Title: Like I Am
Author: Pinch/Linly
Disclaimer: Dont own Racetrack or Moxie. Love them both dearly though. Dont own the song either-Rascal Flatts does. Dont own anything. I suck! haha Dedicated to Moxie cos I love her a ton!


Like I Am



Lying here with you
I watch you while you sleep
The dawn is closing in
With every breath you breathe

His eyes fell upon her bare shoulder, a smile creeping across his lips. Dark skin laced with sunlight in the dawn, her back pressed against his chest, her body filled with innocence in every breath. Racetrack pressed his lips against the curve of her neck, closing his eyes and inhaling her. The fading mixture of soap and vanilla was becoming something he thought he'd never live without.

I can feel the change
The change you've made in me
But will I ever see
All the things you see in me


He found himself analyzing his past and coming to peace with himself for the first time. A father he'd lost to illness. A mother he could not remember past age four. Countless girls trying to fill a void they had no place in. Love slipping through his fingers like water. He could not remember a time he was this happy.

When you say that I'm one of a kind
Baby, I don't see it but you believe
That I'm so strong and true, I promise you
I'll try to be that kind of man
Because you love me like I am


With all his faults, his endless list of shortcomings, she stayed. He brushed a strand of hair from her face and whispered. "I want to be who you think I am. " The darkness was slowly fading and he knew she would wake soon, as would most of the Van Wyck lodging house. He would have to hide or leave but he couldn't pull himself away. He made a decision, he would not let her down again; give her cause to withdraw her belief in him. He was going to be everything that she wanted and everything she pretended he already was.

When it comes to love
I may not know the rules
But there's one thing I know
My heart belongs to you, just you


He wished he didn't have to wake her, but being caught in her room was a risk he could not take. Lifting her body slowly from his arm and sitting up he smiled at her attempts to pull him back down. "Camille, I'll be back tonight." He promised, and this time he would keep the promise.

You show me you love me
With a fire that burns deep inside


Opening her dark brown eyes revealed her trust in him, catching him off guard as it did nearly every time. A soft nod followed by a longing glance as he pushed off of the bed and let his feet touch the floor. Racetrack's heart stopped momentarily watching her close her eyes again. He had never felt anything this powerful, anything this clear, anything this stirring.

I'll never understand
I don't think I'll ever understand
Why you love me
Why you love me just like I am


In a hurried rush through the streets his thoughts circled in his head, flashes of memories with her, a startling realization. He had taken advantage of her before-pretending that his broken promises and days gone missing were simply things he could not help. She loved him through it all, she hid her hurt and continued to be there when he needed her. She loved him just like he was and he didn't have to be something special or have money to take her out. Stopping on the corner of a street he sat down, trying to clear his mind. He didn't know why she put up with him or what made him worthy of her time at all. With brown hair tangled between his fingers he knew he would no longer make excuses to disappear. He didn't want to disappear. He wanted to be there every morning, he wanted to feel these feelings he felt now, he wanted to be a man worthy of her.