Me Without You

chapter eighteen

{Still Bailey's POV if you were confused}

3:58 p.m. July 6th

As we entered the forest, I led Cassidy down the path I liked the most.

I watched her smile while she looked around as we walked over the leaves and sticks.

"Here." I said, and I took her hand and guided her toward a small pond I've been visiting forever.

"Wow," she said, "this is so beautiful."

"Just like you." I said,
I immediately went to war with my mind.
WAIT WHAT?
NO WHY DID I SAY THAT?
YOU RUINED IT.
I ruined everything.

But she laughed, and shook her head saying "No, no. No I'm really not."

"Hey," I looked into her eyes, and she looked into mine. "Cass, you're the most beautiful girl I've ever met."

"Thank you." she said looking away. I don't think she's into me, all I'm doing is making her uncomfortable.

I reached behind a rock, grabbing the bucket of ice and soda I dropped off right before I picked her up.

"Soda?" I asked her smiling.

"Why thank you." She said laughing a little bit.

"Why do you keep hanging out with me?" She asked after a few moments of quiet. "I can't be that interesting," she paused turning to me, "All I am is a mess."

"Cass, I'm going to be honest with you. The first time I saw you wasn't by the fountain." She looked confused so I continued. "The night you went to that bar I was there, you were so drunk you didn't remember me. I came there to do the same thing you did, get completely trashed but when I met you it changed everything."

"How did I change everything?"

"I didn't want to live before then." I looked down, I was worried this would be too hard for me to talk about. "I had gotten so hung up on the fact that everyone I ever love leaves me."

I was crying now. I didn't even know why.

"But I thought maybe if I could help someone else get better, than I wasn't useless after all."

She moved closer to me and hugged me.

"You're not useless," she said looking into my eyes. "I don't know how you found me that day by the fountain-"

"Actually," I paused, "it was an accident. I wasn't following you or anything."

She laughed and continued, "I don't know how you found me, but I'm glad you did."

She was so beautiful.
Looking into her eyes felt like I was staring into a galaxy of her very own stars.
I shook away the desire to kiss her and changed the subject quickly.

We sat on rocks and talked about anything and everything for hours, it was almost 7 p.m. We never ran out of topics, there was always something with this girl.

As it got later in the day the air got cooler. Suddenly I started to feel tiny, cold drops of rain fall on my skin.

"Hey Cass," I looked at her, she was oblivious to the oncoming storm. "I think it's raining."

As I finished my sentence the rain started to pick up a little more. She looked up, nodding at me. "Seems to be."

The wind shook the trees and it rained harder. The sky got darker and thunder cracked in the distance.

"Cass I think we should go." I said, but when I looked up at her she was standing in the rain with her arms like wings.

"Why?" She giggled as the rain poured down around us. "This is fun!"

She walked over and grabbed my hand, pulling me onto the rock she was standing on.

She just laughed and spun me around. I smiled, praying to god this moment would never end.

Lighting flashed and thunder boomed around us, but we couldn't care less.

We were happy.

She stopped and stared at me for a minute.

Before I could think about what I was doing, I closed the small gap between our faces. I pressed my lips against her's, and kissed her gently.

I broke the kiss a second later, scared that wasn't what she wanted. Proving me wrong, she put her hand on the back of my neck, and pulled me back into the kiss. I put one of my hands in her hair and the other on her side.

The rain fell around us as we stayed connected in that moment.

All I know is this girl isn't just anyone.
She's constantly changing my life.
For the better.

~*~