26| Stage one
"You should have kissed her."
"No," I shook my head.
"Yes, you should have kissed her," they said in sync. I'm currently on the phone with Brandon and he's with Kendall. So they're both listening to me rant about my date with Emma. "I know her and I know she would have wanted you to kiss her," Kendall said.
"She's the one who said we don't know each other well enough to do that," I groaned.
"But you should have kissed her," they repeated.
"Guys! If I kissed her right after she tells me we should wait, she would smack me across the face without any hesitation and run," I stated.
"No, she would think that you want her so much that she'd forget about what she just said," Brandon replied.
"Dude, no. I'm not going to do that. If she thinks we should get to know each other a bit more, then that's what we'll do."
"Then there won't be a chase," Kendall pointed out.
"We both know that we like each other, there can be a chase for fun, knowing that we're both in the clear. We just have to wait," I sighed.
"So, what's your plan now?" Brandon asked.
"To know her a bit better."
"That's stage one," Kendall said.
"What about after that?"
"We'll see. By the way, if Kendall's talking to me, who's talking to Emma?" I asked.
"She's probably telling her mom everything that happened today," Kendall replied, "She's close with her and tells her everything." So... her mom's gonna know I said to Emma 'I want to kiss you.' Fantastic.
I heard the front door open and then close, suggesting my dad was home.
"I gotta go, I'll talk to you later," I said, quickly hanging up and scanning my room for anything he could get pissed at.
It was too late by the time I saw the pack of cigarettes on my desk.
"Shit, shit, shit," I started getting up to grab them but he came in and so I sat back down on the bed and grabbed my phone, going on it.
"You're home today," he stated the obvious. "Why aren't you out?"
"I was out," I said, not looking at him, "She had to be home."
"She?" he scoffed, "She? As in Emma?"
I looked up at him, sliding my phone down. "Yes, as in Emma," I answered.
"I don't understand what that girl sees in you. She seems like a nice one, comes from a good family from what I hear, she's got money too," he nodded, loosening his tie.
"What does that have anything to do with our relationship?" I asked.
"Oh, it's a relationship now?" he scoffed.
I rolled my eyes, pinching the bridge of my nose, and taking a deep breath to keep calm. "What do you want, dad?" I asked.
"I simply want to know what she sees in my drinking, smoking, broken son," he said, walking up to the desk and picking up the box.
I haven't smoked one today, but there's no point in telling him that because he won't believe me. "I haven't smoked today," I said, glaring at him.
"And I'm supposed to believe that when you've got a box sitting right beside you?" What did I tell you? He won't believe me.
"You can believe whatever you want," I shrugged.
"Cut it out, Nathan. What did you say to her? Did you tell her your sob story?"
"I didn't tell her anything! She doesn't know me!" I exclaimed.
"Why haven't you told her? Are you scared she'll leave?" he chuckled. "You never know, son. She might stick around," he shrugged, "She might turn out to be just like Chloe."
"Get out," I said calmly.
"Don't tell me what to do in my house," he replied.
I shot out of bed and he moved back. I know he's intimidated by. I've never hit him back, but he knows what's gonna happen when I do.
I grabbed the bag from under my bed and shoved a few clothes in there and my toothbrush.
I grabbed my phone and put it in my pocket before grabbing the box of cigarettes out of his hand and trashing it.
I left, running down the stairs and out of the house.
And then I ran all the way to hers because if he came out and saw me, he'd know she lives around here, so I need to be gone before he sees me.
"Nathan?"
I got startled and turned to the front after looking behind my shoulder this whole time. "Jesus, you scared me," I said, holding my heart.
"What are you doing?" Emma asked while taking out the trash.
"Running," I scoffed.
"Another fight?"
I nodded, clearing my throat, "Mind if I..."
"No," she shook her head, "I don't mind, come on in." She led me inside and locked the front door once we entered. "Mom! Nathan's staying the night!" she called out before turning to me, "We eat really late around here, we still haven't had dinner, you hungry?"
I shook my head, "But I'll join."
She smiled, both of us sitting on the barstools while her mom prepared dinner. "Hello, Nathan," her mom sang.
"Hi, Mrs. Hayden," I smiled, setting my bag down by my feet.
"How've you been?" she asked.
"Okay," I nodded.
"I hope you're taking the guest room this time? It's right down the hall from Emmy's," she said.
"Sure," I agreed.
???????????????
"Show him to the room," her mom nodded at her once we finished dinner. I was forced to eat. Not that I mind, Mrs. Hayden is an amazing cook.
"Yes, mother," Emma sighed dramatically, rinsing her hands after washing the dishes. While she washed the dishes, her mom spoke to me. About something. I don't really know, I was watching Emma. "Come on, straw- uh, Nathan," she cleared her throat, heading to the staircase.
I bit back a laugh and grabbed my bag, following her upstairs.
"To the right is my room," she explained as if I didn't already know that.
"And to the left, is yours," she said, pushing the door open.
"In the right cabinet under the sink, you'll find anything you need.
Extra toothpaste, a new toothbrush, the shower has shampoo and all that jazz for the morning when you need a shower-"
"Or I can just come to yours," I smirked.
"Why would you do that?" she chuckled.
"To shower with you."
"Haha," she rolled her eyes, "If you need anything else, don't holler, cause she'll wake up, but you can come get me and you already know where to find me," she grinned.
"That I know, yes," I nodded.
"In that case, goodnight," she said, heading for the door.
"Emma." She turned to look at me. "What would you have done if I did kiss you earlier?"
"Hmm, probably pulled away and told you as nicely as possible that I wanna know you more. Then I'd say you can kiss me all you want after that. Why?"
I shook my head softly, "No reason. I was just curious cause, wow, I hated not kissing you," I chuckled.
"You can kiss me now," she shrugged. I looked at her in shock and confusion.
She said what?
"On the cheek," she smirked. I sighed, rolling my eyes and biting back a smile. "I'll do it," she said, taking a step forward.
"But you don't know me, are you sure you're ready for that?" I taunted.
"Couldn't be more sure," she chuckled, grabbing my face and turning my cheek to her, planting a kiss on it. "See, no biggie."
"My heart is pounding at 1000 miles per hour but yeah, no biggie," I mumbled.
She pulled back and looked at me, smiling, a faint hue of pink coating her cheeks. She's blushing. It's cute. "Goodnight, Nathan," she sang, grabbing the door handle and pulling it open.
"Night," I replied. She left after that, closing the door behind her. I let out a huge breath, my shoulder deflating as I collapsed onto the bed. I grabbed a pillow, groaning into it.
God, why is it so important to know the other person? Why can't friends just kiss each other? Why can't strangers just kiss each other? I wanna know who made up this rule.
Wait.
This is literally the perfect time to get to know her.
And anyway, late-night conversations flow the easiest. I glanced at the clock.
It's nearly 10 PM. I'm going over there in a while and we are getting to know each other as per her request. Because I don't have much faith in myself when it comes to holding back and resisting the overbearing urge to kiss her.
This is stage one. But we better be flying past this stage cause I can't be stuck here for too long. Otherwise, as it will turn out, I'll be skipping the whole game and jumping over the map. Things need to go in order, in process, but it's not gonna happen on its own.
We'll know each other when we ask each other personal questions. But I need to answer her too if I expect her to answer me. Otherwise, it's unfair to her.
That means I have to grow the balls to tell her all about Chloe and what happened to her. And what it did to me.
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