Close To Me

Chapter 9

"I'm not leaving until you open the door," Chris stood outside Blake's apartment door.

"Well you're going to be out there a long time then!" She huffed from the other side.

Chris was so frustrated. This isn't how he wanted this to go. He wanted to be able to hold her and look into her eyes and tell Blake how deep his feelings were for her. How he loved the way she was so passionate about everything, how she loved everyone around her so well and so deeply, how she was able to sit and have the most serious and wisdom filled conversation and then 10 minutes later sit in her sweats and eat a whole bag of cheetos while cracking up over some stupid joke, how she was so full of compassion and was incredibly sensitive while still being strong. He wanted to be able to tell her all of these things and he didn't want to have to yell it from the other side of an old wooden door.

"Look Blake, I know you're mad at me and you have every right to be," Chris started with his big hand on the door. "But you can't stay mad at me forever Blakey!"

"Yes I can!" Was what he heard shouted from the other side.

"Well fine! I'm sitting outside this door until you let me in," He stated.

"You're going to be out there a very long time then!" Blake huffed.

Chris rolled his eyes at the passionate woman which was something he loved about her but also made him be in the situation he currently was in. He knew that Blake would soften though, she always did. Her caring nature always won out against her stubbornness but sometimes it took a while... and Chris did admit, he kind of deserved the anger that was directed at him.

He sat down on the carpet outside Blake's apartment and leaned his back against the door, prepared to wait her out. Blake currently was sitting on her couch, fuming over the situation and not sure how to resolve it but she wasn't about to let him in and she didn't. The entire afternoon passed and both were holding their positions firmly.

"You going to let me in now?" Chris shouted from the hallway after four or so hours had passed.

"No!" Blake firmly responded.

He just shrugged and texted his mother an update before calling in a pizza. It wasn't more than a half an hour when the delivery boy came walking up and was surprised when he found he was delivering to a man in a hallway.

"She kick you out?" He asked, motioning to the door and handed him the hot pizza.

"Nah, won't let me in," Chris informed him while handing over some cash.

"Been there," The delivery boy laughed before thanking him and leaving.

Blake had overheard some of the conversation and looked through her peephole to see what was going on. Her brown eyes saw Chris sitting against the opposite wall with a big pizza box in his lap and he was diving into his first slice.

"Did you seriously just have pizza delivered to you?" Blake asked.

"Well I'm hungry!" Chris defended. "And I don't know how long you're going to keep me waiting out here. Knowing how stubborn you are, I could be out here for days!"

Blake just huffed before walking away from the door and going back to stewing on the couch. She turned on her TV and tried to watch a movie but every 20 minutes or so, she would get up and check it Chris was still sitting outside her door, and he always was.

Another few hours passed and Chris really thought that she would have given in by now but the fact that she hadn't told Chris that she either really was extremely angry with him, or she was just too stubborn to give in and banking on the fact that it was the latter, he got up and knocked on the door.

"Blakey, if you won't talk to me, at least listen, okay?" Chris put a hand on the door. "I'm sorry for how I handled things and just kissed you. I shouldn't have sprung it like that. It was insensitive to your feelings and I can't tell you how sorry I am."

No response.

He just sighed before going on, "I was just so surprised by all these feelings for you. When Seb talked to me about you, I tried to convince myself you were just Blake to me but you never were. Then in Disney, I just couldn't stop thinking about you every moment and when everyone was telling me you felt the same I was just so overwhelmed by all of it and being the meatball that I am, I just kissed you and that was stupid and I'm sorry."

Still Chris heard nothing from the other side of the door but kept talking, "The truth is the more I've thought about it, the more I've realized that none of this really was new to me. I really wasn't surprised by these feelings for you because I've realized that I've always loved you. Blake, you drive me so nuts in every way and that just makes me even more crazy about you. I've realized it's always been you. I love you so much Blake, tramp stamp and all."

By this point, tears were in Chris' eyes and he wanted to punch the wood barrier between him and the love of his life. He rested his forehead on the doorframe and asked in a soft voice, "Blakey, did you even hear any of this?"

The wooden door slowly creaked open and revealed Blake. She stood in front of him in her jeans and cozy sweatshirt, her curly fell in a mess around her face and if she had been wearing any makeup, it was all washed away by the tears streaming down her face.

"I heard every word," She said in a voice above a whisper.

In one swift motion, Blake threw her arms around Chris' neck and held him tight. Chris' muscular arms quickly wrapped around her waist and pressed her body up as tight as he could against his own. Blake nestled her face into the crook of his neck and cried softly and in response, Chris let one of his hands rub her back while the other buried in her thick hair.

Chris gently walked them into the small apartment and closed the door behind them before letting his hand to come back to press her body against him tightly and soothed her tears by his comforting embrace.

"Blakey," He said while pulling away enough so he could see her face. She kept her arms hooked around his neck but he put both of his big ones on her cheeks and wiped away her tears. "I love you so deeply."

"I love you too Chris. I've always loved you," Blake was finally honest about her feelings.

"So is it okay if I kiss you?" Chris got that familiar smirky smile on his face. "I don't want to get slapped again."

"Maybe you'll just have see for yourself and risk it," She teased him right back.

A twinkle appeared in Chris' eyes before he used his hands on either side of her face to hold her steady as he softly pressed his lips to her plump ones but quickly deepened the kiss. As the pair stood in the middle of the apartment, sharing their kiss, they both realized that standing tangled together in each other's arms is where they always were meant to be.