❝All I needed was the love you gave.
All I needed for another day.
And all I ever knew,
Only you.❞

 - ONLY YOU. yazoo.

"CAROLINE BARNES," Dr. Hager called down the hallway. Each member of the Dead Poets Society was standing outside their door, waiting for Nolan to request their presence in his office, and now, it was Caroline's turn.

She was extremely nervous and almost shaking as she stepped away from her door and made her way down the hallway. Everyone that had been called in had come back with their heads down — all except Charlie, who had yet to come back at all.

She was led up the steps to the headmaster's office by Dr. Hager. He opened the door for her, and she entered the room to see her mother and father seated on either side of Nolan's desk. 

The old man nodded toward her in greeting and gestured toward the chair in front of him. "Miss Barnes, please take a seat." She wordlessly sat down, looking back up when she was ready. "I believe you know why I called you in here."

"Yes, sir," the brunette girl replied, avoiding the disapproving stares from her parents. She could not face her father in that moment.

Nolan got right to the point, not wasting any time, for he had quite a few other students to interview. He asked, "So, do you admit to being a part of this Dead Poets Society?"

"Answer him, Caroline," Asher warned when she didn't say anything after a moment. His voice was stern, and it made her flinch slightly. 

"Yes," she answered with a small nod, not sparing her father a glance. "Yes, I do."

Nolan's face held an unreadable expression as he continued, "I have here a detailed description of what occurred at your meetings. It describes how your teacher, Mr. Keating, encouraged you and the boys to organize this club and to use it as a source of inspiration for reckless and self- indulgent behavior. It describes how Mr. Keating, both in and out of the classroom, encouraged Neil Perry to follow his obsession with acting when he knew all along it was against the explicit order of Neil's parents. It was Mr. Keating's blatant abuse of his position as teacher that led directly to Neil Perry's death." 

He nodded to Asher, who then proceeded to slide a piece of paper across the table to his daughter. Despite the fact that she desperately wanted to comment on his words against her teacher, she picked it up, remaining silent, and glanced over it, discovering that it was a document of some sort.

"Read that document very carefully, Miss Barnes," he advised her, and she glanced down at the bottom where Meeks, Knox, Cameron, and Todd all had signed their names, letting out a small sigh when she noticed the absence of Charlie's signature. "If you have nothing that you would like to add, please sign at the bottom."

"No." 

The word not only surprised the adults in the room, but Caroline was shocked herself that that word had left her lips.

"Excuse me?" The headmaster did a double take, raising his eyebrows. Asher and Deborah Barnes' eyes had just shot wide open, and the man's mouth was agape as his nostrils flared.

Sitting straight up in her chair, Caroline did not hesitate to repeat her former word — this time with mer confidence. "No. I refuse to sign this document."

"Mr. Nolan," said Mr. Barnes, standing up from his chair and making his way over to the girl before placing a hand on her shoulder and facing the older man. "May I please have a moment with my daughter."

When Nolan nodded, Asher wasted no time in forcing Caroline to rise from her feet. They both stepped out the door, the girl hesitating as she knew what was coming. When the door closed behind them, the man's polite expression dropped into an angry frown.

"Have you gone absolutely insane? Do you know how hard I've worked for this — for you?" he exclaimed, causing his daughter to wince at his tone.

She peered anxiously up at him. "Father, I—"

"No, Caroline, I have had it. I don't care what explanation or excuse you have. You are going in there, and you are signing that paper," he ordered, and when she didn't answer he scoffed. "Do you hear me?"

"I'm not signing it," she demanded, her voice not wavering in the slightest. 

Asher took a deep breath, trying hard not to raise his voice because not only was Nolan on the other side of the door, but the rest of the students were only a couple yards away. "Don't you see, darling? This man has corrupted you."

"No, he hasn't," she argued, insistent on making her father believe. "He's the best teacher I've ever had."

"Why do you insist on making a fool of me? If you refuse to sign this, you're going to be expelled," Asher hissed, but Caroline was already aware of that. She knew what the consequences of her actions would be.

She nodded, "I know."

With a frustrated sigh, the man simply shot her a disappointed look before opening the door to the office once again. They both stepped inside, and Asher looked to his old headmaster.

"I am very sorry," he apologized, staring at the ground because he was too ashamed. Caroline almost felt bad. "My daughter will not be signing anything today."

"Well, then, I am also very sorry, Asher, for I am going to have to expel her," Nolan announced, and Deborah let out a surprised gasp. Sometimes she was not the very brightest person.

The Barnes man nodded, refusing to look at his daughter. "I understand. Thank you for everything you've done for this family."

Then, Caroline made her way to her room to pack up her stuff. Once she was packed, she nodded to each of the boys, too much of a wimp to say a real goodbye. Finally, she walked out of Welton Academy for the last time.

«《♤》»

CAROLINE WAS LYING ON HER BED, reading a book, for she had been locked in her room all day. Her father had sent her straight up when they got home, and she would've refused if it weren't for the fact that she felt a little bad for the stunt she had pulled earlier.

She jumped a bit when she heard something hit her window. She thought nothing of it and went back to reading until it happened again, louder this time. She finally got up and walked over to the window, pulling open the curtain and freezing at what she saw.

Charlie Dalton was standing below her window with a handful of pebbles.

Her lips curved into a shocked smile as she unlocked and opened the window. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"Oh, Juliet," he called, lifting his arm up and assuming a horrible British accent. After that, he got a little confused, furrowing his eyebrows as he thought. "Um, let down your hair."

"Oh, my God. You're such an idiot," the Barnes girl laughed, rolling her eyes as Charlie grinned back up at her. 

When she didn't move from her position, the Dalton boy just kept staring up at her. "Well, are you going to come down, or not?"

"Come down? You're crazy," she told him before leaning over the side of the house to look down at the ground that seemed very very far away at that moment. "What if I fall?"

"I'll catch you," Charlie promised.

She raised her eyebrows at him, glancing at the drain pipe on the side of the house before running a hand through her hair and muttering to herself. "I cannot believe that I'm doing this."

She used the windowsill to hoist herself up and wing her leg over. She heard Charlie laugh under her, causing her to promptly flip him off. She grabbed onto the drain pipe and slowly moved her weight over to that. Sliding down, she shrieked when her foot slipped about four feet from the ground.

Two hands wrapped around her waist to soften her fall. He spun her around and pressed his forehead against hers before giving her a gentle but passionate kiss. 

"I told you that I'd catch you." He smirked, pulling away before grabbing her hand. "Come take a walk with me."

"Are you going to tell me how the hell you got here?" she questioned. From what she could remember, there was no way that Mr. Dalton would just let his son out after he got expelled. 

Charlie shrugged. "I have my ways. Now, come on. I want to talk to you about something." That certainly did not sound very good.

"About what?" she quizzed with a concerned expression, tilting her head to the side.

"Well, you would figure out if you started walking," the Dalton boy countered, causing Caroline to let out a little giggle. She began walking, and Charlie fell into step beside her. "So, I got expelled."

She nodded, not surprised, for she had already heard the information. "I did too. My father hasn't said a word to me since we left the school. What about you? Any luck?"

"I'm being sent to military school."

The words made Caroline stop in her tracks and spin around to face him. "Military school?" If he went away, there was no telling when she would ever see him again.

"I'm afraid so," he confirmed with a sad smile, staring down at his feet, not wanting to look her in the eyes. He was scared that she would be mad at him. "I'm not sure when I'm going to be back." 

"I'll wait for you," she told him, and he let out a surprised gasp, not expecting her to say that. He had been expecting her to be angry or sad — maybe even happy, but definitely not that. He thought he had imagined every scenario.

He shook his head, quickly shutting down her idea. "No, Care, I can't ask you to—"

"You're not asking me," she argued, trying to keep the tears from pouring down her cheeks, and technically, she was correct. "I'm telling you. I'll wait for you to come back. I won't give up on you."

"It could be years," he informed her, shaking his head. When she didn't say anything, he sighed, throwing an arm across her shoulder. "Let's just enjoy tonight, okay?"

So, that's exactly what they did.

They walked around the city, seeing the sights and laughing. Charlie bought her hot chocolate, and she smeared some of the marshmallow on his face. Before they knew it, they were back at the Barnes house, and the sun was beginning to creep up over the horizon.

"Thank you," Caroline told him, but she lost her composure soon after that. She ran to him and hugged him tight, scared that if she let go, he'd disappear. "I'm going to miss you."

He pulled away just enough to press his lips against hers. They stayed like that until they had to come up for air. He smiled, "I'll be back. I promise."

"I know. I should get going. My parents will be up soon," she mumbled, holding back the tears forming in her eyes. He nodded, and she stepped away.

She climbed up the drain pipe and back into her room before turning back. Charlie was still there, and he called up to her, "Caroline."

"Yes," she replied, leaning over her windowsill to see him clearly as he spoke.

"I love you."

AUTHOR'S NOTE

ahhhhhhhhh! all we have left is the epilogue, and then, we're done. i can't believe it's almost over. :(

- Lena