MY SPOILT BRAT

25

Danielle

Eric and I had exchanged 'I love you's' and it still felt too good to be true.
He kissed me deeply but softly. His lips eliciting sparks each time it touched mine.

He loved me.

He really loved me.

I was still finding it difficult to wrap my mind around the fact that Eric, the boy I had thought could never be mine, had actually confessed to loving me.

"So you love me?" I asked with uncertainty as we sat, wrapped in each other's arms on the couch.
He looked at me and his brows furrowed.
"I thought you said you believed me" his hand moved to my chin to stroke it gently.

I shifted uncomfortably.
"I do" I said with a smile "I guess I just want to hear you say it some more"

He smiled and made my heart flutter. It felt so good to be so close to him. His arm was around my waist, and one of my legs rested on his.

"And.." I continued " Ana was not wrong when she said I'd make your life a living hell....I can be a bit....temperamental" I finished in a whisper.

"I know" he said, and when I frowned slightly, he just chuckled and continued " I know you Danielle. These few weeks may seem short but I've gotten to know you.I've seen you upset, I've seen you happy, I've seen you being playful and I've seen you when you are scared. I've gotten to  know the real you Danielle. And the more I know, the more I fall for you. The more I realize that you are everything I want."

He slowly moved his head until his forehead touched mine.

"I love you Danielle. I love you so much. I'm sorry for being such a coward all this time. I can spend the rest of my life trying to make it up to you, and it still wouldn't be enough" he said.

My heart started to race. I felt happy, anxious, shy, excited and scared all at the same time.
I was scared that this was too good to be true, and it would all end in a disaster like most of the things in my life.
He was all that I wanted too, but I was still scared of giving my heart completely,

of getting hurt again.

He must have noticed the conflicting emotions in my eyes because he gently held my face in his palms.

"I love you. Trust me,.....please" He said more firmly and claimed my lips in a kiss that told me I had nothing to worry about.

We spent the rest of the day indoors.
Mrs Lopez  happily made us breakfast while we sat on the couch talking. She didn't make any attempt to join our conversation but she glanced at us frequently and smiled reassuringly.
It was like she wanted to give us space to talk things through, and she seemed really pleased about Eric's and my increased closeness.

———

"Tell me about your Dad" I said as we settled in his room after lunch. "You said he is the reason you are kind of a perfectionist. Was he very strict?"

He sat on his bed, resting his back on the wall behind him. I sat close to him and he wrapped his arm around me making me feel that comfort I was starting to get addicted to.

He smiled, but his face displayed denial "I'm not a perfectionist" he said, intertwining his fingers with mine "I have rules that I don't like to deviate from. But that doesn't make me a perfectionist"

I rolled my eyes "sure" I said making it obvious that I disagreed. "Tell me about your dad" I repeated.

He exhaled audibly.

"He was an amazing father. He made sure to spend a lot of time with me." He said and I couldn't help but think of how different that was from my father.
" He and mom had been married for six years before they had me. They had tried everything to have a child, so it was like a miracle when she got pregnant with me. I was their miracle. My father was so happy to finally have a child, he wanted to make sure I grew up to be the best. He taught me a lot of things. And even at a very young age, I was smarter than most of my peers"