To the Moon and Back

Charlie's POV

"Come on, the waves are gnarly, stop being such a sook! Get your board and let's go check out the Pass." My old friend Matt was nudging my bum with his foot as I lay in my bed hiding under the covers.

We had been friends since High School and he was constantly trying to cheer me up since I told him why I was back and how things had been while I was away.

"Fuck off, Loser! You don't even want to surf with me, you used to make fun of me all the time. How early is it anyways?" I looked at my phone for the time. 6am. "Are you for real? Like invading my room in the middle of the night. Piss off!"

I tried to kick his leg but he just jumped away laughing.

We would always insult each other as good friends do but in fact I was grateful that he offered me a room in the shared house he rented with some friends when I came back, it wasn't great but it was in the middle of town close to the beach which was a huge incentive as housing was expensive with all the holiday people around willing to pay enormous rents.

And I appreciated that he was trying to get my spirits up because I had to admit that hiding in my room crying every night about somebody that hadn't even been my boyfriend wasn't making sense.

Alex had probably moved on by now anyway, I mean he had never said that he loved me and he had asked me to wait but hadn't managed to break up with his girlfriend, so we obviously didn't share the same feelings.

That hurt me more than I was prepared to admit, because I fell for Alex when we first met and by now I think I was in love with him.

But life had to go on whether I liked it or not so I decided to get up and try to push the thoughts of him into the back of my mind for a while.

I slapped Matts leg saying."Okay, you won, so get out and give me five minutes and I'll be ready to head to the beach."

He wore a smug smile on his face being pleased with himself and turned to the kitchen area. "Yes, I knew you couldn't resist me. I'll make us some brekkie in the meantime."

The promised 'brekkie' consisted of two cups of coffee and an hour later we were lying on our boards in the glassy water of the bay and I enjoyed the sun and the surf which was really good that day and I actually had caught a few good waves as well.

"Hey Matty, thanks for taking me out today I really had a good time and I am sorry that I have been such a sad excuse for a friend the last weeks." I thanked him wholeheartedly.

"No worries, mate" Matt replied paddling up to me and tilting my board to tip me off.

I went under water unexpectedly and swallowed a huge amount of water, when I resurfaced splashing and splattering I hauled myself onto Matts back and started slapping his head.

"Are you trying to kill me, idiot?"

"Hey Charlie, stop it, I am sorry, okay?" Matt tries to get me off him laughing, to divert my attention he points to the beach.

"Do you see this guy in the black hoodie sitting in the sand there? I think he is checking you out. He has been watching us for some time now."

"Maybe he is checking you out?" I joke before I have a look in the direction Matt was referring to.

We were too far away from the beach to be able to see the guys face clearly but I knew immediately who he was.

No, I thought, that is not possible! But my heart started racing and I turned my board around to take the next possible wave to the beach. I paddled with all my arms could manage and then the wave took me, it was not strong enough to be able to stand up but I stayed down on the board and kept paddling to gain more speed.

When I was close to the shore I jumped off the board tucked it under my arm and started running towards the guy that had watched me come in and was standing up.

I reached him when he was just getting up and I did not stop but threw my board to the side and literally ran into him hugging him while the impact had us both fall backwards into the sand, by now my tears were falling.

I was sobbing and just stared into his eyes I had seen in my dreams a thousand times.

"Alex?" I whispered touching his cheek hesitantly as if he would disappear any second and he pulled me close to him and hugged me tight trying to calm me down because I was shaking uncontrollably.

We lay like that for a while. I was still trying to comprehend that this was real and he was here.
He looked tired but his eyes were shining.

I touched his face over and over again, stroking his cheeks and his hair, tracing his lips with my fingers, still we hadn't said another word. He was holding me pressed against his chest and stroking my wet hair out of my face.

Then a small smile appears on his lips and he holds my chin up to look into my eyes. "Charlie, do you want to be my girlfriend?"

I start to cry again I cover my mouth with my hand not being able to suppress a sob.

"Oh my god, Alex, really? Really?" I kiss his lips but I have to smile so much that it isn't really a kiss so I leave his lips and start kissing all over his face and he chuckles with that.

Then he suddenly takes my face in his hands and flips us so that he is on top of me.
He gets all serious and looks deep into my eyes.

"Yes, really. I fucking love you, Charlie. So what do you say?" Now he looks a bit anxious.

I get all quiet when he finally says what I have been dreaming of for so long.

"What do you think, Alex? Of course I want to be your girlfriend, I fucking love you too, Baby." I copy his 'romantic' statement and then we start kissing for real.

I don't know how long we lay there until the voice of my friend Matt pulls me back to reality.

He clears his throat. "Uhm, Charlie? You seem to know this guy quite well, how about you introduce us?"

I have to laugh and push Alex off me and get up to take his hand to pull him up.

"Matt this is Alex, my British-American that I have told you about. Alex this is my old friend Matt who is a real cock-block sometimes." They both start grinning and shake hands.

Alex takes my hand and asks "Do you want to have breakfast with me? I know a nice cafe, it's called 'The Roadhouse' " he smiles.
"Duane, the guy who owns it is a really lovely guy" he describes my former boss. "He told me where I could probably find you."

"Yes, please, Alex. I am starving. What have you planned for the rest of the day, though?" I smile at him suggestively.

He grabs me round the waist, lifts me off my feet and whispers in my ear. "I believe we will be able to think of something we could do."

I have to laugh at that, I have never seen Alex so relaxed, so funny, so carefree and happy before and I do like this new side of him a lot.

Notes

Yay, it's Charlie's POV and they are together. Now all is good, right? Or is it?