Therapy

At lunch the next day, Camilla sat across from Alex and smiled at him softly, then picked at her food. Alex knew he was making her happier; she was starting to slowly smile. He watched as she took small bites of her macaroni and engaged in the conversation everyone was having. He hated not knowing what she sounded like. He wondered what kind of voice she had, and if he'd ever get to hear it. Only three months of school left, and they'd both graduate, then maybe she'd go her separate way from him. Back home, maybe. But maybe she would stay in Baltimore. He knew he'd gained a small crush on Camilla, yet she'd never said a word. Was that possible?

Her long, flowly, brown hair in its natural curls rested just past her chest. She looked gorgeous to him today. She wore a small ruffled white skirt, flip-flops and her Xavier hoodie. Somehow, he didn't know how, the articles went perfectly together. She pulled it off. The freckles on her cheeks glowed and then he saw it.

She fully smiled after Jack had said something, and she actually let out a rather large laugh. The whole table stopped what they were doing and stared at her with wide eyes as she kept giggling loudly while covering her mouth. Zack even dropped his fork and Rian almost choked on his drink. Jack smiled proudly, Kara and Melissa exchanged looks of satisfaction, and Alex just smiled at her. To him, that was the most gorgeous laugh he'd ever heard from a girl. She wouldn't stop laughing. She was close to tears, and slowly, Jack started laughing and everyone else followed suit. Camilla's face slowly turned red and Alex turned to Jack in bewilderment.

"Dude," He breathed. "What did you say?"

"Zack said he couldn't get any juice out, referring to his orange, and I made a 'that's what she said' joke. She completely lost it." Jack smiled proudly at his accomplishment, then went back to his macaroni, "I mean, I don't blame her. It was a good one."

Alex let out a small laugh, then looked at Camilla, smiling softly at her. She shrugged and started eating her jello. He shook his head and laughed again, then engaged in the conversation himself.

His phone vibrated after a few minutes and he looked at the blaring screen. Camilla had sent him a text.

I forgot how good it felt to laugh.

Alex smiled up at her, then typed a response.

You have a beautiful laugh. I'd like to hear it more often.

She blushed as she looked down at her phone, then started typing.

I don't know. Can you live up to Jack's sense of humor?

She gave him a crooked smile, then went back to eating and silently laughing at the jokes Jack desperately tried to make, in his mission to cause her to laugh again. Everyone seemed to enjoy her laugh and wanted to keep it up.

Under the table, Alex slowly reached for Camilla's hand and intertwined their fingers. She choked a little, causing Alex to smirk, then she blushed and squeezed his hand lightly. Rian quickly glanced under the table and raised an eyebrow at Alex and Camilla, causing her eyes to go wide. Alex smiled like nothing was up and took a bite of his spaghetti.

"Wha?" He said with his mouth full as everyone stared at him. "Can't a guy eat his spaghetti widdout getting stared at?"

Camilla chuckled and cleared her throat, then blushed at everyone's stares again. Why was everyone staring at him?

Alex swallowed, then rolled his eyes, "What?"

"Oh, sweetie," Kara laughed. "You've got spaghetti sauce all over your shirt."

Alex glanced down, then sighed, "Shut up!" He wiped it off, then pouted at the red stain on his white shirt. "I don't want to walk around like this." He groaned and Camilla pushed her lips to the side, then stood up. Alex stared at her in amazement as she slipped off her hoodie and handed it to him, then straightened her camisole. He'd never seen this much skin before and he took a deep breath as she sat back down. She smiled softly at him, then ruffled her fingers through her hair.

After three more classes, all with Camilla and Alex stealing glances at each other, the last bell rang. The two walked hand-in-hand out of the school and earned stares from scowling girls and confused guys. Alex smiled down at her, then intertwined his fingers with hers. Camilla looked at her feet as they walked to his car. She wasn't used to this. She'd never had a boyfriend before, and she'd never been kissed. She'd never held a guy's hand, though she held her father's when she was little girl as they would walk across the street every day. This was new to her.

If she was correct, she was starting to crush on Alex Gaskarth. People would think it was creepy because they lived under the same roof, but legally she wasn't their adopted child. So it was perfectly fine for the two to have feelings for each other.

Alex smiled wide and scratched the back of his neck with his free hand as he held the car door open for Camilla. She smiled at him and climbed in, then looked at herself in the mirror as he walked around the rear of the car. She'd never been this worried about her appearance.

As they sat in the car, Alex grabbed her hand and blushed madly as Def Leppard's "Pour Some Sugar On Me" blared from the radio. Camilla hid her giggle as he quickly tried to change the station. Immediately, Michael Jackson's "The Way You Make Me Feel" filled their ears and Camilla let out another laugh. They both knew what was going on. Every song was completely ironic. But Alex wasn't laughing. She was making him nervous by, for once, making light of the situation.

And Alex groaned again as Eddie Money's "Take Me Home Tonight" blared, causing Camilla to full out laugh.

"Well, I guess if it makes you laugh," Alex chuckled, "I'm fine with it." There was a moment of silence besides Eddie's voice and Camilla blushed over at him. "Have you ever had a boyfriend?" She shook her head. "So, this whole hand-holding thing is new to you?" She blushed and nodded again. "Have you ever kissed a boy?" He knew he was making her uncomfortable, but he needed to know. She shook her head 'no.' "Okay." That earned him the weirdest look from her, "Chill. I'm just wondering. Do you want to go to a movie?"

Camilla nodded and he drove straight to the theater. The Incredibles was still out and Camilla chose that one, causing Alex to smile. He knew he should have invited Jack and Melissa, or Rian and Kara and Zack, but he wanted time alone with Camilla.

Alex texted Camilla, Is this a date?

Camilla looked up and shrugged at him.

She blushed as he started holding her hand again. He paid for the tickets, then led her to the correct theater and held the door open for her. She smiled to herself as she made her way toward the very top row, where no one had been seated. Alex sat next to her in the middle of the row and held her hand again. He liked doing that, she concluded. So she went along with it.

Alex knew he would have to go slow. So he leaned over and kissed her cheek softly, causing her stop herself in the process of eating a piece of popcorn. She smiled softly and stopped herself from chuckling.

As they got home from the movie, they jogged upstairs and into Camilla's room. She sat on her bed and smiled at Alex as she kicked her flip-flops off. He slid her sweatshirt off and rested it on her chair, then sat down beside her. He held her hand again and let her lay down before he followed.

"You wanna know a secret?" He whispered, causing her to nod. "Though you haven't said a word to me, I like you. A lot. And this is moving really fast, yet I'm fine with it. I've only come up with one explanation to this." Camilla looked up at him expectantly. "We need each other, Camilla. No matter how much we want to deny it, we do. You lit up my world when you came here, and I did the same for you."

Camilla smiled and nodded, agreeing with him.

"Are you ready to talk yet?"

She shook her head and smiled weakly at him.

"I know this is a little forward, but I do like you Camilla," He paused. "I don't think we should be boyfriend and girlfriend quite yet, but let's try it out, yeah?" She smiled and nodded, "I'm glad I can make you smile. It's gorgeous, you know."

She blushed again.

"Do you like me?" She hesitated, "If you don't, blink once. If you do, blink twice."

Camilla smiled and blinked once, causing him to wince. Then, slowly, she blinked again, her eyelashes colliding with his because they were so close to each other. Alex smiled wide and held both her hands, then kissed her forehead.

"Sweet dreams, Camilla."