Finding Hearts

Chapter 23

CALLUM

For some reason, Katie just rode her bike through half of the town wearing nothing but a small crop top that clearly wasn't made for the cold October weather, not to mention she arrived with a cut on her face and started crying in my arms.

Someone just signed their death wish.

After she managed to calm down a bit I took her back inside the gym, earning myself a curious glance from the receptionist, one I answered with an icy glare that made any comment she might have wanted to say disappear into thin air. I also asked said receptionist for a first-aid kit, one she thankfully gave me without much of a fight. Because trust me, at this point, I would have made a hell of a fight.

Every time I look over at my girl and see the blood dripping on her skin, rage takes over and a wish to carve someone's bones intensifies.

"Are you sure it doesn't hurt?", I ask her. After a few polite, and some not so much, requests, I managed to free a bench hidden behind some lockers in the men's changing room for us, and get us some privacy while I clean her cut. I press the tissue with rubbing alcohol once more on her skin and she winces, reaching for my hand and squeezing once.

"No, it doesn't hurt", she lies, since we both just saw her wince from pain, and she lets go of my hand, looking away embarrassed.

I take a deep breath to keep my cool together and the next time I make contact of the tissue and her wound, I try to gently touch the spot, which must have worked, since Katie doesn't gasp anymore.

"We still haven't talked about how you got that cut", I address the elephant in the room. "Did someone hurt you, baby? Who did this to you?"

"No one hurt me", she is quick to respond. I don't know whether she did it so quick to calm down my nerves or if she is trying to hide something. "I simply fell."

"You fell and cut your cheek?", I ask, eyebrow raised. Yeah, I'm not buying that.

"I was running away", she blurts out in her defense, until she notices how my figure gets even colder. She covers her mouth and sinks her head in her palms. I sigh as I carefully remove her hands from her face and lift her chin up so that my eyes can meet hers.

"What were you running away from?", I ask.

Keep it cool, Cal. Deep breaths. If you kill the fucker now or tomorrow doesn't make any difference. She needs you now. She needs you there for her now.

Katie doesn't answer.

Deep fucking breaths.

It's then I try again. "Who were you running away from, Katie?"

"Nobody...nothing important", she whispers. Then, looking away: "It really doesn't matter."

But it does. Because she matters. She matters most to me. And the fact she just hurt herself while running away from someone fucking matters.

"Please tell me who did this to you, baby", I beg her.

"I told you. Nobody important."

"But I need names. And maybe an address too." A tear rolls down her face, one I quickly wipe away. "I hate seeing you cry. It breaks my heart to see you cry. It really does."

She sniffles, wiping away her tears. "But you're the reason I smile."

"I am?", I ask surprised.

She nods. "You make me smile, Cal. You really do." She takes a deep breath. "I-"

And I almost picture it. Those words. Coming from her lips. Saying she loves me. Because judging her flustered expression and the way her heartbeat races, I have a feeling that's what she wanted to say.

But she stops. And she looks away, swallowing hard, instead saying "I'm really glad I came here, Cal. And I'm sorry if I disturbed you. I didn't mean to cut your workout short." Guilt fills her eyes, and she quickly adds: "I could go away if you want. I'm sure everything is better now."

I really want to ask her what she means with 'I'm sure everything is better know', but she really doesn't seem to want to talk about it. So instead of doing that, I lean in closer to her and kiss her forehead, saying: "I'm also glad you came here, Katie." I put a bit of distance, just enough so I can look into her eyes. As I meet that shade of blue, and I can't help but wonder how can anyone have so beautiful eyes. But then again, everything about Katie is beautiful.

The prettiest girl alive.

"And you're not disturbing me. You're never disturbing me", I add. I see her relax a bit, letting me breathe relieved again. Well, as much as you can when you see the one you love most hurting with a cut on her face, not knowing what happened.

Yet she really doesn't seem to want to talk about it.

"Hey Katie", I begin.

"Yeah, Cal."

"Would you like to go out with me?", I ask her.

Although she doesn't show it, I see the excitement in her eyes. "Like now?"

"Only if you'd like."

She smiles nodding, until her brows frown. "But I think you must be tired of me by now", she whispers. "Every time you take me out I'm either sweaty from training, wet from having been caught in a thunderstorm, or bruised after falling head-first into a tree."

Falling head-first into a tree?! What the actual fuck happened and who do I have to kill?

I take out a bandaid from the first-aid kit forcing my anger away and carefully stick it on her wound. It's then I kiss her forehead once. "You're still the prettiest girl I have ever seen. You could be waltzing around in your pyjamas and I'd still think: Oh my God, how is this girl real?" I see tears in her eyes, so I kiss her lips once, to prove her I'm meaning every word I've said. Our kiss is softer as usual, filled with butterflies and unspoken words. "You're my Sunshine, Katie. Gorgeous from afar, absolutely stunning from up close. Do you know your eyes twinkle like the stars when you're happy? Or that every time you smile, you rival the moon and its charm?" I kiss her again, feeling how she seems to fall apart and together in my arms, all at the same time. "So don't say you're not pretty, Katie. Because you are. You are beauty, kindness and grace, all at once. You're Sunshine."

As I want to meet her eyes, she's already staring at me. "You really are a romantic, Callum Slade", she tries to crack a joke.

I chuckle, pressing my lips onto hers, wanting to melt in this girl. I really want to lose myself in her, be filled with everything that makes her her. And I really want to make her understand that she's perfect. In every single way.

"Only for you, baby", I whisper, my lips not parting ways from hers.

And as she opens her mouth to let my tongue slide in, I don't care if we're in the middle of a fucking locker room in a gym where anybody could recognise us, I know I only need one thing.

Her.