His Deepest Secret

Anderson pulled away from Charlotte, standing up and away from the bed.

"Anderson?" she asked.

He quickly ran to the bathroom, shutting the door behind him and locking it. Within seconds, Anderson's dinner began bursting out of his mouth and splashing into the toilet.

Charlotte heard the click of the lock, so it was no use trying to go inside the bathroom to help him. She turned on the lights and sat back onto the bed. She drew his blankets around her as she waited, feeling helpless and worried. As she began biting her nails as a nervous habit, Anderson walked out of the bathroom.

"Hey, don't do that," he whispered weakly.

She looked up at him as he walked towards her.

"Are y-you okay?"

"No," he answered softly. "I'm really sorry. I uh... locked the door behind me knowing it would be really bad this time. I didn't want you to see."

Charlotte scooted back farther into his bed to make room for him. He slowly sat down and relaxed into a laying position. As he settled in, Charlotte leaned over and placed a gentle kiss on his forehead.

"Would it be alright if I stayed with you tonight?" she asked.

Anderson looked into her sad, blue eyes, smiled weakly, and murmured a yes.

Charlotte took out her phone and found her mom in her contacts. She pressed "Call" and awaited her mother's voice to fill up her ear.

"Charlotte?"

"Hi Mom."

"How did your date go? Was his family nice?" she sincerely asked.

"It went extremely well, and his family was amazing! I met his favorite uncle, too."

Anderson looked up at her as she talked, smiling a little to himself.

"I'm glad! Are you coming home now?"

"I was going to ask you about that. . . The night went well, but Mom. . . Anderson is terribly sick. Throwing up extremely badly. Can I stay with him tonight?"

There was a short silence over the other end of the phone.

"Charlotte. . ."

"Mom, I know what you're thinking. This is completely different Ma. I just want to be here for him right now. Please?"

"Alright, Charlotte."

"I love you Mom. Thank you," she replied.

"I love you, too. Goodnight hun. I hope he feels better."

"Me too. Night ma."

Charlotte pressed "End".

Anderson stared up at her.

"She said yes," Charlotte told him.

"Good," he said as he pulled her into his arms. He sent his mom a quick text that Charlotte would be staying because they have a lot to work on. It wasn't a complete lie, because they did. But he didn't say that they'd actually be working on the project.

She texted back an okay.

"She said yes," Anderson whispered to her. He pulled her closer to him so that her head rested on his chest.

"Mmmm," she happily groaned.

A comfortable silence made its way between the two.

- - -

"Anderson?" Charlotte asked ten minutes later.

"Hmm?"

"Did you honestly hate me in the beginning?"

Anderson bit his lip as he thought about it. "No," he finally said. "I hated the fact that you were judgemental, but I didn't hate you."

"Oh."

"Did you honestly hate me in the beginning?"

"No. I hated the person I thought you were."

"And look where we are now," Anderson commented. He smiled down at Charlotte.

"Who would have thought?" she asked, laughing a little.

Anderson lifted up her chin to look into her sparkling blue eyes. "You're so beautiful. . ."

Charlotte's mouth opened in shock at his sudden compliment. "Th-thank you." She smiled shyly at him.

Anderson answered by kissing her softly and cupping the side of her face. As he kissed her, she melted into him. Her arms wrapped around his neck as she laid on top of him.

"Please don't ever break up with me," Charlotte said breathlessly with her eyes closed as soon as the kiss ended. She then opened her eyes to see Anderson's reaction to her words.

"Charlotte. . ." As he thought to himself, the question began to confuse him. What if he had to one day? Could he make this promise to her and not break it? What if his cancer got so bad, all he could do to prevent Charlotte from the hurt his death would bring, would be to break up with her?

Charlotte saw his eyes turn sad as she awaited a response. "Anderson?"

He pulled himself out of his thoughts and looked into her sad, blue eyes. Inside, she was freaking out. Outside, she looked worried.

"I don't want to make a promise only to break it later on, but I will tell you this: As long as our relationship means that you are happy and you have a smile on your beautiful face, there is no way that I will break up with you."

Charlotte didn't know how to respond. "So if I'm unhappy and sad, you're going to break it off?"

"No. . . When, I. . ." Anderson got flustered.

"Tell me the honest truth."

"If I'm not going to beat this cancer, then yes, I'll break up with you, only to save you from the pain," he finally said.