I am exhausted.
A long day of rehearsals followed by two hours of signing autographs for eager fans has worn me out to the point where I can barely keep my eyes open. I dream of home, where my soft, warm bed awaits my company. My head leans against the cool glass window of Nico's car and I close my eyes, just for a second.
When I open them, the car is in the parking lot of my apartment building.
"That was fast," I comment groggily, unfastening my seat belt and reaching to the floor for my bag.
"You slept the whole way here. I dropped off Grady first, and Zora went up to her place ten minutes ago."
"You've been sitting here for ten minutes?" I instantly feel guilty. "Why didn't you wake me up?"
"You're tired. No biggie, I'm not in a hurry for anything." He smiles, and I'm reminded of how lucky I am to have friends like him. I smile in return.
"I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to fall asleep." I glance at the clock. It's twenty minutes to midnight. "Wake me up next time, okay?"
"No problem," he assures me. "Get some sleep. Catch you later."
I step out of the car and sling my bag over my shoulder, waving as he pulls out of the parking lot. My steps towards the building are sluggish and slow; I feel like I could collapse right here and sleep until morning.
I make it up to my room and lean my head against the door for a moment, giving myself a chance to rest my eyes. Don't fall asleep. Your bed is not far now. I open my eyes and fish for the keys in my pocket, and that's when I notice it.
The note on the door. The pink, heart-shaped piece of paper that instantly brings him to mind. Chad. Suddenly I'm wide awake, reaching for the note and ripping it from the door.
Because this failed the first time,
I'm giving it another try.
First of all, retrace your steps
And soon you'll find out what comes next.
The writing is unmistakably his: half-printed-half-cursive, letters squished together, crookedly angled up the paper. A smile creeps its way onto my face as I turn and head back towards the elevators down the hall where I'd come from just minutes ago. Because this failed the first time. He does remember. The awkward way we'd tried to plan our first kiss. The completely unromantic finale to the brief but sweet scavenger hunt he'd sent me on.
I hope this ends differently.
Sure enough, just above the elevator's up and down buttons is a note identical in shape to the one from my door. I pull it down and read it:
Roses are red,
violets are blue.
A friend in the lobby
Holds your next clue
Friend in the lobby… the only person I know who would still be awake at this hour is the receptionist at the front desk of the building. I hit the 'down' button of the elevator and make my way down the four floors to the lobby. As expected, Julie sits behind the desk—except she looks wide awake and brimming with excitement as I walk towards her, like she's been waiting for me.
"Hey again," she chirps, standing up as I reach her. I realize I hadn't noticed her on my way in earlier; I must have been half asleep.
"Hi, Julie," I smile. "Any messages for me?" I try to keep the excitement out of my voice, but she doesn't seem to notice. She's practically bouncing on her toes as she reaches under the desk and pulls out the heart-shaped piece of paper.
"I'm supposed to tell you to take the stairs up." Her smile widens, and I wonder briefly how many autographs and pictures it took for Chad to get her to cooperate with him on this.
"Thanks," I smile again, taking the note from her and heading towards the door leading to the stairs. She waves goodbye eagerly. I glance at the newest note and my heart simply melts.
Yes, I know you're tired and you want to go to bed
But I thought that I'd tell you how much I love you, instead.
Every time you come to mind, I know it must be true
There's no one else in this wide world who means as much as you.
The stairway is dark; the fluorescent lights are lowered for the night and soft music plays in the background. I re-read the last note several times as I climb the stairs. How in the world did I get so lucky? And since when is Chad a poet?
As I reach the landing of the fourth floor, I see a note stuck on the inside of the door. Approaching it, I can make out the short message written in big letters:
My heart is yours.
These four words send a shiver down my spine and cause my heart to stop for a moment. My chest tightens and I blink back tears threatening to fall; these four simple words make me feel like the world is mine. And really, it is. He is my whole world.
I wonder if he's still here. If he's waiting for me at my apartment. I add the note to the top of my small collection, then pull open the door and head towards home. I see him the moment I step around the corner of the hallway. He's leaning against the door dressed in snug, dark jeans and a white t-shirt, and he has never looked more attractive to me in all the years I've known him.
He sees me, too, because his face lights up in the most adorable half-smile I have ever seen. It takes every ounce of control I possess not to sprint down the hall into his arms; somehow I slowly make it to where he stands. I stand in front of him, hands aching to reach for him, to grab a hold of that shirt or those arms, to run through his perfectly messy hair, to hold him and never let go. But my arms stay where they are, tense by my sides, as I rack my brain for something to say.
My mind is numb. My heart pounds so loud I'm sure he can hear it. His crystal blue eyes are locked on mine, and the smell of him—his Old Spice body wash and freshly laundered clothes—overwhelms me. I give up. Forget control. Forget saying something sweet or romantic or meaningful- there are no words. Instead, I let the pieces of paper fall to the floor then lift my hands, gently place one on either side of his face and pull him down, closer, closer until he's close enough that I can gently, firmly press my lips to his. I can feel his smile, the satisfaction that radiates off of him in waves. I think of that last note, think of all the trouble he went through to set this all up, and I close the distance between us even more. My hands move through his hair, down around the back of his head and settle at the nape of his neck as he deepens the kiss. His hands stay on my waist, holding me to him and sending yet another shiver down my spine. I wish time would freeze right now, in this moment when we are the only two people who exist in the world and we're together and there's nothing standing between us.
He pulls back slightly and places one final kiss on the top of my head. He doesn't say a word.
I ask the only question I can think of.
"Why did you do this, Chad? These poems... they're beautiful, but they must have taken you hours—days..."
"Don't worry about that," he interrupts me. "It doesn't matter. I did it because you deserve it. You deserve everything. I want you to have everything you could ever wish for, because you give me that. You're what I wished for every day of my life until I met you." He pauses, presses his lips to mine again, gently, then pulls away. "I love you more than you could ever possibly imagine. And I want you to know that."
I struggle to understand why, when and how this happened—how I ended up in this moment, alone in a hallway with Chad Dylan Cooper. And how I managed to fall so completely and totally in love with him, the way he's says he has with me.
And then I realize, it doesn't matter.
"I love you, too," I murmur softly.
"I know," he smiles a gain. There's my Chad. "But just remember what I said, when you're mad and want to punch me or something. Don't make that face," he says, catching the surprised, 'I would never' look on my face. "You know you want to sometimes."
"Well sometimes you deserve it," I argue, crossing my arms across my chest.
"Not tonight though, right?" He smiles, and I feel my heart melt once again.
"Definitely not." My arms find their way back around him, and I know that no matter how much he thinks he loves me, I will always love him more.
So it's been forever and a day since I've posted anything... I'm not going to make excuses (*cough*HOMEWORK!*cough*), but I hope this sort of makes up for it. Please let me know what you think, reviews are the best! Thanks for reading!