy smile like you saw in the movies. It drooped a little. It was still sad a little. 

"... I love you, you know?" She whispered, and at that moment, I felt the weight of the world fall off of my shoulders. All those nights when I couldn't sleep vanished, and all the pain washed away because she loved me and I loved her back.  Valentine Holmes, the girl of my dreams, loved me back. I couldn't help but grin like an idiot.

"I love you, too." I say, and she giggled a little. 

"There it is." 

"There what is?" She let go of one of my hands and made a U shape in the air. 

"That smile you do for no reason." My insides dipped and fluttered because after all these years, I can finally tell her. 

"There is a reason why." She raised an eyebrow at me.

"Oh really?" The smile on her face lit up the whole night around me

"Really." My reply was soft and it made her laugh a little because I've never kept secrets from her before, and this reason would be the only thing she didn't know, now. 

However, she glanced  back at her house, and the smile faded a little, but it came right back on when she looked at my love drunk face again. 

"Tell me tomorrow, okay? It's getting late and I gotta rest for the punishment my parents are going  to bring down on me in the morning." A tear finally broke through and raced down her cheek. 

"Hey..." The voice that came out of my throat was light and new as I wiped the tear away. 

"No crying, remember?" One more tiny laugh escaped her lips at my words.

"Yeah." She let go of my hand and gave me a peck on the cheek. 

"I'm just happy to know you love me." If my insides could melt, they melted right then and there because those words were the words I never thought would come out of her mouth. 

"I always have." I assured her. Taking a step back, she grinned at me. 

"I always have loved you, too." All those times where I felt like she didn't... They all cleared from my head. 

"Walk home safe, Dan." And with that, she walked back to her house, leaving me on an emotional high because she loved me. Valentine Holmes was my everything, and I was hers.