CHAPTER TWENTY THREE!
( EVERYTHING ABOUT YOU. )

   CHARLIE STOOD UP once everyone else had settled down. He had his saxophone out, which Jo knew was one of the places he put a lot of emotional energy. Music was his escape.

"An original song composed by Nuwanda, for Neil," Charlie announced. Jo didn't roll her eyes at the nickname this time, she just smiled and let him have it. Charlie began to play the saxophone, his fingers lightly clicking the golden keys. This song was unlike any other she had heard him play. The music was a sound wave of emotion, one Jo knew he was capable of creating but still left her amazed. When he finished playing Jo just stared at him in awe.

"I didn't know you played," Keating commented. "That was beautiful." Everyone slowly started clapping, all awestruck.

"That was awesome, Charlie!" Knox cheered.

"I still can't believe you can do that," Pitts teased.

Charlie smiled proudly then sat back down beside Jo, not asking for praise but looking at her a little expectantly. Joan smiled and kissed his cheek. "Keating's right, it was beautiful."

"Thanks," he blushed, resuming his position with his arm around her shoulders. "Are you gonna read anything?"

"I think so," she said.

"Well, what are you waiting for? Get up there!" he pushed her upper back lightly.

"Okay, okay," she leaned behind him to grab her leather crossbody bag that she had brought. She pulled out a painted canvas and leaned it against the stone wall at the front of the cave.

It was a portrait of Neil, rich shades of purple and yellow, orange and blue all mixed in to create a vibrant yet realistic painting of the boy.

"No way, did you paint that?" Charlie stood up in disbelief, crouching down in front of the canvas. Jo smiled nervously and looked away as the group all praised her skill. She didn't paint it for attention or compliments, however they were nice to hear considering her father thought art was a waste of time and she could never make a career out of it.

"I was thinking we could leave this painting here, as a tribute to Neil," Jo suggested, hanging it on a protruding rock.

"Of course, it's beautiful Jo," Todd said with a watery smile. Todd then picked up his poem and held it up on the wall beside the painting. "Maybe it could be a whole wall, I've got plenty more poems for him. Besides, it almost makes me feel like he's here too," Todd struggled to say. Jo placed her hand on Todd's shaking one and held it for a moment.

"I think that's a great idea, we'll bring nails and a hammer next time to set it up," she smiled.

Once everyone had taken their seats, Jo pulled a crumpled paper out of her coat pocket, clearing her throat. "This isn't going to be a poetic masterpiece like Todd's, it's more of a feeling than anything else," she started.

"Oh, c'mon! It'll be great, just read!" Charlie shouted. Jo smiled and looked back down at the paper.

"A letter to Neil:
I am writing to you from Earth,
with the ones you left behind,
sitting in the sleepless cemetery,
just trying to rest my mind.

There are some people
who are made of sunshine,
who give light without asking,
just know that you were mine.

Still, I'm speaking to the silence,
to the stuffy, silver air.
I can't speak you back to life,
I'm just wishing you were there.

I am writing to you from your grave,
where you left your body behind,
where a beautiful heart once laid,
behind a tortured mind."

Keating stood up and pulled Jo into another tight hug, she didn't even realize that she had started crying. She felt another pair of arms and immediately recognized them as Charlie's. Then more and more until everyone was crowded around each other, some crying, some not. To be held and to hold was nothing short of the most comforting feeling. When they pulled back apart, Charlie whispered in her ear, "I told you it would be great."

Charlie took another sip of wine while Keating's back was turned as everyone began to just converse.

"Charlie, he doesn't care, you don't have to hide it," Jo laughed.

"You're right, I'm just conditioned," he nodded taking it out from behind the ledge.

"Mr. Dalton, were you going to keep all that without offering any to me?" Keating grinned. Charlie chuckled and poured him a glass. Knox and Pitts took one too and the group just shared stories, most of which were about Neil. Todd managed to laugh at some, even if the smiles were dripping with tears. Keating had a hand on Todd's back for most of it, just a simple reminder that he wasn't alone.

After a while, everyone filed slowly out of the cave. Jo ran her hand over the golden god of the cave as she left, looking back once more at the portrait of Neil hanging behind the fading campfire. The moon was bright and full, reflecting off the iridescent icicles and crystalline snow. Jo walked through the woods, hand in hand with Charlie.

"Next Friday?" Knox asked once they reached the edge of the woods.

"You bet, Knoxious," Charlie smiled, roughly pulling him into a hug and ruffling his hair.

"Hey, Jo, I saw what you wrote on your desk, by the way. The teacher who comes to check the rooms hasn't done anything but bitch about it yet, it's a nice reminder of you," Violet laughed.

"Oh, yeah?" Jo smiled, "Maybe it was stupid but I had fun doing it."

"And you will be hanging out with me at every opportunity once you're ungrounded," Violet reminded her, pointing at her with a gloved hand.

"Obviously," Jo laughed, pushing Violet's finger out of her face.

Jo then turned to Todd, "Hey, never forget how much talent you have Todd, and don't forget to call. That's an order," she said seriously. Todd cracked a sheepish smile.

"I'll call," he promised, openings arms for an embrace.

Meeks stepped forward and Charlie jumped on him too, hugging him tightly.

"Stop, stop, stop, you're squishing my glasses," Meeks struggled. After a moment Jo saw Charlie loosen and Meeks succumbed to the embrace. Hugs were exchanged like gifts, and tears like precious jewels.

"What's gonna happen to you, Mr. Keating?" Jo asked before he could say goodbye.

"I think I'll go to London, there's someone there that I miss," he said.

"London? That's so far!" Charlie groaned.

"I'm not gone forever, and besides, just give me a call any time," Keating reassured him. "I'll miss you all too, which means I might have to return to America at some point too."

"Alright," Charlie sighed with a disappointed nod. "Until later, O Captain! My Captain!" Charlie saluted.

"Until later, Nuwanda," Keating grinned with a twinkle in his eye.

The group strode off into the night, parting to go their separate ways. The boys and Violet ran in their dark coats back to the doors of Hell-ton, Keating strolled to his old, coffee-coloured car, Jo and Charlie decided to take the long walk back to the vehicle.

The water from the river splashed against the rocks like a soothing lullaby of the Earth, the trees swayed to the light winter breeze. Their feet clicked along the wooden panels of the bridge, making snowy footprints.

"I'm gonna miss Keating," Charlie sighed.

"Yeah, I know, me too."

Charlie grabbed Jo's hand again, squeezing it tightly, nearly crushing hers. She didn't mind though.

"Have I ever told you I love you?" Charlie suddenly asked.

"No, as a matter of fact, you haven't," Jo looked up at him, his burning brown eyes.

"Well, I do," he smiled, looking at her too, her ribbony blue eyes. Jo stopped walking for a moment, pulling Charlie back.

"I'm sorry, you what? I'm gonna need you to repeat that," she grinned.

"I love you, Jo," he stated quickly, "I love everything about you. I love the way you make me feel safe, the way you hold my hand, that look in your eyes when I say something funny, the look in your eyes when I say something stupid, the little awkward giggle you do when you're nervous, how free you make me feel. I- Just everything." He stopped as Jo stood in shock, her heart swelling to the point where she could hardly feel anything else. "Now come on." He started walking again, almost avoiding her response.

"Hold on, wait!" Jo grabbed his coat sleeve. "I love you too, Charlie. Everything about you. Your jokes, your music, your goddamn perfect smile and perfect hair, your stupid nickname, the way you hug me when you get all excited, the way you don't back down. Everything."

"Really?"

"Yes, really. What? Did you really think I didn't?" she asked.

"Well, no, I just, nobody ever has."

"Loved you?"

He nodded.

Jo looked at him sadly for a moment. It wasn't true, she knew he was loved, but it was sad to her that he didn't know. His parents never really showed him.

"Well let me make it clear," she leaned in, so close that she could smell the expensive wine on his tongue. Jo breathed in and kissed him, kissed him hard. She wrapped her hands around his neck and pulled him closer, his hot lips moving seamlessly with her soft, pillowy ones. He put his hands on the railing of the bench behind her, leaning even closer, roping her in.

"Just wait," he whispered, pulling away.

"Wait for what?"

He grabbed Jo's hand and lead her down the pathway through the trees that would take them back to the car. They passed through the greenery, tripping over small tree roots. Once they reached the car, he slipped the keys out of Jo's pocket then opened the back door. He shoved his saxophone in the front seat along with the wine glasses.

"Come on," he motioned for Jo to get in, a lovesick smile on his lips. As soon as she shut the door his lips were on hers again in a passionate kiss. His hands wrapped around her waist and hers tangled themselves in his soft brown hair. He leaned closed to her, closer than they had ever been. His tongue traced her bottom lip and his hands traced the skin right beneath the hem of her shirt. Jo parted her lips and he slipped his tongue into your mouth. At first, it felt strange and slippery, but as they went on, it began to feel more natural. His hands moved higher, up to her rib cage, and hers fell to his shoulders. She pushed off his coat and it fell to the floor of the car. Jo pulled away for a moment to catch her breath and Charlie kissed a trail from the corner of her lips to her collar bone. Jo could feel her skin being lit on fire, but not in the sense of pain, in the sense of burning electricity.

He made his way back to her lips, each kiss needier than the last.

❦

Charlie drove Jo home, careful not to be seen. This time he insisted on pulling all the way up to the front of the house so she didn't get "kidnapped or anything".

"I love you," he repeated as she slipped out the car door.

"I love you too," she smiled. Her heart skipped a beat as his cheeks grew pink and his beautiful eyes shone back at her. She was so in love and she knew it.  Jo gave one last wave before the car sped off down the road and she was standing in the night air once again.

She put her hands into her pockets and her fingers curled around a crisply folded piece of paper. She pulled it out of her pocket and ran her gloved fingertips over the creases. Jo looked back at where the car had disappeared before slowly heading back inside where she could open the paper without the snow making marks on it.

In her room she unfolded it to find a few words written on it. 

In case I don't build up the courage to say it, I love you, Jo. If I don't tell you tonight make sure to ask me about it tomorrow.

Jo smiled and grabbed a piece of tape, sticking it to the wall beside her bed. It hung right next to the poem Charlie had written for her what felt like a year ago, and the words Carpe Diem, that she had carved into the drywall. Her parents never really came into her room anyway, so they wouldn't notice.

She got into her pajamas and laid in bed, her eyes rereading Charlie's note over and over as she drifted off to sleep.

AUTHOR'S NOTE.
❪ ⋆࿐໋  𝒄𝒂𝒓𝒑𝒆 𝒅𝒊𝒆𝒎. ❫

GUYS, IT'S THE LAST CHAPTER
I HOPE U LIKED IT. I just wrote
this instead of doing my Social
project and no regrets. I LOVE
YOU GUYS SO MUCH. I can't
believe it's finished, that's crazy.
Your support means the WORLD
to me and I really really hope you
liked the ending.