Learning to Cope

Ch2 Page 24 (End of chapter)

August:

I'm so tired. I can't fight him. I guess we're gonna be roommates for a bit. or maybe something else? I don't know anymore.

My apartment still smells like pancakes. "Hey... can I ask a personal question?" I break the silence, I need to know, I have to know where we stand. "Of course." He takes off his jacket and sits on the edge of the couch. "Ummm about....this morning" my hands are sweating, I'm so nervous. if he didn't actually say that, I'll look like an idiot. "...did you mean it?" I ask. He giggles and stands up. Of course, he didn't mean it, it was probably just a joke. He leans so close that I can feel his breath on my neck. "I love you." He whispers, sending chills down my spine.

He loves me? is he serious? he's not fucking with me right. I know my face is bright red right now, I can feel my cheeks burning. please don't let it be a prank. "I-I love you too." I can't look at him, I'll die. He places both hands on my face and pulls me down to his level. "Do you?" He whispers. His voice is hot. "I really do." I try to be confident and smirk but I'm sure it looks really dumb.

Andrew gently places his lips gently on mine and moves one hand to the back of my neck. I lean into the kiss and place my hands on his hips, pulling him closer. His lips are so soft and he tastes like mint. did he just pop a mint in his mouth or something? "I've wanted to kiss you for a while..." He pulls away and blushes. "I know, Ashley told me." I laugh, pulling him close to me again. I kiss his forehead and he rests his head on my chest. His auburn hair tickled the underside of my chin.

We're sitting on the couch eating dinner and watching a movie. "You're cute." He says. I have my mouth full of food like a chipmunk, there is no way this is cute. I shake my head and chuckle a bit. "Not NEARLY as cute as you are." I state as soon as I don't have pasta in my mouth like a pig. He scoots closer to me and puts his head on my shoulder. "I love you." he closes his eyes "I love you too." I smile. I feel like an idiot, I've never met anyone who makes me feel this way.

"Do you have work tomorrow?" He asks quietly. "No, I have a ton of errands I need to run though." I sigh. "I can go with you." "Don't you have class?" He usually has classes on Thursdays, Fridays, and Mondays. "I don't know if I want to be a nurse anymore to be honest. It's such a stressful job and I'd have no time." I nod. if he doesn't want to be a nurse, I won't force him. "What were you thinking about instead?" I ask. "Maybe a teacher? probably elementary though, teenagers suck." he chuckles.

"Oh yeah, I was the worst as a teen, elementary would probably be best." I laugh. He leans back and looks up at me. "Oh yeah? I can't imagine you were that bad." "...I set a teacher's car on fire... and nobody knew it was me." He stares at me wide-eyed. "I'll be right back." I chuckle and grab the photo album from my room.

I open it to a very full page and set it on the table. There were about 15 pictures of me doing bad things. I'm not proud of what I did but I think the key to growth is to own up to what I've done. "You were so hot." I had long hair and it was fire engine red. "You had tattoos in high school?" he asks. "I bought a tattoo gun and did most of them myself, but for my back and chest, I had a fake ID." If you look closely at my arms, it looks like a lot of nervous chicken scratch that I had an artist clean up later.

"Jeez, you were such a bad boy." He states, staring at the pictures of me. "I did stupid shit and got away with it." I laugh. I've got my karma for it. don't worry. "I would have hit on you" he chuckles. "I love you." I smile. "I love you too."