Chase
Delicate by Taylor Swift
We wind up in front of Mia’s apartment door with a pint of ice cream in one hand and three spoons in the other. On the way, I had mentioned that Mia’s favorite ice cream was mint chocolate chip— to Jeremiah’s despair—and yet, he insisted that we make the gas station stop quickly to pick it up.
I don’t know what the hell is going on but my mind is completely all over the place. He’s…charming, thoughtful, a hell of a great cook, and I’m totally fucked because I was clearly already hot and heavy for him.
I did not anticipate all of…this.
Softly knocking on her door, we wait patiently as we hear shuffling inside.
“She shares an apartment with her twin brother. Honestly, total knob. I swear, it’s like she sucked all the charm out of him in the womb—
"Heyyyy, Charlie,” I quickly say as the infamous, Charlie, opens up the door.
“Finally,” he grunts, stepping aside. “I thought I was going to have to sedate her.”
“Oh, come on. It can’t be that bad–” Just as I say that, I hear a weeping coming from her bedroom down the hall followed up by a loud noise of what I could only assume is her nose blowing into a tissue.
“Good thing you brought back-up,” he says, tilting his chin over my shoulder.
I turn to look behind me to see Jeremiah giving me an unsure, straight-lined smile. I cringe. Hopefully this won’t be too much for him and he goes running for the hills. His walls were just coming down.
I sigh, grasping Jeremiah by the wrist. “Well, come on then. We can’t leave the poor girl to cry alone.”
He trails behind me as we continue into Mia’s apartment.
I’ve always loved her place. It’s cute with white and light pink decor everywhere.
After all, it’s more her place than her brothers.
Yet, of course, he had to put his stamp on the place with half-opened cans of cola and PlayStation controllers in the middle of the coffee table.
I lead Jeremiah to Mia’s room and softly give it a tap with the back of my knuckle before twisting the door handle, stepping in. Under usual circumstances, I would never be this formal and instead walk straight in. But, considering the fact that I brought company…
Her room is dark with the soft glow of the television to illuminate the room. Mia is tucked into her big white blanket in the middle of her Queen sized bed, with a mountain of tissues decorating around her like a shrine.
She looks absolutely adorable wrapped in her pink plush robe, wearing her cute little pink bonnet on the top of her head.
I kick off my shoes and walk over. “Miaaa,” I coo, crawling onto the bed.
“Chay,” She sniffles, immediately sinking into my hug. “You brought our boss?” she asks, looking over my shoulder.
I look back to see Jeremiah awkwardly standing in the doorway.
He winces, showcasing his offering. “I come bearing gifts.”
“Mint choco chip?” Mia pouts. Jeremiah nods his head which she rewards him with waving him over.
I watch closely in anticipation to see his next move. Slipping off his shoes, he makes his way over to the bed. Crouching down to her eye level, his brows are pinched as he sighs.
“I’m sorry to hear about…can I say her name?” he whispers.
She nods slowly.
“I’m sorry to hear about Rachel,” he says, rubbing her back gently. I watch his big hand softly moving up and down. He’s so gentle with her, it warms my heart.
I suck in a breath. Remain in the current moment Chase. Focus.
“What happened?” I ask, trying to keep us on track.
Mia sniffs harshly, breathing in heavily. She sits up and looks at the tv as though to distract her from the pain of what she’s going to say.
“It wasn’t Rachel who broke things off. It was me.”
“Mia,” I groan. “Why? What happened?”
Mia shakes her head, looking up at the ceiling. “She’d text me when she said she would. She’d come over whenever I asked. Constantly paying attention to me and giving me compliments. Plus, the sex was mind-blowing, but the details are private so don’t even ask.”
“Soooo, I’m struggling here. Why’d you end things?” I ask.
Mia blows out another heavy breath. “Well…I started getting in my head. I was paranoid. She was so good that she was too good, you know? I started thinking…why would someone like her want someone like me? And then I started thinking she was probably talking to other girls and–”
“You can’t be serious. You’re incredible. You have so much to offer.” I shake her.
“Dammit, I know. Your mind does crazy things when you’re really into someone, okay?
” she whines. “So, I told her that it’s better if we just cut it off now so that I don’t get totally wrecked.
But now I’m sitting here, wishing she was right beside me instead of you two and she won’t pick up my calls.
I really fucked up.” The tears start rolling again.
I try to soothe her by grabbing her hand. I look over at Jeremiah who’s still kneeling beside her bed.
“Get up here and stop being a weirdo.” I laugh softly, patting the space beside her.
He frowns, looking away. “Isn’t this completely against the rules?”
“Fuck the rules.” Mia and I say at the same time.
His lips twitch, despite himself as his eyes connect with mine.
“Yeah, fuck the rules.” He agrees, nodding.
Standing up, he climbs up and settles onto the bed, throwing an arm around her shoulder and brings her in for a nice side hug. She melts into his touch on one side while I’m still holding her hand in the other.
Over her head, I see his gaze seek out mine. Even in this soft lighting, I can see how piercing they are.
“So, what do I do?” Mia sniffles, rubbing her nose with the back of her hand.
“I’ll tell you what we’re going to do.” I bend over to snag a fresh tissue from the tissue box at the end of the bed and pass it under her nose, making sure she’s all nice and clean.
“We’re going to throw on your favorite movie, share your disgusting favorite flavor of ice cream and we’re going to give Rachel some space.
She’s probably hurt right now too so she needs some time to cool down.
Trust me when I say, once she does, she’ll either come running back or she’s not the one in the first place,” I say, looking down at my best friend.
Mia gives me a gentle smile and nods her head.
“But, I think she will come back,” Jeremiah adds, confidently. We both turn to look at him. “I saw the way she looked at you at karaoke. People don’t just let that go.”
I suck in a breath.
“I sure hope you’re right.” She sighs, sinking into his words.
I hope he’s right too.
“Pass me my ice cream, would ya?” She asks him, making a grabbing motion for the dessert. He obliges, popping the top off the carton and passing us all one spoon. We turn on her favorite movie, Spirited Away, and enjoy watching it in silence.
***
It’s not long before her soft whimpers turn into little snores. Her head is cradled into the curve of Jeremiah’s neck, as he has his head resting gently on top of hers.
“Hey,” I whisper.
At the sound of my voice, he turns to look at me.
His movements are slow, careful not to wake her.
And that’s when I realize how close we are.
His face is only a breath away from mine, and beneath the blanket, our feet are touching—have been touching.
I hadn't wanted him to move it and I’m thankful he still doesn’t.
His gaze flickers back down to Mia, and he tilts his head just slightly to make sure she’s still sleeping. She lets out a little sigh, burrowing deeper into his chest.
“Oh yeah, she’s out.” He clarifies in a hushed voice.
Jeremiah and I exchange a glance, the kind where neither of us says anything, but we’re both thinking okay… let’s move slowly.
Carefully, we shift out from under her—me first, then Jeremiah. She stirs a little, murmurs something unintelligible, and then settles again.
Making our way to the other side of the room, we both grab our shoes and slide them on quietly, our movements in sync without planning to be.
Jeremiah grabs the half-melted tub of ice cream and raises an eyebrow.
I smirk, keeping my voice low. “I’ll slip this in the freezer,” I whisper, taking it from him.
He nods, and we tiptoe down the hallway, the soft shuffle of our footsteps the only sound.
Her brother of course is still up in the living room, dominating people on COD by the looks of it.
“She finally calm down?” he calls out way louder than he probably needs to due to his headset.
“Yeah, she’s good,” I answer him.
“Sweeeet.” He nods and resumes back to his game.
“Charming,” I mutter.
I shake my head and laugh as I approach Jeremiah who’s waiting for me at the door.
“I’ll text her in the morning to see if she’s okay,” I say, opening the door to let us out.
“Good. And uh…if you could let me know how she is too, that’d be great. I’d like to know,” Jeremiah says, leading the way to the elevator of her floor.
I blink at him, processing his words. “You…care?”
“Is that so shocking?”
“Well, you do know what that means, don’t you?” I say, crossing my arms across my body and leaning on the glass wall inside the elevator.
“What?” Jeremiah asks, pressing the underground parking lot button.
“You care because you’re our friend.” I wink, feeling so accomplished.
Jeremiah presses his lips together, trying not to laugh, as we descend. “Yeah, whatever.”
“I’m your bestest friend though.”
“Whoa, there. I wouldn’t push it.” Jeremiah smirks.
Whatever. I’ll continue to work on it. But I think I’m getting close.
We land on the parking garage floor and make our way to his parked car. The air is cooler underground, the kind of still, quiet night that makes everything feel a little more real.
“Thanks for coming with me,” I say, kicking at a pebble with my sneaker as we walk. “I know you didn’t sign up for all of this.”
His eyes drag over me before his mouth curves. “Well…you said there’d be ice cream.”
“Whoa, mint chocolate ice cream got you hooked?” I tease.
“Oh, I’m one hundred percent picking the flavor next time.”
We pause by the passenger door to the car, neither of us quite making a move to get inside.
“So…” I start, shoving my hands into my pants pockets, “Tomorrow morning. Pitch decks.”
“Bright and early,” he confirms, leaning his hand on the car roof. Tilting his head, his gaze drops to my lips. “Bring Honey.”
A soft laugh escapes me. “You really don’t mind me bringing my cat?”
He looks away, but not before I catch the upward pull of his mouth. “I’d be offended if you didn’t.”
“She doesn’t like many people.”
“Well, we have that in common.” Reaching beside me, he unlocks the passenger door, holding it open for me to slide in. “She understands me.”
I sit inside, glancing at him from the corner of my eye. I can’t believe I’m jealous of my cat.
He shuts the door, and as we drive off into the quiet city night, I can’t help but think that somehow, today something shifted.
I don’t know what tomorrow will bring—but I know I’m looking forward to it.