Our Safeguard

Chapter 22

Chapter 22

~Jerome~

       The first thing I saw when I woke up was Nolan sleeping soundly with his head rested on my chest. This was definitely something I missed when we weren't talking to each other. Normally when Nolan fell asleep, he would somehow move to snuggling me in the middle of the night. That didn't happen when we were fighting, almost as if his body subconsciously stayed away from me.

       I combed Nolan's hair with my hand. It was always so messy in the mornings. Then again, his hair was usually messy. It was cute. Very cute.

       Nolan's alarm on his phone went off. He stirred for a bit, but then stayed still, almost as if he went back to sleep. I waited for a few moments, seeing if he was going to get up or just stay in bed. He laid still, breathing softly.

       "Nolan..." I said gently. "You have to wake up."

       "No," Nolan mumbled.

       "You do. You have to get ready to go to school."

       "No."

       "Are you just going to keep saying no to everything I say?"

       "No."

       I chuckled before I kissed the top of his head. "You're a cutie. You can't just skip school, though."

       "I can if I want to take a mental health day, which I am very tempted to do because Joel did numbers on my mental health." Nolan moved onto his stomach so he could rest his chin on my chest as he looked at me. "I really am sorry about believing him over you."

       I ran my hands through his hair again. "It's okay. Really. Manipulative people tend to seem trustworthy."

       "I still feel bad..."

       "Don't feel bad. Really. It's okay. Are you really going to take a mental health day."

       Nolan shook his head before he sat up. "As much as I want to, I don't actually need to. Besides, if Joel tries to talk to me, I know Orchid will be willing to stop him. She was wanting to kick him after she found out what he did."

       "Tell her to do it anyway."

       "What? No. I don't want to make things worse..."

       I sat up, resting my arms behind my head. "Seems to me like Joel is the one that made things worse. Orchid kicking him would just be him getting his comeuppance."

       "Ooh, that was a big word for you."

       "Huh? I know big words. Are you insinuating that I'm dumb?"

       "No. Just that it was a big word for you."

       "That still makes it sound like you're calling me dumb. And you do know that English isn't my first language, right?"

       "Yeah. Still a big word."

       I was glad that after Nolan and I were talking again, he was back to teasing me like he normally did. I knew it also wouldn't be long before Nolan asked to have sex. I was surprised he didn't ask me the moment we made up.

       Nolan got off the bed to get ready to go to school. I didn't have anything to do today, so I was tempted to just lie in bed all day. However, once Nolan was changed, he basically begged me to drive him to school today. I couldn't say no to him; I didn't think I could ever say no to him. He had the worst puppy-dog eyes.