Chapter 27
Ezra
My fist is barely suspended mid-air to knock when the front door swings open, startling me. Rue’s mom, Ms. Sullivan, is standing on the other side scowling at me.
“Boy, will you come in already? Stop hovering. It’s good to see you again. Want some water or something to eat?” She ushers me in like we do this all the time.
“I’m okay, thank you, ma’am.” The living room is dim and quiet, with afternoon light slipping through the blinds in soft gold stripes.
It feels way too peaceful for what’s happening inside my chest. And then I spot Rue and her friends on the couch, staring at me.
They’re all there, to my surprise, and they’re smiling. I can’t wait to ask her about it.
Ms. Sullivan cocks her chin at the staircase. “I’m heading back upstairs to keep working. I only came down to let you in because I first saw you standing out there on my doorbell camera about a half hour ago.”
“Okay.” My cheeks heat. I definitely wasn’t standing there that long, but I’m not about to argue with her. Rue and all her friends giggle. Carlton even offers a low chuckle.
Rue stands and comes to meet me by the door. She’s wearing jeans and a purple sweater, and her hair is in an adorable messy bun. When her gaze meets mine, her cheeks turn pink. “Hey.”
“Hey.” I can’t help but smile at her. She’s so cute, and the way she’s smiling openly back at me makes me feel like I can fly. “Want to go for a walk?”
“I’d love to.”
Ms. Sullivan crosses her arms. “Be back soon, and no funny business.”
“No funny business,” I promise her, following Rue out the front door.In silence at first, we walk on the sidewalk that follows the Charles River like a border.
It’s beautiful out today. The start of spring has been warm for Boston, but I’m not complaining.
It’s nice to be able to go outside without bundling up.
Nerves catapult into my ribcage as I take in Rue staring at me. Her entire face is made even more radiant by the shy grin on her lips when she realizes I’m watching her take me in.
“I see you patched things up with your friends,” I say, nudging her.
“Yeah. Thank you for the apology note idea. I think it helped a lot.”
“Well, that, and the fact that you got suspended. All the teachers in our year made an announcement that the school won’t be tolerating any more participation in the Little Birdie app, and that unless they wanted to get suspended like you did, they’d be wise to avoid it.
Meredith told me at lunch today that even though she was mad at you, she thought your punishment was a little harsh. ”
Rue shrugs. “Maybe, but I’m okay with it. And I’m guessing that’s amusing to you, based on the fact that you’re smiling.”
I laugh. “Yeah, I guess it kinda is…but that’s not why I’m smiling.”
She peeks at me sideways. “Oh?”
“No.” We stop walking and my heart thuds as I take her hands in mine, rubbing them with my thumb. Come on, Ezra. You can do this. I take a deep, steadying breath. “What comes next for us, Rue?”
She swallows. “Well, we’re supposed to end the fake relationship, remember?”
But when I meet her gaze, I see so much hope, so much vulnerability, and so many feelings in her expression.
When I finally speak, my voice comes out way softer than I’ve ever heard it.
“This relationship may have been fake, but none of my feelings are. Everything I’ve felt and still feel for you is real.
I love you, Rue.” My voice shakes, but I don’t stop.
“I think I’ve loved you longer than I even understood what that meant.
It’s always been you for me, even when you hated my guts. ”
“Ezra…” Tears fill her eyes.
“Wait. I know you still might not trust me after what I did all those years ago. But you have to know I’d never do that again. I’ll never hurt you.”
“I do trust you, actually. And…” Her hands slightly tremble in mine. “And you really are Ezra Davis the Contagious, because I think I caught some of those feelings you’re talking about, too.”
It takes me a moment to process her words. I blink several times before my brows knit together. Pulling her closer to me, I murmur, “You…you feel the same way?”
She nods. “I love you, too.”
I feel like I might collapse, but I don’t. Instead, I gently take Rue’s warm face in my hands. I pull her closer to me, and when our lips meet, it’s like we’re kissing for the very first time again. There’s no one we’re trying to convince. There’s no fake relationship we’re bound to.
This is real. All of it.
As her lips move against mine, I wonder why I kept denying these feelings for so long. Being wrapped up in Rue without any false pretenses is better than anything I’ve ever experienced.
“Does this mean you’re not down for the staged breakup?” she asks between kisses.
I laugh against her mouth. “Please. Don’t ever bring up a breakup and us in the same sentence again.”
She pulls back to smile at me. “What about when we go off to college?”
“What about it?” I playfully tap her nose. “Nothing is gonna change. We’ve spent the past four years apart, and I still remember you only eat your bananas sliced, no exceptions.”
She blushes. My words seem to strike somewhere deep inside her. “How do you always notice the things about me no one else does?”
“Easy. I never stop looking.”
I kiss her again, and this time, she doesn’t interrupt. I just float in my happy bubble of kisses with Rue.
I know there’s a chance trouble will still find us again. Maybe even in the form of a new Little Birdie.
But for the first time in a long time, I’m not afraid of what comes next.
Because this time, we’re not facing it alone.