What if?

Spiders or memories?

"Char..." I called slowly, standing in the bathroom doorway.

"Yeah?" His voice came from somewhere near the office.

"Charles..." I said louder, sounding more desperate.

He sounded slightly annoyed but yelled, "What, Riss?"

I just stood at the door to the bathroom as I felt him come up behind me. I stepped back and grabbed his waist, pulling him in front of me. I burrowed my head in his back and shoved my arm around his body blindly pointing to the sink.

"What?" He asked, chuckling.

"GET IT!!" I yelled into his back.

I felt his shoulders shake as he silently laughed. He grabbed my hand and pulled me to his side. I wrapped my arms around his stomach and clenched my fingers into the muscle on his side. He slowly ran his fingers up my back and then pulled my blonde hair. Laughing as I jumped, he said, "Get what? The big bad spider?"

He walked over to the sink and let it crawl into his hand. He walked toward me and thrusted his hand forward, into my face. "OH MY GOD!" He said shrieking like a girl. "It's soooooooo big! It's gonna eat you!!"

I screamed and jumped away. "Charles Paul!!" I yelled as I batted his hand away. "Get it away from me!!"

He laughed and kissed my cheek. "Thanks for letting me keep my man card by helping out my girl."

Charles started walking toward the back door and I followed. Opening the door, he walked out onto the deck and let the spider go. I stepped out onto the deck with him and shut the sliding glass door behind me.

Walking over to the railing, I realized the sun would be setting soon.

The apartment building is located up on a hill. The back field is huge but at the edge, it drops off and starts sloping down. At the bottom of the hill there is a lake with gorgeous blue water.

But looking up, the view is completely different. In the distance there is a lot of green. There is dense woods but just above that, there is a huge field. Watching the sunset in the distance... There's nothing like it. It's never fails to look gorgeous.

I watch as a big ball of orange and red light starts to disappear below the hill. Even when it storms, the view is amazing.

I stand with my hands on the railing and take a deep breathe. Nights like these are what makes this all worth while.

Earlier today we spent time swimming in the pool. Char cooked us dinner while I cleaned up the house. We sat down together and had nice, normal conversations while we enjoyed a meal. After awhile, he took me out to get ice cream.

I laugh just thinking about it. We pulled up to the little ice cream parlor just a couple minutes down the road. He walks over and opens my door for me. I see his smile in my mind that he had as I climbed out of the truck and took his hand. I can still feel his fingers brushing over my knuckles as we walked toward the counter.

I, of course, knew that Charles would order a large vanilla ice cream cone, dipped in a chocolate coating. I decided I would do the same.

A young boy, no older than 16, called us up to the window. He asked what Char wanted, and of course, I was not wrong. He ordered his vanilla cone and I smiled. Predictable Charles.

The boy smile politely at me and asked what I wanted. "I'll have the same, thank you." I said with a smile, looking into his brown eyes.

After we got our ice cream, Char and I walked over and sat at a table. "What? No mint chocolate chip blizzard?" He asked with a smile.

"Nah, I figured I'd keep it plain and simple... Kinda like your personality." I said, dipping my finger into the vanilla ice cream piled on top of my cone. I wiped it along Charles' cheek and the licked my finger.

I bit my lip and tried not to laugh as he tried to look hurt. "You. Did. Not." He said slowly.

He knows I was only joking but he started to actually look upset...

He quickly wiped ice cream down my nose and laughed, letting me know he was in a playful mood. We laughed together as I realized he was joking back.

I grabbed his wrist and leaned over to take a bite of his cone just to make him mad, but while doing so, he shoved the cone straight into my face. Soon, it turned into a full-on ice cream war.

People stared at us but we didn't care. We were soon a cold, sticky, laughing mess.

After getting home, I decided I was going to take a shower to get rid of the stickiness. But, obviously, the spider derailed that.

I felt Charles walk up behind me and wrap his arms around my waist. I felt the pressure of him as he set his chin on my shoulder and sighed into my ear.

"Remember the first time I got a spider for you?" He asked and I could sense his smile.

"Yeah, that time in sixth grade science class. It ran across our lab table and I freaked. You swooped in like my own personal hero and killed it... How can I ever thank you?" I say dramatically before eruptting into giggles.

"Well..." He said slowly. "I have an idea..." I feel his smile as he kisses my neck. Taking my hand, he led me into the apartment. I bit my lip to hide my smile as I took one last look at the sunset.

Life with Charles is never boring. But will it always be this way? He's the same Charles that I've been with for years. But you never know what the future has in store. Can this man truly be my happy ever after? I've always thought we belong together. But we're only 18. Will things always be this easy?

I sigh as I follow him down the hall and into our bedroom...