Chapter 28

Hey folks, I'd like to take a moment to thank yall for waiting patiently for 28 chapters :))

And I'm relied on google translate for some part of the chapter too so If anything, just correct me (although they're just really minor)

Ryder

“Hey there, little buddy,” Mae says, looking at her arm. “You gonna suck my haemoglobin syrup right in front of me, huh?” Then she slaps her arm so hard that I flinch from the sound. “Well, itadakimasu, bitch!” she says triumphantly.

I gag when I see a little spot of blood on her arm and her hand. “Oh god, Mae! That’s gross!” I quickly look away from the crime scene. “You got fucking insect remains on you!”

She looks at me, then at her arm and her hand. “Oh,” she deadpans. “I wonder how the hell a mosquito got inside the library.” She leaves to wash her arm. Then it’s just Nathan and me at our usual table in the library.

“So, uh . . .” I put my book down, turning to face him. “How did it go with your parents?”

Nathan smiles shyly. “We’re all good now. They accepted the whole situation pretty quickly, actually.”

“That’s good to hear.” I smile back.

He nods. I nod back. Then, silence.

“Um, Ryder?”

“Yeah?”

He fumbles with the hem of his cream sweatshirt. “My, uh . . . my mom wants you to come over for lunch . . . or dinner, um . . .” He struggles for words, his cheeks adorably flushing pink.

“Your mom wants me to come over to your place?” I help him. “Today?”

Nathan nods. “Yeah, that.”

“Okay, sure,” I say and he beams at that, never failing to send my heart into overdrive.

Mae returns, plunking herself down on her seat in front of us. “What did I miss?” she says, a teasing lilt in her voice. “Anything juicy?”

I prop my chin on my palm. “Nothing much, hon,” I say, smiling.

She squints at me. “What a bore,” she sighs, rolling her eyes and returning to her book.

Then, I meet Nathan’s eyes and we both giggle, making Mae groan in frustration. “Damn both of you. Just kiss already!” she teases, waving her book in the air.

Well, that’s an effective way to make us shut up.

My face burns at the very thought of Nathan and I kissing. Mae gives a self-satisfied smirk at my flustering before turning back to her book. I risk a sidelong glance at him and I find his cheeks as red as mine.

Maybe.

*

“Mom?” Nathan calls out once we reach his house. I kick off my Vans at the door and I follow him awkwardly inside like a lost puppy.

A woman rushes out of the kitchen to greet us, followed by their golden retriever, Kirk. She (Nathan’s mom, that is) looks like she's in her late-30s, with dark-orange hair - like Nathan’s, although her’s is more on the red side - tied into a loose bun. She grins at my presence.

“Ryder, right?” she says, placing her hands on my shoulders. Kirk sniffs my legs. I stand stiffly, unsure of what to do. I’m just going to go with my instincts and act cool and composed.

“Yeah. Uh, hi, Mrs Adler- ”

“Don’t call me that, it makes me feel old.” She laughs lightly. “Call me Patricia, okay?”

I nod, still feeling awkward.

“My goodness, look at you!” Patricia looks me up and down. “My boy chose good,” she comments.

My cheeks burn at that. I open and close my mouth, trying to think of something to say. Oh god, look how cool and composed I am now.

Nathan nudges her. “Mom, I think you’re scaring him,” he mumbles, avoiding eye contact with me. Kirk barks in agreement.

“Oh, am I?” she asks in a concerned tone. I give her an awkward nod of my head and she apologises. “Sorry! I’m just- nevermind, I’ll go cook lunch . . . or dinner. Okay, think of it as late lunch, or early dinner- ”

At the sound of this, my interest is piqued. “Ooh! Can I help?”

Patricia brushes me away, leaving me feeling a little deflated. “I’m good on my own, no offence. Nathan, sweetie, why don’t you show Ryder your room?” She winks at both of us and leaves us to be.

“Okay,” Nathan says, and then he leads me to his room, shooing Kirk away. But a little figure runs into him before he reaches his door and he stumbles backwards. “Eva! I told you not to do that anymore!” he groans, smiling nonetheless. Said person has ginger curls tied into pigtails and she flashes him a toothy grin.

“Eva, this is Ryder. Ryder, this is my little sister, Eva,” Nathan introduces, taking her arm and doing a little wave at me.

I bend down to reach her level and wave at her. “Hi, Eva.” I smile but she hides behind her brother, obviously scared by me. I inwardly sigh.

Young children and I don’t go well together. Maybe it’s me? I doubt a person with piercings and dark clothes would make a good impression on kids. Or maybe it’s them. Kids scare the shit out of me; they’re so unpredictable.

Nathan whispers something in her ear, and Eva finally looks at me. She reaches a hesitant hand forward and boops my nose. I blink, perplexed, and she says, “You look scary, but Nathan says you’re alright.” Eva giggles and heads off to her room, taking Kirk with her.

I shoot Nathan a confused look but he just laughs it off and waves me inside his room.

Woah.

This room is exactly what Nathan is: quaint and peaceful, with the warm glow of the fairy lights above his bed, rows of books in an old bookshelf by his neat desk, and soft music playing somewhere. There’s a corkboard right above his desk, and on it hangs a string of polaroids. I know it’s borderline intrusive but I can’t help but look at the photos. Nathan’s in almost every one of it, smiling, laughing. And with him is a taller guy, with messy brown hair and blue eyes. Is he-

“Oh, that’s Cole,” Nathan interjects my thoughts.

I tear my gaze from the pictures. “You guys don’t look alike, though, except for the nose.”

He gives a shy laugh. “He takes after Dad, the brown hair and blue eyes. But he has Mom’s freckles too - we all do.” He then sits on the floor with his back against the wall, and I join him.

Then, we’re just sitting together, not saying anything. Just staring at his desk across us. Our hands are resting on the floor, fingertips touching slightly. But I don’t move it, and neither does he. I don’t know if it’s just me but the soft music suddenly becomes so loud that it drowns my thoughts. So I speak up.

“Your mom kinda scares me.”

Nathan giggles. “She’s only like that because you’re the only one I brought home in my life. Usually, it’s Cole and some girl from school. But she’s- um . . .” he trails off, nervously fumbling with his shirt.

“She’s what?”

“Sh-she’s also like that because I, um, I sort of told her that I . . .” His cheeks grow red and he avoids my eyes. I feel my heart beating twice as fast now, but I don’t know why.

I turn myself to face him. “That you what?”

“That I- I . . . like you.”

Nathan

I want to disappear right now.

I can’t believe I just confessed to him! Why? Why here? Why now?

I’m staring back at my desk, willing my face to stop burning and my heart to stop racing like mad. Beside me, I hear Ryder suck in a breath and cover his face with his hands. Oh boy.

He says something but it’s muffled by his hands. "What?" I ask.

He removes his hands and speaks in an embarrassed and rushed tone, “Remember when I told you something happened at the party that I didn’t want to talk about?”

I nod, wondering where this will lead to.

“It’s actually because Derek kissed me and I, uh, had some sort of breakdown after that and . . . okay, I didn’t like that because firstly, it’s Derek and secondly, I already like someone else.”

“Who’s that?” I ask, trying not to feel oddly rejected even though he didn’t say the name yet.

Ryder suddenly laughs and I turn my head to look at him, confused. “Are you that dense? Really? Isn’t it very obvious?” He puts a finger under my chin, which makes the little butterflies in my stomach flutter wildly. He drops his eyelids, his long eyelashes casting shadows on his face. “Do you want me to say it in French? Japanese? Tagalog? German?”

I feel my face grow hot at that. I don’t know much of the other languages, but Cole used to teach me some German because he wanted to learn it but he gave up after a while because I was ‘hard to teach’. I gulp and give a small nod. “G-german.”

He leans forward, those turquoise eyes focused on me. I breathe shakily as I close my eyes. Then, I feel his warm breath fanning my neck. “Du, Nathan.” [You, Nathan.] His voice drops into a whisper in my ear. “Ich mag dich.” [I like you.]

The butterflies turn into wild birds trying to break free from my chest. I keep my eyes closed as I focus on breathing. “I-ich mag dich a-auch,” I stutter. [I like you too]

I feel his cold hand cupping my cheek. I lean into his touch and slowly open my eyes.

Deep turquoise eyes. The blossoming red on his tan cheeks. The tiny smile playing on his slightly chapped but full lips. Strong arms that kept me away from harm’s way and always there to comfort me. A body so warm I fell asleep right after.

Ryder starts rubbing my cheek softly with the pad of his thumb. The mere action makes my heart do somersaults and sparks fly from my skin. I close my eyes again and just bask in this feeling, loving every second of it.

Then, he starts laughing softly. “You already said that,” he whispers.

I open my eyes, confused, but I find my mouth turning up in a smile too. Soon we’re just laughing together.

“Sorry,” I say in between laughs, “was I really that oblivious?”

He chuckles. “Yeah, I guess.” Then he rubs the back of his neck. “Uh, I kinda ruined the moment. I didn’t know what to do next - I haven’t done this before.”

“Me too. I didn't know you speak German or those other languages.”

"Let's just say I had a lot of free time, and Duolingo too," he says, grinning.

We sit together, our sides touching. I can feel his warmth seeping through me, filling me with it. Ryder takes my hand and starts drawing tiny circles with his thumb on the back of it. I rest my head on his shoulder and he leans his head on mine. We’re quiet for a while, just taking in everything that had just happened.

“Wanna go out with me?” he asks in a soft voice.

“On a date?”

“What else?” He chuckles. “There’s this place that sells wicked good Italian food. Even I  am jealous.”

I laugh at that. “Definitely!” I reply. “This Wednesday?” There isn’t any school on that day because of Mental Health Day - which Fernwood has every week so that we’ll “get our mental health in check” or something.

“Yeah, that’s cool.”

We laugh again. And then he takes my pinky in his. We stay linked, never wanting to let go of each other.