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I CAN’T SLEEP. Every time I move, pain shoots through my ankle like someone’s driving nails into it.
I toss the covers off and sit up, my jaw clenched. The air feels cool against my skin, but my ankle feels like it’s burning. I reach down and prod it gently, wincing. It’s swollen like hell, worse than it was yesterday.
I grab the tube of cream the doctor gave me and rub it over my ankle, sucking in a sharp breath as the coldness stings before it soothes. I’ve been careful—using the crutches every now and then and keeping weight off it. I’m doing everything right. But it’s still not healing fast enough.
Football feels so far away now. Just a blur of memory. And the longer I’m out, the more it feels like I’m letting everyone down.
My phone buzzes on the bedside table. I reach for it and see Carmen’s name on the screen. My brows furrow. What’s she doing texting me at nearly midnight?
Blondie:
You awake?
Before I can reply, she calls. I answer on the first ring.
“Oh,” she breathes out like she didn’t expect me to pick up. It comes out shaky like something might be wrong. “Hi, Aaron.”
“Are you okay?” I ask, my voice already low and rough from lack of sleep.
“Yep,” she sighs. “I just can’t seem to fall asleep.”
“Me too.”
“Do you want to hang out?” she blurts out, her voice suddenly shy. “I know it’s late but-“
“Can you?” I ask, cutting her off. I sound so eager. Pathetic. But she called me, so maybe I’m not the only one who can’t get her out of their head.
“Yeah.”
“I’ll pick you up in twenty,” I tell her. “Don’t get caught.”
“Well, I didn’t last time…” she teases and I can imagine the smile on her face. Beautiful.
I chuckle, shaking my head. “See you soon, Blondie.”
I hang up and toss my phone onto the bed, grinning like a fool. I pull on a white tee and my coat, slide into my trainers, and grab my car keys.
I ditch the crutches. They’d make too much noise, and besides, I’m not putting pressure on my ankle. Not really. I walk carefully down the hallway as quietly as I can.
Of course, Cora’s bedroom door swings open just as I’m about to reach the stairs. She stands there with her arms crossed, hair a mess, eyes narrowed like she’s caught me red-handed.
“Caught ya’,” she says, smirking like she’s just uncovered some huge conspiracy.
“It’s past your bedtime, kiddo.” I raise an eyebrow, trying to turn the tables.
“Going to meet up with your girlfriend, huh?”
“Oh, shut it.” I roll my eyes, but I can’t stop the smile tugging at my mouth.
“She’s funny,” Cora says, which is a surprise. She didn’t like any of the girls I hung out with last year. “Maybe even funnier than you.”
“You know that’s not true.” I narrow my eyes at her as if there hasn’t been times where she had to rush to the bathroom because she couldn’t stop laughing at my jokes.
“Your ankle, Connie.” Her tone turns serious as she glances at my foot. “Where are your crutches?”
“It’s getting better.” I shrug, lying so easily. “Now get to bed. You’ve got school tomorrow.”
“So do you, dickhead,” she huffs, her voice lowered but still loud enough for me to hear as I head down the steps.
I chuckle and leave the house, closing the door quietly behind me. The cold air bites at my skin, but I barely feel it.
I park a house down from hers just to be safe and pull out my phone to text her that I’m outside.
I see she read the message, but she doesn’t respond. Instead, one minute later, she’s opening the car door. Her hair’s pulled into a messy bun, and she’s wearing black-and-white pyjama pants under her zipped-up coat. I crank the heat up immediately.
“I’m sorry,” she mumbles, climbing into the passenger seat.
“What for?”
“It’s midnight, and I made you come all the way out here.”
She doesn’t need to apologise. Not at all. “I wanted to.”
“Don’t lie.”
“I’m not, Carmen. I wanted to,” I repeat because it’s the truth.
She turns her head to look at me properly, her eyes searching mine before a smile breaks out. It’s small, but it’s real. And I feel it all the way to my chest.
“What do you want to do?” I ask.
She shrugs, curling her knees to her chest. “I don’t know. I just wanted to talk to you.” Her words hit me square in the chest. She called me just to talk to me. She could’ve called anyone. But no, it was me.
I drive us to the same bridge. When I park, she looks out the window and grins. “Back here?”
“It’s quiet,” I say. “Private.”
“Private,” she repeats, a teasing lilt to her voice. “Is this where you bring all the girls you can’t sleep without?”
“All the girls?” I scoff. “Don’t you remember what I said last time?”
She was the only one I took there. The first and last probably. “I do,” she says, but her smile’s soft. “You really couldn’t sleep?”
“Swear on my life.”
“Good,” she breathes out, her shoulders dropping in relief.
“Why?” I ask, brows furrowing.
“Because I’d feel guilty if I woke you up just to hang out with me.”
“You could call me at three in the morning and I’d still pick up.”
“Yeah, yeah.” She rolls her eyes playfully but I hope deep down she realises that I mean every word.
“You know, my sister thinks you’re my girlfriend.”
Her eyes widen. “She does?”
“Mhm,” I hum in confirmation. “What did you guys talk about at the hospital?”
Carmen chuckles as she recalls the memory. “She’s like a mini you.”
“How so?”
“Same jokes, same teases. She’s… bold.”
I chuckle. “Sounds about right.”
“She gave me this look, like I better not hurt you or else.”
“Cora?” I blink. “She’s thirteen. She’s meant to be nice and innocent, not going all mafia bodyguard on you.”
“Well, she did.” We’re both laughing now, the tension that usually simmers between us softening. Her shoulders are relaxed, her eyes bright even in the dim glow from the dashboard.
“Can I ask you something?” I say, my voice dropping a little.
“Yeah, sure.”
“She’s been making friends with the wrong people and getting into bad situations. I tried talking to her, but I think if a girl did—like you—it might make more of a difference…” I pause, shaking my head at the idea. “But it’s okay if you don’t want to, of course.”
“Me?” she asks, her eyes wide.
“Yeah. She actually likes you, which is rare. And you’re a good person, Carmen.”
“I’ll talk to her.” She smiles at me. “She’s a sweet kid. Probably just needs someone to listen.”
“I thought I was the sweet one.”
“Aww,” she teases, looking up at me through her thick lashes, “Are you jealous, Connie baby?”
My lips twitch up into a smirk. Connie baby. “Is that a new nickname?”
She lets out a playful scoff. “You wish.”
“I like it.” I really like it.
“Bet you do, Aaron.” She emphasises my name and I can’t help but laugh.
“So if that’s not gonna stick, what’s next?” I ask her. Maybe she has more nicknames for me up in that pretty head of hers.
“Hmm.” She smirks. “Maybe Connie Boy? Connie Boo?”
“Now you’re taking the piss,” I scoff.
“You love it, don’t you?” she says proudly. My lips tug up at her response. I do.
“Thanks, by the way,” I say before I can forget. “I’ll owe you.”
Carmen quickly shakes her head. “You don’t owe me anything. You’re always doing stuff for me, Aaron.”
“Still.” This means a lot, helping Cora means a lot and Carmen wants to help. “Cora really likes you, you know,” I tell her, the thought suddenly spilling out. “I can tell.”
“Really?” Carmen looks surprised.
“Yeah. You’ve passed her test.”
She laughs softly, her shoulders relaxing. “Well, I’m glad I passed.”
“Not just passed. You’ve got her approval. That’s like… the highest honour she gives.”
“I’m honoured then.” She places her hand to her heart with a small grin.
I just smile at her, watching as she turns her head to look at the sky. “Wow,” she mumbles in a haze. “Did you see that, Aaron? It was a shooting star!”
I stare at her, watching as her face lights up. “Make a wish then.”
She closes her eyes and a few seconds later she opens them once again. “Done.”
“What was it?”
“Not saying,” she chuckles, crossing her arms over her chest.
“Oh, yeah?” I muse. “Keeping secrets now, Carmen?”
“Don’t you know that telling someone your wish stops it from becoming true?” She looks at me like this is common sense.
“Who’s the one being mysterious now?”
We keep talking, bantering back and forth, and she looks so relaxed. Every laugh from her makes my chest feel light. Everything feels right.
“Did you hear about Mr. Lewis losing his mind over someone hiding all the lab equipment?”
“I think he spoke to every class about it,” I laugh. Mr. Lewis isn’t one of those fun teachers you can pull pranks on. He’s as struck as they come.
“He reckons it’s either Jack or Liam.”
Liam Hollis? He plays full right back for the team. I don’t really talk to him but I don’t see him doing something like that. Jack however? He would be my first guess.
We take one glance at each other and both blurt out, “Definitely Jack.”
Her laughter is effortless, like it catches her by surprise before spilling out, light and free. The kind that makes her eyes crinkle at the corners and her shoulders relax. It feels rare, like something precious I shouldn’t take for granted. And every time I hear it, it sinks into my chest, warm and addictive, leaving me wanting more.
I take a quick look at my phone only to see that it’s nearly two in the morning. Has it really been two hours? It felt like ten minutes.
“I should get you back before your parents kill you,” I say, pulling away from the bridge.
She groans but doesn’t argue. “You’re probably right.”
She’s still smiling when I pull up outside her house. I’m going to be tired as fuck in the morning and I should be shattered. My ankle’s throbbing, a low, constant ache that’s getting harder to ignore. But none of that matters.
Because Carmen wanted me tonight. Needed me, even. And I showed up. I’d show up every single time.
“I should get inside,” she says, but she doesn’t move. Doesn’t even reach for the door handle.
Instead, she just watches me. Her eyes gleaming with something soft, something real. And it takes every ounce of willpower I have not to reach out and tangle my fingers in that messy bun of hers and know what her lips on mine would feel like.
“Thanks for… I don’t know. Just… thanks,” she says with a shrug.
“Anytime, Blondie. And I mean that.” My voice comes out hoarse, rough around the edges. Like the words are too honest to come out clean.
She looks down, a hint of a smile twitching at her lips. “You should probably get home before your dad finds out you’re gone.”
“Probably.”
But neither of us moves. The air between us feels thick. Heavy with everything we’re not saying.
“Do you do this often?” I ask.
“Do what?”
“Call someone in the middle of the night to hang out?”
She rolls her eyes but laughs, a real one that fills the car like sunlight. “No. Only with you, actually.”
That hits me harder than it should. A simple statement, so casual on her lips. But it’s not casual to me. It’s everything.
“Good,” I say, and I can’t hide the satisfaction in my voice.
Her eyes flick to mine, lips twitching. “Good?”
“Yeah. You shouldn’t be with anyone else this late on a school day.”
“Oh, really?”
“Absolutely.” I keep my gaze on her, the challenge sparking between us.
“Well, aren’t you just a little jealous?” she teases, but there’s something underneath her words. Like she wants me to be. Good thing that I am.
“Maybe.” I smirk, but my chest feels like it’s cracking open. “Blame yourself. You keep showing up like this, making me care.”
Her smile slips, replaced by something else. Something I can’t read. Her eyes flick away from me, out the window and back. Like she’s not sure if she’s ready to hear something like that.
“I like that you care,” she says, her voice so quiet I almost miss it. The words settle between us, soft and precious.
Her gaze meets mine again, her cheeks tinted pink. “I’m happy we met, Aaron”
I’m grinning like an idiot, the kind of grin that’d have Cora roasting me for days. But I can’t help it. She’s so damn beautiful like this.
“Me too.” I don’t even try to hide the sincerity in my voice. I want her to know.
For a second, she just looks at me. Her eyes soft, searching. And then she looks away, her fingers tracing the stitching on her coat.
“I should go,” she whispers.
“Yeah.” But still, neither of us moves. The air’s thick, the silence heavy. “You sure you’re okay?” I ask. Because I have to know. Because if she’s not, I’ll stay here all night if she needs me to.
She nods. “I just… couldn’t sleep. And I wanted to talk to you. It helps.”
I swallow, my chest tight. “Anytime, Blondie. Anytime you need me, I’m here.” The words feel too raw, too real, but I can’t hold them back. Not when she’s looking at me like that.
“Thanks, Aaron.”
I love when she calls me that. Hate it and love it, because when she says my name, everything else just fades out. She has that effect on me and it’s scary… but in a good way.
“Go on, then,” I say with a half-smile, nodding towards her house. “Before you get caught.”
She rolls her eyes but smiles back, her hand already on the door handle. “Goodnight.”
“Goodnight, Carmen.”
She steps out of the car, closing the door softly behind her. I watch as she walks up the street and once she makes it to her house, she walks through the gate before closing it carefully. She left it open. Smart.
When she disappears from view, I let out a breath I didn’t realize I was holding. I fall back onto the seat, staring at the street like an idiot.
She could’ve called anyone tonight. But she called me.
And that’s enough to make me feel like I’m floating.
Because I can’t help but think… Maybe, just maybe, she needs me just as much as I need her.
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