The library

July 27th 2003

"Fake tales of San Francisco..." Alex's voice echoed through the room as I sat on the floor in the garage watching the Arctic Monkeys perform for one last time before I would leave for London for an entire month.

It had only started to sink in when I got home on Friday - the fact that I would never go to school again. In September I would start attending Sheffield College, studying art. It sounds bad, I know, but my Uncle and Auntie really encouraged me about my drawings and after reviewing my options I realised that that's what I wanted to do.

I ponder this to myself throughout the song and Alex must've seen that my mind wasn't in the right place as after the song he set his Stratocaster down and quietly walked over to me with a warm and slightly concerned smile. "You alright darlin'?"

I could never get enough of that. I instantly snapped out of my thoughts and looked up at his big brown smiling eyes. "I'm great thanks." I said softly.

Alex bent down slightly with his hands on his knees and closed his eyes. I closed my eyes too and craned my neck slightly and before I knew it my lips were fitted on his perfectly. It was only a short kiss and left me longing for more as I pulled away and looked down at my lap.

"You sure you're alright love?" Alex inquired quietly once more and once more I gave him the same answer. I watched him nod, satisfied, before he ruffled my hair and went back over to the rest of the band as they started on Space Invaders.

*****

"I'm gonna be gone for a month tomorrow." I mumbled. I was laying in Alex's arms - our usual position - Me in between his legs with my head resting on his stomach and his arms around my small frame, sometimes playing with my hair. We were in his small garden, on the dry grass, gazing up at the cloudy sky as it began to darken as nightfall approached quickly.

"Mhm..." This time it was him that sounded far away and distant which made me frown.

"Alex!"

"What?"

"I said I'm going to be away for a month tomorrow."

"Oh shit yeah... I'm gonna miss you... so much." He wrapped his arms around me tighter as if I was the most fragile piece of China he had ever set his eyes upon and would disintegrate if not handled carefully enough. His face was now buried into the top of my head, placing soft kisses there which made me realise how much I'd miss this. So I decided to say it because I knew I'd regret it if I didn't.

"Alex I love you."

"What?"

"Alex I love you." I repeated firmly. As if it was a statement. It kind of was. I was almost certain that my feelings for this boy were completely serious and not an illusion.

"Fooking 'ell that's a bombshell." Alex giggled like a little boy and I in turn laughed quietly although there was a hint of uncertainty to my chuckle that I knew had to be buried quickly.

"Alex I love you." I didn't know what else to say so I repeated it again, almost hammering the words into my mind as well as his - as if to convince both of us that they were in fact true.

"Well...Charlotte...I love you too." The words rolled out of his mouth like silk and felt like the softest and smoothest fabric to my ears. I was convinced that I had feelings for him, even if it was just to hear those four words come out of his mouth. That's how special he made me feel.

A loud crack. Then, pattering. Loud pattering. It came out of nowhere. A sudden storm. It was raining. Hard.

"Oh my god...it's raining!" I exclaimed and got to my feet as quickly as I could. I stared up at the overcast sky in awe. I thought it would be just another humid day under constant cloud cover but here we were. Me and Alex, stood in the middle of his garden with our lips intertwined as rain was thrown down onto us like a spilled container of tears. I held onto him and he held onto me, our clothes quickly becoming soaked. But we didn't care. We were lost in each other.

I pulled away and gasped for air before grinning and laughing at Alex who slowly began to do the same. We were both dripping wet at this point.

"It's raining! It's fucking raining! It's raining!" I began to chant and grabbed Alex's hands, beginning to leap around the small garden in a makeshift dance. He quickly joined in and jumped around with me, chanting the same as me. It's raining.