Southern Boy Charm | ✓

Chapter 22

I walk outside with a purpose. I need to find Nick. No more waiting. No more second guessing.

So much has happened today, so much uncertainty, that I would have never imagined that I could be as sure of something as I am right now. But, then again, it's not just something. It's Nick.

The guy that makes my heart flutter. The guy that makes me laugh and smile and even cry because I can't help but feel every emotion in the universe when I'm around him. The guy who I feel so passionately about that feeling anything less than every emotion at once would be a disservice to both of us. The guy that I might lose.

I quicken my pace. It's cold out, and I hadn't bothered to bring a jacket from inside. But right now, my coldness can wait. I have a mission, one that can't be delayed by a single second.

I check the barn first, but with no luck. Then I stop by the stables and look in the field, but he was no where to be found. The old me would have stopped looking, accepted the fact that I wasn't going to see him, and went to bed.

But I'm not the old me anymore.

I'm no longer afraid of caring too much, of growing too close to someone, of letting the idea of love be anything more than a fairy tale in my head. I don't want some fantasy that I've concocted, I want real, true, I-care-so-much-it-hurts love. I want a love that's worth fighting for. I may not have realized it before, but I do now. Most of all, I realize that it doesn't have to be a fantasy, because I have that with Nick.

Screw walking, I think, before breaking into a run. I want to be with Nick as quickly as I can.

"Nick!" I shout, running into the woods. I thrash through the trees carelessly, not keeping track of if I've made a right or left or where I even am at all, because my only priority is finding him. "Nick can you hear me!"

Nothing.

"Hello!" I shout, not slowing my pace. "Nick are you there!"

Still, nothing.

But I don't care. I don't mind spending all night, screaming until my throat is raw, and running until my legs can't carry me, until I find him. I won't give up on us. Not again.

I open my mouth to scream again, but I hear something in the distance. It could be my imagination, but I don't care. I bound towards the sound, plants scratching at my ankles. "Nick!"

Then I hear it.

"Leighton!"

I break into a full sprint now. He's here. He's really here. "Nick!" I scream.

When I finally see his usual mop of brown hair running towards me, my heart glows. All the feelings I have for him hit once again, even stronger than I thought possible.

We don't slow down when we reach each other. He lifts me up instead, spinning me into his warm embrace. I've missed this feeling of his hands around me. It may have only been less than a day, but my fears that he might never hold me this tight again were enough to make me beyond appreciative. I settle my head in its usual spot on his chest. We stand there, locked into each other's embrace, not wanting to let go, for what seems like eternity.

"Where the were you?" he murmurs into my hair, still holding me tightly. "I've been looking for you for hours."

"I got lost."

He nods his head, and we're still so close that I'm sure he can hear my heart beating. As much as I want to stay like this, I can't pretend that things aren't broken between the two of us. If I have any chance in fixing it, I have to address it somehow.