In a world of choice (𝐻𝑒𝓃𝓇𝓎 𝒷𝑜𝓌𝑒𝓇𝓈 𝓍 𝓇𝑒𝒶𝒹𝑒𝓇)

13- The almost-moment/Ryder and Carlos.

I was overly relived to hear the bell to tell us it was time for lunch, even with the company of the losers- my classes still were boring as hell.
"So she came up real close to me, Like real close, and started flirting with me- Actually flirting." Richie bragged to us all, well, to me it seemed like he was mostly saying it to get eddies attention, but i didn't think that any of the other losers had caught on to that just yet.
Bill sighed from the other side of the table and dropped his plastic fork, looking fed up with Richie's 'bragging'. "She wasn't flirting with you R-Ritchie, she was asking you t-to move out of her w-way."
I looked at Richie who's mouth had dropped, forming a large 'O' and a red hue escaping onto his already rather pale cheeks , I found small smile growing on my face at Richie's expression and embarrassment.
Richie looked as if he was going to say something but Eddie nudged him and whispered, 'incoming' and nodded to the entryway to the cafeteria, we all looked over to where Eddie had nodded and my eyes immediately noticed Henry, with his hand in his pockets and his angry/annoyed expression...
Walking right over to us.
Walking right over to... me.
"Y/n, Can I talk to you for a sec..." He said looking at me. "Please." He adds After a few seconds of my confused stare.
"Holy shit- Bowers said please? Is it Opposite Day? Did I miss the announcement?" Richie blurted out suddenly, causing us all to look at him with looks of distain and horror.
"Oh shut the fuck up Tozier." Henry growled as I started to rise from my seat.
I walked around the table to Henry and after I said a quick 'I'll see you in a min' to the losers, me and Henry wordlessly went out of the cafeteria, outside and around to the side of the school and to the bench that me and the losers had went to at lunch yesterday.
Henry stopped in his tracks when we were directly in front of the bench and spun around and gripped both of my shoulders with his rough hands, but they weren't so rough that they dug into my skin, but just rough enough for me to know, and feel, that he was there, not just visually and literally, but also somewhat... spiritually.
"Y/n, what the hell were you taking about? And did... did Henry just say something to you?" I thought, returning to reality.
"W-what?" I stuttered awkwardly and I could feel myself blushing slightly.
Henry shook my shoulders a little, "I asked if you were okay..." He said, studying my face intently.
"Oh- Yeah, yeah I'm doing okay i guess..." I said letting out a small confused smile.
He frowned, "You 'guess' ?"
I blinked a few times before answering, "I am okay. I'm fine, I'm feeling a lot better ,yeah." I corrected, probably more times than was actually necessary.
He sighed but did not move his hands from the sides of my shoulders, "Oh okay good, a second ago you looked like you were going to pass out again or something..." he said, and the smallest of comforting smiles spread from his lips.
I let out a small smile back and after a few seconds I looked down and cleared my throat, If I could've took a step back I probably would have, but that doesn't mean that I would have wanted to...
"Um, what- what did you want to uh, talk about?" I said, breaking the silence and looking back up at him, making a few strands of my h/c hair fall from behind my ear.
"I just uhh.... Thought I should probably remind you to probably not do gym today.... And, i uhhhh....Wanted to apologise really, for this morning it wasn't cool, and I shouldn't have left as abruptly as i did and i should have been there in class for you and-" He said not looking at me directly, until I looked up at him from underneath my eyelids in a way that said 'just shut up'.
"Henry, I'm okay..." I whispered to him.
He looked at me with a shy smile, we paused yet again, but this time it seemed a lot more...intimate?
His right hand left my left shoulder and he proceeded to move the few strands of hair that had escaped from behind my ear back into their original place. When he withdrew his hand from my ear his fingers trailed across my cheek and remained there for a frame of time that remained unknown to me, it felt like it could have been millions of eternities or a few simple seconds but i was there in the moment, a somewhat picture perfect story moment.
Everything felt like it was in slow motion, I watched as Henry leaned in slightly in my direction and felt myself doing the same.
Inches, we were inches apart, my hand was on his chest and I could feel his heart beating, was his beating as fast as mine?
This was it, this was really happening, right now, right this moment, but who would have thought it would have been with Henry...
"OI GUYS, I FOUND HIM!" A male voice yelled from somewhere behind me that sounded a lot like Belch and I assumed it was.
It was just then that everything came back into focus, and i realised what had happened, what would have happened if we weren't interrupted.
I looked at him and saw that i could read nothing on his face, there was no expression, his face was completely plain.
His hands dropped from my shoulders and i took a step back, "I should really be going back now..." I said, starting to walk backwards slowly.
"Wait, y/n-" Henry started, regaining some sort of reality.
"Sorry I've- I've gotta go, bye!" I said before spinning around and jogging away, past Belch, past Patrick and past Victor and eventually into the school, where my jog turned into a fast paced walk until i found my seat next to Beverly in the cafeteria.
"Hey, you okay?" Beverly said when i had sat down.
"M hm." I said, a little higher pitched than i had meant for it to be.
Beverly looked as if she didn't exactly believe me, but she chose to respect my privacy.
"Oh my god, just shut up Richie- for the last time, she.wasn't.flirting.with.you."Stanly said annoyed, putting his face in his hands.
"Hey Bev?" I asked, ignoring Richie who was starting to argue with Stan and Bill.
"M hm?" Beverly replied, with a mouthful of food.
"How much more time do we have before the next lesson?"
She swallowed, "uhh-" she said before checking her watch, " We've got 35 minuets left.
"Oh,Okay, thanks ." I said, taking a sip of water.
"Hey hey." A voice said that was growing more familiar every time i heard it.
I looked up and saw my blue haired friend holding a tray of food, I smiled, "hey Nate."