Nolan standing around outside when I stepped out of my classroom was the last thing I expected to see today. He was staring off into blank space, his eyes half-closed, as they usually were at this time of the day.
What was he doing here?
“Nolan?” I blurted out, hurrying to him.
Instantly, he turned towards me and shot me a small smile. When I got within arm’s length, he held out a white to-go coffee cup to me.
“Hey. For you.”
Beaming at the sweet gesture, I accepted it from him.
“Ooh, thanks! What is it?”
“Latte macchiato. You like it, right?”
“Uh huh,” I said, nodding my head vigorously. “I like anything that isn’t straight up black coffee.”
“Hi! I’m Jenna,” Jenna said, sidling up to us and waving at him.
Oops. I’d been leaving for lunch with my friends, but the surprise of seeing Nolan here had momentarily wiped them from my memories.
He appeared briefly startled by her sudden introduction, but he nodded back. “Hi. I’m Nolan.”
With my free hand, I waved at him. “Um, he’s my boyfriend.”
Although we’d been together for two years now, I still felt a bit shy whenever I introduced Nolan as my boyfriend to others.
“Whoa, your boyfriend? Nice, how long have you been together?” she asked, nudging my arm with her elbow.
I smiled reluctantly. “Two years.”
Her dark blue eyes grew wide. “That’s pretty long, isn’t it?”
It probably seemed long to Jenna, who easily lost interest in guys she crushed on after talking to them for less than a week. She always complained about real life guys not matching up to the standards of fictional men.
“Not really,” Nolan said.
I sipped from my newly acquired drink. Piping hot, it almost scalded my tongue as it entered my mouth, but I didn’t care. It was delicious.
Nolan noticed me blowing on my own tongue—as discreetly as I could, of course—and said softly, “Don’t drink so quickly.”
“Okay,” I said meekly.
Jenna cupped her hands around her mouth and called out behind us, “Lucas! Over here!”
I followed her gaze into the small crowd and spotted Lucas waving goodbye to another guy before striding towards us. Within seconds, he was standing beside Jenna.
“Hey,” he said. “Are we having lunch together today?”
I hadn’t mentioned to Nolan about Lucas’ attempt to ask me on a date, but that was because I felt like there was no need to. Moreover, all that had happened was that he’d mistakenly thought I was single, and I’d nipped it in the bud. He hadn’t tried to ask me out again since.
“Yeah.” Jenna looked at me. “What about you, Chelsea? Are you coming with us, or are you and Nolan going somewhere else?”
“Oh, uh …” I looked at Nolan. “Do you have something on?”
“No. I rarely meet you for lunch, so I wanted to surprise you.”
“How sweet,” Jenna practically cooed.
“If you’re free now,” he continued, “I can take you somewhere to eat. Or if you don’t mind, I can join you.”
“By the way, Lucas, this is Nolan, my boyfriend,” I said, waving at him. “Nolan, this is Lucas.”
I mentioned most of my friends in passing to Nolan, and I was sure he remembered Lucas’ and Jenna’s names because they were the people whom I spent the most time with in school.
Lucas flashed him a friendly smile. “Hey, nice to meet you.”
Nolan smiled back. “Nice to meet you.”
It would be nice to have Nolan come with us since this was the first time that he was meeting my friends. On the other hand, it really was once in a blue moon that I got to see Nolan in the middle of the day like this, and I did want to take this opportunity to spend some quality time with him.
I couldn’t believe he’d taken the trouble to surprise me with a drink. It was so sweet of him—all I wanted to do right now was to throw my arms around him and hug him tight.
With my mind made up, I said, “Sorry, I won’t be having lunch with you guys today. See you later!”
“No worries,” Jenna said. “See you!”
As we turned to leave, Jenna and Lucas gave us a quick wave.
“Lead the way!” I said to Nolan, beaming expectantly at him. “Where should we go?”
He took my free hand, and we began walking together.
“Do you have any cravings?” he asked.
“Hmm … not in particular. Can you help me to hold this?”
I passed him my cup of coffee, and he took it.
“Sure. Why, though?”
Once we were most likely out of their sight, I flung my arms around him and embraced him with all my strength. Now I could publicly display all the affection I wanted!
From the slight jolt that I felt, I could tell that he was caught off-guard by my action.
“Whoa, hey, I’m holding your drink!” he said, shifting the cup away from me.
“I know. That’s why I asked you to help me hold it!”
“Everything okay?” he asked, his free arm circling around my back to return my hug.
We plodded on awkwardly, pressed up as closely to each other as we were.
“Yup! I just wanted to hold you,” I declared, burrowing my head into his chest. “I love you!”
His hoodie was open today, so my nose was buried in his navy-blue T-shirt. It smelled good as usual, and I inhaled happily.
“Love you too,” he murmured into the top of my head before kissing it.
Dark gray clouds hung over the sky, and there was no trace of sunlight to be seen.
We were walking under one of the sheltered walkways. Since I had a long break before my next lecture, we decided to take a stroll to Collegetown.
“Isn’t it going to rain?” I asked, detaching myself from Nolan’s arm long enough to examine the sky. “I don’t have an umbrella with me.”
“Nope, unless the weather forecast is wrong,” he said. “It’s supposed to be cloudy all afternoon. No rain. It’s part of why I chose today to come and find you.”
“Oh, nice. Then I really can parade you around!”
“Huh? Parade?”
“Yeah. That way everyone will know that we’re together!” I went back to hugging Nolan’s arm.
I could feel his lean and taut muscles hidden under the baggy sleeve of his thick hoodie. Since that evening we’d spent at Ashley’s room playing both card and board games, I’d started thinking about just how much Nolan had or hadn’t changed over the years.
His physique really hadn’t changed much at all. He was as tall as he’d been since I’d met him, and because I hadn’t grown any taller since tenth grade, our height difference remained exactly the same. He’d maintained the same amount of muscle tone too. It was substantial for a tenth grader, but now that we were in college, all around us were well-built gym bros.
“It’s not like it’s a secret,” he said, bringing his hand up to my hair.
Tangling his fingers into it, he twirled a small lock around his index finger. His action sent pleasant tingling sensations shooting through my scalp. I tried not to sigh happily.
“It’s not, but do you go around announcing it to everyone? I mean, do all your friends know that you have a girlfriend?”
“I don’t—”
“—have friends, alright,” I said, rolling my eyes, “but does everyone know you’re in a relationship? What if someone tries to hit on you while I’m not there?”
His eyebrows scrunched together. “Who’s gonna hit on me?”
“Someone who would! Anyone!”
Nolan was still an attractive guy, after all. Even if he probably looked a bit younger than the other guys on campus… No, did he really look that much younger? I’d been looking at his face for two consecutive years now, and I just couldn’t tell.
“I don’t think guys get hit on as often,” he said. “Anyway, does it really matter? I’d just turn them down and tell them I have a girlfriend. Then they’d know I have a girlfriend. There, problem solved.”
“Still, it would be more convenient if they already knew, right? Then you could avoid the whole awkward conversation.”
I just wished that the whole situation the other day with Lucas could have never happened.
“Why, did someone ask you out?”
He was so good at reading me. Or maybe I was just easy to read.
“Kind of, but it was only because he didn’t know I already have a boyfriend,” I said, making a face. “I should try to mention you more in passing. It’s just that I can’t stand it when girls always bring up their boyfriends for no reason in every conversation!”
Nolan brushed my side bangs out of my eyes.
“Popular, aren’t you? Can’t say I’m surprised. I really like that part of you.”
In my shock, I nearly released his arm. I wasn’t even close to being popular.
“What? What part of me?”
The look in his green eyes was gentle. “The part that draws people towards you like a magnet. You’re so easy to be around.”
“No way, I don’t attract people like a magnet!” I wagged my finger at him. “Are you just trying to flatter me? Look at how many people I hung out with in Fairwood.”
“Well, I definitely felt that pull,” he said with a half-smile. “You think I would’ve made friends with just anyone?”
Feeling heat creep through my cheeks, I turned my head away. I couldn’t stop myself from smiling.
“Flatterer.”
“Sorry, it’s not my fault that you can’t handle the truth.”
“Nolan!”
"our height difference remained exactly the same"
I was convinced that at some point last chapter they actually compared heights and she ended up taller slightly taller, but looking back I can't actually see it so now I'm stuck here wondering why I just invented an additional interaction in my mind. Ah well.
Also, you're just outdoing yourself with the fluff. The fact she felt that she basically has to hug him and could barely stop herself till they got out of sight was really fitting for her character. Nolan with his 'truth' suits him perfectly as well...and something I would (and did) say as well.