Chapter 33 Wesley
WESLEY
Ileft the urgent care on Sunday with an updated shot, some antibiotics, and a very stern talking-to about not doing something like this again because while the bite itself wasn’t bad, the amount of bacteria in a tortoise’s mouth was nothing to mess with.
I caught a few glares from the nurse who was there, and more than multiple mutterings under her breath about how someone my age should be aware of what to do and what not to do.
Join the club. I was clueless about everything in my life, apparently, and I was offended that, out of everyone there, Lionel seemed to zero in on me.
I knew Rosie would be freaking out about it because that was who she was.
She never wanted to see anyone hurt, let alone feel like she had hurt someone.
She was always offering to help, or to cook mac and cheese from a box for someone—the only thing she was really good at. And even then, that was a toss-up.
The past few days for me had been jarring.
All my memories were replaying, but in different angles.
My perspective, but not, like a fog had been lifted from them.
And I sat in them, watching her laugh. Watching her study.
Wanting to settle into the days where it was just her and me, in my living room, existing.
That was my favorite part; existing with her.
I thought about puking when all the dots started to connect.
Why I never actually seriously dated anyone.
Why I always wanted to keep Sundays free.
Why I felt particularly fond of Ted, even though I never used him.
Why I panicked at the thought of getting serious with someone.
Why my first thought was Rosie at that moment.
It all clicked into place, pieces from different timelines in my life connecting to create the bigger picture. The only picture.
How has it taken me so long? Now that I was aware, it was like I couldn’t shut it off, and the rest of my life was muted and gray, the only color and light being when I was in her orbit. I thought it had always been that way. I had just been colorblind.
Why couldn’t I have said something like that?
I messaged Lake to see if he wanted to run some errands with me after all my research.
When I dropped Meredith back off at the library, I went in and decided I had to woo Lionel.
I found four different books on tortoises, diets, habitats, et cetera.
When I went up to check them out, she asked me for my library card, and I had to admit I didn’t have one.
I signed up right then and there, withstanding a withering glare from Meredith over the fact that I didn’t already have one.
“Knowledge is good. Books are good. Maybe that’s why you need Dr. Seuss now.”
“I read this book when I was a child,” I informed her.
“Time for a reread since you seem to have forgotten.” She’d clearly been waiting to say that.
Once I got home, I spent hours watching videos on the internet about tortoises, and I found myself becoming increasingly infatuated with them.
I even got into a weird thread about people who bury their tortoises for hibernation.
But mostly, owners regulated their habitats so they didn’t need to do that.
Would Rosie bury Lionel? No, no way.
By the time I was finished, I was seriously considering getting my own, the only thing that stopped me being their lifespan.
I would need to add the tortoise to my will, but that was okay.
But what if I die before I can? Does Rosie have a plan for Lionel?
How old is he anyway? Should I get Lionel a girlfriend?
He couldn’t hate me then, but my brain was stuck on the dilemma of who would take care of them once we were gone.
Once I talked to a few zoos, I could make a more informed decision.
So my current plan of wooing the tortoise was snacks, a new heat lamp, and a new enclosure for outside. I had seen the setup Rosie had, and while it was decent, I knew I could do better, and I found a few sites that showed exactly which kind of housing was best.
I needed the supplies to do it, and probably an extra set of hands. Lake originally told me he absolutely did not want to run errands with me on a Sunday, but when I explained it was something for Rosie, he immediately texted back. Fine.
I left the urgent care and was on my way to pick up Lake, still overly concerned about tortoises and wills when I pulled into his driveway.
A few honks, and he was stumbling out of his front door, looking like he just woke up.
And maybe he had—he was known for sleeping in.
He opened the passenger door, sliding in without a hello.
“Be lucky you’re my best friend,” he grumbled. Yeah, he absolutely just woke up.
“It shouldn’t take too long,” I told him.
“Where are we going anyway? All you told me is that it’s for Rosie.” He was still grumbling in his displeasure, and I knew my answer was only going to add to it.
“The pet store.”
“You cannot, and I repeat, cannot get a girl a puppy or a kitten to forgive you, man. The movies are bullshit. Let’s get breakfast instead.”
“I’m not getting her a puppy or a kitten.” Although… No. No, Lionel was more than enough.
“So what are we doing, then?” he asked, tilting the hat he had on his head down so it covered his eyes from the sun. Big baby.
“I have to woo a tortoise,” I said, like that explained everything.
“Jesus Christ. I got out of bed for this?”
“You got out of bed to help your friend out,” I told him as I put the car in reverse before he could change his mind.
“If I had known that giving you a clue would have led to this, I might have second-guessed it.”
The air in the car shifted to being uncomfortable. He wasn’t yet aware of the confrontation between Rosie and me, and I, for one, was dreading telling him. He didn’t need to tell me how epically I had fucked up. I was more than aware. Hence why I am wooing a fuckin’ reptile.
“Have you told her yet?” Lake leaned the seat back, and I opted to not say anything. “Ah. That good, huh?”
“I probably shouldn’t have started my confession with what Lake told me.” A woosh sounded from next to me. I briefly looked over to him. He had tossed his hat up and out of his eyes, and his mouth was hanging open.
“You didn’t?”
“Can we not talk about it?” I glared at him.
“Oh, no, we are absolutely going to talk about it. I’d laugh at you if it weren’t so abhorrent. How’s Rosie?” I couldn’t even be mad at him for asking how she was. “Is she okay?”
“She asked me to leave and shut the door in my face.”
“You really are a heel, you know that? She pines after you since college, sees you date, sees you fall in love, hangs out on the sidelines, just listens to the girl you were dating say she was waiting for a key. Obviously, you were still having a sexual relationship. All the while, she’s giving you space to do that, watching you like you’re the last drink of water in a desert, but grinning and bearing it to everyone else.
And when you finally start to see clearly, you tell her that you love her because someone else told you so. ”
I slammed on my brakes and pulled over to the side as the air in the car started to become increasingly thin. “What the hell, man?” I was struggling to get air into my lungs. “Say that again?”
“That was long! Which part?”
Rosie spent years watching me with other people. She’s known about her feelings this entire time, and she just watched. I’m only hearing about her going on dates, and I’m thinking about purchasing a companion tortoise so she’s stuck with me until death.
“I’m a fool, and I don’t know how to make this right,” I choke out, still trying to get that good, clean air into my lungs.
“I say you start with wooing a damn tortoise.”
Shit. If the urgent care and shots were the start of it, I was so incredibly fucked.