Loving A Deformity

Chapter 23

"Are you mad at me for something?" Cera blurted out, looking at Alec as he drove to her house. Chris and Gabe left in the other car and headed home, leaving Cera to suffer as she sat in an unusual and uncomfortable silence with Alec. The tension was suffocating and was driving Cera up a wall.
"Huh?" Alec glanced at her, confused.
"You've been acting strange all day. I don't know... you seem upset. I'm sorry we're too tired to go catch that new movie you wanted to see but maybe we can catch it another day!" She tried to smile. Alec suddenly felt guilty. Here she was, trying to make it a good day for him and he was acting strangely cold to her.
"No, I'm sorry." He sighed. "I've been acting weird... I just wish I could've seen my mom today." He partially lied. "You haven't done anything wrong. I don't really have a reason to be like this..."
"N-no! It's fine!" Cera suddenly felt guilty for bringing it up. "I get it! I mean... I... I can't say I know what that's like but- wait, no, that's not what I meant either!" She blushed but sat back in her seat and sighed, looking at her lap. "Nevermind. Ignore me." To this, Alec couldn't help but laugh. Cera looked at him as he showed a bright smiled and laughed at her.
"You know, I find it amazing you can talk to anyone at all with your rambling." He laughed. Cera felt her face get hot and annoyance build. Is he making fun of me? She wondered with a focused, almost glare like expression that Alec didn't see.
"My rambling?"
"You do it more often than you think." He laughed. "It's cute." The words left his mouth before he could process what he said. A nervous feeling over took him but it was too late to correct himself. His heart started to beat, unknowingly, along with Cera's.
"Huh?" She asked. Alec felt himself panic.
"It's cute." He adjusted himself, trying to seem nonchalant but secretly moving uncomfortably in his seat. Why is it suddenly so damn hot?! He asked himself before turning on the car fan to help cool him off. Cera tried to understand. He's never called her that before. But, he seemed so casual about it, she didn't see a reason to blow it out of proportion.
"Of course it is. I'm adorable." She said, jokingly, smiling. Alec chuckled and glanced at her before looking away and sighing, relieved.

***

Alec drove up and stopped right in front of Cera's house. They sat there for a moment- not really knowing what to do. Alec usually walked her to her door but he felt frozen in his seat. Still, he managed to take the keys out of the ignition and sit there quietly. After a moment of waiting, Cera couldn't take it anymore.
"Umm... night..." She went to open her door but Alec clicked a button on his side and locked it. Cera sat back and looked at Alec, expectingly. Last time he did this, he had something to say but didn't know how to word it. She assumed that was the case here and decided to wait for him to speak. She kept her eyes on him as he looked forward.
"I just wanted to say," he looked at her. "Thank you." To this, Cera blinked, expecting him to elaborate. "Thank you for today. I had a lot of fun." Alec smiled at her. She smiled back.
"Of course." She said. They both go and give each other a long hug. "Happy Birthday, Alec." Cera smiled, her chin in his neck. She couldn't get her arms around him but let them stay limp as he had his arms fully around her, tightly. It was daring, but what he wanted to say was true- not in a romantic sense- but rather on the level of friendship he knew was mutual. Still, he never said it aloud before.
"I love you, Cera." He whispered. Cera relaxed her shoulders to his words and smiled.
"I love you, too, Alec." She said calmly. Eventually, after a long time of just hugging, Cera pulled away. "I'll see you later." She nodded at him, unlocked her door, and started to get out but he grabbed her arm.
"Wait." He got her attention. "Are we going to hang out tomorrow?"
"I don't know." Cera scrunched up her face. "I have my self defense classes tomorrow. I can't miss those..." she shrugged, feeling bad.
"Ah, okay. I'll text you, then." He nodded.
"Okay." She nodded with a happy grin. "Talk to you later. Good night!"
"Night." Alec nodded back before Cera closed her door and walked to her front door. Alec sighed and hit his head on the back of his seat, closing his eyes. It was a long day.