N/A This is from Sophie McKenzie's book 'Split Second'
Enjoy!
Nat:
Her caramel hair tumbled out of her black beanie hat as she pulled it off – it was hard to even buy things from the store now that Roman Riley had basically turned us into fugitives, and the security risks we had to take were huge, so the black was a sort of disguise, although admittedly not a very good one. This was where Charlie’s idea came in; we were going to dye her hair.
The colour she had chosen was a naturally occurring red, so a sort of ginger, far from Charlie’s own light brown waves and I can’t say I liked the idea of turning my Charlie into something she wasn’t, but apparently it “isn’t your hair so it isn’t your choice, Nat.” Hopefully it would be enough to stop people recognising us so that we could finally stay in the same place for more than a few weeks, or at least enough so that I could just for once stop worrying and just give all my attention to Charlie like she deserved. Although I think rules for boyfriends get a little twisted when you’re both on the run so I’m sure she’ll forgive me.
I’d never dyed hair before, but Charlie assured me that she knew how to do it from helping her aunt Karen – I hoped so. I didn’t want the mixture to burn her or something if I mixed it too strong. I was still so protective of her although in my mind I fully knew that Charlie was entirely capable of looking after herself, I couldn’t stop worrying, although I tried not to let it show because she would tease me. But I love her too much to let anything bad happen to her – she doesn’t deserve any of this.
Charlie and I changed into some old clothes that we got from the cloth bank at the community centre. We may have got a little distracted, because in our tiny flat, there’s only one room and a bathroom, and we can barely afford it as it is. But you imagine trying to strip and get dressed with the girl you love in the same room. You’re bound to get a little awestruck, and to be fair I think she was looking at me in that sort of way too. I sure hope so.
The dye stained my fingers as well as it stained her hair – I think we were supposed to buy plastic gloves as well but our budget didn’t stretch to it. After half an hour of intensive dying, my arms were aching from my holding them at Charlie’s head height, even if she is a lot shorter than me, but her hair was successfully red. She turned around, her face an embodiment of bright sun beam smiles and I felt a tugging in my gut. God, I wanted her so much, but I was the reason that we were in this mess, so I had indirectly done a million things to hurt her.
She would never want me.
Charlie:
I turned to Nat, smiling. Any other boyfriend would have left me on my own by now – not that I couldn’t handle things on my own, but it was nice to always have someone to rely on and I loved Nat so darn much for that. I could tell him everything – well nearly. I hadn’t told him how much I was falling for him, because I was still half in denial about it myself.
We knew we liked each other, but this new love that I felt for him was something he would probably never return. Ah well. As long as we were always together, I guess there was a chance, right?
I tilted my face upwards so that my eyes met his stunning bright ones. Wow. He was so beautiful that it was burning out my retinas so that I could see nothing but him. Nat… I shook my head to snap myself out of it. Wake up and smell the coffee Charlie. Never gonna happen.
He looked tired, and aside from my unhelpful thoughts on things like beds for instance, I thought that maybe he does love me, because he was still here, wasn’t he? Anyway, my grin widened as I said “Your turn!” and he crinkled his nose into an expression of disgust.
“My turn? Are you insane, Charlie?”
“Stop being such a diva Nat. I swear, you love your hair more than you love anyone else.”
My heart thumped so loudly that I swear the people in China heard it as he said his next sentence.
“I don’t love my hair more than I love you.” The next few seconds were intense, me blushing and trying to hold his gaze before he looked down, embarrassed at the pause and the tension between us and added “And Jaz, and my parents and Lucas, and – “
I broke him off by taking his face in my wrinkled-by-water fingers. His face felt smooth to my touch, and I was finally brave enough to reply, “I love you too, Nat.”
He breathed something which I think was somewhere between relief and extreme surprise. “You do?”
I nodded and pulled him in for a kiss – he didn’t resist, and thank god for that because I needed him more than I ever had then. And for this one moment, I didn’t care about how we were fugitives being chased by the law, or worry about how we were going to pay for next week’s rent or what we were going to do to finally stop the terrorists; I just cared about Nat.
He made a growling, moaning noise in his throat and I let him take control, holding onto each other like there was no tomorrow. He pushed me against the wall, and I gasped in surprise as the cold shower turned on, raining down on us. Nat pulled back, shocked and soaked, before diving back in. I followed his lead, because if he didn’t care then neither did I.
When the downpour finally stopped, we were both wet, dizzy and our mouths were swollen red. I could feel Nat gasping for air as I leaned my head against his shoulder. I pushed myself up on tiptoe, grasping at his t shirt so I didn’t slip, and I whispered, “I love you whatever your hair colour.”
Nat smiled and picked up a second, caramel blond dye packet. I busied myself in getting the equipment ready and I didn’t notice that Nat had crept behind me until he whispered in my ear. “Charlie?” He said softly.
I blushed the same colour as my hair and croaked out a ‘yes’. Being this close to him did something to me that I couldn’t reverse.
“Your hair looks beautiful in red.”
N/A AAAAAARRRRRGGGGHHHHH!!!!
Drowning in cuteness!!!!!!
Peace out
Rae x
