Abroad

Chapter 40

I’m not in the mood to dress up so I wear my comfy USW hoodie, jeans and all stars. When I enter the kitchen, Killian is already waiting. The others join us soon and so does Megan.
“I’ve invited Meg to join us,” Hero says. Lizzie and I exchange a look. I don’t even bother to be discrete about it. So what if she notices? When we walk to Cineworld I try not to walk close to Megan and Hero. I won’t let them ruin my night. It’s busy in Cineworld and there are only a few empty seats left because we’re late. I’m talking to Killian about popcorn flavors so I don’t notice that I walk right behind Hero. When I want to take my seat I notice it’s the one next to his but it’s too late to change now. He looks at me when I sit down and I shift as far away as possible. Megan slides her hand over his thigh and he smiles at her. My stomach drops because he gives her his sexiest smile. He puts his hand over hers and tears sting in my eyes. Luckily, they dim the lights and commercials start. We could be sitting here hand in hand if I hadn’t been that stubborn. Still, now I know he didn’t mean a thing and it was all about the chase anyway so I thank my stubborn nature. He really could have hurt me if this had gone any further. I’m afraid to move and to breathe. It’s hard to focus on the screen when Hero is so close to me. After having sex the electricity when he’s near me is doubled. It’s as if something changes in the air around us whenever we’re together. I don’t want to use the armrest on his side so I keep myself busy eating popcorn. It will be a long 2 hours…

After an hour I’m so sucked in to the story that I’ve forgotten about my problems. I place my arm on the armrest and touch his arm. Immediately I’m aware of Hero again and his touch leaves goosebumps on my arm.
“Sorry,” I whisper and put my hand on my knee. My leg is right next to his and I have to control myself not to reach over. He takes his arm off the armrest too and puts his hand on his knee. His hand is gently touching the side of mine and my stomach is filled with butterflies. It’s difficult to control my breathing. I hate that he has this effect on me and I’m not sure how to react. I just don’t do anything. I don’t move my hand but I don’t react either. Megan tries to get his attention a couple of times but he ignores her which makes my heart flutter. We keep our position for the rest of the film and by the end I need some air.

“I’m going out for a walk,” I say to Lizzie as we exit Cineworld. I say goodbye to the others and Hero opens his mouth as if to say something. I leave before I give him the chance.
The cold evening breeze feels good on my heated skin. I take a deep breath and head to the direction of Cardiff Castle. It’s weird that Cardiff feels like home already. I never expected this when I applied here. I’m sure I will have a hard time adjusting when I go back to Belgium. I look up to the sky and I notice the clouds. Damn it, I didn’t bring an umbrella.
“Charlotte! Wait!” I turn around and see Hero running towards me. I let him catch up to me.
“We need to talk. Why are you so angry?”

“You didn’t seriously just ask me that,” I can feel the anger rushing through my body as the image of Hero and Megan pops up.

"What happened? I really don't get it!" He's frustrated.

"Why the hell did you come out of Megan's room?! We had a deal."

"As if you care."

"Of course I care! I wanted to meet with you that day to talk about us. To see if we have a future. Now I know we don't." The rain starts pouring out of the sky and I'm soaking wet within minutes. I turn around and walk away.

"You really wanted to talk about us? Give us a chance?" His voice sounds hoarse and unsure.

"I thought I did. But now I know I can't trust you." I put my soaking wet hair back and start walking again.

"You can trust me! I went to Megan's room to talk to her about you and me. To let her know I was done with her and I wanted her to leave me alone. I told her that I want to be with you." I don't answer right away. I'm afraid to let him in like that.

"Please.. you have to believe me," he begs. I finally turn around. The situation is absurd. We're both standing in the rain and the cold, at night.

"Why do you want to be with me? Why?" Tears run over my face and mix with the rain. I'm afraid to hear his answer because that answer will potentially have the power to destroy me. I am falling for him, hard. And if I let him in I will be hooked forever.

"You're a woman. Not a girl. You're the kind of woman that dresses up to go to class and wears jeans, all stars an band shirts in weekends. There's so many different sides of you. You fascinate me. From the minute you walked out of your flat with messy hair and that football jersey I knew I had to know you."

"But.. you hated me.."

"I did not. I hated the way you made me feel. I hated that I fantasized about you. I hated that I might not be good enough for you. I was afraid that you'd pick Scott or Killian over me. I thought that if I was mean to you and I didn't get to know you the feeling would go away.. but it never did." He walks over to me and puts his hands on my cheeks.

"Please, just give me one chance. You wanted to the other day so please don't let Megan ruin that." He stares into my eyes and I know that I've fallen for him. There's no way back now.

"Okay." I whisper. I see happiness appear in his eyes and he presses his lips against mine. We're both soaking wet and it keeps raining but all that matters now, in this moment, is us.