To Belong | Protector 5.25

Chapter 26

Chapter 26

       Tell me," Kingsley said, repeatedly poking my shoulder. "Tell me. Tell me. Tell me. Tell me."

       No matter how many times I told Kingsley that I wasn't going to tell him who my friend was, because it wasn't that big of a deal, he wouldn't stop asking me. Honestly, I was even more hesitant about telling Kingsley I was now friends with Webster, especially now that everyone was convinced I had a crush on him.

       I totally didn't. Not at all. Never had, never will. 

       Jerome, Nolan, and Anuhea didn't know what they were talking about.

       It wasn't like I actually enjoyed being around Webster and whenever I wasn't around him, I felt like I really wanted to. And it wasn't like he was constantly on my mind. And he definitely didn't make me smile all the time.

       Yeah, definitely not.

       I haven't responded to Kingsley's constant, "Tell me," yet, so he eventually got annoyed and stopped poking my arm. "You're being mean."

       "And you're being annoying. You don't see me poking someone who's trying to eat breakfast."

       Kingsley looked over at Nolan. "Daaaaad, Arjun won't tell me who he has a crush on."

       "I told you, I don't have a crush on my friend," I said. "And you know the more you bug me about it, the more I don't want to tell you who it is, right?"

       Kingsley huffed. "Fine. I'll just stalk you until I figure out who it is."

       "Now that you told me you're going to stalk me, I'm going to be extra careful and make sure I lose you so you don't see who it is," I said. 

       "Okay, then--" Kingsley began, but Nolan cut him off.

       "Kingsley, just drop it," Nolan said. "You're making a big deal out of nothing. He's allowed to make friends."

       "Yes, and I want to meet this said friend," Kingsley said, cracking his knuckles. "Make 'em know not to mess with my little brother otherwise... Death."

       Nolan sighed. "I told you to drop it. If Arjun wants you to meet his friend eventually, he'll let you. For now, just drop it and go hang out with Calliope or something."

       "But Calliope is mean to me," Kingsley said. "She called me annoying."

       "She's telling the truth," Makenna said. "You are annoying. If you put it to a vote, everyone here will say that you're the most annoying one in the family."

       "That is not true," Kingsley said.

       "No, it's definitely true," I said.

       "Yep," Liberty agreed.

       "You're definitely the most annoying," Jerome said.

       "Papa!" Kingsley said. 

       "What? It's true."

       At least everyone calling Kingsley annoying distracted him from trying to figure out who this friend was. I really didn't want Kingsley to know right now. He was pissed when he found out I got into a fight with Webster on the first day of school. If Kingsley found out I was friends with Webster, let alone had a crush on him, he would not take it well.

       Not that I had a crush on Webster.

       Once we were all done breakfast, we headed off to school with Kingsley, thankfully, still not asking me yet again who this friend was. 

       School was going by quite slowly, only because I was finding this semester to be extremely boring. Honestly, I was constantly trying to figure out excuses to leave class just to have a break from sitting in a desk for hours on end.

       Today's excuse was simple; I just needed to go to the bathroom. I never said which washroom, though, so I went all the way across the school just to take my dear old time.

       The washroom I went to was the one in the school that people barely used. Not because it was disgusting or anything, but simply because it was furthest away from all the classrooms so if people were in a hurry, they would rather not walk all the way here.

       However, the bathroom wasn't completely empty when I got there. Crying in front of the sink was Webster. He didn't notice that I walked in, though. Whatever happened was distracting him too much.

       "Webster?" I asked in a soft voice.

       Webster looked over at me, his eyes red and tears flowing. It hurt to see him so upset so I walked over to him and gave him a tight hug. He hugged me back, digging his face in my neck. I didn't ask him what was wrong quite yet. He needed to get all of this out first before I asked him.

       It took some time before he pulled away, wiping the tears from his eyes. "Sorry," he said.

       "Sorry for crying?" I asked.

       He pointed to my shirt, so I looked down and saw some tear stains. 

       "It's just tears," I said. "It's not that big of a deal. So... Are you okay?"

       Webster nodded, then shook his head. "No. No, I'm not. I just... I was having a bad day today. Just, you know, woke up feeling like crap. You get that, right?"

       "Yeah, I do," I said.

       "But I also had a presentation today in one of my classes and the minute my teacher called my name, I had a full blown panic attack. And my stupid friends that ditched me because I no longer get allowance started laughing. Laughing. Because I had a panic attack. So I ran out, came here, and cried my eyes out."

       "Hey..." I reached up, wiping the remainder of the tears away from his eyes before resting my hand on his cheek. "Those people never deserved to be your friend in the first place. As big of an asshole you were at first, you're actually an amazing guy once I got to know you. And if it makes you feel any better, you know I would never laugh at you for having a panic attack. And I would never ditch you for not having money."

       Webster smiled softly; I've never seen him smile this softly before and honestly... It looked really good on him. Like really good.

       I still didn't have a crush on him.

       I realized my hand was still on Webster's cheek, so I quickly removed it before things could get awkward between us. 

       Apparently, it already did before Webster cleared his throat before saying, "I, uh... I should be getting back to class," he said. "See if I can still present or at least get another day to do it..."

       "Right," I said. "Hopefully... You can. Either still present or get another day. Yeah..."

       Webster started walking towards the door but he stopped in his tracks. "Fuck it," he said before he walked back to me, cupping my face in his hands and pressing his lips onto mine.

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new drinking game: take a shot every time arjun denies having a crush on webster

but anyway wait until kingsley finds out 👀