Wherever You Will Go

Chapter 9- The Guy Upstairs

{Dianne}
01:53. That's the time that my phone says. Why on earth am I awake at this time? It's not jet lag- I got over that a few days ago. From the other side of the room I hear a muffled sigh, then the sound of covers moving. What the hell? Maybe I'm just imagining it. Quietly I pad over to the light switch next the door and flick it on. There's definitely someone in that bed. Although I can't exactly see them, there's a distinct human shaped lump under the covers. Deciding there's nothing I can do about it now I flick the light off again then go and crawl back into bed.

There's no way I'm getting back to sleep now, not until I know who it is in there. Unfortunately I have only two options: wake whoever it is up, or go for a walk, come back and hope I can sleep. Deciding on the latter, I slip on a hoodie over my pyjamas and make my way downstairs, only my phone and key in hand. Upon reaching the bottom of the stairs I realise that I don't actually know my way around the area yet, so walking round in the early hours of the morning probably wouldn't be the smartest thing to do. With this in mind, I settle into one of the sofas in the reception area and begin to scroll through my phone. There's nothing else to do, after all.

At some point, the lady from reception comes down. It's still early hours, the sun shows no signs of rising and neither does anyone else in the building.

"Couldn't sleep honey?" She asks kindly,

"I could at first, but not anymore." I don't elaborate on why, it's not her fault.

"He didn't make too much noise coming in I hope?"

She takes me by surprise- is he meant to be up there?

"Wait, you know- is he actually meant to be here? Why?"

At my sudden burst of energy she chuckles,

"Yes honey he is, the programme sent him and seeing as there's so much room in there they doubled you up. I'd've separated you but I didn't have another free room. Sorry darling."

Every part of my brain that can actually make coherent sentences stops working as I take in what she said. The programme sent him. So that means... yes, there's no other explanation. Whoever is up there then I will be staying with them. We each get a partner for the programme, another exchange student. Two students per family, basically. This now gives me some peace of mind, as well as some certainty about the next six months.

One, my 'partner' for this is a boy. Definitely. I didn't even realise that was allowed.

Two, the guy upstairs is definitely meant to be there and didn't wander in drunkenly as a mistake.

Three, the guy upstairs is definitely around my age. There is no doubt about that.

"Excuse me, sorry, did he speak English?" The receptionist nods her head at me before returning back to what she's doing.

Four, I think, grinning. He speaks English.

{Joe}
"What the bloody hell is that."

"Oh fuck. Yeah."

I lean over and switch off the alarm that is threatening to deafen me permanently. I don't even know why I set the alarm for that time. Probably because I didn't know when I'd be getting to where I was supposed to be staying, so wanted to have time to actually be half decent on the coach. I'm no longer on a coach, though. I'm now in a hostel. And a bloody nice hostel at that. Thinking about it, I could get quite comfy here, spending six months here instead of with a family seems rather appealing, although that's never going to happen. Ever. It'll only be a few days and they'll have it all sorted.

Momentarily I forget about the other person that's in this room, as they're currently not here. But only momentarily. As the door swings open I turn around to see someone I wasn't expecting to see for a very very long time. My brain can't function as me and her just stand there. Her in the doorway, me just metres away. The metres feel like miles, and we can't close the gap quickly enough. But we don't. We just stand there in utter shock, eyes running over each other, mouths gaping open. You can practically hear the cogs turning in our head as we try to comprehend what's laid out clearly in front of us. Each other. Eventually, after what feels like hours, she voices what both of us are thinking.

"What the fuck."

I break into a smile as she runs over to me, red hair bouncing behind her.

"What the fuck are you doing here." She repeats.

"I honestly don't know."

Her hands are pressed against my bare chest as we hug each other. I don't think it's physically possible to be closer to her right now. Every single part of both our bodies are pressed together. It doesn't feel as if we've only been apart for a day. It feels like months- years, even.

From in my arms she squirms a little, so I relax my grip around her slightly. It's just enough for her to look up at me, stand on her tiptoes and kiss me. And again. And again. Every kiss means something different, but the underlying message is clear.

I've missed you.

Everything's in sync, and as our lips lock together in perfect unison and harmony, something in my head and indeed my world fall together. As if another puzzle piece has just been fitted into the jigsaw that is my life. Breathing heavily, hands still on my chest, she pulls away and looks deep into my eyes, as if examining my very soul.

"Don't leave me again."

I can't help but break into the biggest smile I've ever worn.

"I'll try not to, Reddo."

Satisfied, she leans up to kiss me one last time, before breaking from my grip.

"Now put a shirt on."