Runaway Cleo

Ch. 6: Is This the Real Life?

I wait at the school for 2 more hours, just trying to clear my head. I've had a lot of stuff going on lately and I needed the extra time to myself.

After a few more moments of being lonesome, I decide to head home. The home I now share with Cleo.

I get to our house and walk up the steps. When I enter the house no longer seems empty and full of bad memories. It's happy and bright. I can smell herbs that haven't been in my house for a long time going down the hallway.

"Honey, I'm home." I say ironically in the direction of the smell. I start walking that way and peek into the kitchen where I see Cleo cooking away on the stove, "I didn't know you could cook."

"There's a lot you don't know about me, Christian Baker." And she smiles. I swear every time she smiles my heart breaks and my world gets a whole lot brighter. So I laugh and begin to set the table for the first dinner we will have together in our home.

I'm nervous to think about how we will sleep. Last night we slept together in my room, but that was different. She had accidentally fallen asleep waiting on me and I was already so tired there's no way I could have moved out of that room. So what about tonight?

I never imagined a life with Cleo in it because she was gone and now I get to spend the most perfect 6 months with her. Is this real? Is this real?

She breaks me out of my thoughts by bringing in the pot of soup she was making and smiles at me.

"You like vegetable soup right?" She asks me with big eyes.
"No, I love it." She shakes her head slightly and I watch as the edges of her mouth lift up slightly.

We sit down and I decide to make conversation, "I'll understand if you don't want me to ask things about you, but I would like to know the little things about your life. So if it's all the same to you, can I ask about those little things?" I can feel the fear growing inside as she looks at me for a few seconds. I sense her mind turning and can practically hear my heart beating.

"About this morning, I wasn't trying to be like that. I'm not used to people actually wanting to talk to me." I look at her and she looks back and it feels like an eternity before I get the guts to say what I need to say, "I, will always want to talk to you. Cleo, you are the one person that I want to talk to."

She laughs and looks down at her bowl. We distribute some of the soup into our bowls and right before I pick up my fork, she grabs my hand.

"Thank you. For everything. Thank you." She looks down at her plate and we begin to learn about our pasts, our presents, and our futures- no matter how small they may seem.

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"So... uhm, I have to talk to you about something." I ask, trying to gently bring up this awkward topic.  We were watching Netflix on the couch and she was laying on my chest. I pause the anime that was on and sit up a little.

"Shoot." She stares at me awaiting a response.
"Wh-whe- howarewesleepingtonight?" It comes out as one word, with no pauses in between.
"What?"
I take a deep breath. "How are we sleeping tonight?"
"I haven't really thought about it. Together, apart, it's all the same to me." And I guess I look hurt by her statement because she quickly tries to correct herself.
"I mean, it's not a big deal. I would- if you want- I'd like to sleep together but, if not, then maybe apart? Or idk."

I laugh at how she's stuttering and she punches me in the arm. "I'd love to sleep together."
"Okay." She smiles a little bigger, " Okay."

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It's now 2 am and Cleo has fallen asleep twice so we decide to go to bed. We walk into my room and she goes to get changed in the bathroom.

I quickly throw on some fresh joggers and take off my shirt. A few seconds later she comes out wearing one of my old tshirts and some worn out nikes.

I grab my hoodie off the floor and toss it to her, "It gets a little chilly in here at night." She smiles and pulls it on over her head.

I walk to the bed that we never made this morning and climb into my side. Not even a minute later Cleo is on the other side getting in the bed. St this moment I am so thankful for a queen sized mattress.

"You can come closer you know," I say patting the space beside me. She looks up at me with puppy eyes that make her look about 10 times more adorable than she already is. I wave my hand towards me and say, "Come on I don't bite, you know that."

She moves over and when she stops coming closer I wrap an arm around her waist and pull her in the rest of the way. She naturally puts her head on my bare chest and I love how her waist fits so perfectly in mine. "Goodnight, Cleo."

"I love you." And we fall asleep to the sounds of each other's breathing.