Don't you know I love you?

Author's note: Hello, everyone! So, I had just decided to finally put in words what the end of the movie Carol (2015) caused with my feelings. First, I'd like to be clear that these are just my ideas, an story I've imagined myself of what could be a possible continuing to the movie. I don't own any of these characters neither the original story. And second, I'd like to deeply apologize because english isn't my first language, so I genuinely hope the mistakes I make won't be too serious for you to understand it. Third, but no less important, I'd like to thank everyone who had already read this first hand and encouraged me to publish and already asked for more. This seriously means the world to me because the amount of love I've for this movie and for these characters are beyond what words are capable of expressing. I hope you'll all enjoy this first chapter and if you've any positive, constructive critics, don't hesitate to review this pointing them to me. It'll be a pleasure to know what everyone is thinking about it.

Carol watched carefully from a certain distance the slow steps that Therese took towards the table which she and some of her friends were accommodated. Her blue eyes clenched slightly, but always fixed on the brunette, and a small smile formed on her red lips. A certain surprise invaded, filling her entire being. Despite the small hope that was still present in her heart and her soul, Carol did not expect such attitude coming from Therese. She tried to recompose herself from the little "shock" so she could introduce her to the other people who were present in the environment.

"Sebastian, Mary, Antony," Carol graciously interrupted their conversation so that their attention was directed at her. "This is Therese Belivet," she said, reaching her hand which was previously found leaning on the table out to indicate her; the smile insisted on never leaving her lips. Her friends kindly turned to where Carol indicated.

Therese could honestly say she was completely lost in the middle of the situation, because at the time she went towards Carol, she did not even pay attention to the fact that there were other people in the company of her loved one. Anyway, she tried her best to disguise her struggle. She knew Carol would like her to be polite to everyone.

"Good evening," Therese greeted them with a gentle and polite smile, holding her hand out to greet both gentlemen and leaned slightly towards the other woman to greet her with a kiss on each side of her face, as was the custom.

"Sit here Therese, please," Sebastian said, offering his own seat.

"Don't wor..." Therese was then interrupted.

"I insist. I'll find another chair for myself. Sit down," Sebastian smiled after standing up on his feet, adjusting the suit to his body and tie before giving enough room so Therese could finally sit. Next to Carol.

The dinner flowed as the hours passed. Therese felt occasionally uncomfortable standing in the middle of Carol and her friends, tried to remain silent during conversations between them, and even with the blonde and Sebastian offering their respective attentions at one time or another, the younger woman felt strange, even funny... as if she was bothering those people she had just met.

"Therese," Carol turned back towards the brunette, lovingly reaching her hand under the table, enjoying a moment of distraction from her companies while they were asking for the dinner bill. "Will you go to the apartment with me?" The blonde asked in a tone below what would be the normal tone of her voice, hesitating. After all, despite having the courage most of the time to give voice to whatever she wanted, Carol couldn't conceal her apprehension of being rejected by her beloved a second time. "I will understand if you can not," she said finally.

Therese blushed and felt a shiver run through her whole body as she heard a second request of the same offer Carol had previously done a few hours before and she, by a foolish pride, denied promptly and clearly regretted in the next second. "Yes. Yes, I will", she said, staring into the blonde's eyes. "I came here for that, after all", Therese offered a smile and tried to reassure her words by squeezing Carol's hand, just as lovingly as she reached for her hand the first time. Watching as the way her body relaxed against the chair to hear both her words and feel Therese touching her hand.

"We'll be going in a minute then. I'll be back in a second", Carol continued to speak softly, politely asking permission before getting up and retire to the toilet for a few brief minutes.

Therese felt her stomach turn with the vision of Carol walking in another direction that was not towards her own; a lump formed in her throat.

"Welcome," Carol turned to Therese after turning the key in the door handle of her apartment before opening it, allowing the brunette to walk in front before closing the door behind them.

Therese looked at every detail of the apartment: the walls painted in a light shade of blue, the furniture that appeared to be handpicked by the refined taste that she knew Carol had. The curtains decorating the windows giving an air of true works of art to them. But one detail, an object in particular caught Therese's attention more than any other item in that location.

"I made sure it was brought here," Carol muttered quietly under her breath as she took a few steps closer to the younger woman, as if somehow she knew where she was looking at the time, guessing her exact thoughts. But had something changed? Carol had always known her better than Therese did herself. The blonde then stopped close enough for just both their breathes be felt and heard in the silence.

"Why did you bring the piano here?" Therese choked in her own words, amused. Memories of the first visit to the former home of her beloved began to go through her head as if they were scenes from her favorite movie, she closed her eyes for a moment, savoring what would be hers forever and for always. She was still able to remember exactly how her heart beat, as if the air seemed to have found its way back to her lungs and finally remembered how it was like to live and stop just existing. And only by being able to be again in the presence of the woman who would always make her feel like it was the first time all over again.

"Because..." Carol tried to organize her ideas and thoughts, and immediately dropped her gaze to the floor. Maybe this was a question that she wouldn't even know how to answer. Why had she decided to keep a part with her from a house where, after a few years of her life, lived only times she wanted to forget? "Because I simply couldn't live without a piece of yours with me. Do you understand what this apartment symbolizes in my life, Therese? It is the continuation of a new beginning you showed me when we met. What sense would it make if a part of the most important person was not with me?" Carol rested her hands on Therese's shoulders and squeezed them, as if somehow seeking comfort.

Now tears adorned the young woman's eyes. She didn't want to cry, actually, she didn't like to cry in front of anyone else... But somehow, Therese felt that it wasn't forbidden nor wrong. It wasn't a problem to show her vulnerability, there was nothing wrong with deconstruct the walls surrounding her heart. After all, why would she keep them if she now was with the one she was supposed to be? To resist when no longer remained the doubt that the love of her life loved her back? 'A new beginning', Therese thought as the silence was now taking care of the environment and flashes of the first day she met Carol, images of the first time her eyes laid on her from a certain distance, now crossed her mind. How could she and Carol be so lucky to be in the same place, at that very same moment? How could she and Carol have met the exact people that would save them in all the ways that a person can be saved?

"I love you, Carol," Therese sighed almost inaudible as she felt her muscles gradually losing stiffness, finally finding the way back to where she had always belonged. "I love you," she repeated again as she moved slowly in Carol's embrace so that her eyes could again find the woman whom she would love forever.

Carol tenderly moved her hands from Therese's shoulders, stroking the entire length of the thin arms of the brunette until she finally was able to hold her by the waist, bringing her closer in a way that both women's faces were less than a breath from distance. "Don't you know I love you?" The blonde whispered before tilting her head slightly to the side, finally reducing the distance that previously separated her from Therese with a kiss, as if they had kissed this way thousands and thousands times before.