Lingering Kisses

I opened my eyes and noticed that she wasn't there by my side. I got up and scanned the studio. When I sat up, I rubbed my temples. Charlie... the moment she came to mind, her giggles and her soft touches made me smile.

"Someone's in a good mood." My head turned towards the door when I heard her voice. She was holding two cups of coffee. I smiled when I saw that she was wearing my shirt. Now, that's sexy. I grabbed her waist and she giggled. Ah, music to my ears. "You know what turns a man on?" I eyed her, she was smiling down on me like an angel. "Women who bring coffee after sex?"... except that.
"Wearing their man's shirt. It looks exquisitely sexy." I told her as I trailed kisses from her stomach to her neck then to her lips. Tastes like coffee.

"Hey... that tickles. Sto~p." When I heard her moan, I couldn't help but smile. "Alright, alright. Let's go have breakfast." I pulled her close into a yearning kiss. I felt her kiss back, "Yea, Chuck's probably up by now and he needs his breakfast." she said.

Before following her to the kitchen, I stared at her. I suddenly wondered if I told her those words to her, will she feel the same?

When Charlie and Paul entered the room, the others were already there waiting for them. They gave them suspicious looks as to where they went, especially Chuck. He eyed his little sister from head to toe then shifted towards Paul. "Is there a reason why Paul is shirtless and YOU are wearing a shirt that doesn't really fit you?" Chuck was being his sarcastic self again. Paul just smiled and sat opposite Chuck. "Chuck, play nice." Riley said as he gently ran his hand through his boyfriend's hair. Chuck almost purred, "Mmmm."

"So, how was it?" Chuck suddenly asked causing a really awkward silence.

At school, Tyler talked to his friends happily. He was one of the popular kids at school. The kind of person that other kids want to be like. Unfortunately, they didn't know who he really was at all.

Anna was by her locker with her friends, she fixed her bag on her side as she closed her locker. "We have a library at the boarding house. Charlie can let us use it." Anna said.
"Really? That is so cool!" Kyle, a lanky young man with glasses like Harry Potter and black coconut hairdoo, blurted out.
"When will we see the boarding house you're living in?" Jessica, a girl with light brown hair, asked.
"We can do it later after school." Anna agreed.
Then she caught a glimpse of Tyler's smile at the corner of her eye and she stared at him. Her two friends noticed and giggled, "Aha, enter, good-looking and popular jock, Tyler Cruz a.k.a School Heartthrob." Jessica muttered as she eyed Anna, who was openly admiring the boy from a distance.
"He's more than just a mindless jock throwing a ball for touchdowns. Tyler is actually nice." Anna aimlessly babbled in front of her friends and it was too late when she realized that her words were giving her away.

"How do you know? Have you hung out recently?" Kyle asked. The two teens stared suspiciously at their friend who was leaning on her locker, Anna mentally slapped her forehead. Oh, nice. Smart move, you dummy! She thought to herself. Before she opened her mouth to answer, the bell rang. Saved by the bell~ She sighed as she hurriedly went to her next class.

At the boarding house, Charlie seemed to engrossed in her book, 'A Walk to Remember' by Nicholas Sparks. "How many times have you read that book?" Chuck asked as he aimlessly stared at his laptop.
"About a dozen times but it still beats reading and watching Twilight. Jaime and Landon's love story is simple and a lot of people can relate to it. It's happy and tragic at the same time unlike other love stories." Charlie explained. She smiled as she turned a page of the book. It seems that Charlie was halfway done with the book.
"So, have you said it yet? Those three words, I mean." Chuck asked as he leaned back on his seat.

Charlie suddenly placed the book down and glanced at her brother, "Uh... no. I couldn't." she said.
"You have to figure it out. Sooner or later, you might lose him." He said as he stared at the ceiling.

Chuck sighed and smiled, "I haven't said it to Riley either. I also know that one of these days, he'll realize that and maybe he'll leave me. I don't even know my feelings for him but I want him around as long as possible but I can't say those words to him. I don't even know how long can he wait for me to say those three words. Maybe when he gets fed up, he'll leave me and that will be my biggest regret." he said. He didn't notice but a tear rolled down his face.

Charlie stood up and placed her arms around her brother's shoulders. She just held him like that for a moment. Chuck patted his little sister's head and smiled, "You don't have to cry with me, Charlie. But thank you. You're the best." he said as he heard Charlie's soft sobs from behind.

After school, Anna waited for Kyle and Jessica by her locker. Then she saw Tyler with his friends again. She mustered all of her confidence and walked towards them.

"Hey Tyler, let's study for the English exam." Anna offered. She received a lot of odd looks from his jock friends. Then, he smirked at her, "Yea, in your dreams." he said smugly. Anna walked away with a disappointed look on her face.

His friends laughed at her while walking away, "Did she really think that she has a chance with you?" one of the girls from his group asked as they continued to laugh.


"Guys, this is Charlie. She's our landlady. Charlie, this is Kyle and Jessica." Anna introduced her friends to Charlie as they entered the boarding house.
"Nice to meet you guys. It's good that you brought your friends over. I'll be in my office if you need me, alright?" Charlie said as she went on her way back to her office.

In the library, Kyle and Jessica looked around and found some useful books for their exam in literature.
After a few minutes, they heard the door open and was surprised to see Tyler. "You live here too?" Kyle angrily asked.

Tyler raised a brow and walked towards them, "Yea, what's it to you, douche bag?" he asked. "If you don't have anything good to say, why don't you leave us alone, Tyler?" Anna suddenly spoke. She still had the same look on her face when he humiliated her in front of his friends. Then he suddenly grabbed her arm and dragged her out of the library and to the kitchen.

"What? Are you still mad at me?" He asked aimlessly.
"Who wouldn't be mad at what you did, Tyler?" She blurted out.
Tyler breathed in and stared at her, "Look, I just didn't want them to know that we're... we're--" he couldn't finish his sentence and he couldn't look at her straight at all.
"That we're what? Friends? Is that what you were trying to say? You humiliated me because you were embarrassed to say that in a span of weeks, someone actually likes you for who you are and what you're not." She pointed out.

Before he could open his mouth to say anything, she spoke again. "Don't worry about explaining yourself. You care too much about what they think about you that... that you'd degrade yourself. If they really are your friends, then they shouldn't judge you by the type of people you hang out with outside your circle. We weren't really friends from the start." She said and left Tyler speechless.

Paul suddenly came in after Anna left. Apparently, he accidentally heard everything the two teens talked about. Tyler glanced at him, "I messed up, didn't I?" he asked the young artist.

Paul placed his arm around Tyler and led him to the studio. When they entered the studio, Tyler saw a painting of a familiar woman on a 24 x 30 canvas. It was Charlie with an innocent smile on her face. "It'll be on my exhibit next week but I won't sell it. This one will hang here. I've been working on it for weeks. Every time I close my eyes, I see the smile that she gave me on the day we first met." He said.

"You must really love her, huh Paul?" Tyler said. He glanced at the young artist standing next to him. Paul had a painful look on his face, "Yea but no matter what I do to prove how much I love her, as long as we both hold on to our past, we won't be able to the words that we want to hear from each other. And that, my friend, will be our biggest regret." Paul said as he walked towards the painting and gently touched it.

"You should be more honest. One day, you'll realize what her worth is and she'll be with someone who treats her like she's a queen." Paul said as he left the teen to think about what he said.

When Riley came home, he found Chuck sitting in his sister's office, staring blankly at his laptop. He came in with a worried look on his face, unable to shake it, he placed a kiss on Chuck's forehead. "What's wrong?" The teen asked as he ran his hands through his boyfriend's hair.

Chuck shrugged as fixed himself in his chair. He took Riley's hands and stared into his eyes, "I'm tired." he said.

"If you're tired, we could turn in early. I could give you a massage." Riley seductively said as he tried to wrap his arms around Chuck's neck but the man stopped him and placed the teen's hands to his side.

"I'm tired of this. All of this. I don't want this anymore, Riley." Chuck said as he stood up and stared at the confused teen in front of him.
"What are you saying?" Riley asked, trying to suppress the tears from falling. "We should stop this crazy situation that we're in." Chuck tried to make it clear.

"Are you breaking up with me, Chuck? Tell me that's not it. Please. Chuck?" The teen asked as tears welled up in his eyes. Chuck touched his own face and frustratingly sighed, "Let's end this before we start hurting each other. Alright?" Chuck said then left Riley by himself.

Riley was in shock and his tears couldn't stop from falling. It was too much for him that he just fell to his knees and cried like he has never cried before.

Chuck stood outside of the office, leaning on the wall. "I'm sorry, Riley." he whispered to himself.

"I'm sorry."