Once I have consumed my meal, I apologetically inform everyone at the table that I need to return home before my mum dies from a severe case of worry or worse, actually files a missing person report, especially after counting the number of messages she has sent me. Fortunately, Kai politely offered to give me a ride back home and I accepted the offer since otherwise I would have had to ride my bicycle. Fleance has a hard time parting with his car keys and after wrestling them from his grip, he pleadingly warns us not to scratch his car up.
After I input my address into the GPS, Kai starts driving and we bask in the silence as I gaze out the window at the houses we pass by. That is about when it finally hit me that I spent the night over at his house. Not only that but we confessed our feelings to each other. I met his entire family too, a weird bunch they are.
My lips twitch into a small, satisfied grin. I was not expecting him to tell me that he liked me first. It was a pleasant surprise. I'm always the one confessing my feelings first—and inevitably getting rejected. For once, it was nice for the ball to be in my court.
"Can I turn on the radio?" he asks me and I remove my gaze from the window to look at him. "Or is that going to disturb you?"
For a second, all I do is stare at his side profile.
My silence makes him glance over at me quickly before focusing his gaze back onto the road. Inquisitively, he muses, "What?"
"I sometimes forget how courteous you are," I respond which makes him furrow his eyebrows in bemusement. I guess to him, it's not courtesy, he's just being himself. "It just made me realise that I spend a lot of time around people who don't have manners."
"I wouldn't say you spend a lot of time around people without manners," he says and curiously, I turn around to watch him. "I'd say the more time you spend with someone, the more comfortable you become and the easier it is to banter. I wouldn't extend the same courtesy to Fleance, for example."
"That is true," I nod after considering his words. "But still, you are more polite than the average person."
With a nonchalant shrug, he adds, "I mean, being polite doesn't take any effort, so…"
A noise of agreement leaves the back of my throat as I drink in his concentrating expression, the way he's gnawing onto his bottom lip draws my attention. My gaze then flickers up to his eyes slightly squinting which makes me worry that he's having a hard time seeing.
Curiously, I ask, "Do you still wear glasses?"
"No, I got Lasik about three years ago," he answers and then looks at me questioningly. "Why do you ask?"
"You keep squinting."
"I do?" he muses.
"Yeah."
"Oh, I didn't realise." Now that he's conscious of it, he purposefully widens his eyes which has me grinning in amusement. "A force of habit, I guess."
"Why is that a force of habit?"
"It took me a really long time to admit to my parents that I needed glasses because I was afraid that they would get angry at me for always staying up late to play video games. So, for the longest time I was always squinting to try and see, I guess."
"Ah, okay."
"By the way," he starts softly and when we halt at a stop sign to let a car pass us, I glance over at him enquiringly and he looks at me sideways. "Are your parents gonna flip out at you for spending the night over at my house?"
"I'm not… going to tell my parents that I slept over at your house." Seeing my mum's seething expression in my mind's eye, makes me shiver in fright. "My mum would kill me."
"Is it?" His hand comes out to hug the headrest of my seat as he gazes at me with piqued interest. "Is your mum really strict?"
I give him a look that conveys how the word strict doesn't even scrape the surface when describing the woman that is my mother. She is extremely strict. He responds with a small grin, then places his hands back on the steering wheel and continues driving.
Once the GPS lady informs us that we have arrived at our destination, I look out the window to blink worriedly at the familiar double-storey building that I didn't sleep in. My mum is going to kill me. Looking back at him, my lips lift up gratefully and I exit the car swiftly. He follows my actions, switching off the engine of the car. I quickly walk to the back to collect my bicycle. Before I can reach for it, he beats me to it and hauls it off the back. Once he has handed it to me, he turns around to face me with a bit of a stiff smile on his face.
"Thank you," I say, gripping the handles of the bike.
"You're welcome."
For a really long while, we just awkwardly stand in front of each other, unsure of what to do. How are we supposed to bid each other farewell? Do we just say it or is a hug necessary?
I twist my foot into the ground and avert my gaze slightly. How do people who aren't in a relationship, but have both confessed their feelings to each other and kissed, say goodbye to each other?
"Uh… so I'll see you around," I eventually say, breaking the awkward silence.
"Yeah. Yeah, I'll see you around."
"Cool. Whenever you're in town again and you're," I lift up my shoulder and scratch the nape of my neck, "maybe in need of someone to down a couple of shots with because of anxiety or like just for fun, I hope I'm on speed dial."
"I don't think I'll be downing any shots for a while, but I will call you when I need someone to hang out and chat the day away with."
"Okay, dude," I mutter under my breath, shaking my head while simultaneously having trouble hiding the amused smile on my lips. His loud chuckle does not help.
I realise that the entire time I have been with him, I have been doing this more. Smiling.
"Well, I should get going." I point a thumb over my shoulder, gesturing to my house.
"Yeah and… I should get going too before Fleance gets any more pressed about the fact that I took the car he has been newly wedded to."
"It is a really nice car to be fair to him. Honestly, I think he's more attractive now with the car."
"You think my brother is attractive?"
My eyes widen in surprise and then my nose wrinkles in disgust. "Okay, first of all, don't you ever ask me that question ever again. You will genuinely make me throw up in my mouth."
He snorts in amusement.
"What I meant was, everyone at school finds him more attractive now that he has that car. You know what, I don't need to explain myself to you. Just call me when you get back to Oxfordshire."
He bobs his head up and down, silently telling me that he will.
After sending him one last grin, I turn around and start to push my bicycle across the lawn whilst walking up to the front door until I realise something, and I spin on my heels to face him again. "Also, I will bring your clothes back after I wash them. Well, actually after my mum washes them."
"You look tenfold better in them than I do," he intentionally says to make my cheeks burn a nice cherry red.
"Shut up," I mumble, averting my gaze bashfully.
He laughs at my reaction and after sticking my lip out, I shake my head and clumsily lean my bike against the wall. Before I can even reach for the doorknob, he calls my name and curiously, I look over my shoulder at him. My brows furrow the tiniest bit when I catch him playing with his fingers in a fidgety manner and it reminds me of that one time when he was nervous to ask me to be his canoe partner.
"Go out with me?" he blurts out, eyes widening slightly as if he cannot believe that he just said that to me.
"As in," I pause to inhale deeply, "on a date?"
"As in," he too pauses and his throat bobbles from the big gulp he takes. "I want you to be my boyfriend."
I am instantly taken aback by his words, my eyes widening into the size of saucers and my lips parting in astonishment. "Oh."
"Or we can just go on a date if that's what you prefer," he backpaddles, his eyes flickering around anxiously.
"No, I did not mean for my reaction to come across like that," I quickly rectify and wave my hands. "I was just surprised."
"No, you are absolutely right. We should probably go on an official date first to test out the waters or whatever, right?"
"Uh, sure. When do you want to do that?"
"How about today before I leave?"
"Okay."
His eyes crinkle as his lips curl upwards and after heaving a deep breath from his chest, his shoulders relax. Then he shyly admits, "That got my heart racing."
"What, do I make you nervous?" I jokingly ask.
"You have no idea," he doesn't deny it and as a result, my heart starts beating in my face too. Unlike him, I don't have the balls to say it out loud though. That he has the same effect on me.
Instead, a peal of nervous laughter splutters out of my mouth.
Again, this silence grows between us where we both have colour rushing onto our faces and the bashfulness grows thick. Fortunately, he breaks it and assertively says, "I'll pick you up at about one. Sound good?"
I nod, yes.
"Okay. I'll call you before."
Without saying a word, I raise my hand and wave goodbye to him, attempting to steady my rapidly beating heart and quell the fluttering butterflies in my stomach. I watch him as he crouches back into the car and continue to stare at him until the car disappears around the corner at the end of the street.
Then a large grin breaks out over my face, and I joyfully skip all the way to the front door, momentarily forgetting that a scolding is awaiting me.