𝐂𝐨𝐨𝐥𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐦𝐞 - Chris Sturniolo

𝟮𝟭

★｡+ﾟ☆ Brook ☆ﾟ+｡★

I was sitting in my room writing the speech I was going to give at the Christmas assembly. To show the whole school what an asshole Jonathan was.

I heard the doorbell ring, but since I wasn't expecting anyone and my brother was downstairs anyway, I let him open the door. Normally I knew who was coming by the voices I heard. But today I didn't care, I was far too focused.

I didn't even hear someone running up the stairs and I was confused when there was a knock. The person didn't even wait for me to answer, which told me it was my brother. I turned around, annoyed. "Adrian, how many times-" I fell silent when I saw Chris closing the door, out of breath.

I had kept him at arm's length for the last 3 days, I wanted to take the time to gather the evidence against Jonathan first and then concentrate fully on Chris. And I missed him a lot during those 3 days. And seeing him there in my room made my heart beat faster.

"Chris?" I asked cheerfully and couldn't suppress a big grin as I stood up. He looked nervous and was out of breath.

He wiped his face and took a few steps towards me, quickly. "I know it." He said and I looked at him, confused. What does he know? My plan? But he didn't even let me get a word in edgewise and continued talking quickly.

"I know what's stopping you from getting completely involved with me. I met Dora and she explained it to me, she was your best friend. And you were hers too and I can't believe you're Vero." I doubted he caught his breath as he spoke and he kept on talking. Vero... no one had called me that for ages.

And I just stood there, listening to him and couldn't believe what he was saying. He had met Dora? He was making frantic hand movements as he spoke and it made me nervous.

"And I know that you're also afraid that I'll leave you hanging like that, that I'll just block you and never get in touch with you again. I would never do that with you, please let me explain. You only know her side but mine is different and then you can understand why I did that and you will also understand why I could never do that with you. Really."

I didn't know what I wanted, I didn't know how I felt and I certainly didn't know what to say. He had never put me in a situation where I felt so speechless.

"You met her?" I asked uncertainly, totally overwhelmed by his words. He seemed confused for a moment but then nodded and took another step towards me. "Yes, while shopping, she's here with her grandparents for the Christmas vacations."

Inside I hated her for just disappearing and now being in town and not even saying hello or coming by. I thought we had been best friends.

But these thoughts vanished when I realized that he was standing right in front of me, he had come straight here to talk to me after meeting her and that made me very happy in a special way.

"And you came here straight after that?" I asked and he came even closer until he was standing right in front of me and I had to look up at him to look him in the eye.

As if by reflex, my hands reached for him and we held on to each other's elbows. He nodded, only slightly but in such a way that I realized. "If you had told me your middle name back then, I might have found out sooner that you were Vero."

"I hate that name, that's why she always called me that." "She never said your name was actually Brooklyn." "It doesn't matter." I whispered. "It does. I would have liked to have known you sooner." He gave me goose bumps all over my body with that sentence... it really got under my skin.

Then we just looked at each other and held each other tight. Neither of us knew what to say, but there was so much to say. And then he started talking again.

"I know that you know that I just left her back then, in an uncool way. And you know that I broke her heart back then, but you have to understand why." He said and he seemed to be fighting with himself. And inside I was screaming at him to tell me.

"Then explain it to me." I don't know why I started whispering again, but it just felt wrong to speak out loud. And I really wanted to know the explanation so that I could fully engage with him.

"I loved her, yes, I really did. And at the beginning of our relationship, she was the one I fell in love with, but then we started using YouTube and suddenly we had fans. And then she changed and she wanted to be in the videos all the time and it felt like she only wanted to be with me because she wanted the followers." He explained and suddenly I felt sorry.

I knew what he was telling me was true, she had also started talking about the fans and YouTube instead of him.

"And I know it wasn't fair of me to just leave her like that but I didn't feel like I had another option...And after that I wanted to find someone who liked me because of me...and not because of the followers I have. But I didn't find anyone who didn't want me just for the fans. But then I met you."

I held my breath, taking in every word. And now I felt sorry for the way I had treated him. I was too judgmental and didn't think about why he had done it and I was so sorry.

"If I had known, I wouldn't have treated you." I said and looked down. I had been a bitch.

"You don't have to be sorry. And that's exactly why I wanted you. I want you. You weren't after me or giving me attention. You didn't like me, which told me that you didn't like me because of the followers, but because of me. And I was right, you don't see all the followers and the Youtuber in me, you see me."

I looked up again. I had tears in my eyes, his words meant so much to me and they left me speechless. I looked into his icy blue eyes and if I still had any doubts in me up until then, he was gone now.

"I think I've fallen in love with you. No, forget the 'I think'. I know it. I'm in love with you Brooklyn. Completely and I have been from the beginning." He said, looking deep into my eyes.

It took me a second to understand what he had said and then I was overcome with happiness. He had really said that he had fallen in love with me.

He looked at me closely to read every reaction on my face. And my heart was beating so fast and all I could think about was that I felt the same way about him.

Somehow he had slowly and quietly crept into my heart and conquered it and now he was driving me crazy. The boy I had hated the most was the one I had fallen head over heels in love with.

I put my hands around his neck and pulled him down to me to put our mouths together. As soon as his lips touched mine, warmth spread through my whole body and I felt like I was in a dream.

Our lips moved in sync and he pulled me closer to him. I found it hard to breathe but I didn't care. His hands moved down to my hips and held me tightly.

At some point, we broke away and looked at each other breathlessly.
"I feel it right away Chris. In case you didn't realize that after the kiss." I said and we both laughed. He gave me a quick kiss and then grinned at me. "Really? I wouldn't have guessed?" he said ironically.