Chapter 22

After driving through the same streets over and over again, which took me quite a while to realise, I finally stopped at the adress that Pete had typed into the GPS earlier. I wasn't a bad driver, just pregnant. I turned off the car and unbuckled my seat belt, taking a deep breath. Then I smiled. I had made it without Pete's help. It gave me some confidence and made me feel good. I opened the door and jumped out, then I stretched and looked up into the night sky. It was late, a little after 2am.

I shut the door and walked around the car, opening Pete's door. He had slept with his head turned to the window so it was only now that I saw he had both of his arms wrapped around the pillow I had given him and I liked seeing him sleep. Not in a creepy way that I wanted to watch him but it was so sweet to see him sleep before you woke him up, I had never seen him sleep anything but peacefully. He wasn't smiling but almost. I put my hand on his shoulder and shook him slightly. He made a quiet noise but didn't wake up. I smiled to myself and started to run my fingers through his hair. He started moving into my touch which almost made me squeak because it was so cute. Then he straightened in his seat and almost sat upright. I smiled when his eyes fluttered open and withdrew my hand from his head. He looked at me, his face was still sleepy and then his eyes almost popped out of his head.

"We're here!" he gasped. I smirked proudly. "I would like a pat on the shoulder from you because I don't want to pat myself on the shoulder." He laughed husikly and coughed into his hand to sort out his voice. "That's amazing, wow, I don't think I would've been able to drive." I smirked. "Alright! Get out of the car, we don't wanna wake your parents any later, do we?" "You're right, it's not gonna be the nicest surprise." I rolled my eyes and he jumped out of the car, I shut the door behind him. He yawned and stretched, then walked towards the door of the house we had parked in front of.

"How'd you like Wilmette?" he asked and looked back at me over his shoulder. I shrugged but smiled. "From what I've seen, it looks like your average small town." "It's the best" he said with that tone and that facial expression that you only get when you're speaking fondly of something from your childhood. It made me glad that simply being here made him so happy. I wanted him to always be that happy.

Almost automatically, he put his hand on my lower back when he led me forward and we approached the door. He rang the bell and we saw some light turn on in the house, then we heard a dog bark and I swear I felt Pete jump a little with excitement like a little boy when he heard Hemmingway. We heard steps and someone approaching the door from the other side hesitantly, then it opened.

A man with white hair who I from pictures recognized as Pete's dad right away stood in front of us and made exactly the same face Pete had made when he had realised that we were in front of his parents' house already. "Pete" he said simply and reminded me of Pete more and more. I smiled and watched them hug, the widest smile spread across Pete's face too and I couldn't help but feel incredibly happy too about the fact that we had decided to take this stop. Hemingway appeared behind Pete's dad and Pete knelt down to cuddle him before he moved on to me and I cuddled the adorable dog. "We heard the door and your mom said I was imagining things but there you are, Dale, love, look who's out here!" Pete's dad said, shouting back into the house. Then he turned back to Pete and took his hand. "Oh, she's going to be so happy to see you."

A short woman came into view behind Pete and her face lit up as bright as only a mother's can when seeing her child that she hasn't seen in a long time. "Petey, what are you doing here?" she asked when she pulled back. I stood straight again. "I'm driving to New York. And I want you guys to meet Charlie. Mom, dad, this is Charlie. Charlie, these are my parents, Pete and Dale." "Finally!" his mom exclaimed and shook my hand. "It's so lovely to meet you, I've heard so much about you!" "I've heard a lot about you too" I replied and she smiled. "Well, I do hope so!" I also shook Pete's dad's hand. "Get your stuff and come in, you kids are staying over, right?" Dale asked and Pete nodded. "That's what we were hoping for." She laughed and I followed Pete back to the car to get our stuff but as I was only halfway there, he shook his head at me and returned with the suitcases. I rolled my eyes and walked into the house behind his parents, he put down our stuff and closed the door behind Hemingway who came running after me.

"Is it okay if you share your old room, Pete?" Dale asked when she turned around. Pete and I both nodded, we had already shared a bed the previous night. Dale looked at me. "Do you want anything? A cup of tea or anything else?" she asked me and I shook my head but smiled at her. "No but thank you for asking." I could sense that Pete was getting slightly tense because I probably figured that they would want to go to bed soon and I figured that after finding out I had told my mom I was pregnant, he wanted to tell his parents as well. Maybe he didn't want to wait until the morning. He was closer with them than I was with my parents but I compared the relationship to my best friends only and realised that spending a night at Mandy's place without telling her something as important as this would make me feel like I was betraying our friendship.

"Well, Pete, it's late and I guess we can t-..." "No, dad, wait" Pete interrupted his father. I looked up at him, wondering if he was actually going to tell them. His parents turned to him and both looked at their son with curiosity. "I ... we have to tell you something. I just want you to know, Charlie's parents already know as well." "Have you two gotten back together?" Dale asked. Pete and I both shook our heads, sharing the same nervous laugh. "No, we're not..." he started slowly. "... and yet, Charlie recently found out that she's ... pregnant." They looked at us for a moment, then Dale wrapped her arms around me and Pete both. "That is so amazing. You and Ashlee made it so you can too. And honestly, I feel like you get along much better now, right? I mean, more than you and Ashlee?" Pete nodded eagerly. "Oh, yeah, definitely." "This is so great. Have you told Bronx? Oh, this calls for a toast!" she exclaimed and disappeared into what seemed to be the kitchen. We followed her. "Bronx is excited" I said and she smiled. "I'm so happy. Charlie, do you want a glass or should I just pour you some ginger ale?" "Ginger ale is fine" I said. "Thank you." She got out four glasses and handed them out with either champagne or ale. We cheered and I felt bad for not visiting them with Pete while we had still been together, that probably would have been even nicer. I was already so comfortable with them because they were so open and it made me so happy that Pete had such amazing parents. It made me happy that him and them weren't as distanced as me and my family.

We talked for a few more minutes until Pete's dad announced that it would be better to catch them up on more things in the morning. Pete said Goodnight to Hemingway, promised his parents we'd stay for breakfast because maybe we'd visit his siblings after and we went up the stairs, Pete and his dad taking the lead. "Pete?" Dale asked and both men in front of her turned around. I laughed. "The third" she added. "Be a gentleman and let Charlie sleep in your old bed." I waved it off with a motion of my hand. "No, it's fine, we've got no problem sharing a bed." "Are you sure? You're pregnant, you might move around, have nightmares." Her Petes kept walking up the stairs and I nodded into their direction before turning to her. "How do you know how to call which one?" I whispered. She laughed quietly. "I don't. I always have to specify it." I smiled.

Pete undressed and slipped under the covers quickly and I decided to just quickly change in front of him too because we had done that back when we had just been friends too. And I wanted it to be like that again. Also, maybe, just maybe, I wanted him to look but he took his phone and scrolled down his Twitter, probably wanting to be polite and not look. I slid into bed beside him and he pulled me close right away. "Thanks for driving the whole way" he said and kissed the top of my head. I rested my head against his shoulder as his arm was around me and we both looked at the timeline of his Twitter until I got more and more sleepy. My body relaxed and the feeling of finally laying down and relaxing spread through it. It felt heavy and I realised how exhausted I was from driving for so long. "It's the least I could do, you drove almost the rest of the way completely" I replied, holding my hand in front of my mouth, yawning. "And I'm glad I've finally met your parents, by the way, they're great" I added, not wanting to drift off into sleep yet, I wanted to talk to him, just like I had when we had been on the phone during a late night. "I think they're happy they've met you too. I think they wish we were still together." I laughed. "Really?" "Yeah, they like you. They didn't like Ash much. They think she keeps Bronx away from our side of the family too much." I nodded undestandingly. "She does." He sighed, stroking my arm. "I won't do that" I added, looking up at him.

He put his phone away without taking his eyes off mine. With the hand that he didn't have on my shoulder because his arm was around me, he stroked the side of my face with one finger and looked at me affectionally. I wasn't dreaming now, this was happening. I couldn't believe it though but when I blinked, I didn't open my eyes again because I felt his lips press against mine and he moved closer to me, I was almost shaking as I kissed him back, I felt his tongue hesitantly touching mine and parted my lips, ran my fingers through his hair to pull him closer and bit his lip gently. He smiled on my lips and kissed me harder, I was starstruck and all my movements were automatic and on pure impulse. When he pulled back, he turned the light off right away and we were left in the dark. I licked my lips, unable to believe what had just happened. He still had his arm around me and left little kisses on my neck before settling down on the pillow in a comfortable position. I closed my eyes, not daring to move. After a few seconds, I cuddled into his embrace and just let him hold me and carry me into sleep.