Never Kiss And Tell.

Never Kiss And Tell - 16

Chapter 16

                One week. One week and the pain still hadn’t receded every time I saw Nate. I still hadn’t gotten the courage to go to Caroline’s house, because I knew it’d be too painful. There was a part of me that wanted to go up to Nate every time I saw him, and let him know that I was kidding, that we could go back to being us. Whatever us was. 

                How I had become so attached to Nate in such a short time, I didn’t know, but it had happened. He had become my rock, and I just picked it up and threw it away. But that was what was best; for me, for him, and for Caroline. It should have never happened to begin with; that was my first mistake. 

                We were coming up on the big game against our rival school. It was going to be our homecoming, and all of the football players were giving their girlfriends their jerseys. A part of me wishy hat I was still there to get Nate’s even though I knew I wouldn’t have gotten it to begin with. He still hadn’t given his out, though, and I was assuming that he’d just give his to Caroline. In previous years he would give them to a girl he was hoping to get with at the end of the night; I was deluding myself into thinking there wouldn’t be a girl like that this year. 

                Caroline and I sat in my room the night before the game, watching Gossip Girl and doing a whole lot of nothing. There wasn’t anything fun to do at my house, and yet we still hadn’t left. She had been over since school had gotten out, and we had gotten little accomplished. We did, however, paint our nails and stuff our faces with junk food. 

                When we finally decided to start getting ready, which was earlier than usual because Caroline had said she wanted to get a good seat at the game, we had to run over to her house to get her curling iron, makeup, and anything else we would need to get ready. 

                As we pulled up into her driveway, I tensed instinctively as I saw Nate’s car in the driveway. 

                “Why isn’t Nate with the team?” I asked in as normal of a voice I could manage; hopefully she didn’t notice the way it quivered when I said his name. 

                Caroline glanced over at his car as if she had just noticed it, before shrugging her shoulders, “He probably just hasn’t left to get ready for the game yet.”

                She hopped out of the car, making her way to the front door of her house. I took a deep breath before climbing out of my car as well and following her inside. 

                Hopefully we wouldn’t run into Nate at all while we were there. 

                Of course I wasn’t lucky enough for that, though, because as soon as I passed the threshold of her front door I saw him there, sitting on the bottom of the stairs that sat just a few feet in front of the front door. 

                A smile appeared on his face as soon as he saw me appear. As soon as it was there, though, it was gone as he said, “We need to talk.”

                I gulped, my voice shaking. “Okay.”

                Nate reached out, and grabbed my hand, gently pulling me towards him. I looked down on him, hoping that Caroline wouldn’t come out, but not having the willpower to step back away from him. The comfort of his touch was something I was missed too much and even just the simple grip he had on my hand, I already felted more relaxed. 

                It took Nate a moment to gather his thoughts, first looking down at his shoes, and then finally looking back up at me. “I would have never thought that the moment would come in my high school career that I would have someone as special to me as you, that I would want to wear my jersey on the night of one of our big games. But I can’t play my best game unless I have you there, being my number one fan. So will you? Wear my jersey tonight at the game?”

                A smiled played on my lips before uncertainty sank in me once again. “What about Caroline?” I whispered, afraid that she’d hear me where ever she was in the house. 

                “Caroline approves,” I heard my best friend’s familiar voice as she emerged from the kitchen. 

                Nate and I both turned our attention to her, a gently smile on Nate’s face as a quizzical look appeared on mine. “Really?” I asked. 

                Caroline smiled, “Of course. I just want you happy, Ariella, and I want him to not be such a shithead. It’s really a win-win if you think about it.”

                I gave her a hug, squeezing her tightly in order to try and communicate with her how much this meant to me. 

                Pulling us out of our mushy moment, Nate cleared his throat. “So, uh, is that a yes?” He asked, scratching the back of his neck awkwardly. 

                Caroline and I laughed before I walked back over to Nate. “That’s an absolutely, positively, hell yes.”

                Nate smiled up at me, saying, “Good,” before pulling me closer to him and placing a kiss on my lips. 

                It was light, gentle, and quick in order to prevent Caroline from feeling awkward. That moment was probably the best moment of my life, both of the people that I cared about most right by my side. 

                Rushing onto the field, my eyes scanned all of the boys that were walking toward the locker room. As soon as my eyes fell on him, a smile spread across my lips. Nate’s face lit up as well upon seeing me coming towards him, his jersey hanging loosely on my thin body and the chain with his class ring on it bouncing with my every step. 

                “Congratulations,” I told him as he pulled me into a hug, lifting my off of the ground. 

                This made it all worth it; all of the weird looks, all of the snarky remarks from girls that were apparently jealous that I had been wearing his jersey. Being with him made it all worth it. 

                “I love you,” he cooed into my ear, finally setting me back on my own two feet. 

                Literally and metaphorically. He had lifted me back up, when I thought no one would be able to. 

                I smiled bigger than I had in a very long time, pressing my lips against his. “I love you too!”

                And with those three simple words, I made it final. He had definitely become my rock. And I wouldn’t change that for the world. 

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i know this is rushed and shitty, but i hope you like the ending. i'm already working on another book, and i feel it will be much better than this one, haha. hopefully my writing is growing, idk?

anyways, thank you all for sticking through this book with me! i will not be making a sequal or an epilogue. 

i love you all, and you're the best fans ever! 

be sure to watch out for my next book, Like Summer! should be out soon!