finding you

fifty nine

It's been a couple weeks now since I told Rhys about Brooke. I honestly wasn't ever planning on telling him. But after weeks of acting unbothered whenever she was around, from every call and text Rhys would get from her, and acting like the fact Rhys and Brooke dated didn't affect me, was really starting to build up inside of me; more so than even the stuff with Lyle. I don't know if I would ever tell him about Lyle. It has nothing to do with him and I already dropped a load about his ex-girlfriend on him. That's enough for now.

It's actually insane how good I feel, after telling him. I trust him; and somehow, I feel an even stronger pull to him. I want him.

We've been texting nearly everyday. He's very consistent with checking up on me in the mornings. It's incredibly cute. I was actually expecting this to, at the very least, distance us; but it's done the opposite. He seems more adamant on making this work. I've even briefly mentioned it to my Dad. I didn't say we were dating or anything, but I did say we were becoming good friends. He's not entirely on board with the whole idea; but as long as I'm being careful, he's happy to see me happy.

"Dad, please do not be weird or anything. It's not like Rhys is the only one coming over."

I sip on my hard lemonade while I lounge on the deck and my dad gets the barbeque going. My dad said he had an abundance of burgers and hotdogs that he wanted to cook up so he threw out the idea of me inviting some friends over. Somehow, I awkwardly took that as a chance to have Rhys over at the house... with my dad. Of course, Ron and Ashton are coming, too; I'm just starting to worry that Dad is going to treat Rhys like some suitor after his only daughter.

"Weird? I'm not going to be weird. Unless he gives me a reason to be weird, you have nothing to worry about, honey."

"Ugh, Daaaaad," I groan. This is going to be a total disaster. I can feel the uncomfortableness arising.

My phone dings, distracting me for a moment. They're here. I think they all came together in one car.

"They're here," I announce, quickly, before jumping up and running around to the front. I'm barefoot, but it's just grass. Being barefoot in the summertime is honestly my favorite part. I love it.

"Hey!" Ronnie chirps when she sees me come around the corner. Ashton and Rhys jump out of the car after her.

My eyes immediately go to Rhys. Despite the awkwardness of having him here with my dad, I'm excited to see him again. It's been like four days since we've hung out last, but I think I was actually missing him because all I'm wanting to do is run into his arms.

"Hey you," he smiles, walking right to me. I don't really know what to do when he approaches.

I want to touch him, but is that too couple-y?

He seems to notice my awkwardness because he chuckles looking at me. "What's this? Aren't you excited to see me? Where's my hug?"

I feel my cheeks turn red. How does he manage to always make me feel embarrassed from the tiniest of things? I can tell how much he loves it, too. He loves seeing me flustered. I hate him yet love him for it.

I scrunch my face up a bit in playful way, lightly punching him in the arm before I am brought into his embrace. It feels all too good. Safe. Warm. Wow, I really missed the smell of him, too. I awkwardly look around my surroundings and to my relief, Ashton and Ron have already gone out back where my Dad is. It shouldn't be weird for them to see us like this, but any sort of PDA is still super weird for me.

You're hugging, Theo. Relax.

He holds me for a minute longer before he pushes me back a bit and lifts my chin up. To my utter surprise, he kisses me on the lips. I'm too shocked to kiss him back because all I can think in my head is, oh my God, my dad is around the corner.

He pulls away and tucks a piece of hair behind my ear. He laughs at me when he sees my face, obviously satisfied with my reaction. "You look a little flushed," he gloats, before turning to follow Ron and Ash.

I stand there for a minute to catch my breath. This night is going to be all too much for me.

I walk around the house to my backyard just in time to see Rhys and my father in an all-too-proper handshake. I cringe internally and immediately want to hide myself.

"Beautiful house you got here," Rhys says, sounding extremely manly and formal. I want to roll my eyes at their man-to-man exchange.

My dad's fairly tall but Rhys surpasses height by quite a bit. I can really notice it when they're standing so close to each other.

"Thanks," my Dad says. "Theo tells me you work at CCC. You're family's business, right?"

Uh, Dad. What are you doing? Does he seriously feel the need to bring up the fact that he's a Collins?

"Yes, sir, but only during summers. I go to Seattle in the fall for school."

"Ah, I see. SU?"

Rhys nods, and I immediately know where this is going. Oh no. Dad, don't. I haven't told him yet.

"No way, so both you kids will be going to school together then. That's good Theo will have a friend already." My dad looks at me and I think I lose feeling in both my legs. I try to avoid looking at Rhys when he snaps his head in my direction.

"Uh..." I say, but I realize I barely whispered it.

I'm momentarily saved by Ashton burning his hand on my dad's barbeque, causing a small scene. He yelps and flings his hand in the air as if that will help with the burning.

My dad jumps to throw cold water on him, making him laugh after a moment. "You haven't changed, son."

Ashton is crouched over and looks up at my dad and laughs. "Oh, how I missed nights like these."

So do I, actually. Aside from the horrid time I had during high school, there were still some good moments that had me laughing from time to time.

I join into everyone's momentary laughter- well, everyone but Rhys. He seems to be rather preoccupied with the news of me attending SU in the fall. I can tell he's still trying to work it out in his head. Our eyes suddenly meet, and somehow, I can't ignore the lump that has suddenly appeared in my throat.