I had to do it.
I couldn’t wait anymore.
I had to kiss him right there in the middle of the sidewalk in New York City. I wanted to let him kiss me first, but I just couldn't fight the urge any longer. I had to do it. I tugged on his arms, pulling him the remaining inches toward me. His hand was around my back, and we were so close that we were almost touching, but I tugged at him anyway. He gave me a sly grin and made a noise in his chest like he thought my gesture was interesting. He glanced down at his elbow where I had tugged, and then back at me with an eyebrow raised. His expression said that he enjoyed my flirting, and that made me smile.
"Did we contact each other because we said we were gonna get married when we were thirty?" I asked.
He looked me over with a somewhat surprised expression as if it was really sinking in for him that I couldn’t remember our time together. "You told me something about that, but I had no idea what you were saying at the time."
"You mean when we were kids?"
He nodded. "I barely understood you back then. I spent much of my youth thinking you lived in Carolina because of your name."
"Mom and Katie knew a little bit about that weekend we spent together in Florida, but I'm sure you and I said things to each other that they knew nothing about."
He gave me a slow nod. "Yeah, we did."
"Like what happened in the pool," I said, shamelessly hinting. I really had no shame whatsoever. I wanted to kiss him so badly, that I would have said anything.
"What do you think happened in the pool?" he asked. His mouth was so close to mine that his lips brushed mine just barely.
"You said we kissed," I said desperately.
"We did kiss," he said. "And I'm about to do it again."
I nodded, secretly knowing the movement would cause us to touch. He smiled and let his mouth fully touch mine. I felt warm and gooey, and I leaned forward, molding my body next to his. Theo held me firmly, which was somewhat necessary since my knees were weak. I entered that kiss with such reckless abandon that I gave him no other choice but to hold me and kiss me. He tasted familiar, and I felt a wave of comfort mixed with love and desire and raw passion. It poured through me like hot liquid. It was more than just a kiss; it was a remembrance. I didn't have an epiphany or anything, but my body responded to him in a way that was familiar and natural, and I knew I had felt this for him before.
So, Theo kissed me like nobody was watching right there in the middle of the sidewalk, and then he pulled back, staring at me with a smile. The people who came by walked around us, and Theo seemed in no hurry to acknowledge them or budge an inch. He reached up and touched the side of my face, wearing an awestruck expression.
"You wanna be best friends?" I asked.
The corners of his mouth lifted in a slow smile. "Yes, Caroline, I do."
"Say it in French just so I can make sure," I said.
Theo spoke a few sentences in French, giving a much longer answer than the one he had given in English.
"Did you say 'yes you want to be my best friend'?" I asked.
"Yes, I did," he said.
"What else did you say?"
"I said that if you're going to be my best friend I should take you down the street and introduce you to my other friends. I happen to have a lot of them gathered in one place right now, and I think they'd like to meet you."
"I think they're gathered in your place," I said.
"They are."
"I went in there. It's so nice."
"You're in trouble for going in there and not coming up to me."
"I wasn't sure what kind of reception I would get."
"Didn't your family tell you that I—"
"They did, but it's been a long time. I didn't want to set my heart on you responding a certain way."
"Well, I hope I'm responding in the way of a man who has been waiting desperately for a year and a half for his girlfriend to wake up."
"Am I your girlfriend?" I asked shyly.
"Yes, Caroline, you are," he said. "Are you okay with that? Or would you rather just go ahead and get married?"
I let out a little laugh at the way he was so deadpan. "I'm good with being your girlfriend," I said.
Theo turned me in his arms, positioning me where I could walk next to him.
"Are we going straight back there?" I asked since Theo had begun walking toward S&S.
He nodded. "I thought so. Is that okay?"
"I might have to check myself in a mirror before I meet your friends. I just got kissed."
Theo stopped walking and took the time to look me over with an appraising eye. "You look beautiful," he said. "It's really amazing. I can't believe you're here. This is the craziest night ever. I feel like I'm dreaming."
The light changed, and Theo pulled me across the street, using an arm around my shoulder. Theo walked slowly but steadily toward the collective asking me questions the whole time. He asked about Elroy, and I told him about the way he went crazy when I first got back. He knew about my brother naming his little girl after me, and we talked about that, too. He seemed confident to navigate the lights and steer me in the right direction, so I just went along beside him not even paying attention to where I was going. It was for this reason that it took me by surprise when I looked up to find that we were at the doors of the gallery.
"I'm too nervous," I said my before we walked inside. "What am I going to say?"
"Nothing," he said. "Or something if you want. Nothing or something."
Theo didn't even give me the chance to be shy or second-guess going in. He opened the door and gently pulled me alongside him, passing entire groups of people as we made our way to the center of the gallery. Just about everyone we passed turned to look at us, but Theo seemed to be headed toward a certain group.
"Oh my goodness, are you serious? Oh Theo, is this her?" The girl I recognized as Zoe was basically yelling across the room from her place at the center of the action.
Theo and I kept walking until we reached her along with a group of about eight or ten other people. Zoe reached out and hugged me.
"Oh, my word, girl, I cannot tell you how happy this man is right now. Not even an hour ago, I was trying to pressure him into going out with a friend of mine, and he wasn't having any part of that." Zoe said that whole phrase in hushed tones and a rushed manner because she knew everyone else was coming to stand around us. She hugged me as she said it, and then she stepped back, smiling at both of us.
"She did try to get me to cheat on you earlier," Theo whispered in a tongue in cheek way that no one else heard. He stepped in front of me, pointing at the people who had just gathered around us, starting with the girl all the way on the left. "This is Sarah," he said. "She's married to Collin Ross. One of their restaurants is responsible for the catering tonight, which was very good by the way."
She smiled. "Thank you. I'll tell Collin you were pleased."
"Where is Collin?" Theo asked, looking around.
"He's at home with Harper. We had a babysitter, but she wasn't feeling great, and she wanted Daddy, so he decided to stay. I'm headed back home, too. I just wanted to stop by and see the collection." Sarah smiled at me since she had our attention. "I'm so happy to meet you," she said. "Zoe and Lane were just telling us your story. We knew Theo had some stuff happen down in Florida, but I never knew the extent of it. I never knew he was waiting for… Anyway, I'm really happy for you. That's such an amazing story."
"Did you just wake up one day?" It was another girl who asked the question, and I scanned the group, trying to figure out who said it. A dark haired girl smiled at me and reached out to shake my hand. "I'm Lu," she said.
"Hi, Lu, I'm Caroline." I scanned the whole group and waved. "Hey everyone."
Zoe stepped forward and hugged me again. I thought she was just barely going to do it, but she squeezed me tightly. "Oh my goodness, Theo, she's the sweetest thing ever." She pulled back and looked at me adoringly the way a family member would. "I saw you today when you walked by on the sidewalk. Do you remember seeing me?"
"Yes I do, and I saw you in the documentary. You're a really amazing painter."
"Thank you. I owe so much to Theo. He is the man for doing something like this with his life." She gave me a second to take everything in, and then her arm came in front of me as she pointed at the person who was standing next to Lu. "This is Joe, he's Lu's husband."
Joe smiled and shook my hand and so did everyone else who had gathered around us. Zoe did the honors of introducing them all, and I went down the line, shaking hands.
"Mia, Nicholas, Macy, Ethan, and this is my husband, Lane. He and Theo are like this." Zoe crossed her fingers and smiled at me. She pointed again at Lu's husband, Joe. "Joe and Sarah are siblings. Their dad is responsible for Bad Medicine. You know, the television show?"
I nodded. I knew the show well and I had already recognized one of the guys standing in the group as the super famous star of Bad Medicine.
She pointed to the actor. "Ethan plays on the show," she said. "Macy, Nicholas, and Mia are all artists. Sarah and Lu are too, but the other three have all been residents of S&S, so they'll tell you first hand what a rockstar your man is."
I turned to focus on Theo with an impressed smile and he smirked at me.
"Zoe said you two met when you were kids," Ethan said.
I recognized him from television, and I thought it was cool that he was standing there talking to me. But honestly, after coming close to death like that, I had a new perspective on things like fame. I thought it was neat that Ethan Prescott wanted to talk to me, but I wasn't nearly as nervous as I would've been in the past—it was like sleeping for a year somehow made me comfortable in my own skin.
"We did," Theo said. "We met at a library in Montréal."
"The one you just built?" Lu asked.
"Yes," Lane said, knowing more of the story than she did.
"How'd you get in touch?" Macy asked.
"She called me," Theo said. "When we were kids, she told me she would call me up and we would marry each other if we turned thirty and weren't already married to other people." He looked at me and smiled. "Only I didn't understand her, so I had no idea we made that deal. I was totally shocked to hear from her." He turned to regard all of them. "Keep in mind that she doesn't remember that I know any of this. She's still missing the days before the accident, so she doesn't even remember us reconnecting."
"Wait, wait, wait," Zoe said. "Wait a minute. You don't remember him? Do you remember the accident?"
I shook my head.
"Do you have amnesia?" she asked.
"I don't remember the accident or the couple of weeks before it." I looked at Theo. "I remember Theo from when we were kids though, and I watched the documentary on Netflix, so I knew what he looked like as an adult."
I stared at everyone standing around—friendly faces all smiling and wearing curious expressions. I could tell they really cared about Theo, and I could also tell they thought his proximity to me was interesting. He held my hand the whole time, placing it different places on his body like he took comfort in having me touch him. Just the act of Theo holding onto my hand was pleasurable enough, but it was obvious by the way his friends were looking at us that it was unusual behavior for him, and I felt honored to be the object of his affection.
"My family assured me I'd want to meet him, so as soon as I recovered enough to travel, I came up here."
"How long ago did you wake up?" Macy asked.
"Three months ago," I said. "I had a long road to recovery. The doctors are blown away that I'm doing so well."