about to play my ace

Noticing

"Claire, we should probably go dry off and talk about this."

"O-okay" I stuttered.

We got out of the water and went into a place with a bit more sunlight. I'm self-conscious about being almost naked in front of Brad, it's different now that we're on the verge of being more than friends. I don't want him to notice. Please don't let him notice.

"Claire, I've never been in a relationship before. That was my first kiss and I--"

"Brad, that was my first kiss too. I haven't been in a relationship either." That took off some pressure. Until I realized that I just gave him his first kiss. "I'm sorry." I said, without thinking.

"You're sorry? Why are you sorry?"

"I kissed you. It was your first kiss and I just feel bad."

"You feel bad?"

"What if you didn't say you like me too? Then I'd be your first kiss and you would have been mad at me."

"I couldn't be mad at you."

"Yes you could."

"But I'm not."

"You aren't?"

"Claire I couldn't be mad at you because I like you too much to stay mad. Or even to get mad, for that matter."

"I always overthink things and I overreact, and one day I won't but it's going to be the only time I need to..."

"I love that about you."

"What?"

"I'm not saying I love you, and I'm not saying I don't, but I love that you always put other people and their feelings above yourself. Sometimes you just need to let other people tell you how they feel about things."

"So you love that part of me, but you don't at the same time?"

"It's not that, I just feel like since I told you I like you, you would know that I enjoyed the kiss."

"Oh. And if we hadn't kissed--"

"I'm stopping you right there, we did kiss and there isn't any going back."

"I know. I was going to say if you had kissed me first, I probably would have enjoyed it as well."

"Probably?"

"You see, you haven't kissed me, I kissed you and it was hardly a kiss. It doesn't have to count."

"Doesn't have to count? I'm sorry, do you not want it to?"

"What I meant was, if you kiss me and it's better than the one I gave you, that can be our first kiss."

"How about I kiss you and it's our second kiss? I'm getting the feeling you want me to kiss you, am I right?"

"Just stop talking and kiss me, Brad."

"Before we do that, let's put some clothes on."

"Good idea." I said, smiling. He hasn't noticed yet, which is good.

We found our clothes where we left them. Before putting mine on, I shook them in case any bugs were crawling around on them. After putting on my clothes, I went to my bag and pulled out a tiny hairbrush.

"Brad, can you help brush my hair out while I check my phone?"

"Tell me if I'm brushing it wrong." He joked.

I checked my phone and the first message that I saw was from my mom. It said that Tyler was in the hospital. That's all I could read, my tears blurring my vision. Not to mention the fact that I forgot to put my glasses back on.

"Stop brushing."

"What?"

"We have to go."

"Claire, what happened?"

I let him read the text from my mom. He grabbed my bag, handed me my glasses, and we left for the hospital.

•••

"I'm here to see Tyler Saunders." I told the receptionist.

"He's not allowed to have visitors."

"I'm his sister."

"You can't go into his room right now, take a seat over there."

"Thank you."

"Mom!" I said once I saw her. "What happened? Is he okay?"

"I don't know, honey. He fainted and hit his head on the ground really hard. We don't know what happened."

"How long have you guys been here?"

"Over an hour. What were you two doing? The reserve said you never showed up."

"We were swimming. It's my fault. I'm sorry. I asked Claire to skip with me today and we should have said something."

"I'm glad you're both okay. Take a seat and hope for good news soon."

"Brad, what if there isn't good news?"

"Tyler's strong, he'll be okay. Trust me."

"I trust you." I said, before losing it completely and breaking down. Brad kept his arms around me the whole time. We weren't sitting. I didn't want to sit.

"Brad, I dropped Ross off at your Aunt Maggie's house. She knows that you and Tyler are good friends, and agreed to my offer to let you stay with us until he gets better. If that's okay with you?" My dad said, after entering the waiting area and kissing my mom.
Brad looked at me. He whispered something in my ear. I nodded, not trusting my voice.

"I would love to stay with you until Tyler is better, but I'm not sure you will still want me to once I tell you that I really like Claire. And I would like her to be my girlfriend."

"Finally." My parents said at the same time.

"Wait. What?" I asked, confused.

"It was no secret how you two feel about each other. It just took you a while to say it out loud. We still want you to stay with us, Brad. Just no closed doors."

"Dad!"

"Fine, you can close the door, but not when you are the only two people in the room."
My dad is so embarrassing! I'm burying my red face into Brad's shoulder. I haven't mastered turning invisible...yet.

I almost forgot why we were in the hospital. That is, until I heard my brother's name.