Soft Hearts | In A Heartbeat Fanfiction

22: Bop bop to the top

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After school, Sherwin met up with Jonathan at the gate like usual. "Hey, Pumpkin," Jon greeted warmly, taking his hand after they rounded the corner and away from peering eyes.

"Is that your official thing, now?" Sherwin asked, smirking. "What if I died my hair green? Wouldn't be so pumpkin anymore." Jon just laughed.

"Well, then you'd be Zucchini, of course!" he joked. "Or...hm...what other types of green gourds are there?" Sherwin playfully nudged him in the side, and Jonathan nudged back.

"Hey, not fair!" Sherwin protested, protecting his abdomen. "I'm ticklish!" Jon raised an eyebrow.

"You think that's gonna stop me, huh?" he questioned slyly. Sherwin's eyes went wide as Jon reached his arms out, waving his fingers. "Gonna getchaaa!"

Sherwin shrieked and ran down the sidewalk laughing as Jonathan gave chase, hands outstretched like a zombie. "Why do you have to be in baseball?!" Sherwin cried as his friend quickly caught up to him and wrapped his arms around his waist, lifting him up effortlessly.

"You can never escape," Jon said playfully as Sherwin's legs dangled off the ground. He then nuzzled Sherwin's stomach with his nose, making him giggle even harder. After Sherwin was finally released, he still kept one arm lovingly around Jonathan as they began to walk again.

They were almost at Sherwin's house. As the flustered ginger stopped to say goodbye, he took Jon's hands in his own. His friend's palms were larger than his, and his grip was strong, yet surprisingly soft at the same time. "Jon?" he started, keeping his voice low. "What...what exactly are we?"

Jonathan let out the tiniest of breaths. "I'm honestly not sure," he admitted, squeezing Sherwin's hands. Their eyes met. Jonathan's blue gaze seemed to bore into his own, so intently that Sherwin almost failed to notice how close they were getting. Almost. His eyes flickered downward for a split second at Jon's mouth, then back up.

"I love you," Sherwin whispered, unsure of what to say.

"Love you too," Jonathan mumbled before closing the space between them. As their lips met, Sherwin heard a sound from his right and suddenly jerked away, looking for the source. Jon gasped.

"I'm so sorry, I didn't think- you-" he stuttered, looking worried.

"No, it's okay. I...I heard something," Sherwin reassured him, and they both stared over at the clump of trees, still holding onto each other. The foliage trembled for a moment, and his breath caught in his throat. Then, a squirrel dashed out from underneath a bush and raced past them. Jonathan laughed, and Sherwin let out a sigh of relief. My paranoia is getting out of hand, he thought.

The two of them shared one last hug, then Sherwin walked up to his house and went inside.

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"Sherwin, I'm boreddd," Melanie groaned, tugging on his sleeve. Sherwin pulled away from his little sister.

"You're always bored," he pointed out, changing the channel on the television, then sat back down on the couch. She flopped next to him, clutching a toy truck. "Hey...where'd you get that?" he inquired. The only toys their mom bought for Melanie were dolls and stuffed animals.

"I borrowed it from Tommy," the nine-year-old shrugged. "Now it's mine."

"That's...not what 'borrowed' means," Sherwin muttered, shaking his head. "Well, I'd suggest keeping that out of Mom's sight. She wouldn't want you playing with cars, god forbid you ever learn how to drive."

Melanie didn't catch his sarcasm. "I won't be allowed to drive?!" she exclaimed in outrage. "That's not fairrr!" Melanie let out an angry shout and chucked the toy, which thankfully didn't break as it hit the carpet. Tommy got lucky this time, Sherwin said to himself.

Later that evening, Sherwin pulled out the mysterious note from earlier. "Don't take my usual route..." he trailed off, deep in thought. "Why?" None of it made sense. Without context, Sherwin couldn't figure it out at all. Groaning in frustration, he crumpled up the paper and tossed it in the trash.

Then, suddenly, Sherwin thought about the strange sound he'd heard earlier, when he and Jon kissed. He didn't know why, but something was itching at the back of his mind, and he couldn't recall what it was. Don't worry, the ginger told himself, dismissing his thoughts. You're just paranoid. After tossing and turning in bed for a while, Sherwin eventually managed to fall into a fitful slumber.

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