Time Is Nothing (John Frusciante)

Chapter 22

"Can I see you tomorrow?" John smiled as he gently placed his hand on Cecilia's cheek and kissed her tenderly, the look in his eyes more than hopeful and his heart racing in anticipation.

"Yeah," Cecilia shyly nodded, the sensation of butterflies still tingling in her stomach and a sincere smile soon finding its way onto her lips.

"Yeah?" John grinned and placed his other hand on Cecilia's other cheek and then let them slide down her body, fully embracing her into his arms as he whispered, "I love you, baby. I love you."

"I love you," Cecilia giggled in a quiet response while trying to dodge the tickling neck kisses John was now playfully placing on her neck.

"You are so beautiful, you know that?" John mumbled, his face still nuzzled into her neck, "But I really gotta get going now. It's 2 PM already. I love you baby, yeah? I'll see you."

"Yeah," Cecilia nodded as she received a final goodbye kiss from John and let him out of the apartment, still waving as he headed towards the steps.

She closed the door and pressed her back against it, a light smile creeping on her lips as she stood there, her eyes closed and the sensation of butterflies still giving her goosebumps. She was happy, so happy that if somebody would have asked her to describe the way she was feeling, she would not have known how to do it. She was beyond words happy, beyond comprehension happy. She slowly walked into her bedroom and lied down on her bed, taking in the smell that was a mixture of cigarettes and cheap cologne, the smell that she enjoyed so much and the smell she knew so well. The smell that belonged to John. Her John.

Cecilia still felt almost weightless, like she was floating on air or walking on clouds or just existing in some other universe apart from the real world, because her body was still tingling all over and she couldn't believe all the things that had happened last night — how John had showed up in the gallery and then confessed his love for her on her balcony and then stayed the night with her and held her in his arms for the whole entirety of it. It was just him and her, holding each other, mumbling sweet nothings into each other's necks and occasionally sharing some longing kisses, enjoying every second of this simple joined existence.

There was nothing sexual about it, not that Cecilia and John wouldn't have wanted to have each other, but at that moment it just didn't seem important at all. The soft, innocent touches and kisses they shared is what made the night so beautiful — it was all about finding each other again, nothing else. They promised to never keep secrets from each other again, and Cecilia promised to tell John all about Alex and what had really happened all these years ago. She just wished to do it some other night, and John was fine with that.

Still tired from drifting in and out of sleep during the night, Cecilia closed her eyes and slipped into a sweet slumber, her tiny body wrapped into a soft blanket and herself still enjoying the intoxicating aroma that belonged to John. She desperately needed some rest, the previous day at the gallery had been so much more exhausting than she had initially expected, so a good little nap proved itself more than welcome. She would have loved to have enjoyed her snooze a lot longer than the half an hour that she did, but the sound of loud banging on her door interrupted her sleep and caused her to reluctantly open her eyes. She groaned in annoyance and dragged her feet to the door of her apartment, then opened it slowly while a wide yawn managed to escape her lips.

"Hey," Cecilia greeted the pair standing at her door, surprised by the sight that turned out to be her best friend and her boyfriend, "What are you two doing here? And how did you get in?"

"With a neighbour," Jessica smiled and stepped into the apartment, "You're still not dressed, Cecilia?"

"Huh?" she mumbled in confusion, "Oh, no."