Chapter Two

Oh my god! No other words can exclaim what I feel right now. Oh my god! How did I get to be so lucky. My life has never been this good. This can't be happening, not for real. Is this another dream? No it can't be, it feels too real. How did I get here?

Well, I came back to Caroline's and told her everything that happened. She burst into tears buried her face in her hands. I couldn't let her face it alone, so I reached out to hold her. God, it felt so right. I never wanted to let her go. I know that sounds selfish, but I just didn't. I wanted to hold her forever.

Anyway, neither of us noticed that the crowd was staring until she pulled away slightly. She looked around with teary eyes and bolted up the stairs. I looked around myself; everyone was looking at me with enquiring eyes. But, I wasn't really concerned about the guests, I was looking for Annie. I wanted her to know that I wanted to be the one to comfort her this time.

I caught her glance and I could tell she knew. I quickly ran up the stairs to Caroline room and found her curled up on her bed, crying. God, I hate seeing her like that. Someone as sweet and beautiful as her should never cry, never be hurt, ever.

Before I knew it, I was sitting next to her, rubbing her back while she let it all out. When she started to calm down, she looked up at me. My heart broke. Her eyes were red and swollen; dried tears marred her beautiful face. "Why?" she whispered, "Why won't anyone stay with me?"

I tried to be comforting, "What do you mean?"

"Am I too clingy? Too nice? Not nice enough? I mean, what's wrong with me?"

I couldn't believe it. I mean, I expected something like that to come out of my mouth, not hers. "There's nothing wrong with you." I pulled her into my lap to hold her. Looking back now, I don't know how I did it. Maybe because I was focusing on how much she needed me rather than how much I wanted her. Oh well, it's all academic now. Anyways, I pulled her into my lap and whispered, "You're perfect."

She looked up at me with those big, brown eyes and I got lost. Her tears came again, but not in sobs. They just silently rolled down her cheeks. God, she was so beautiful. She looked up and asked, "Then why won't anybody stay with me?"

"Maybe you just haven't found the right guy yet."

I can't believe what happened next. The tears suddenly stopped and a new expression came over her face. And then...she just leaned up and kissed me. At first I was shocked, astounded by how right it felt. I used to think that Julia was the love of my life, but this one kiss blew her out of the water. It was soft and sweet and everything I'd ever dreamed of.

I soon realized that I wasn't kissing back. What the Hell was I doing? I was holding the world in my arms and I wasn't doing anything about it. Needless to say, I quickly returned her kisses. Pretty soon, we were both lying down on her bed, both oblivious to anything but each other, at least I was. She reached for the buckle on my pants and brought me back to reality.

This wasn't right, she hadn't even officially broken up with Joe yet. What if I was just a one-night stand or a rebound? I didn't think I could handle that. I loved her too much, this had to last.

I pulled away. "Caroline, wait..."

She pulled away too. Man, the look in her eyes killed me. They were pleading with me. 'Don't let this be another rejection.' She was scared. "What, Richard?"

"Am I a...well...is this...I can't..." I couldn't finish. I looked down, concentrating on the flower pattern of her bedding.

"Can't what?"

"I can't be a rebound."

She smiled. "Richard, you're not a rebound."

That made me look up. "How do you know?"

"Because I love you."

That definitely got my attention. "What?!"

She laughed, "I love you."

"But you're with Joe. You're crying because he hurt you."

"Well, yeah, but I'm not in love with him. I'm in love with you."

"Then why are you with him?"

"Because you left. I needed to move on, I needed someone, and you weren't there."

I don't think I've ever felt as shitty as I did right after she said that. She needed me and I wasn't there because I was a coward. I had to tell her. "Do you know why I left?" She shook her head. "I left because I love you. I couldn't stand the idea of you marrying Del, so I left."

"Then why didn't you say anything when you got back?"

"Well, you were with Joe and you seemed happy. That's all I've ever wanted Caroline, is for you to be happy."

She smiled straight into my heart, "Well right now, I'm happiest with you." She leaned in to kiss me again.

But I pulled away, "But what about Joe now?"

"What about him?"

"He's still your boyfriend."

"Not for long..." she leaned in again, but I pulled away again.

"He is right now. I'm not going to let you use me to get back at him."

"I'm not using you Richard. I want this to last longer than tonight."

"So do I. But if we do anything while you're still with him, you'll be sinking to his level."

"Then what do you want me to do?"

I picked up the phone and handed it to her. "Call him. Make sure it's over."

"I can promise you it's over, but ok." She dialed the number.

"Hello, Joe? Yes I talked to Richard. I know you're sorry. No, I don't think I can get past it. Because I don't love you, I'm in love with someone else." She looked up at me and smiled. "It doesn't matter who...yes, it's Richard. No, I haven't slept with him, and you have some nerve asking me that! It doesn't matter, we're over." She slammed the phone down. "I can't believe he had the gall to accuse me of cheating on him." She looked up at me again. "I'm sorry, I don't mean to yell, I just..."

I pulled her into my arms, "I know." She rested her head on my chest. It felt so comfortable there, like it was meant to be there, like we fit together perfectly.