Collide

23

i just couldn't wait with the update.... epilogue up tomorrow.

______

I stare at Reece with widened eyes. Does he know? He can't know how I really feel.

He tilts his head to the side, just looking at me.

This lasts for another few moments, until Reece sighs. "No answer?"

"No answer", I mumble.

"Well, I was just curious. Let's go back to the others. They might wonder where we were. Not that they assume something wrong." He winks at me as he starts walking away.

I quickly follow him. "Not that my friends would, anyway."

He laughs, and I admire it. I want to tell him that he's the reason, but I can't. It wouldn't work out.

"Don't forget to come with me after school", he whispers right when we get to the others.

I just nod. As if I was able to forget about it. I smile to myself after sitting down. I really don't understand Reece, but right now he's my favourite person in the world.

°

After the lesson ends I catch up with Reece walking away. "Hey."

He smiles when he sees me. "Glad you remember."

"Come on!", I laugh.

His mum is still getting him because he still can't walk that long, well he could but it wouldn't be that good for him, I guess. It's a bit awkward, but it doesn't last long.

Reece and I disappear to his room when we're at his house. Nothing had changed. Not that I had expected anything to change.

"Sit down", he points to the free space on his bed.

I sit down slowly. "So, you've wanted me here?"

"Yeah. Because I've decided I'm an idiot. I want to be friends with you. So I'm making you hang out with me in your freetime." He grins.

"Aw. Never seen anyone who wanted to be friends with me that badly", I tease him.

He shrugs. "There's a first time for everything."

Neither one of us talks for a few minutes, we just sit and think. It's a comfortable silence, no pressure to talk.

It ends though when I can't stop myself from asking one thing: "Why did you hate me all these years?"

Reece looks at me for a moment, then down. I hear him snort. He's playing with his rings, which might be a sign that he's nervous. "I don't know if I should tell you." He looks back to me. "It could be the only thing to ruin the peace between us."

"If there is something that can do it, then we have to erase it. Tell me."

"I see, you're determined. Well, then let me tell you the story. There's me, just a guy, merely a kid. I moved, and everything was new to me. I tried to find his way around, but there aas one thing making my life so strange, weird, different. There was something changing my world." Reece closes his eyes and I hear him take a deep breath. "There's another world colliding with his. There was a guy I couldn't stop thinking about. He was on my mind, always. Because he was cute, intelligent. However, I didn't know what was happening to me, I didn't know how to react to what seemed to be feelings." Once again, he makes a break. I notice his hands are shaking. "I was stupid. That's all. George, you were the first boy I had a crush on. And because I couldn't deal with it I started teasing you, mocked you. Back then I didn't even mean it in a bad way. I just thought I couldn't have a boy on my mind, and I thought it'd stop if I could look at you differently, so I basically made myself believe you had all those bad sides. I'm so sorry." He's fully crying now, while I just stare at him. I'm shocked, surprised. I don't know how to react.

"I know it sounds stupid. Because it is. I regret everything. I hope I didn't make you life hell." He looks up to me, tears still clouding his eyes.

"No, no. I didn't care about your insults that much. I only was so confused why you seemed to hate me without reason." I chuckle to myself.

"You don't care that I had a crush on you?", he asks, his voice confused, worried maybe.

"No. To be honest, I don't understand why me, but I feel honoured." I smile at Reece, but inside of me there's chaos. He liked me, back then. I was his first boy crush. Life can be so stupid.

"That's good", he lets himself fall back, bouncing on his bed slightly. He starts laughing. "My god, I'm so pathetic. Sorry that I get all that emotional about it."

"No, no, I get it. You shouldn't worry about all those things that aren't worth it", I encourage him.

"You're actually an angel man, I hate it."

I laugh. "That seems to describe it all too well."

Reece joins my laughter, but stops laughing after a while. He turns to face me. "Do you wanna hear another chapter of the story?"

"Oh there's more to it?", I ask, not knowing what to expect.

He grins before he suddenly starts moving. He sits back up, pushes me down onto his bed instead and then leans over me. "Our main character - me - is a little older now. He regrets being mean to the other guy just because of his feelings. He knows it's nothing wrong with him liking a guy. But then suddenly, my world was shaken up again. By the same guy. They collide again. They still throw comments at each other, but it's more of an old habit. But they get closer this time. They have to actually talk. They start being friends. But I had a problem." Reece smiles and crawls on me, leaving me breathless. "The feelings - as soon as they're close, the feelings come back. It's not what I wanted. We've just become friends, and it was nice. I thought I shouldn't be egoistic and ruin it because of my feelings. And because I was still stupid, I just ruined it again in my own way by deciding to ignore you. I thought I was doing the right thing.I only realised it when I saw you out with another guy. Man, I was so jealous. It changed everything. It made me angry, I exploded towards Hailey. I just wanted to be close to you. Be in his place. You wouldn't believe how glad I was when I overheard you talking with the girl earlier." He laughs a little.

I just stare at him, still a little confused. I can't process what he's telling me.

"And so I decided that the two worlds had to collide again. I dom't care if we end up as friends. I just want you in my life. And now, I got you here like this." His hand softly starts going through my hair. "And you don't look like you mind."

"You're right, I don't mind", I whisper breathlessly. "I agree that these worlds had to collide again." I slightly sit up so I'm closer to him. "Maybe they could even become one."

With these words I lean in and kiss him. I don't know where my confidence comes from. I would've never gone for a kiss first, it's just the effact Reece has on me. The goosebumps and butterflies he gives me. Kissing him was the only right thing to.

Because it's not only our worlds colliding, it is completing each others world.