Title: John Carter and Abby Wyczenski
Author: Camilla
Disclaimer: I don't own the wonderful ER-characters, but I wish I did!
Summary: Carter and Abby meet first day of second year of High School.
A/N: When you've read and reviewed on this, then do me the favor and either go over to your grandparents or call them and tell them that you love them. I never got the chance to tell my grandfathers that I loved them. I lost my grandfather (my father's father) just before my summer vacation and I didn't see him that often. Then 6 weeks after I lose the person whom has been like another grandfather, since I never got to know my grandfather (my mother's father).
I looked at myself in the mirror. I was getting ready for the first day of high school. When I had put my make-up on, pulled on the newest t-shirt and pants on, I went downstairs. This was one of the many days when my mother was manic. She had left and I was going to be the one to take care of my baby brother, Eric. Eric hadn't come down yet. He was probably in the bathroom, trying to fix his hair. This was impossible! I began to make breakfast for him. I was never hungry in the morning, so I usually just took and apple on my way out. After a few minutes later he came jumping down the stairs.
"Good morning! Where's mom?" He said and I turned to look at him, crossing my arms.
"She's manic. Where were you last night?" I turn around again, continuing making breakfast.
"At Jody's." He said sitting down on a chair.
"What were you doing?"
"We hung out with some of our friends. Who were you talking to until 11.30 last night?"
"Susan and Jing-Mei." I sit down on the other side of the table and hands him his breakfast.
"How can you speak with two people on the same time on the phone?"
"I told you, we got three way-calling a few months ago. Don't you remember?"
"I do now."
After he had finished eating breakfast, I went upstairs again to fix MY hair. I just put it up in a ponytail.
Afterwards I grabbed my bag, said to Eric that we had to go now. While I was waiting for him, I wrote a note to my mother, in case she would show up. Then we took my car and I dropped him off by his school, then picked up Susan and went for school. We were looking for a place to park, when we finally found one, but it was taken by some guy in a jeep. He looked great, cute and cool. Brown hair and big, brown eyes. We caught each others eyes for a moment, but I turned as Susan spoke to me.
"Abby… What are you staring at?" she said.
"Uhh, what? Oh, nothing." I answer, smiling shyly.
"Oh, you're looking at that new guy…" But before she could say more, he was heading over to us. He leaned down and motioned me to pull down the window.
"Hey girls!" He said. "Do you know where room 415 is?"
"Yeah, I can show it to you, if I could find a place to park." I said.
"There's one right there, Abby!" Susan said. I looked towards where Susan was pointing.
"Oh, right." I said to Susan. "I'll be right there!" I then said to the new guy.
"Okay." He said and I drove over to the empty spot and parked. Susan and I got out of the car and walked over to the new guy.
"So what room was it?" I asked.
"415."
"Right. Professor Weaver's class?"
"Yeah. By the way, I'm John!" He said, handing out his hand and I handed out mine to shake it.
"Abby and that's Susan." I said, before spotting Jing-Mei driving in on the parking lot. While Susan and John shook hands, I exclaimed; "Look, there's Jing-Mei!" I waved at Jing-Mei's car, and she got out of the car after parking and headed toward us.
"Hey guys. Who's he?" She said.
"John Carter!" He said, handing out his hand and Jing-Mei shook it.
"Jing-Mei Chen, but you can call me Deb."
"Okay."
"Okay. Well next stop, room 415. Professor Weaver's class." I said.
"Who's in Weaver's class?" Jing-Mei asked.
"I am!" John said.
"Ooh, you poor thing!" She said and we all laughed. Afterwards I show him the way to room 415.
When I got home, Eric wasn't home yet. I checked my mother's room to see if she had gotten home yet. She hadn't. So, I went down to the kitchen and made some tea. I went upstairs to my room, with the mug in my hand, let my hair fall down and made my homework. The sooner they're done, the sooner you can have some fun. When they were done, I called Susan to ask her is I could come over. She said she had to go to work. As we said 'goodbye', the doorbell rang. I went down and answered the door. Outside was John, how did he get my address?
"Hey!" He said with that cute smile of his.
"Hey!" I said also with a smile. "Come on in."
He stepped inside and saw the empty house. "Are you home alone?" He asked.
"Yeah. How did you know where I live?"
"I live just a few houses down the street. I went for a walk and I saw your car and stopped by."
"Well, you want some tea or something?"
"Yeah, tea would be good."
"Coming up." I say walking into the kitchen, with John in my heels.
"So, where are your parents?"
"Umm… I haven't seen my father since I was ten, at thanksgiving and I don't know where my mother is!"
He looks at all the pictures we have. He spots one of my brother and me.
"Is this you?" He asks.
"Yeah."
"So who's this?" he asks, pointing at my brother Eric on the picture.
"That's my brother Eric."
"You look like each other."
I laugh at his comment. "Well we don't anymore. I hardly ever see him. He goes home to sleep and eat; otherwise he's always out with his friends."
As I say this, I hear the door in the hallway open. I prayed that it was my brother and not my crazy mother. Lucky me, it was my brother. He looked confused at John, like it was our father showing up after all these years, or something.
"Hello…" John said with a smile.
"Hi…" Eric said looking confused at me. "I'm Eric. Abby's brother. Who are you?"
"John Carter. I just moved here this summer."
"Okay, Eric. Isn't it time for you to go do your homework?" I said before Eric could put another word in.
"No not really." He says. I give him a face. "Oh, yeah, now you mention it. Nice seeing you John!"
"Yeah, you too." John said, before turning towards me. "He seems nice."
"Yeah he is. He's just a annoying sometimes." I said as Eric came down the stairs again.
"Is mom home yet?" He asked.
"No." I answered.
"So, it's safe for me to invite Jody over without mom being around out of her mind crazy?"
"Uh huh… at least for now." I said and then Eric went upstairs again.
"Out of her mind crazy? What does he mean by that?" John asked.
"Uhh… nothing." I say, not wanting to explain my whole life-story yet. "Well actually there is something he means by it, but I don't really want to talk about it. Okay?"
"Okay. Just say when. I will be here if you want to talk."
I smile. I can feel that he's different from the other guys I know and have been with. Especially Luka. I can also, in some weird way, feel that I can tell him anything. Which I never felt with anyone, not even Susan, who's my best friend, nor Jing-Mei. It's the weirdest feeling I've ever had. I guess I can tell him now.
"You really want to know?" I asked.
"Only if you want me to know."
"Okay, but don't tell anyone. You'll be the first person to know this. Not even Susan or Jing-Mei knows about this. Promise you won't tell anyone?"
"I promise."
"My mother is sick."
"Sick like what? Cancer?"
"No," I say and look down. "Not cancer or anything like that. She's bipolar. If she goes off her meds she'll get depressed. Sometimes she leaves and I have to take care of Eric and myself."
"Wow. How long has it been like this?"
"She has been bipolar since I was a kid. Until I was seven it was my father who took care of Eric and me, but then he split because he couldn't take it. So by the age of ten I had learned how to scam meals from the neighbors, so Eric and I could eat."
"Why doesn't she take her meds?"
"Because she likes it when she's manic."
"And I'm really the first to know all of this after knowing me for just one day?"
"Yeah. So I guess I owe you know!"
"For what?"
"Well, you've been here listening to me horrible life-story, that must be enough for me to owe you, right?"
"I guess, but I can't think of any possible way for you to owe me." He said laughing.
"Just say when!" I said with a smile. I really enjoy his company. I've only known him for a couple of hours and I can already feel that there's something about him that I can't really explain. He opens his mouth to speak, but before he says anything I hear the door open. Oh no, it's my mother.
"Uhh… excuse me for one second." I say and quickly make my way to the hallway. To make my mother go anywhere but the kitchen! But when I am halfway to the hallway I see her. She's on her way to the kitchen. I try to make her stop, but this is my mother. It's impossible to make her do something she doesn't want to do. So she keeps walking towards the kitchen and she looks confused at John, when she enters.
"Mom, would you please go upstairs?"
"No I have to make you dinner. I'm hungry, aren't you hungry. What do you feel like eating?"
"Nothing. Go upstairs and ask Eric what he wants, okay?"
"No, that's rude. I have to say 'hello' to your guest." She says, before turning to John. "Hello, I'm Maggie. Abby's mother. Are you her boyfriend?"
"MOM!" I exclaim. "Please go upstairs!" I plead her.
"Oh I see. You're embarrassed by your mother. But okay then. I'll go upstairs." She begins to walk upstairs as she starts to sob.
"No mom. You stay. We'll go." I turn to John. "We can just go for a walk. I can show you around the neighborhood." I grab my coat. "Bye mom."
John follows me out of the kitchen and then out of the house. I feel really embarrassed about this. There's a long silence between us.
"I'm sorry about her." I say to break the silence and he looks at me and I look at him, but I look down immediately and tuck my hair behind my ear.
"You shouldn't be sorry. She doesn't seem like she's sick. She just seems… spontaneous!"
I look up at him again, letting out a chuckle and look down again. He stops and I stop, too. I am still looking down. He grabs my chin to make me look up and I do. He takes a lock of my hair and tucks it back behind my ear. I look away as I felt that the moment became awkward. We start to walk again.
After walking for half an hour, we end up at the beach. We haven't talked since that awkward moment. We've had eye contact a couple of times, but looked away again. I want to break the silence, but it seems impossible. After a little while the silence is broken by my cell phone. It's probably my mother calling to hear where I am and when I'm going to be home. But when I get it up from my pocket, I see that it's Susan.
"Excuse me." I say to John whom has just sat down on a bench. "Hello?" I say into the phone as I also sit down on the bench.
"Hey Abby." I can hear Susan say on the other end. "I called you at home, but Eric said you weren't home. Where are you?"
"I'm on the beach."
"In this weather? Well okay. What do you say about hamburgers and shakes at Magoos? I can come and pick you up right now."
"Abby, I'll go now." John says as he gets up to leave.
"No, wait." I exclaim as I get up to stop him.
"Who's that?" Susan asks.
"A guy. I'll call you later." I say.
"That sounds like that guy from this morning." Susan says.
"His name is John, okay?" I say.
"Okay." Susan says.
"I'll call you later. Bye." I say.
"Bye Abby." Susan says.
I hang up the phone and walk around John to face him. We stare at each other for a minute with an awkward silence. He breaks the silence.
"Do… you want to grab something to eat?"
I smile at his question. "Yeah, sure!" I say looking shy at him.
"Where should we go?"
"We could go to Doc Magoos. It's a little café in town."
"Okay. Great. To Doc Magoos."
We're walking up to my front door.
"I had a really good time!" I say smiling at him.
"Yeah?" I nod. "Me too."
We're standing in front of the door now.
"So I guess I'll see you tomorrow?" I ask.
"Yeah."
Pause.
"Well I better go. Goodnight." He says. He leans down and kisses me on the cheek. By the time he's about to leave, Maggie opens the door.
"Abby. You have a visitor." She says.
Oh no. Please let it be Susan or Jing-Mei. But then Luka Kovac shows up in the door. Why now? Why now when I'm here with John?
"See you tomorrow Abby." John says and leaves, before I even get to put a word in.
"I hope you're happy now. I told you weeks ago we're over. Get over it. Stop coming here!"
"Who was that guy?"
"A friend."
"What's his name?"
"That's none of your business. Just leave me, my family and John alone."
"Oh, his name is John."
"Yes. Leave me alone. Go… now!" I say and walk inside I told him I knew he had something going with another girl and then I broke up with him. Since then he has been bucking me. Every night he has come here, trying to get me back with him, but I don't want to. John's probably thinking that Luka and are together. I have to call him. Luckily I got his number when we were at Magoos. I walk up to my room and grab the phone on my bed. I dial his number. It's a woman who answers it.
"Carter residence. Millicent speaking." The woman says.
"Hello, this is Abby. Is John there?"
"Yes. One moment."
It doesn't take long for him to get to the phone.
"Hello?"
"Hey it's Abby."
"Hi…"
"I just wanted to apologize for Luka."
"Luka? Was he that guy who was at your house?"
"Yeah. Four weeks ago we were dating, but when I found out he had something going with another girl from Junior High, I broke up with him. And he just doesn't want to let me go. Since then he has been showing up every night at my porch trying to get me back. But I keep telling that it's not going to happen."
"Maybe I could help you, to keep him away from you. If you want to, that is?"
"Off course I want to, but how?"
"We could spend a lot of time together, making him believe, that I'm your boyfriend or something." He says it in a very secure tone.
"I don't know." I say insecure, but with a smile. "You really want to do that?"
"If it helps you then… yeah. You don't deserve to have a guy bucking you to come back to him, which you don't want to. You're an incredible person."
"You think so? That's a lot, just knowing me a day."
"Well, you revealed a secret, you have been keeping you whole life, to a person you've just met and that's also a lot, just knowing me a day. What if I told your secret to everyone tomorrow? How could you trust me after only one day?"
"Something told me, that you wouldn't tell anyone. There was also something, which told me you were different."
He laughs. "Thanks."
"No, not different like that. You aren't like the other guys. You're different in a good way."
"Thank you… I think!"
I laugh. "Well, I'll see you tomorrow."
"But wait. What do you say to my question about helping you?"
"If it's okay with you, then… okay!"
"Okay. I'll come and pick you up on the way to school."
"Okay. See you tomorrow."
"Bye."
"Bye!" I say and hang up the phone. I sigh and fall onto my back on the bed.
NEXT MORNING: I must have fallen asleep, since I'm still lying here in my clothes. I better go get ready.
When I finished showering, I pulled on my clothes, put on make-up and dried my hair, before pulling it back into a braid. Then I went downstairs after checking Eric's room. He had already left or he just spent the night at one of his friend's house. I made some coffee for me to wake up. Then I heard a knock on the door. I walk out to answer it. When I open the door, I see Luka.
"Hey. I thought you might need a ride." Luka said.
"Sorry Luka, but I've already got one." I say as I see John drive up the driveway. John walks up to us.
"Hey…" He says and puts his left arm around me. He then turns to Luka. "Hello, John Carter." He says and shows Luka his hand. Luka shakes it.
"Luka Kovac."
There's an awkward silence between us, until John breaks it.
"Well, we better go. You ready?" He says.
"Yeah. G'bye Luka." I say quickly, eager to get away.
Luka goes to his car and drive away. When he's gone, John and I break out laughing.
"Well, that was funny!" I say as we make our way to John's car.
He turns on the engine and the car. A silence breaks over us as we drive. After a few minutes my absolute favorite song, "Hanging by a moment" by Lifehouse, comes on.
"Oh my god. I love this song." I say, smiling in an attempt to break the silence.
"Me too."
Another silence.
"You wanna do something after school?" I asked.
"Yeah, sure. You have something in mind?"
"Umm… there's this traveling carnival in town."
"Sounds fun. I'll pick you up by four."
"Great." I say and smile.
By then we're at the school's parking lot. We find a parking space. In the second I get out of the car, Susan and Jing-Mei sees me.
"Abby." They say in unison and waves at me.
"Hi." I say, when they reach John and I. They give John and I weird looks. I look at John and back at them.
"What?" I ask with a smile.
"Nothing." They say in unison and look away.
"Okay."
"Well, I'd better go. I have to go to class. See you later!" John says.
"Yeah. Bye!"
"Bye."
After he leaves, Susan and Jing-Mei gives me the weird look again.
"What?" I ask annoyed.
"What's going on with you two? Didn't you just meet yesterday?" Susan asks.
"Yes we did, and there's nothing going on between us." I answer.
"Susan said that you spent the whole day together yesterday. Is that true?" Jing-Mei wants to know.
"Not the whole day, but yes. We went for a walk and decided to go get something to eat. Two friends spending a day together, what's wrong with that?"
"Well, to me it sounds more like a…" Susan pauses.
"A what?"
"A date." Jing-Mei finishes for Susan.
"A date? Oh please. You're not serious? We just met yesterday!"
"We talked to Luka." Jing-Mei says, raising her eyebrows.
"Okay. So this is about Luka, my jealous ex who wants me back, seeing us yesterday on my porch and again today, right?"
"Yeah." Susan says.
"Okay. Well… he's just helping me!"
"How!" Jing-Mei asks.
"Well, Luka has been bucking me all the time since we broke up and John noticed. He just wanted to help me by spending a lot of time with me, making Luka believe that John is my boyfriend."
"What? Whose idea was this anyway? Cause this so doesn't sound like you!" Susan says.
"His, but…" I stop, when I realize how weird it actually sounds. "I gotta go talk him!" I start to walk away, but Susan and Jing-Mei grabs my arms and makes me go back.
"No you don't. Not before you've told us about yesterday!" Susan says and pulls me down to sit on a bench. I knew this was coming. They also did it the day after I broke up with Luka.
"Okay, I knew this was coming. There really isn't anything to tell. He met my brother and mother. My mother was embarrassing me, so we went for a walk. He suggested we could go somewhere to eat and I said yes, that's all."
"It still sounds like a date to me!" Susan says.
"There must have been some chemistry moments or something." Jing-Mei says. I shake my head. "Come on Abby. We know there has been some spark moments. Just tell us!" She goes on.
"No there wasn't." But then I remember the moment we had after he had said that my mother seemed 'spontaneous'. "Well…"
"What?" Jing-Mei asks.
"No nothing."
"Abby, c'mon. We're your friends. Come one, please just tell us. We're dying to know!" Susan says.
"Nope. I'm not telling you anything!"
"Oh come on. Please!" Jing-Mei pleads.
"Well, there was this awkward moment… nope, nah. It was nothing. I gotta go. See you later?"
"Yeah sure." They say in unison. I get up and walk away.
"Hey Abby." Susan yells after me. I turn around. "We're not giving up!"
I roll my eyes and turn around.
The rest of the day I'm in my own world, dreaming.
3:55. Five minutes until John gets here. I can't wait. He is so nice. I've never felt like this for anyone. Luka was my first real boyfriend, but he was just an excuse to get away from the house, not to mention Maggie. I had no serious feelings for him. I close my eyes, but open them again, when I hear the phone ring. I hope it isn't John calling to cancel.
"Hello?" I say into the phone.
"Hey… It's Susan."
"Susan… what's up?" I ask as I sit down on the couch in the living room.
"Oh nothing. Just wanted to chat for a while and wanted to know, if you are ready for the date with John. Are you?"
"It's not a date. We've only known each other one day. We're going to a carnival. It's like… umm, you and me going. Only John's a guy. But it's two friends going to have fun!"
"If you say so."
Then I hear the doorbell. It's probably John.
"I gotta go. See you tomorrow."
"Yeah… and I want all the details."
"There aren't going to be any 'details'. Bye!"
"Bye."
I walk to the door and open it. But it's not John. It's Luka.
"Luka? What are you doing here?" I ask.
"I just wanted to ask if you wanted to grab something to eat."
"No, I can't."
"'Can't' as in you won't? Or 'can't' as in you have other plans?"
"Both."
"John?"
"What?"
"Are you going out with John?"
"Yes, actually."
"When?"
"Now." I say as I see John drive in the driveway. I grab my coat and lock the door. I hope Eric has his key. "Bye Luka!"
I leave him standing there again, but I don't care. He's not my boyfriend anymore.
"Hey." John says as he gets out of the car.
"Hi." He gives me a hug as if we've known each other for years and haven't seen each other for a long time. We get in the car and drive away.
"So what did he want?" John asks.
"He just wanted to know if I wanted to grab something to eat."
"Why did you two break up?"
"A few weeks ago I found out he had something going with some girl from Junior High, so I broke it off. But I never really like him anyway. He always pushed me and I used him as an excuse to get out of the house." He has a confused look on his face, which tells me, he wants little more specifics. "When I moved here, I didn't have any friends. Those I had, never had time. They were with their boyfriends and I didn't want to be a wheel. So when I met him at a Christmas-party six months ago, he introduced me to Susan and Jing-Mei. Later that evening, when he drove me home he kissed me and then I thought I could use him as an excuse to get out. Mean, I know, but…" He laughs and makes me laugh too as I finish the last sentence: "… but I just needed to get out of the house!"
"I hope you're not using me to get out of the house."
"Oh, no, no, no. No, I'm not. I don't need to now. I have three great friends, who actually has time to hang out outside of school."
"Susan, Deb… who's the third great friend?"
I hesitate a little before answering him: "YOU!"
"You've only known me for two days and I'm already a great friend? That's something I haven't experienced before, but thanks." He chuckles.
"I should be the one thanking you. Thank you for being such a good friend!"
"You're welcome!" He says with a smile. "I'm just being who I am."
I smile back at him.
"So how's your mom?"
"I have no idea. She's locked herself into her room!"
"And your brother? Can he take care of himself tonight?"
"He's staying at a friend's house. I just don't know if he's going to stay overnight. If not, he can just call my cell."
On the rest of the way to the carnival, we talk about this and that. About school and stuff. We both want to be doctors. Then there's a pause until we get there.
I'm the one to break the silence: "We're here!"
We find a parking spot and park. When I get out, I spot Luka's car driving in to the parking lot. Damn him! Why did he have to follow us? Then I spot Susan's car, so I guess Susan and Jing-Mei are here too. Possibly to spy on us. I have to stop telling them everything. John spots Susan and Jing-Mei the minute we enter the carnival.
"Look there's Susan and Deb. Should we go over and say 'hi'?" He says.
"No. I think they're here to spy on us. They think there's something going on between us, since I said I didn't want to tell them anything. So I guess they decided that they could find something out for themselves."
"Oh, so they are those kinds of friends."
"What kind of friends?"
"Those nosy kinds."
"Yeah they are. So if we just try to avoid them they won't be bucking us."
"Okay. We'll do our best!" He says and takes my hand and entwines it with his. I don't hesitate. The touch of his hand in mine sends a spark up my spine. That was a new one. Something I've never experienced before. Not with anyone! Am I in love? I mean more in love than I've ever been? I think I am!
"Yesterday you said you live near me. Where's that?" I ask.
"Just down the street from your house, on the corner of the road."
"Whoa… you live in that big mansion?"
"Yeah, uhh… I live with my grandparents, because my parents aren't home a lot."
"Oh, I'm sorry."
"Don't be. I prefer to live with them. My parents aren't the nicest people. Plus if I didn't live with them I wouldn't have met you." He says smiling, looking deep into my eyes.
"Well, I'm glad you live here, because if you didn't, then I wouldn't have met you." I say also smiling, looking deep into his eyes.
By now we're at the Ferris wheel. We both stopped and looked at it, until John turned to look at me.
"Should we take a ride? Susan and Deb might not be able to spy on us if we're up there!" He says.
"Let's go!"
We get in line. Once it's our turn he pays $20 for the woman, who controls the ride, while saying: "Can you keep us on it for… let's say… 30 minutes?"
She nods, smiling.
"I thought Susan and Deb would get tired of looking on us." He says.
"But what are we gonna do for the next half hour?"
"Talk! Get to know each other!"
I think about this for a second. "Well… it's worth it!"
"Where did you live before you moved to Chicago?" he asks once we're on the ride.
"Minnesota."
"You say that like it's a bad thing."
"It is. Minnesota is boring. There's nothing to do!"
"Do you have friends there?"
"Yeah. Many of them. I was pretty popular there."
"Do you miss them? Your friends?"
"Yeah. But I'm happy here. I have a new life, new friends. What about you? Did you have friends where you live?"
"Yeah. But only a few. We were just a small group."
"Do you miss them?"
"No, not really. We weren't as close as you, Susan and Deb are."
"Well, we aren't so close. They don't know about my life-secret, remember?"
"Yeah."
The next half hour just flies by. We just sit there and talk about our past. The rest of the evening, we don't see either Susan and Jing-Mei or Luka. Thank God!
Six months later; last day before spring vacation:
These past six months has been the best. Susan, Jing-Mei, John and I spend almost everyday together. I even think, Susan and Jing-Mei has dropped their suspicion about John and I being together.
Last week we got a note from our biology teacher, that he had planned a trip out to the forest. We're going to be living two-and-two in tents for 3 days and 2 nights. Immediately after the class, Susan and Jing-Mei said, that they wanted to share a tent together. So… I got to share a tent with John. I don't know, if what they said was to find out, if John and I actually were together. Or just because they really did want to share a tent together. But I don't care.
Well, here we are, on our way with our classmates out to the forest. The ride isn't very long. It only takes a half hour. I'm sitting with John, Susan and Jing-Mei in the back of the bus. We laugh and talk all the way.
Now it's 10:30 p.m. John and I are lying in our tent talking.
"How come do you want to be a doctor?" I ask in a whisper.
"You remember, I told you, that my brother died?"
I nod.
"He died of Leukemia. So when he died, I decided, that I wanted to help people and maybe find a better cure for those who are dying from Leukemia."
"Oh God. I'm so sorry!"
He chuckles a little. "Don't be. It was a long time ago. Off course I miss him, but I kept telling myself that I can't make anything different. And that's how I moved on!"
There's a silence.
"How come do you want to be a doctor?" He asks.
"Mostly I just want to help people, but I also want to guide people who are bipolar to take their meds."
There's another silence. But this one is awkward as I notice him staring at me.
"You're staring!" I whisper, smiling.
"You're beautiful!"
I hide my face a little and smile shyly, when I look at him again.
"Why are you suddenly becoming shy?" He asks.
"I get shy, when I get compliments."
"Well, get used to it!"
"I don't think, I ever will." I chuckle a little.
"Then I guess, you have to get shy everytime I say, that you're beautiful!"
"I guess so."
He sits up, searches through his backpack and gets out a camera. It's a digital camera.
"Oh no." I say.
"Oh yes! How else can I be able to see you beautiful face, when you're not around?"
"Okay." I say and rise up on my elbows. "But then I want one of you too!"
"Okay."
I sit up and search through my backpack. I get out my camera and take a picture of John.
"Good one!" I say.
"Now… your turn!"
I roll my eyes. He takes a picture.
"Wow. Very good!" He says.
"Can I see?"
"Yeah."
He sits over close besides me and shows me the picture.
"You're right. It is a good picture!" I say and turn my face to look at him, our faces only inches apart. John looks up and meets my eyes. We look deeply into each other's eyes. I feel like this is the moment, where I have to express my feelings to him. But what if he doesn't feel the same? Should I let him make the first move, if he feel the same?
I see his face come closer and his eyes close. I close my eyes, too and wait for his lips on mine. After what feels like forever, his soft lips are finally on mine. The kiss is cut short as he pulls away. I slowly open my eyes, scared that this is only a dream. But it's not! I meet his chocolate brown eyes. He looks questionably at me, asking me if that was okay. I give him a genuine smile and nod. He plants his hand behind my head, pulls it towards his and kisses me again. This time it's a lot longer. I move my hands up to his face, as he opens his mouth. I open mine too and our tongues start to explore each other mouths. After kissing like this for quite a while, I pull away. I'm breathless!
"You have no idea how long, I've been waiting for that moment!" I say, still breathless.
"Since we met, I guess?"
"Pretty much, yeah!"
"Me too. You're the prettiest, nicest and most amazing young woman, I've ever met."
I get shy again and hide my face. He grabs my chin and makes me look up. I'm smiling shyly. He catches my lips with his once again.
"We should probably get to sleep!" I say after another long and passionate kiss.
"Yeah, you're right!"
We lie down close next to each other. He holds me tight from behind and says: "Sweet dreams!"
"Sweet dreams!" I whisper back.