Take Me to the Stars

Chapter 11

He stared at me for a second, trying to figure out how i knew his name. Then all of a sudden, his mouth dropped open in shock as he stuttered, "Li - Lindsey? Is it really you?"

I couldn't breath. I tried to speak but the words wouldn't leave my mouth, instead I stood there with my mouth hanging open like an idiot. My mind was spinning as I tried to make sense of what was going on. Why is he here? How did he get here? Am I sure this is really him? Am I dreaming? Rico stood back and looked at me in awe. "Look at you, your so beautiful."

My heart rate sped up.

"W - Wait. How do I know its really you?"

He stepped towords me and grinned playfully. "Ask me something nobody else would know." His honey golden eyes sparkled and his breath smelled mint. I put my hands in my pockets to keep them from shaking. Something nobody else would know? But what? Then I had it.

I crossed my arms, set my jawline, and looked him straight in the eyes. "Okay, On the day I left, what was the last thing you did to make sure I would never forget you?"

His smile faulterd a little as he said, "I gave you my phone number.

I rolled my eyes, "And?"

He stood there for a second thinking about it, then understanding crossed his face as he stepped even closer to me. "I told you that whenever your lonely, you can look to the stars because somewhere across the sea, i'll be looking at them too."

I gasped. This is him. This is really him. I fought hard to hold back a wave of tears as I said one last time, "And? What did you do after that?"

His grin got even wider as he leaned over so his face was just inches from mine. "Hmm, I believe It went something like this." He slid one hand the back of my head and the other on my waist, and he pressed his lips to mine. His touch was warm and gentle as he pulled me closer to him and kissed me again. There was no point in trying to hold back the tears now, they streamed down my face and I let out a sob. I ran my hand through his smooth, wavy hair with on hand and wrapped my other arm around his neck. He pulled back  just enough to look into my eyes, cupping my face in his hands and wiping my tears with his thumbs.

"I - I don't understand. You left me for so long, all my friends......... all my friends thought I was crazy and...... I don't have any true friends left and.......... but your here and........ how could you? Where have you been?" I said in between sobs. He shook his head and pulled me into a tight hug, kissing me on the cheek.

"I'm so sorry Lindsey." He whispered into my ear. "I know its been hard for you, but if you let me explain I promise i'll make it up to you." He pulled away and looked me in the eyes. "I love you so much, and I will never let you get that far away from me again." 

I'm not sure how much longer I could hold my self together. Our lips met again and for a moment, I was in total bliss. Then I came to my senses and I remebered where we were. We were in the middle of a mall, surrounded by people, and somewhere on the next floor up my friends were shopping without me. I grabbed his hands in mine and pulled away from his lips, leaning my forehead against his. "Rico," I breathed. "Remember where we are."

"I don't care who sees." he whispered back. 

"But my friends..... My friends!" I shouted and he stepped away and looked at me in shock.

"What are you talking about?"

"I told them, but they didn't beleive me and....... o my gosh! Rico! I have to make my friends see you!"  I grinned but Rico looked like he was getting more confused by the minute. "Okay Rico, when I told my friends about you, they thought I had just made up some guy to say that I had a boyfriend and they turned on me. They started calling me weird and they just.... stopped hanging out with me."

"Well, this might just me my opinion, but those don't sound like true friends to me." Rico looked concerend. 

My smile melted. "Yeah, I know. They are terrible friends because they don't believe a word I say anymore. But...... your here! So if I could just make them see that they were wrong, they would feel sorry that they were ever jerks to me and they would be begging to be my best friend."

Rico smirked. "Now there's the Linsdey I know and love. Do you think you would still consider being their friend after all they did to you?"

I knew this question was coming. "You know, my life has changed so dramatically in the last five minutes, It got me thinking. I don't need pity friends. I don't need friends that like me only because I proved them wrong, ya know? I have a new friend now."

His smile got even bigger. "And, who might this new friend be?"

I smiled. "Well, he's tall, handsome, tan, stubborn, and ironically, he' s from a totally different country."

"Hmm, now who would that be?" he grinned and pulled me into a hug. 

I took a deep breath and whispered into his ear,

"You. It's always been you."