Facing Love

Chapter 2

The drive to Derek's house wasn't really long. It was a good though, I just wanted to get tonight over with. He lived about 6 blocks from me, easy walk, now regretted wasting my gas. I pulled up to his house and I was shockingly suprised. When you look at Derek, you'd expect him to be a rich spoiled brat. His house wasn't small but waaaaay bigger than mine.

His mother answered the door five seconds after I rung. Guess she was expecting me, except by the look of disappointment on her face it wasn't me she wasn't expecting. Okay.. I could already feel the awkward tension between us when Derek finally came down the stairs. I didn't think I'd ever be happy to see him.

"Hey, we're working in the kitchen-" he greets me with a smile and I trail behind him. The house inside is exactly what I imagined. It's all decorated in fancy furniture and paintings I could tell you are worth more than everything in my bedroom. I guess his family does have money. His kitchen was beautiful.. It was a chocolate themed room. Brown curtains and a lighter shade of brown walls. The cabinets were one of those odd shade of white that looks like it should be repainted but works well. Derek ordered us pizza while I prepared all of our work on the table. His mother was acting less awkward, maybe even a bit more nervous? I've never been so uncomfortable in my life.

"Pizza will be here in twenty minutes." Derek said as he took the seat next to me instead of across from me. I felt like shifting away but I didn't want to make things even more awkward. "And sorry for my mom. When I told her a girl was coming over, she thought Sam and I were back together so she was nervously cleaning the house when you rang the bell."

"And here I thought she didn't like me." His laugh rubbed off on me.. again, and for a moment I actually forgot why I was there. "Uhm- we should get started on the assignment."

"You're right. We can laugh afterwards." A playful smirk appears on his face as he mentions balancing equations. He pulls out a list of a hundred chemical equations earning a sigh from me. Eighteen minutes of work passes by and finally the pizza arrives. I offer to pay half but Derek refuses. We both end up making a race to the door with our cash in hand to pay. I pushed him into the hallway and won first place giving the delivery guy my money. Derek makes it to the door by the time I rush the pizza guy away and I offer him a slice with a victory smile on my face.

We take the pie back to the kitchen and use our eating as an excuse to stop working. Derek's dad walked in the kitchen in underwear and a white tshirt. He must have not been expecting anyone to be there and I see from the corner of my eye Derek was embarrassed. "Dad!" He got his father's attention and just like Derek, he turned red. "This is Jamie-my.. chem partner."

"Oh my God, I'm so sorry- I forgot you had someone coming over! This is so embarrassing. Hi- nice to meet you!" By the look on his face, again Sam was the one they expected to see. Just as I was about to respond, "-Call me Jared." God, his smile is just as perfect as Derek's.

"It was nice meeting you too Mr... Jared." I felt myself heat up, probably because I didn't expect to meet both of Derek's parents all in one day. As the silence continues I open my mouth, "We have pizza here, if you want a slice?"

"Urm, no thanks. I should be heading up to bed soon anyways... Have fun you kids!" And with that, he was out.

"That was uhm.."

"Awkward.."

"Yea."

"I'm sorry, I should have told my parents it was you that was coming over. Maybe then they wouldn't have acted so weird. I promise they're not always like that." The look on his face kind of made me feel bad for him. It was cute to see him so uncomfortable. I'm just glad to know I wasn't the only one.

"It's okay, this pizza makes up for it-" I raise my slice to my face as if we were about to click glasses. He chuckles but I can still see the nervousness radiating from his face. "So what happened with Sam, if you don't mind me asking?"

"Uhmmm.." It took him a few seconds. I regretted asking that question. Fuck. "No, it's fine. She.. Uhm.. She cheated on me." Fuck again. "And then broke up with me.." I nearly dropped my pizza and I know he regretted answering.

"Oh.." I didn't know what else to say. "I'm so sorry.. I shouldn't have asked." This is why I hate relationships. Especially in high school. People are assholes. You give them everything and in the end, you're fucked over. How could someone as sweet as Derek be screwed over like that. It comes to show that even the nice ones get stomped on.

"It's alright really. I'm glad that relationship is over. I've had suspicion that she was seeing someone else for weeks, I guess I just didn't want to admit it. When she broke up with me, I felt a huge weight off my shoulders. I didn't tell my parents the details of our break up, because I couldn't bear to see them whine about it. To be honest, I think they like her more than I did." He could see me shift uncomfortably and continues. "Don't worry about it. I want to get to know you, and it wouldn't be fair if I wasn't open with you."

I looked up at him with big eyes while I choked on my pizza, "You want to get to know me?" He reaches over for my cup of water and hands it to me while I still process what he just said.

"Yea ofcourse I do. Why wouldn't I?"

"Usually guys who want to sleep with me don't bother with my life story-"

"Woah woah woah.. Is that what you think I want from you??" He sits back and I can tell I've hurt his feelings, but his question just then hurt my feelings. Does he not find me attractive enough to sleep with me? Reading my thoughts he calmy leans closer to me and says, "Hey, I didn't mean it like that. I was just a little held back by what you think. I'm not that type of guy, I swear! I like you. When I told that kid to fuck off today, it was because I wanted to finally get a chance to talk to you. I do want to get to know you. Don't think that this is all for sex because I was far from thinking of that.. Not that you're not attractive or amything!! I was just raised well enough to respect women. I promise you this isn't about sex."

My brain slowly processed all of his words. He wanted to get to know me. I was suprised and didn't know how to respond to all of that. It was hard to admit.. but I had this weird feeling in my stomach. It was a good feeling though, it actually made me smile. Derek looked up at me with his beautiful smile causing those feelings to expand. Fuck.. I let my guard down.

"You don't know what you're saying-" is all I could say. His smile disappeared and seriousness took over again. "You can't like me. You can't. My life is a huge fuck up, and I don't want to drown you with details-"

"Okay, then answer what you want." I shot him a confusing look. "20 questions. Give me 20 questions. I'll give you 20 even 30, just please I want to show you that I do like you and want to know you. 20 questions and if you feel uncomfortable answering, you don't have to." His pleading look made it hard to say no. It took me a few seconds to answer making him pout his lips like a little child. I couldn't help but laugh.

"Only 20."