Love

I awoke to find myself sprawled out all over him. His warm skin was under my fingertips and my thigh was pressing into his. I didn’t plan on waking up like this, but I honestly didn’t mind it. It was nice to wake up with someone that you loved. I wanted to lay like this forever and let us detach completely from the world, but I knew that it could not last.

I opened my eyes and looked up at him. He was already awake and his lips were formed into a sweet smile. I smiled warmly back at him. He pulled me in closer and I rested my head on his chest. I could feel his heart beating.

“Good morning, beautiful,” he said.

“Morning, Charlie,” I murmured back to him, closing my eyes once more.

I felt his lips graze my forehead; softly, gently. The warmth was comforting. I felt like a young child again. In reality, I was still a child but what I had been through had hardened me into an adult.

I had arrived at Charlie’s as a battered and bruised, yet street-smart, kid. The things I had seen and done didn’t even exist in most people’s minds. From the beginning I had been straight up with Charlie and, still, he welcomed me into his family. “Love can fix everything,” he had told me.

Almost everyday since I arrived, Charlie made love to me. It was love, not just sex. With each time that he gave me love, I felt myself become more complete. I was in love with him. I could not exist without him.All of the girls said that but, for me, it was true. Charlie was a part of me.

My head rose and fell with his chest and I laid there for what seemed to be forever. I never wanted to get up. I didn’t want to deal with the girls who were jealous of me. I didn’t want to deal with the guys who were too persistent. I wanted to remain here with Charlie for the rest of my life.

“Let’s go for a walk.” Charlie suggested some time later. “We’ll go down by the stream.”

I instantly sat up. The only place I liked as much as Charlie’s bed was the stream. It was a quiet, beautiful place where we had made love and spent our days together many times. Grabbing Charlie’s shirt, I got up off of the bed and slid it on. While I slid my panties back on, he pulled his pants up.

His hand wrapped itself around mine and we walked out of the house and onto the sandy ground. Neither of us were wearing shoes and the sand was warm from the mid-morning sun. I didn’t know the exact time or the day of the week, but it didn’t matter much to me.

We were both silent as we walked down to the stream. When we got there, I sat down on the edge and stuck my feet into the water. Charlie sat down next to me and did the same. He sat there and watched me watch everything for the longest time.

“You know what?” he finally said, breaking the comfortable silence.

“No, what?”

“I consider you my cosmic mate.” He smiled. “I love all you girls, but I love you the most.”

I was stunned into silence. I couldn’t believe what he had just said. It might not be much to most people but in the family, it was like a marriage. I didn’t know what to say, so I kissed him softly instead. It was the best kiss of my life.

“Something bad’s gonna happen to me soon,” Charlie said after the kiss. “You’ve got to leave.”

“But Charlie-“

“You’ve got to go, beautiful. I don’t want you getting caught up in all of this.” He kissed me. “We can be together when it’s over, but you’ve got to leave now. I’ll find you again one day. I promise.”

I knew that there’d be no arguing about this, so I got up. “I’ll see you later, Charlie.”

He didn’t say anything as I walked down the stream. I wasn’t stopping until I reached its end. When I did, I settled down and waited for him to come for me.