As I Fell ✓

Chapter 30: Lovesick

Owen
"Mum, I think I'm diseased." I blurted out as soon as Mum and Dad came home from work.

Mum put down her bag and went up to me and touched my forehead, then my neck before she put het hands all over me. She frowned and gave me a look.

"You seem okay darling. Maybe you're just overreacting a tad bit. Get some sleep now, would you?" Mum said as she kissed my forehead and took off from the living room and went straight to the master's to get some rest from work.

As much as I wanted my own mother to have some time to herself, I was restless. I was very confused by Athena's sudden behavior and I needed answers. Mum was the only sane person to respond to them.

I felt my face scrunch up into a frown as soon as Mum left.

"So Professor X, what's with the face? Wanted Mummy to read you a bedtime story?" Jace said as he ruffled my hair and made it messier than it was before.

I slapped his hand and scowled. He shot up his arms in surrender and went straight towards the fridge to grab a diet coke.

"Shut up. Don't ever call me Professor X, you bloody bastard." I muttered as I wheeled myself toward Noah who was just enjoying some popcorn in front of the TV. He was watching Endgame now.

"Noah I need you." I said as I pulled up beside the couch where Noah was. He pushed up his glasses and looked at me with a confused look.

"To what do I owe the pleasure?"

I sighed and took some popcorn from Noah's bowl. I popped in a few of them into my mouth and as I swallowed them hard, I turned over to look at him.

"You're the next sane person in this house aside from Mum. Tell me I'm not diseased."

He shot me a confused look and shook his head before bursting into a fit of laughter.

Now I was even more confused.

"Owen, you're not diseased. You just got out of a fever. Maybe it's just the after effects." he said with a shrug as he threw some popcorn into his mouth and averted his gaze back to the TV.

"Then explain why I feel funny." I said as I crossed my arms. Noah then looked at me and muted the TV.

"What?" he asked.

I rolled my eyes and sighed.

"I feel weird. It's like, I've got this constant warmth coming from my insides every afternoon."

Noah nodded.

"Is it a good kind of warmth or something else?"

"Maybe good. I'm not entirely sure. It didn't kill me though."

He clapped his hands and put a hand over my shoulder, dismissing the awkward gap between us since he's on the couch and I'm on my chair.

"There's nothing to worry about warm fuzzy feelings Owen. It's normal. You're not gonna die."

I was not yet satisfied with how he answered and kept pushing until I got what I wanted to hear from him aside from the fact that I'm not dying.

"But why does my heart race every time I do my schoolwork? Or whenever my palms get sweaty even when it's cold? I even choked on saliva."

Noah seemed amused and chuckled, shaking his head as he looked at me.

"Are you sure it's schoolwork?" he said as he raised up a brow. I just stared back at him in confusion.

"Of course yes! I study after school with Athena at the bookstore after all." I said as I shook my head and stared intently at the muted Endgame scene being played on TV.