I Hide It Well

Chapter 2

~Mitch's POV~

How long has it been going on?
How long has Jerome been going out early into the morning?
{It's none of your business, he's an adult. He can make his own decisions.} My inner thoughts scolded me.

"But I don't care!" I surprisingly said out loud. "He means the world to me! Why is he so oblivious!?" The tears begged to slip from my eyes but I refused, it was already bad enough I was expressing my thoughts so loudly. My door suddenly opened, the man himself standing in the doorway.

"Who means the world to you?" He said leaning against the door frame. "And why don't you care?" He smirked.

"We're you listening to me?" I replied, embarrassed.

"No, the entire neighborhood was. It's literally 10:00 am and you sound like a howling wolf." I couldn't tell if Jerome was frustrated or joking with me, so I chose not to react. I sniffled.

"It's nothing to your concern..." I said standing up.

"Where were you earlier this morning?" I asked, nonchalantly fixing my hair in a mirror. I had to look like I was calm and collected. He seemed slightly taken aback that I so easily asked such a question after the little "show" I had put on, but quickly recovered.

"Better question is, why were you in my room at 2 am?" He stood upright now, arms folded. I sighed.

"Don't answer then, but I'm watching you." I said jokingly, punching his shoulder on my way out of my room. I walked down into the kitchen, my stomach was growling. Jerome followed me downstairs. Walking over to lean on the back of the couch, I pulled out my phone.

"How does pizza sound?" I said looking at him.

"At 10:00 in the morning?" He looked puzzled.

"There is never a bad time for pizza." I replied. He shrugged and nodded.

"I can't argue with that logic, fair enough." I dialed the number for the local pizza place and we both waited eagerly, standing around the island in our kitchen. I looked up at him every so often, as he pretended to be absorbed into whatever was on his phone screen. I decided to break the silence.

"Were you with Alanna?" I said, head in hands, elbows on countertop. He looked up at me mid typing, his phone and hands not moving from their position. He continued to look at me for a moment until he locked his phone and shoved it into his pocket.

"And if I was?" He leaned against the wall. I put my hands up, in a surrendering manner.

"Hey man, no need to get defensive. Just a simple question." And at that moment I could've sworn I saw him blush. Maybe I'm crazy, but that's what it looked like.

"Whatever..." He said straightening his posture and fixing his shirt. "Want to go record a quick video before the pizza gets here?" I looked at him suspiciously but eventually gave in.

"Sure, if you even can...after the intense night you had with Alanna!" I ran past him, punching him in the arm again. "Race you to the room!" As much as it pained me to tease him about Alanna and his relationship, I hid my sadness behind jokes and silliness. I wasn't ready for him to know how I truly felt yet...I needed to work myself up to that point. I needed some kind of sign that me might actually care about me in the same manner; but with how things looked right now, that day might never come. I was sure as hell hopeful though.

~Time Skip~

"Alright, well that does it for this episode of How To Minecraft, episode 36! I hope you guys and we'll see you all next time, later doods!"

"Have a good day everybody!" Jerome cheerily chimed in after me. The sound of his happiness gave my butterflies, but I chose to ignore them. I leaned back in my chair with a sigh.

"I want piiiizzzzaaaaa." I groaned. Jerome giggled and I melted inside.

"Same dude." He stood up, quickly saving his recording and stretching. "How long did the place say?"

"35 minutes...pfft." I said rolling my eyes. A sudden ring of a doorbell made me jump. "Well...never mind." We both walked downstairs, exchanging the money for the pizza. We set the pizza box down and both began chowing down. Mid conversation, an idea came to me.

{Lets try something...} I thought to myself. I did my best to remain casual, while also slowly sliding my foot forward.

{Okay now where is it...ah!} I'd hit treasure, I'd found his foot. I didn't move for awhile, but every few minutes moved my foot closer and closer to his. Eventually, our feet were right up against each other. I sat and waited for him to awkwardly pull away or get up to throw his plate away, but he didn't move. He continued to chat like nothing was out of the ordinary. As bad as I wanted to internally squeal and get my hopes up, I refrained.

{He probably just doesn't notice.} I decided not to push it any further, in fear I'd make it too obvious. I continued to slowly chew my pizza, trying to savor the moment of the subtle contact.

"Mitch?" Jerome suddenly questioned. I quickly snapped back to reality, almost drawing my foot backward with me, but luckily refraining.

"Yes?"

{Please don't say anything about the contact...}My thoughts begged.

"You want the last slice?" I looked over at the pizza box, most likely bright red.

"Uhm...no dude...go ahead." I awkwardly coughed and tossed my plate in the trash to my near right, making sure not to move my foot an inch. He still hasn't moved his. We sat in silence after that; I was terrified he had noticed how I was redder than a firetruck. Jerome suddenly spoke up.

"You good dude? You look like a tomato." He took the last bite from his pizza.

"Heh, yeah I'm great. Never better."

{Lies.}
I stood up, pushing in my chair.

"Thanks for splitting the cost with me." I said awkwardly, quickly rushing upstairs.

{God Mitch, you're so damn awkward.}

||A/N- HEY GUYS! It's Jenna. So I barely ever update this is you couldn't tell. I'm not had hardcore merome as I used to be, so my motivation is low. I'll continue this when I have time, but for now have chapter 2, which is 1042 words (a lot more than chap. 1!!). I really hope you guys are enjoying this so far, comment any suggestions below. Thanks for dealing with the wait!||