Snow It Up [Shake It Up]

chapter eighteen

The candles were throwing shadows across the walls, but CeCe wasn't paying any attention to them. She stared at the cards in her hands, her mind racing. Her cards were horrible, and she didn't know how she would beat Gunther at this silly card game. Looking over the top of the cards, she saw him studying his own, terribly hiding a yawn. She could feel a yawn tugging at her lips, but she bit her tongue so that she wouldn't. She didn't want to go to sleep yet. She was afraid that once she woke up, things wouldn't be the way they were. 

"Do you have any aces?" Gunther asked, his voice breaking through the quiet morning. She quickly shook her head, making his pout. "Man, I was sure you had some." He reached forward and picked up the top card, sighing. "It is your turn, CeCe."

"I know," she said, looking at her cards again. Her frown deepened when she saw that she did not have one single card that was the same. At least, to her eyes, they weren't the same. Since her eyes were so tired, the letters and numbers liked to jump around, making sure that she wouldn't be able to read them. "Do you have any kings?"

He silently slid her a card that had a king on and she gladly picked it up. Biting her lip, she looked at her cards again. She wasn't sure what to ask for now. CeCe blinked away the floating letters and numbers. "You look exhausted," Gunther suddenly said, scaring her slightly. Her eyes flicked up to him and saw that he was staring straight at her. "I am exhausted, too."

"Yeah," she said, nodding. "I am pretty tired, but I don't want to go to sleep. I don't want to . . . lose this game," she finished lamely. She wanted to tell him that she didn't want to end this special moment they were having, but she didn't want to sound too excited. She pointed to his groups of cards that were laying on the table and said, "If I quit now, you'd win."

"And? We are both tired and probably have been up twenty four hours." Gunther set his cards down on the table faceup, making CeCe cry out. "Let us go to sleep, CeCe."

"I wanted to try to beat you," she said, placing her cards on the table dejectly. Instead of whining more about losing, she took a deep breath and gave him a smile. "But it's alright. I guess we do need to go to sleep. There's no need staying up any longer."

"I knew you would come through." He laughed, standing up. CeCe wrapped his jacket tighter around her body before snuffing out the flames on the candles. "Why did you do that?"

"It's too dangerous keeping candles lit while you're asleep." She rolled her eyes, standing up. "Trust me." Instead of walking to her room, she threw herself onto the couch, pulling her blankets around her body. "You can take my room or Flynn's room if you want." She turned on her side, saying the other thing that was on her mind. "Unless . . . you'd want to sleep on the couch with me."

"We would be warmer that way," Gunther commented, making her smile slightly. "You would not mind sharing the couch with me, would you? Because I do not want to make you uncomfortable."

"I don't mind," she said, giggling. "I was the one who suggested it, Gunther."

"Right." He took a couple of small steps toward the couch, so CeCe stood up. Gunther laid down, opening his arms for her to lay in. She did so, pulling the blankets around them, laying her head against his chest. "Oh yes, definitely warm."

"That's all you say?" CeCe asked, laughing. She closed her eyes and snuggled closer to him, not allowing silly doubts to plague her mind. "You smell good."

"Thank you?"

"Good night, Gunther. Sleep tight."

"Nighty night," he said, his voice rumbling in his chest. 

CeCe tried to settled her racing mind, but having Gunther this close to her was making doubts flood her mind. She pushed those thoughts away, wishing she could rid herself of all the bad thoughts. Gunther obviously liked her. Why else would he kiss her or hold her like he was doing right then? CeCe knew that, so why was she still having doubts? Was it because she was afraid that he would go back to the way he was before leaving for the Old Country? Or was it because she was afraid that he would end up hating her? There were plenty of things about CeCe that could make him hate her. 

Why couldn't her mind let her be happy? She was tired of being angry with herself over things that happened in the past. She was finally ready to let her bad feelings toward herself drift away in the wind. She deserved the happiness she felt right now. 

CeCe's eyes were fluttering shut, but she didn't want to go to sleep just yet. She wanted to memorize the way his arms felt around her waist. She wanted to hear him breath softly, to know that he was still there with her. He wasn't going to leave her anytime soon. 

Dreams came to CeCe and they were filled with her friends and family. She woke up with a smile on her face but it soon fell when she saw someone standing over her and Gunther. "Who is there?" CeCe asked, blinking slightly. She was surprised to see her mother. "What are you doing here? And why do you look mad?"

Georgia crossed her arms over her chest and shook her head. She pointed to the two girls standing behind her, saying, "Your phone was dead so I couldn't tell you that I was picking up Rocky and Tinka from their college. You were supposed to keep your phone charged, CeCe. I was worried."

CeCe almost didn't hear what her mom had said. She was staring at the one girl standing behind her mother. Rocky was grinning at her but when she saw Gunther on the couch as well, her grin slipped away. CeCe had a lot to explain to them and she wasn't sure if she was ready.