We're Not Related Anymore...

What a [BLEEP] Up

Maddie: Three Years Ago

Something has changed between us since our trip together. At home, everyone's noticed it too. 

"I'm glad you two are finally getting along," my dad tells us as we three make supper one night. "I was starting to wonder if that would ever happen. It seems the trip alone was what you needed to become friends." Oh, if only he knew.

Jacob and I smile. We work well together in the kitchen. We're in sync, like with everything other thing we do together. And now that we both know where we stand, it's like a weight has been lifted off of our shoulders. We can be in the same room without inadvertently annoying each other or setting one another off. The smallest comments that used to put me in a jealous rage now just make me smile. I don't care who his mom thinks he should ask to prom because, in my heart, I know it's me that he loves. I still get butterflies every time I think of his confession. 

His birthday is coming up soon and I've been quietly putting together something of a gift for him. It was hard to decide on what to get him but I think he'll like it. The gift is actually two different things. One is so that he has something to open in front of his family and the other gift... is one that I still blush thinking about. I have no idea what possessed me to do what I did, but I feel like since I've already taken and developed the pictures, I have to give them to him.

We're at school when I decide to give him his first present. I find him in the library where he usually is this time of day and slide into the seat next to him. He's so absorbed in whatever book he's reading that he doesn't even notice I'm there until I clear my throat. 

"Maddie?" He says in surprise. I usually don't seek him out at school. I know my face must be as red as can be as I fish out his card from my bag and slide it across the table to him. "My birthday isn't until tomorrow," he says, looking at the words scribbled on the front. He starts pulling at the seal and I panic. 

"Don't open it now!" I hiss, putting my hands over his over the card. Someone shushes me from the other side of the library and I sink into the chair. "Only when it's your birthday. And open it when you're at home. Alone," I add, my voice shaking. This was a bad idea. I should just...

He snatches the card and slides it under a book before I can take it back. "What's in here?" He asks, eyeing it like there's a bomb. 

I cough again and focus on a pen mark on the wooden table. "Since you said, uh..." I clear my throat again, allowing my hair to fall over my face so that he can't look me in the eyes. "It's for next year since you said you probably weren't going to get a girlfriend."

Why the fuck did I think this was a good idea? 

"So... is it love letters?" He asks and his words make me feel even more embarrassed. Of course, he would think it was something innocent like that. I blush further. 

"It's more like that time Tessa found..." I don't even have to finish my sentence. He knows exactly what I'm talking about and ducks his head down. 

"Oh. Thank you," I don't think I imagine the slight bit of humor I hear in his voice underneath the sheepish embarrassment. 

"Ok, well I'm going to go kill myself now," I say, mostly to myself. Before I stand up, he catches my wrist. 

"Maddie, thank you," he says and I risk a look at him. He has that fond look in his eyes that always gets me. "I mean it... it's really thoughtful of you."

"If you ever tell anyone, I'll knife you," I tell him as I back away again. 

"I'll guard them with my life, trust me," he says, laughter in his voice.