Our Safeguard

Chapter 36

Chapter 36

~Jerome~

       Something was off with Nolan. Every time I thought that he was going to be happy again, he wasn't. He wasn't sad or upset either, though. That was the part that was off. Though his feelings weren't always black and white, I had come to an understanding about how it works most of the time. If he wasn't happy or content, chances were he just wasn't doing well mentally. 

       That wasn't it this time. He kind of seemed... I don't know, pissed off about everything. Someone said hi to him, he would look at them with an annoyed expression. I tried asking if he wanted to go out for lunch, and he looked at me like I was the most annoying person on the planet. I kissed his cheek, he wiped it off. 

       Poppy told him it was time for dinner, and Nolan just looked like he was ready to murder someone.

       I wasn't sure if I should be scared or not.

       Nolan ate most of his dinner before standing up from the table. "I'm going to the studio." Without waiting for anyone to say something, if we were, he walked towards the front door and walked out, slamming it shut behind him.

       After a few moments of silence, Alan said, "Is it just me or is Nolan pissed off?"

       "It's not just you," Ryder said. He looked at me. "What did you do?"

       "What did I do?" I repeated. "Why are you assuming that I did something?"

       "Did you?"

       "What? No. Even I don't know why he's mad. We talked about something a few days ago, he seemed better, but then the next day he's just... Mad about everything."

       "I'm blaming Ryder," Orchid said.

       Ryder glared at Orchid. "I didn't do anything."

       Even though Nolan probably wanted to be alone right now, I didn't like seeing him this mad. I didn't know if it was because of his mental health or if something actually happened. Either way, I wanted to make sure he was okay. If he wanted me to leave him alone, I would. But I should at least check up on him.

       I got up from the table and hurried outside, seeing that Nolan was already far down the sidewalk. I quickened my pace to catch up to him. Before I could even say something, Nolan glared at me. "Go away."

       "Why are you so mad?" I asked.

       "I'm not mad," Nolan said.

       "Nolan, you're constantly glaring at everyone," I said. "What's up? Did someone do something?"

       Nolan ignored me. He just continued walking down the sidewalk, not looking at me as if I would just leave him alone. I mean, I would eventually since I didn't want to seem like a helicopter boyfriend, but I wanted to at least figure out if it was his mental health or an external reason.

       We got all the way to the studio without Nolan saying anything else. The moment we were both inside with the door closed, I said, "Nolan, can you please talk to me?"

       Nolan heads over to his paint. "No. Go away."

       "Not until I make sure you okay."

       "You sure you're not just making sure I'm not going to kill myself."

       "Whoa, this is not what it's about. You're never this mad for so long, so I just want to make sure no one did anything or said anything to you."