Keep the rain [CL16]

Chapter 19 - Athena's P.O.V.

Stolen glances, stolen kisses.

A touch while passing by the other one, a smile that lasted for just a second too long.

Sneaking into his room at night, sneaking out of his room in the morning. A wink, a deep breath, the hairs on my body standing by his presence. Little ways my mind and body reacted to him.

If someone payed attention, they would realise that something between Charles and me had changed. And not just a little.

Last year, we couldn't be in the same room for too long without fighting. Now it was hard to not be in the same room again.

After a week of wonderful vacation and a hidden start of a relationship - or whatever that was-, we've all returned back home to our own lives.

The house was a getaway in all sorts of ways.

Inside of our rooms, inside of this house, the outside world didn't exist.
The days were spent with my friends, laughing and eating, exploring the city, training and playing games.

But the nights were just ours. Mine and his.

We talked as the hours passed, my head on his lap and Charles's fingers in my hair, massaging my scalp.

We've barely spent a week together; we hid for the biggest part of it; and still, being in his arms felt so familiar.

It felt natural touching him. It felt like something I knew how to do, like my body was programmed to be with his.

I felt like I was 15 again, cuddling into his side on the hammock in his garden. Even back then our relationship wasn't strictly platonic I guess.
But now, all grown up, I traced his face with the tips of my fingers when he was asleep and I traced the lines of his abs when he was wide awake. By the end of the vacation, I could've drawn his body by memory and recognise his touch with most of my senses ripped from my power. I could find him in a group of a million people. I would want to find him in a group of a million people.

We reminisced about our childhoods, we talked about things we didn't in the years that we missed. I felt his voice brand my soul, my heartbeat calling out his name now that he was far.

I knew I was in way too deep. I was playing with fire, I was setting myself up for heartbreak, trusting him again and falling too fast.

But man, did it feel good to have him back.

And whenever I got cold feet, freaking myself out because I was ready to sail away with just this man and nothing else, I reminded myself that this was something that has been brewing for over a decade now.

We talked about it. How even when we were fighting each other, we never hated each other. It was never hate that was driving us, it was hurt. And only people you cared about could hurt you.

We haven't quite talked about the way it all happened. I think we were both scared to mention Jules. I wouldn't be the one ripping open healed wounds. And it was too nice to live in our bubble for a little bit longer.

We enjoyed the time we had hidden from the hungry eyes of the public. And my mind yelled at me to talk about the future, to figure out his intentions and build a foundation for the articles and the bullets of the reporters for once we got out of this place, but my heart enjoyed the carelessness and the freeness of just being.

Being in his arms. Being close to him. Being happy.

Then even when we parted our ways, Charles going back to Monaco, me going back home in Switzerland, we haven't talked about the next steps.

But I couldn't even begin to describe the way happiness spread in my bones when his name popped up on my phone screen the day we've parted.

Now, it's been almost a month since I've seen Charles last but we've been texting daily. We called, face timed, texted, sexted, we did whatever to stay in touch, to feel close to the other one even with miles parting us.