Chapter 13: You and I

Author's note: If you disagree with the contents of this chapter, I don't care. Deal with it and do not complain about it. Here we go! This is my all-time favorite chapter, enjoy!!

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This chapter will be told in Holden’s Point of View, not Ariel’s.

Oh, let’s get rich and buy our parents homes in the south of France.

“Ahhhh!” I got out of the cab and looked at the house in front of me. “It’s so big!!”

Mom laughed at my reaction, kneeling down and patting me on the head. “Well, go inside and pick out your beds!!”

“Okay!!” I beamed. “Come on Jake, let’s go!” I grabbed Jake by the hand and dragged him inside, him almost tripping because I was running so fast.

“Ah!” Alex rushed behind us, trying to keep up. “Hold up, guys!!”

We wove our way through the house, looking at all the different rooms and getting ourselves acquainted with the layout of the house. We made our way to the bedrooms, where Alex left to go look at the girl’s room.

“Waaaahhhhh!!” Jake marveled at the boy’s room, the bunk beds and computer placed so that the window was in perfect view, giving us a good look at the small playground in the backyard. “Ah, Holden!” Jake grabbed my hand before I had time to check out the room fully. “Let’s go!!” Jake pulled me out the front door and into the backyard, me having to run to keep up.

“Ahahaha, slow down!!” I laughed, and we arrived at the swings, and he let go of my hand and jumped on it. I climbed on to the swing next to his, laughing and noticing how he was so much different than the little boy I met in that hospital all that time ago. “Hey, you know, you’ve changed a lot, Jake.”

“Huh?” He looked over at me, a confused look spreading on his face.

“Well, when we were at the hospital, you were sad.” I looked at the sky, my swing high in the air. “And now you’re happy, which is good!”

His swing skid to a halt, and his head drooped to the ground and his eyes shone with a sense of sadness that was apparent in him as a kid. “I was really, really sad back then. My parents, they died in a car crash. I was in the car with them, and sometimes, when I was asleep, I could see the car crash happen. But I got better, because that’s what doctors are for, right?” He smiled at me, and his eyes showed me that he didn’t quite believe his own words. “C’mon, let’s go inside and check out the rest of the house!”

Let’s get rich and give everybody nice sweaters and teach them how to dance.

“Hey,” Jake’s kind voice echoed through the room, making me turnaround from doing my homework to look at him.

“Hey.” I smiled at him, and he sat down on the bed next to me. I put down my homework and laid down on the bed. “Ugh, Algebra.” I groaned. “How am I ever going to get out of High School alive.” This elicited a laugh out of Jake, who laid down next to me, smiling. “What’s up?”

“Nothing.” He shrugged. “What about you? How’s, uh, school, and girls, and, whatever it is normal guys talk about?”

I laughed and sat up again, Jake sitting up with me. “Ah, nah, not much going on in the girl area.” I smiled, and he shot a somewhat concerned look.

“I’m sorry.” He pouted, genuine compassion shining in his eyes.

“Don’t be.” I laughed, nudging him in the chest with my elbow, prompting a laugh from him. “I’m fine. You?”

“Nah.” He smiled. “Not really interested there.” He rested his head on my shoulder, his expression becoming saddened. “Hey, you remember when we were kids and we were in the backyard swinging, and you brought up when I was sad in the hospital, and I told you that the doctors made it better?”

“Yeah,” I responded, running my hand through his hair protectively. PTSD, I thought, A kid that young to have PTSD, to have to go through something like that, it must have been horrible. He must still be haunted by it, I know I would be.

“I lied.” He whispered. “The doctors didn’t make it better. You did.” I looked down at him, shocked, but yet unexplainably happy. “You saved me, Holden.” He leaned forward, bringing his lips to meet mine.

And, for a moment, everything was perfect. I forgot about failing school, the possibility of being out of the house and not having anywhere to go, all of my problems just seemed to vanish while kissing him.

Then he pulled away and I came crashing back down to earth.

“I’m sorry.” He looked scared and worried, and he got up and tried to walk out of the room.

Before he could get to the door, I rushed up and grabbed him by the wrist. “No.” I said, pulling him closer to me. “Don’t be sorry. Ever.” I brought his lips up to meet mine again, and again the euphoria made all of my problems disappear.

“Hey Holden can I borrow…” Alex walked through the door, her eyes widening upon the scene she stumbled into. “Oh… my god!”

Jake’s face went white, and he hid behind me, looking as if he hoped that if he hoped hard enough, he’d disappear. “Uh, hey, Alex, what’s up?” I smiled, my face obviously nervous and embarrassed enough that I didn’t look calm like I hoped I would.

“Oh my god oh my god.” She stuttered, looking even more shocked than she did a couple of seconds ago.

“Wow, Alex, you have such a way with words.” I said, sarcasm thick in my voice.

“Shut up!” She retorted. “Ooooh, how Mom and Bart are going to love this!” She turned around and tried to walk out of the room, but didn’t get too far before I grabbed her and dragged her into the room, Jake locking the door behind us.

“Hey, no, hey!” Alex protested as I sat her down on the bed and wrapped my arms around her to keep her from escaping.

“Alex, under no circumstances are you to tell Mom about this ever, understand?” I stated, hoping she’d agree not to tell them.

“Yeah, sure, whatever, let me go!” She squirmed, and I did as she said. “So how long has this been going on?” She immediately asked, her brown eyes brightening as she thought about Jake and I-her brother and best friend-dating.

“Get out, Alex.” I pointed towards the door, and she left.

Let’s get rich and build a house on a mountain making everybody look like ants.

“Are you sure you’re ready?” I looked at Jake, his anxious expression worrying me a tad. “We can wait, you know, tell them later, once we’re out of the house or something.” I tried my best to console him, hoping he’d find the courage to come out to my mom and his godfather.

“No, it’s okay, Holden. I’ll be fine” He smiled. “We have to do this, right?”

I planted a small kiss on his nose. “Right.” I smiled and nodded. “Let’s do this, yeah?”

We walked into the living room, Mom and Bart watching a movie together, on separate ends of the couch. “Uh, Mom, Bart?” We walked in from of them, cutting off their view of the movie. “We, uh, we have something to tell you.”

“What is it, sweetie?” Mom smiled at me, and I got even more nervous than before.

“Uh, Jake and I, we’re kinda…” I trailed off for a second, my courage fading away, but knowing that it was too late to back out now. Jake’s hand found mine, our fingers intertwining as shocked looks spread across Mom and Bart’s faces. “We’re dating.”

Bart laughed. “Ahahahaha, wait. You’re serious.” His face quickly switched back to one of surprise and seriousness.

Mom quickly got over the initial shock of our announcement. “Okay, have fun, be safe, now can you get out of the way? I’m trying to watch TV.”

“Uh, well, okay.” I awkwardly slid out of the room, Jake’s hand still in mine, and we made our way to our room.

“So, that went well.” Alex slid behind us, eliciting a slight scream from Jake.

“God, Alex, don’t do that!” I gasped, trying to catch my breath from the miniature heart attack. “Were you… did you listen in!?”

“Of course.” She nodded, acting as if it was an everyday thing.

“Alex, get out.” I pointed to the door, and she left without a complaint.

“So, what are we going to do?” Jake sat down on the bed, his eyes staring at the floor. “I mean, like after school and stuff? We’re so close to grad, and I have no plans after University.”

I sat down next to him, laying my hand on his. “Hey, don’t worry, we’ll get through it.” I kissed him on the cheek, drawing him out of his thoughts. “We always do, right?”

“Right.” He smiled, planting one last kiss on my lips.

From way up there,

You and I,

You and I.