Come Back Here

At three in the morning, I was sleeping soundly in Renae's bed, when i heard a tapping noise. Tap tap tap. It was very quiet, but I'm such a light sleeper that it woke me up almost instantly.

I groaned as I rolled out of bed. I opened my eyes to darkness, but the tapping continued. At this point, I was extremely confused, after all, it was three in the morning, and I only new that based on the alarm clock by the bed. What was even more confusing is that the tapping seemed to be coming from the balcony door, so I trudged over to it groggily wondering what the hell was happening at three in the morning.

I unlocked the door and cracked it open, letting in the silvery moonlight that hurt my eyes. It took me a moment to register who was standing outside the door. I immediately blushed when I realized the circumstances. Here I was, hair a mess, an over-sized t-shirt, and short shorts, standing in front of pure perfection in sweat pants and leather.

"Andy? What are you doing here?" I slurred, due to the minimal sleep I had been running on.

"I couldn't sleep. I needed to give you something." He replied quickly.

I stepped onto the balcony, shutting the door behind me. "What is it?"

He held out a print off of something--of what I didn't know yet. I idly took it in my hands, my focus adjusting to it. I took one look at it. A few words stuck out, but my brain was still trying to wake up.

"What it it exactly?" I inquired and looked up at him.

"I couldn't find your dad, not exactly. But I found his son."

I stopped any movement I had been doing, including breathing. He had a son. I had a half brother out there. The man had a son and didn't know about his daughter.

I looked back down at the paper and asked, "Where is he?"

"That's the thing, he goes to Belle. Cel, your half brother lives here."

My eyes went huge with shock. Had I known him all along? But there weren't any Comas to my knowledge at school.

"You're sure?" I asked, needing to be positive. If he was at Belle, then finding my dad could become ten times easier.

"Yea, his name's Christian."

"Funny."

"What is?"

"I dated a Christian once."

"I'm pretty sure you never dated your brother."

"Probably not. But it's still sort of funny." I paused and looked up, "What now?"

Andy shrugged, "We talk to your brother?" He could tell us where your dad is."

"True, but how? It's not like we can go to school, make an announcement to have Christian Coma to talk to Celeste Rose." I understand where Andy's coming from, because it's the first thing that popped into my head, too, but still, how are we going to achieve that? Do I just go online and befriend him online and say I'm his half sister? No, why the hell would he believe me?

"we'll figure something out." He responded, which led to silence as I looked over the papers he handed me, fully absorbing their contents.

There appeared to be two documents. One was a brief article about Christian talking about his dad, mentioning his name and occupation. Another was a statistic document, listing a questionnaire that Christian had taken, which included his first and last names and where he attended school.

Excitement coursed through me. I was going to find him, my real father. I had a lead as to how I could meet him. Pure appreciation and love for Andy washed over me for him finding this for me.

I gave him a big hug, unexpectedly on his part. He seemed startled at first, but soon wrapped his arms around me, tight. We stood like that for a few minutes before I leaned up and kissed him softly.

"Thank you." I kept my voice at a whisper, because I was lost for breath. "But you should get home, you need sleep." The realization that Andy probably pulled an all-niter just to find this information had me concerned that he'd be exhausted tomorrow--technically today, but you know what I mean.

"Wait a second," I continued, "how did you get here in the first place?"

"I walked." He stated calmly.

"Andy! You shouldn't have done that!" I gasped exasperated.

"But I couldn't sleep, and I needed to get this to you."

"Well, you're not walking home at three AM, and I'm too tired to drive, so you're staying here."

"Renae won't mind?"

I shook my head, "Nah, she'll just be confused in the morning. Believe me, it's not the first time she's had a guy spend the night randomly. Gerard's done it plenty of times."

"But their dating, that's different."

"Well, we'll just have to be quiet and sneaky, and if she catches us, I'll beg for her forgiveness; but I'm pretty sure she doesn't care, seeing that you make me happy."

I opened the door and snuck Andy and I inside, before closing the door quietly behind us, then locking it. I grabbed a coupe pillows off the bed and some blankets from underneath. If Renae woke up to Andy and I sleeping side-by-side in her bed, she might get a little mad--she's moody in the mornings. Granted, it wouldn't be the first time, but it was different before whenwe all shared her bed and she knew it was happening, when she doesn't know about it, she'll be confused to high hell and maybe a little livid.

I made a nice and comfy-as-can be-on-a-hard-floor bed by the actual bed. I laid down and pulled Andy onto it. I got underneath the blankets while Andy took off his leather jacket. I pulled him close and cuddled into his side. He wrapped his arms around my waist and kissed my forehead.

"I love you." He whispered so softly so only we would hear it.

I blushed. I hadn't said those three words back, yet. I didn't know if I was ready to, but I didn't feel like they'd be a lie either.

My heart beat fast in my chest and butterflies swam around as the three words circled in my head. I love you I love you I love you. My mind fought back and forth as to whether or not to say them back. I knew they were true, but was I ready to actually say them aloud? What would happen if I actually expressed to Andy that I loved him back? I know I've told him I felt the same as he does, but I never actually expressed the three magic words.

"I love you, Andy." I whispered back, but it was too late, he was already asleep.

Notes