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It was the day after my 16th birthday. My mother had thrown a massive party like normal. I think she was still in bed trying to recover from it. I on the other hand hadn’t slept at all. It was my first birthday without my father. Well, more importantly it was my first day after my birthday without my father. I had just planned to spend the day moping around in my room. Alone. But then Charlie called.
Charlie knew what was going on with me. He knew I was going to be struggling that day. He knew that I shouldn’t be alone. He knew that I needed him. So, he called me up, asked what I wanted to do and insisted we do it. Absolutely anything. Charlie wanted to continue on mine and my father’s tradition of celebrating my birthday the day after my actual birthday. I didn’t exactly want to; it was always something that me and my father did. It might be too painful to just continue on the tradition with someone else. But Charlie had sounded so excited on the phone.
What with me working all the time and him at school, we had barely spent time together in the last couple of weeks. He thought this would be good for us. Mainly me. It would be a day away from the public eye, something I desperately needed. On the phone Charlie had said that he wanted to spend time together because he wanted to see me smile. He said that he hadn’t seen me properly smile in the longest time. It was always forced. I had to give in and say yes to him. Just so he would stop worrying about me.
‘Happy after birthday Blue.’ Charlie threw his arms around my neck the minute I opened the door. ‘You ready for the most fun day of your life?’
‘Of course I am.’ I gave him a quick hug before taking a small step back to get a good look at him. He had the biggest grin on his face and had actually listened to me for once and worn his swimming trunks like I asked him to. Even better he had worn the ones I bought him. A light grey and emerald pair that brought out the green in his eyes. ‘You look good.’ I blurted out without thinking.
‘Thanks.’ Charlie shifted about uncomfortably as he stared down at the ground, his curly hair falling into his eyes. ‘You look good too.’
‘I know I do.’ I grinned. For some reason I had taken a really long time deciding what I was going to wear. Eventually I had decided upon a pair of dark blue swim shorts, a black cord anklet and an expensive pair of sunglasses that were currently perched on top my head.
‘So, do you want to do anything before swimming or…?’ Charlie’s voice drifted off as he looked back up at me.
‘Definitely not. The pools calling for us.’ I grabbed his hand and ran down the path that curved round the side of the house, dragging Charlie behind me. I could feel his small hand holding tightly onto my larger one as we raced along, our bare feet slapping across the sandstone path.
I let go of his hand as the pool came into view and tossed my glasses onto one of the deck chairs before diving into the cool water. I let my body adjust to the temperature before popping my head out of the water to see Charlie still standing on the edge of the pool.
‘Aren’t you coming in?’ I asked.
‘In a minute.’ Charlie slowly lowered himself to sit on the edge, his feet dangling in the water. ‘I’ll just sit here for a bit.’
‘Oh come on.’ I swam over to the side, placed my hands on either side of him and pulled myself up so our faces were at the same level. ‘Don’t be a party pooper. You said we would do whatever I want. I said I wanted to swim in the pool with you.’
‘We are.’ Charlie’s face turned as red as his hair as his eyes drifted down to look at my bare chest, the water slowly trickling down my skin. ‘Um… Austin.’
‘What?’ I grinned mischievously. ‘Do you like what you see Charlie Summers?’
‘O-Of course not!’
‘Should I go around shirtless more often? People do say I look better that way.’
‘Austin.’ Charlie whined. ‘Stop.’
‘Stop what?’ I leaned in closer to whisper in his ear. ‘Just admit you find me hot already. It’s so very clearly written on your face.’
‘Shut up!’ Charlie shouted as he covered his face with his hands. ‘Don’t you ever known when to stop?’
‘I was just messing with you.’ I grabbed onto his wrists and pulled his hands away from his face. He avoided my eyes as I pulled him closer to me. ‘I’m sorry Red. I didn’t mean anything by it. You know that.’
‘You can’t say stuff like that.’ Charlie mumbled.
‘I know.’
‘You don’t know.’ Charlie hesitated for a moment before slipping into the water beside me, his arms crossed protectively over his chest. ‘Let’s just forget this. It’s your day after all.’
‘But I’ve upset you now.’ I reached out and held onto his hand under the water. ‘Charlie… I know it makes you uncomfortable when I say stuff like that to you.’
‘Then why do you do it?!’
‘I don’t know why.’ I admitted as I carefully studied Charlie’s face. ‘Just let me try something.’ I slowly moved my hands up to gently caress his cheeks. I could feel my heart pounding in my chest as I stepped closer to him.
‘What are you doing?’
‘Something I should have done a long time ago.’
‘Austin.’ I could see him biting his lip as he looked frantically around us. ‘What if someone sees?’
‘They won’t.’ I reassured him before pulling him down under the water with me. I swiftly closed the gap between us as I pressed my lips against his. All I could taste was the chlorine pool water, which was getting up my nose. But I didn’t care. I had waited for too long for this.
Charlie’s arms wrapped around my neck as I held tightly onto his slim waist. I could feel his fingers running through my hair as we slowly emerged from the water, our lips still locked together.
‘Austin.’ Charlie mumbled quietly as he pushed away from me. He placed his hands on my chest as he looked straight into my eyes. ‘Are you sure about this Blue?’
I hesitated for a moment before pulling his face down to meet mine again. I didn’t want to talk. I didn’t know exactly what I would say. I was afraid I would ruin that perfect moment. All I knew was that I needed Charlie. I needed him like someone needs oxygen to breathe. He was my everything. In that moment whilst I had him in my arms, I was the happiest I had ever been before in my life and I would do anything to stay like that.
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