Smiling at Me

Let us always meet each other with smile, for the smile is the beginning of love. 

-Mother Teresa

-

Blair: I'm not doing this
Chuck: Doing what

I had peeked at the message again, looking at it. It was natural for me to be a little bit mad, it wasn't crazy for me to be mad. But I knew that he had been locked inside his room coding for days, and I knew that if he could have come to get me off that bench, he would have. And so, I let it go. Relationships are a two way street, and I couldn't keep not talking to him whenever I got upset about something. Not that we're in a relationship or anything, because we definitely one hundred percent are not. 

I would be stupid to say that Chuck and I were purely platonic friends, because well, we obviously were not. But at the same time, we weren't sex pals either- we were... we're...I don't want to do this, I'm going to keep saying that we're friends. We are pals. Kind of.

After playing chess on my phone with Chuck for the whole afternoon, I ended up going over to his place to work on homework. We both worked on homework, until he confessed that he had four papers due at midnight, and three of them were only one page responses. Chuck had always believed in his ability, an immense amount, but even I knew that a one page response that would take me twenty minutes (or even less!) would take Chuck HOURS. Chuck didn't have a way with words- not one bit, and he was honestly kind of a horrendous writer. The boy could build flow hoods and engineer the shit out of anything, but he couldn't put his thoughts into words.

"Do you need my help?" I asked, looking at him.

"No, it's okay," he said, looking away awkwardly. He definitely needed my help, without a doubt he had needed my help, very much so.

"Chuck, if you need help, just ask for it, I can easily write a one page response in like, twenty minutes. I blog like, every day!" I looked at him, knowingly, "Just ask for help, you know I'm always willing to help."

"Okay, Blair, maybe one response, but I really owe you," he said.

-

As I typed up the second one, my fingers clacked on the second one, as I sang out loud, "doo, doo, dooo, clik, clik, clak, clak, tap, tap," slightly bobbing my head to the beat of the keys on my keyboard.

I froze in place, and turned to see Chuck looking at me. "You're cute, you know that, right, Blair Bui?"

"I do know that," I said, laughing. I blushed a bit, and then regained my composure, "And I also know that I completely saved your ass, and that you fucking owe me," I added, sassily. I continued typing, as I looked over slightly at Chuck, out of the corner of my peripheral vision.

"You did save my ass, and you're amazing and great," he said, smiling at me. Even something as mundane as typing papers was fun with Chuck, as the two of us sat arm to arm, sneaking in kisses, and talking as we both worked on something.

"I'm sorry," he said, awkwardly. He looked at me, as I stopped mid-sentence in a piece about Sweet and Lowdown. 

"That I'm typing this paper or what?" I said, looking at him.

"Everything, and especially the papers."

"You know, you could've asked me for help. I know you wanted to," I responded, as Chuck submitted the lab report he was working on. "We both know that writing comes very easily for me, and it's tricky for you. I would've come and helped you."

"I know, Blair, I just... I don't like asking for help, from anyone."

"You know I'm there for you, always," I said. It was the truth. As Chuck pulled me in closer, into his arms, he looked at me, leaning in for a kiss. "You're great."

"And, Blair, you know that if I could've showed up at that bench, I would have, and if I could have come last night when you were sick, I would have."

"I know," I said, nodding.

"But now that finals are ending, we'll both be around for summer, and Fall semester isn't that crazy," Chuck said, smiling. "And I definitely owe you," he said, as I leaned in for a kiss.

"We'll talk when you're in Mexico?"

"Of course."

-

"I thought that Grey Garcia's girlfriend would be hotter," I said, laughing, as we looked at the Snapchat story. "It's not that she's not pretty, it's just, he's Grey Garcia."

I turned to look at Chuck. "Don't worry, Chuck, someday you'll have a really hot girlfriend."

"Really, Blair? Maybe one that'll think I'm hotter than Grey Garcia," he said, smiling smugly at me, as I looked away for a brief second. I forgot that there was that mix-up last year regarding Grey Garcia (more on that later)

"You know, if I keep hanging out with you, my friends are going to be suspicious." I grabbed the fuzzy blanket, and brought it closer to my body.

"Oh really?"

"Yeah, they're going to be definitely concerned because I haven't gone on a date with anyone in like, two months."

Chuck stopped in his tracks, and turned to face me. "You haven't?"

"Not really, not one where I liked anyone. And I don't foresee myself dating anyone else in the future," the words had slipped out of my mouth quickly and smoothly, as I laid, there, shocked that I had said that out loud. Chuck's mouth formed a mischievous grin, as he tried to hide the fact that he was smiling.

"CHUCK CUEVAS," I said, tapping him on the shoulder, "You like this. You like that I'm not going to date anyone else." I laughed, as he tried to hide his smile even further.

"I don't know what you're talking about Blair," he said, trying to make a serious face, as we both started laughing.

"Chuck Cuevas, you don't want me dating anyone else, and you're happy that I'm not going to." I laughed, as I placed my head on his shoulder. And even though he turned away for a brief second, I knew he was smiling, and I knew that he was happy about the information that had slipped out.

-

Chuck was relentless about me not getting cheese after my bout of Chipotle-induced food poisoning, but he caved and eventually agreed, saying that he was going to keep a full watch on me afterwards. As we walked back, we talked, and it honestly felt so nice to just spend time with him, to catch up on everything that had been going on. Time flew, as we talked all night, watched our usual shows, and just enjoyed each other's company. Before we knew it, it was four in the morning, and time for bed.

"I like you a lot, Chuck Cuevas," I whispered, as we laid in his bed, nose to nose.

"I like you a lot too, Blair Bui, you're amazing," he leaned in for a kiss, and wrapped his arm around me.

"We can talk, of course, but it's late, and you have to get to work," Chuck whispered. He was always taking care of me, and being responsible when I wanted to be a little bit reckless.

"If that's fine," Chuck added, fearing the wrath of Blair. It was cute, and I liked that he was always looking out for me- but I loved that he never forgot how fiercely independent and headstrong I was.

"You're right," I admitted, "If you need to lay on your back, I understand too. I know you don't sleep well."

"It's okay, we can cuddle if you want," Chuck said, turning to look at me.

"If you want," I said, trying to be as nonchalant and breezy as possible. I didn't want to be too easy to get.

"I do," Chuck responded, smiling at me. We kissed good night, as I turned so we could spoon, and Chuck wrapped his arms around me. I slept well, and woke up, to a sleeping Chuck, his arms still wrapped around my waist.

He got up, as kissed me goodbye, as I got ready for work. "Is there anything else you want to say to me, Chuck Cuevas?" I asked, as I looked at him.

"No, I don't think so," he said. Chuck stood there, in his soccer shorts, as I grabbed my bag. I headed towards the door, as my train of thought was interrupted.

"I like you, Blair."

I turned, and walked over, kissing Chuck one more time before I left for work. "I like you too. I'll talk to you later."

As I awkwardly tried to hide the fact that I was smiling like a little loser, I knew that Chuck was doing the exact same thing behind me.