The Hooded Girl (on hold)

||Chapter 15||

Cecelia

I take a deep breath before sitting. I didn't know why I was so nervous. Maybe it was because I thought my sister was kidnapped or the fact Tate hadn't been messaging me back and now we were forced to share a meal together thanks to little miss grumpy pants over here. He awkwardly slides a burger towards me and a glass of orange juice. I look up at him confused. His expression quickly changes from a shy smile to a concerned look "I can get you something else if you want. Unless you've already eaten? I just remembered from last time you liked-" he was rambling which meant he was nervous. He did that a lot I've noticed "Thank you" I say with a smile while picking at the fries.

We sit there in silence. I had so much to say. So much I wanted to ask him. So much I wanted to tell him, but my mouth wouldn't allow it. Silence was our main topic and our awkward moments of eye contact was how we communicated "You guys are weird" the little devil who caused this whole thing says next to me, breaking the silence "Liv" I say in a big sister tone considering it was rude to call people weird "This is more boring than my ballet class" I completely forgot to ask how it was "how was it?" I quickly ask "It was boring. Everyone just twirled around and walked in straight lines. No pliés, no pirouettes, nothing just twirls and Madame Elise counting down from ten" she says rolling her eyes causing Tate to laugh "Hey hang in there. Eventually it'll get better" Tate says leaning down towards her on the table "Sure it will" she says bitting off a piece of pancake "Trust me. I hated football, but then I started playing with my brother and then I loved it sometimes I'd even sleep in my uniform" he says with genuine passion in his eyes "I didn't know you played football" I say interrupting. He looks up at me with a small smile before answering "I don't. Well...not anymore" he says leaning back and looking down at his food "Why not? Did something happen?" I ask with genuine concern. It was only for a second, but I could see in his eyes how much he loved football. "There's only one quarterback" he says shrugging his shoulders "And..." I say not following "And that quarter back is River" he says meeting my eyes. Oh. River was, ridiculously good. Maybe Tate was sick of living in his shadow. "What about basketball?" I ask even though River also played basketball "It's not the same" he says with a small smile "My sister loves football" liv says with a small smile "Does she" He says sounding genuinely surprised "Funny, your sister never told me that" he says smiling "Well why doesn't she come to our school games then" he says smiling at me "Because she's too busy looking at the ground and not the world. That's what mommy says" liv says full on exposing me "Well I guess I'll just have to drag her to one when the season starts" he says stealing one of my fries followed by a wink "Is that right" I squint at him and steal one of his fries "Mhmm" he smiles. I smile back. It felt like nothing had changed. Like our friendship hadn't reached a random speed bump. It just felt like...us.

We talk for hours. Catching up on things we'd missed out on in the short period we weren't talking for. Liv had fallen asleep watching YouTube videos on Tate's phone. "Elena I-" he stops "Can I call you Elena or is it Ce-" I quickly cut him off "Elena's fine" I hated hearing him calling me Cecelia. It didn't feel right. It didn't feel like Tate. "Well Elena I'm sorry" he says with soft eyes "Sorry for what?" I ask not wanting to cause any awkward tension "Sorry for the past week, sorry for-" he's cut off by the infamous sound of Work out by J Cole. My eyes widen and I quickly pick up "He-hello" I say into the phone. Sorry I mouth to Tate. "Cecelia where are you?" My mothers concerned voice is on the other side of the phone. I look at the clock on the diner to see it was going on to 9:30 WHAT THE HECK I panic internally. I look outside to see it was dark outside "Sorry mom I was catching up with a friend and lost track of time" I say looking up at Tate who looked concerned "we'll be home soon" I assure her "Okay honey be safe. How's your sister?" She asks a little more calm "She's fine. She fell asleep watching videos on Tate's phone" my eyes widen as his name leaves my mouth. Did I just say that out loud "Cecelia is that a boy?!!" She says overly excited "Yes mom it's a boy" I say rolling my eyes at Tate who now smirking "Okay honey well you two have fun. Don't stay out too late" she laughs while telling me that. I smile and shake my head "Bye mom. Love you" I say "Love you too sweetie" she says before hanging up "Do you need to get home?" Tate asks "I think so" I say looking at Liv dead asleep in her ballet outfit "I don't know how I'll wake her up without her throwing a fit" Tate laughs probably imagining Liv throwing a fit "I'll carry her" he offers as he slides out of the booth "You sure?" I ask as I stand up "of course" he smiles as he slides her out of the booth and into his arms. I just smile enjoying the scene "You want to be carried too?" He asks with a chuckle. I roll my eyes and pick up the car seat "I was kidding" he calls as I walk past him.

I open the diner door for them and watch as he carries her in the most fatherly way possible. I laugh in my head as I follow behind them "I can hear you laughing In Your head" he says from the front. My breath hitches as he laughs. He clicks the car open and I put her car seat in. Luckily he'd brought the car around after dessert  otherwise we'd be walking for 15 mins in the dark.

He stands behind me as if he were protecting me. After I set the car seat up he puts her in and attempts to fasten her belt "I'll do it" I say as I attempt to grab it off him "Nope I got it" he says laughing "I'll do it" I raise my brows at him "nope show me" he says as he puts both his arms on either side of me as I show him how to buckle her in "You put this in here"I say as I do it "then it clicks in and you repeat it with the other side" he nods as if he were taking mental notes. I close the door and walk to the passengers seat. He gets in next and locks the doors "Never know what weirdos are around at this time" he says "do you normally do this" I ask raising a brow "Nope but when I have two precious ladies I need to return home id double lock the doors" he says starting the car "wouldn't that unlock it?" I reply "enough questions" he says putting the radio on and driving out of the car park.

A/N:HEY GUYS!! I Finally added a new chapter on this book. It's almost been a year since I first wrote it so I'm still tying to get comfortable with the characters again ( I keep accidentally writing Kayden and Hunter instead of Tate and River🤭🤦🏽‍♀️)Hopefully I can get the flow back and not disappoint you guys!💗 more chapters coming soon x