Scotty's P.O.V.
She stood there in front of me for the first time in what felt like forever. At first I couldn't believe my eyes. I blinked. She was still there. She looked incredible in her green plaid shirt and dark wash jeans. I noticed the orange, green, and cyan that once streaked her hair was gone. Though she had her contacts in, I remembered her emerald green and blue eyes. I was desperate to have her in my arms again. Then, I saw Ricky standing next to her, holding her hand. Were they together? I suddenly felt sick.
"Well, this is awkward." Levin spoke after a couple minutes of silence. He nudged me in the ribs. "You ok, man?"
"Uh, yeah. Yeah, I'm fine." I stuttered as I spoke.
"Guys, this is Charlie and Ricky. They're visiting family for the holidays." Colin introduced us to the beautiful blonde that changed my life the summer of 2012.
I leaned over to Colin and whispered in his ear. "Dude, that's the girl. The one from that summer at the beach."
His eyes got extremely wide when he realized what I meant. He grabbed Levin's arm and pulled him away.
I looked at Charlie again. When she spoke, I swear I saw angels. "Hi, Scott. Remember me?"
I took a step towards her and wrapped my arms around her. She immediately did the same. For the first time in a year and a half, I felt complete again.
"How could I forget," I said as I pulled away a minute later. "I missed you."
She smiled, reminding me of those two weeks. "I missed you, Scotty."
Ricky coughed.
"So, you're visiting family, huh?"
"Yep. My grandma lives in Garner."
"You should've told me that before. What's her name? Maybe I know her."
"Alice Cooper."
"Really? She's such a sweet woman. My family and I have gone to church with her for as long as I can remember."
"Really? Wow." She put her face down as she smiled. She looked back at me and moved a strand of hair out of her face.
"This is crazy, but can I play you something?"
"Absolutely." She smiled as she looked into my eyes. Man, she's gorgeous.
I stood up on one of the benches that were near us and shouted, "Hey, everyone, I want to sing this pretty little lady a song I wrote. I never knew how to end it until now." Everyone stopped and looked at me. I heard a couple whistles. I began to strum my guitar. "This is called 'Carolina Eyes'." A few more people filed in around me. I sat on the table and put my feet on my seat.
"We were young, it was summer
Just a little town on the edge of the water
I've never been down there before
I met ya, pickin' up shells on that seashore
Your smile was pulling me under
Then ya said your name, and it was game over
Yeah girl, I fell so far in love with you
'Cause I told my heart I had nothing to lose
When time ain't on your side
You're wonderin' which kiss is gonna mean goodbye
And I opened up and threw all my love your way
Said words to you I'd never heard me say
I just sat there that night
And let your Carolina eyes pull me in
'Cause I never thought I'd see you again
If I'd only known a feeling like that
Would hit me once and it'd never come back
I'd of gone ahead and made you mine
Instead of trying to move on and wasting my time
Looking for what I already found
A few years back in that little beach town
Yeah girl, I fell so far in love with you
'Cause I told my heart I had nothing to lose
When time ain't on your side
You're wonderin' which kiss is gonna mean goodbye
And I opened up and threw all my love your way
Said words to you I'd never heard me say
I just sat there that night
And let your Carolina eyes pull me in
'Cause I never thought I'd see you again
Is it luck running into you so unexpectedly
Or is it fate that put you here in front of me
Did you know I fell so far in love with you?
Yeah, I told my heart that I had nothing to lose
'Cause time wasn't on our side
We were wonderin' which kiss was gonna mean goodbye
And I opened up and threw all my love your way
Said words to you I'd never heard me say
Gonna sit here tonight
And let those Carolina eyes pull me in
'Cause I never thought I'd see you
But it's so good to see you again"
I heard cheers all over, but the only thing I cared about was Charlie. I hadn't noticed I looked at her the whole time I sang.
She was smiling from ear to ear. "For me?"
I put my hand under her chin. "All for you, Charlotte." She blushed.
Ricky put his arm around her waist. "How have you been Scotty?" He didn't have a smile on his face, neither did I.
"Good. Been pretty busy, but it's cool." I looked a Charlie. "How are you?"
"I'm good, really good." She smiled, trying to ease the tension.
"Can you go get us a drink, sweetheart?" She spoke to Ricky.
"Of course." He smiled and kissed her temple. Then, he walked away.
I didn't know what was going on between Charlie and Ricky, but I planned on finding out. I wanted my girl back, and I will stop at nothing to make that happen. But what if she's happy with him? Ugh. I don't know what to do!
"So, you and Ricky, huh?" I asked seemingly cool like.
"Yeah, we kinda rekindled after you left." She looked at her feet.
"I'm sorry."
She looked up with a brow raised in confusion. "Why?"
"I'm sorry we stopped talking. I'm sorry I didn't come back this summer."
"It's ok. It wasn't just you. I should've tried harder. Maybe it just wasn't meant to be." She smiled weakly.
How could she say that? Doesn't she remember how we felt that summer? "You don't mean that. Do you?"
"We aren't together now, so it has to be true."
"We could be. We could try again. We could give it our all. Please?"
She stared into my eyes deeply, "Scotty, I'm with someone."
"Does he make you happy? Are you happier than you were with me?"
"I can never be that happy again." She got a sad look in her eyes.
Where did that fun loving, joyful girl I fell in love with go? Before I could say anything else, Ricky walked up.
"A coke for you, love." He smiled at her, his eyes twinkling with the same love I had for the same girl.
