HOLDEN #2
“Oh, thank God.” Korie yanks one of the paper bags from my hands and looks inside.
“Uh, hi to you too?”
Korie just hums distractedly as they shovel a fistful of fries into their mouth.
“Should I be concerned you’re more excited about the fries than you are about seeing me?”
Korie finally looks at me, brushing their hair across their forehead. “Sorry, I’m just starving.”
“When are you not starving?”
“No, like… I didn’t eat this morning, and today has been insane. I’ve barely sat down.”
They eat two more fistfuls of fries before we reach the cafeteria doors. I would laugh if the comment didn’t cause red flags to go up in my head. Korie didn’t eat breakfast? Any time they skip food, it’s cause for alarm.
I want to ask about it, but they’re already walking toward a table where Miles and Sophie are sitting. Both of them glance up at the same time.
“Oh, hey, Holden,” Sophie says. Her dark curls are extra curly today.
I smile weakly, sliding into the chair next to Korie.
They immediately steal more fries out of my bag as soon as I pull them out.
“Hey!” I say.
They pause. “What? You got me a small.”
“I did not!” I say, laughing. “They’re literally the same size.”
Korie squints between the containers with deep suspicion. “No. Yours is definitely bigger than mine.”
“It only looks that way because you ate half of yours already! Give me that.”
I yank my fries back. Korie snags some more anyway, grinning sheepishly. Their ears turn pink as they reach for their hamburger. God, they’re cute.
What happened to the person sending me frazzled text messages this morning?
Miles clears his throat. “So, anyway. Good to see you again, Holden. Kind of getting used to your company.”
“Yeah. It’s what, the third time you’ve eaten with us this month?” Sophie asks. “You should just work here. Then you’d see Korie all the time.”
I pause in the middle of unwrapping my hamburger. Sophie’s eyes are glinting, her attention darting between Korie and me like she’s in on a secret.
I swallow hard, heat flaring in my cheeks. Did Korie say something to her? If so, maybe that’s why they’re acting differently?
I hide a smile behind my food. I kinda like knowing Korie is talking about us.
Korie completely misses it, stealing my cup.
I stare at them. “Seriously?”
“What?”
“You have a soda right there,” I say, gesturing.
“But I wanted Dr. Pepper.”
I make a face and take their Cherry Coke instead. Korie grins triumphantly.
They talk a mile a minute about some patients they had this morning in the trauma center.
“It was crazy. I’ve never seen a leg bent that way.
And then this kid came in with a broken arm, and I couldn’t get him to calm down.
And just now, before lunch—” They pause when they see Sophie staring at us with a huge grin on her face.
Korie looks at their scrub top, then at me.
“What? Do I have food on me or something?”
I swallow back a laugh. “You were saying about the patient?” I need to distract them. If they think too hard about this, they’ll likely spiral again.
“Uh… oh! Then another guy came in whose leg got all twisted up in a motorcycle accident, and I had to take, like, ten scans. It’s been crazy today.”
“Sounds like it.” It’s a relief to see them so happy after the panic of the morning. Hopefully, that means they worked through it, whatever it was.
I purposely snag two fries from their container just to get a rise out of Korie.
“Um, no! Mine.” They catch my wrist and twist my hand to bite the fries right out of my fingers.
I laugh hard before shoving Korie away.
They pause when they catch Sophie still watching us. Like, really watching us. “Seriously. What?”
Sophie shakes it off, shrugging her shoulders sweetly. “Nothing.”
Korie’s carefully composed face is so at odds with Sophie’s I-see-what’s-happening-here smile that it makes my stomach knot. Shit. Maybe Korie hadn’t talked to her. And here I am making it obvious.
I focus on the half-eaten burger in front of me, trying to act calm.
“Seriously, guys. What’s up?” Korie pushes. “You’re all acting weird.”
Miles sits up. “You’re just extra happy to see Holden today. That’s all.”
Korie’s eyes widen and they turn to me. It takes them a second, then they look at our food, and back at their friends, sputtering a laugh.
“You think…” Korie pauses. “Oh, God no. That’s not—no!”
Miles and Sophie share matching looks of disbelief. Because yeah. This looks couple-y.
Painfully couple-y.
The shared food. The waiting for each other. Me showing up here on my day off just because I wanted to see them for half an hour. It doesn’t matter that we’ve been doing this since we could drive. It matters now that they’re dangerously close to the truth.
I don’t even care if they know.
Korie laughs harder. “Seriously, that’s—no. It’s just lunch.”
Their quick dismissal shouldn’t hurt as much as it does.
I swallow it down with another bite of food. “They’re right. It’s just lunch,” I say flatly.
Miles shrugs, clearly not buying it. “Okay.”
Sophie brings up going out for a movie soon, and Korie immediately latches onto the change of topic with enthusiasm. I lose interest, trying to make sense of Korie’s quick dismissal. I didn’t expect them to make this public any time soon, but would it really be so bad if our friends knew?
Eventually, lunch breaks up. Korie walks me to the elevator like they always do, one hand hooked loosely around their soda cup.
“Sorry about them being weird,” they mutter.
I avoid making eye contact. “They weren’t the ones being weird.”
Korie halts, hand touching my arm. When I finally look at them, their expression shifts, and they mutter a soft curse. “You’re mad?”
Confused? Yes. A little hurt? Yes. But mad? No.
I shake my head. “Just… not sure I understand, is all.”
They fold their arms over their chest, curling inward. When they speak, their voice is quiet. “I’m sorry, okay? I don’t know how to handle this. Like, any of it.”
I shove a hand into my pocket. “Yeah. I got that from your texts thinking we were a one night stand.”
Korie’s face pales.
The elevator dings, and I step toward it. “I get it, though. I’ll talk to you tonight.”
“Holden.”
“We’re good, Kor.”
I try to smile before the doors close, but my heart is heavy. Korie’s face is a mix of shock, hurt, and anger before they’re gone.
I know I shouldn’t take this so seriously. Hell, we’ve barely talked about what is happening between us. But I can’t shake how ugly it felt to be thrown aside so quickly.
Whatever this is, whatever it’s becoming is anything but a one-time thing. It’s becoming a little more real each time we get together, and I thought Korie was feeling the same way.
Now, I’m not so sure.
It scares me that they don’t.
I swallow hard, an uncomfortable knot forming in my throat. What will I do if Korie doesn’t want this?