✧.* letters addressed to the fire // drake parker

chapter six

letters addressed to the fire - 006. / terrific  by drake bell.

the next few days felt long and taxing. drake found himself avoiding nova, the thought of facing her after he opened up felt terrifying. he'd never done that before- especially not to a girl. what was he supposed to say? or do? every step he took through the bustling halls felt heavy and overbearing. the clothes that used to feel comfortable and familiar, felt itchy and constricting. every step reminded him of how bad he felt.

as drake sighed heavily, he reached his locker, messing with the fabric of his worn down band t-shirt. he fought the urge to look behind him as he opened the locker, putting his backpack away. he prayed to whatever god was up there that he would have a little more time to think. that she would stay away for now. but when he felt a tap on his shoulder, he spun around to see who it was. his heart sunk at the sight, it was nova, standing right in front of him, eyebrows furrowed in what looked like confusion- maybe concern. 

"hey, why have you been avoiding me?" her voice was soft, filled with hurt. "i thought you liked me. i thought we connected."

his throat went dry and suddenly, finding the words to describe how he'd been feeling felt almost impossible. "i... i do, nova. i'm just not good at these kinds of things." drake looked down at the ground, huffing softly through his nose. "we connected a lot. i've never opened up to anyone like that before it just... scared me." 

nova softened, nodding understandingly. "drake, there's nothing to be afraid of, i promise. i won't go around telling anyone what we talked about. i wouldn't want you to tell either. nobody knows about my family either. not even mindy."

drake let out a sigh of relief he didn't know he was holding in as her words sunk in. he felt bad for even questioning her in the first place. then it hit him. "wait, mindy doesn't even know about your dad?" he spoke softly, voice laced with confusion. "why did you tell me then?"

"because i felt like i could trust you." she said, glancing down at the ground. 

he hooked a finger under her chin, tilting her head up to look at him. "you can trust me."

she sighs softly, eyes searching his and finding nothing but genuinity. "you know, it hurt my feelings when you avoided me like that. you could have told me what you were feeling, i wouldn't have judged you." nova spoke in such a careful manner about things like this, it made him feel guilty. drake knew that already, he knew she cared about him. but that was what scared him. how was he supposed to handle that? the only people who he thought actually cared about him left. of course, his mom and megan are different, but he's not even sure about josh. a lot of the time he feels like he isn't too fond of him. 

"i'm sorry. i really am." drake says softly, eyes never leaving hers as he speaks. 

as their eyes lingered on each others, nova became lost in what seemed like a whole other universe, just by looking into his eyes. she never thought she could feel for anybody like this. there'd been crushes, but, she'd never felt this spark for anyone. she was suddenly hyperaware of every move he was making, his finger hooked under her chin, holding her there, the way he gazed into her eyes, it drove her crazy. the urge to kiss him was one that she didn't know if she could deny. and before she knew it, she was leaning forward, leaning up ever so slightly on her tiptoes, meeting his lips and filling the gap between them. 

almost immediately, his hand found her waist and pulled her in. she smiled into the kiss, hand swiftly moving to caress the back of his neck.

eventually, when they pulled away, nova couldn't ignore the feeling of someone watching her. she began looking around and found mindy's eyes shooting daggers into her soul. it made a pit form in her stomach.