My Golden Life

Chapter 57

I hadn't felt so emotional in my entire life. The weight of my past and the heartache that came with it had broken me. I felt as though no one cared about me, but clearly, someone did. Artie hadn't let go of me for several minutes and was still doing his best to calm me down. His soothing words slowly helped me stop crying. Once I had, I continued resting my head on his chest. The sound of his heart beating definitely made me relax a lot more. Once I was settled entirely, I broke out of the embrace and sat with my head turned away from him.

"I-I'm sorry," I whimpered, wiping the remaining tears from my cheeks.

"For what?" Artie asked. "You don't have to apologise for anything."

"I do," I said, turning to him. "I've lied to you about pretty much everything in my life. I'm not the girl you thought I was."

"I understand why you did, I would've done the same thing."

I got up and walked not too far away from him, looking around at the scenery. "I guess you think I'm a horrible person, right?"

"No. Not at all," he insisted. He then came over to where I was standing. "You're the sweetest and most caring person I've ever met. If it wasn't for you, I would have spent another year with no friends. You've made my life so much happier Katie, I care about you."

"I thought you cared more about Gwen," I scoffed. "After all, you've always loved her."

"I know I said that, but... I don't." He sighed. "I think about it now, and I don't think I actually did. I guess it was all just a dumb teen phase or something. I mean, I doubt someone as popular as Guinevere would even like someone like me."

I looked over my shoulder before facing Artie once again. "So...You really do care about me?"

"Yea, I do," he smiled. "I don't care about your past. Don't let your dad's words bring you down. Like Shrek said 'learn to ignore the names that people call you and just trust who you are.'"

I let what he said sink in for a moment, then  I realised that Shrek and Artie were right. For too long, I had let my dad make my life miserable. Why did I let that happen? He was no longer in my life, but I was, in a way, still letting him in. If I wanted to be happy, I had to get rid of all the baggage he put on me and leave the past behind. Moving forward was the only way to go.

The longer I stared at Artie, the more I could feel my heart flutter. He wasn't judging me at all, even after all, he had learned about me. A smile began to grow on my face, and I could feel my cheeks getting warmer.

"Artie i..." I began. "You comforting and being here for me means a lot, you mean so much to me too. T-there's something I've wanted to tell you for a really long time, but I was too scared to say it. But now, I think I can."

Artie looked at me in a confused look while brushing his hand through his hair. I took a deep breath and stared nervously at the ground. 

"I-I really REALLY like you, Arthur Pendragon," I uttered. "I might go as far as to say that... I'm in love with you. It sounds super crazy because I've only known you for a year, but when I'm with you, I get this feeling that I can't properly explain. You get what I've been through, and I can honestly say you're the first person I've ever had feelings for."

I looked up at Artie, his eyes were kind of wide, and his mouth was slightly open. I could definitely feel myself trembling at that moment, and I couldn't tell if he took my announcement well or not. He stood where he was for a brief moment and then proceeded to stroll over to me. 

Once we were standing in front of each other, he gently cupped one side of my face. His fingers softly caressing my cheek. Was I dreaming? Not this time. He pulled me closer by the waist to the point where we were like squished sardines in a tin.

"I've been having the same feelings for you too." Artie smiled. "It was so deep within me that I didn't realise it until recently. After our drama performance and us almost kissing I just..., I couldn't get you out of my mind. I figured it would pass, but the more I spent time with you, the more my feeling grew."

"Really?" I gasped.

"Yea," He nodded. "It's stupid, I get it, but now I know we're both on the same page I feel a tone happier."

"It's not stupid," I said. "We both didn't comprehend it and pushed it aside. But I don't want to do that anymore."

"Neither do I," Artie added.

Our faces got closer and closer until I felt my lips pressing against his. My arms wrapped around his neck, pulling him closer and deepening the blissful moment we were having. It was sweet, just as I had dreamed, but a thousand times better, and under the glistening stars too? It made everything even more perfect.  After what felt like an eternity, we broke away but still had our arms around each other. We looked at one another, and both of us couldn't contain the joy that was on our faces.

"Woah," I giggled. "That was-"

"Amazing," Artie said.

"I was going to say magical,"

"That works even better." he chuckled.

We were about to kiss again, but then the sound of voices and whispering from the trees caused us to quickly turn our heads.

"You guys might as well come out," I said, letting go of Artie completely. "We can both hear you."

Out of the bushes as I suspected came Shrek, Puss, Donkey, and even Mr. Merlin. I shook my head as I stared at them.

"How long have you guys been there?" Artie asked.

"Long enough to see you two smooching," Donkey laughed.

"It took you guys long enough," Shrek said.

"Wait, you all knew?" I added.

"The blossoming of two young hearts in love is so easy to spot," Puss added.

"It was oh so touching," sniffed Mr. Merlin, wiping his eyes. "Got a bit tearful during some of that."

We all began to laugh and then heading back to the campsite, my hand intertwined with Artie's the entire time. It wasn't long before we all began drifting off to sleep, and I found myself cuddling with Artie. His arm around my waist. It had been a long, eventful day, and I needed some well-earned sleep. I snuggled closer to him, and I felt him kiss the top of my head.

"Night, Katie," He whispered sleepily. "Love you."

"Love you too," I replied, before closing my eyes.

I couldn't have been anymore overjoyed and relieved. I was moving from the past, and with Artie beside me, I was ready to take on the future.