Pretty Boy (boyxboy)

Chapter Twenty Seven

THURSDAY

Jamie usually meets me in the cafe for breakfast every morning, so when she didn't show up, my mind wandered to the worst possible scenarios. I manage to sneak out of the cafe without stopping for a bite to eat and head down the hallway to Jamie's bedroom. Her door is still closed, making my anxiety rise even more. 

I don't bother knocking on the door, and let myself in. I breathe a sigh of relief when she's still curled underneath the sheets, asleep. 
I sit down beside her on the bed and touch my hand to her shoulder. 

Her eyes pop open and she whimpers loudly, sliding away from my touch and backing into the corner of her bed. Her eyes are wild and afraid. 

"Hey, it's just me. It's Matt."

Her eyes study me for a moment before darting around the room wearily, almost as if she's waiting for something to pop out at her. 

"Jamie. You're okay."I soothe. 

She finally focuses her attention on me and relaxes, scooting back over to where I sit. 
"Sorry." She mumbles. 

I slowly wrap my arm around her shoulders, watching her carefully to make sure she is okay with me touching her. She eases herself into my body and curls herself around me. 
"You're okay." 

"You wanna talk about it?" I whisper. 

She shakes her head, keeping her gaze blank as she stares at her poster on the wall in front of us. 
"We better get to the cafe. Nate's probably already there." She says, leaning up to wink at me at the mention of her brothers name. 

I chuckle.
"Yeah, probably." 

I'll never understand how she can go from being so scared and fragile to at ease and joking in less than a minute. 

She makes me cover my eyes with my hands as she changes into a pink crop top and black sweat pants. 

"Okay, come on."

I stand up from her bed and follow her back to the cafe. 

I immediately spot Nate sitting at our regular table and he grins when he catches my eye, motioning for us to come sit down. 
"Come on, Nate's here."

She smiles when she sees him and jogs over to him, hugging him tightly. He seems surprised at her sudden burst of affection, but hugs her back and kisses the side of her head sweetly. 

We both take a seat on either side of Nate and he leans over to kiss my cheek. 

"You weren't here when I came in so I fixed you guys plates too." He tells us, pushing a half an omelette over to each of us.

"Thank you." We both say. 

I cut off a small piece and swallow it quickly. I haven't felt the feeling of hunger in a really long time. I had trained myself not to be hungry, and whatever I did eat didn't stay down for long away. Today, I actually feel slightly hungry, and the omelette tastes really good for it being hospital food. 

"How was your check in with the Doc yesterday?" Nate asks as he chews his last bite of breakfast. 

I shrug. 
"Better than last time." I laugh. 
"But he gave me this 'goal' he wants me to do by the end of the week." I say, rolling my eyes in annoyance. 

Nate snorts.
"What's the goal?"

"I have to get in touch with my dad."

Nate's face falls. I'm not sure if it's because the word brings back the awful memories of his father, or if it's because he knows that speaking with my dad again is something I do not want to do. 

"Does he still live around here?" Jamie asks, leaning over her brother. 

I scoff.
"No he moved across the country after he divorced my mom."

"Damn." Jamie frowns. 

I nod. 
"Did Olsen ever make you do that?" I ask lowly, eyeing JJ carefully, hoping I haven't upset her. 

She sighs.
"He wanted me to, but just the idea of it sent me into a panic attack, so I never did. I don't care if I never seen that bastard again. He's dead to me." She spits. 

I feel awful for ever bringing up the subject as I take a look at Nate's face. His usual happy features have turned hard and a deep frown is set onto his beautiful face. 

I slide my hand over and grab onto his underneath the table. The touch makes him look up.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have brought it up. Please don't be mad at me." I whisper, my leg bouncing in worry that he will yell at me. 

I feel him remove his hand from mine and I want to cry. 
Relief floods me when I feel his hands wrap themselves behind my head and his fingers curl into my hair, urging me to look him in the eye. 

"I'm not mad at you, baby. I'm fine. Everything's fine." He assures. 

I manage a small smile and nod. 

"Is it okay if I kiss you right now?" He asks lowly, looking around at the few other people in the room with us. 

My heart leaps at how kind and considerate this boy is. He promised that we would take this slow and that I wouldn't have to tell anyone anything until I was ready, and he has kept that promise. 
I nod quickly and his dimples reappear onto his cheeks as he presses his lips onto mine. 

Our lips move slowly and gently and I giggle when I feel him nip at my bottom lip playfully. He grins and pulls away from my lips, turning back to his plate. I do the same and take a few more bites in silence as I like Jamie have time to hang out with her brother. I know she misses him. 

I clear my throat and stand up. 
"I'll be right back." 

They nod and jump back into their conversation. I toss the remnants of my breakfast into the garbage can as I exit and head to my bedroom. My eyes immediately spot the folded piece of paper that sits on top of my leather journal, just as I had left it. I sigh and pick it up along with the sticky note with my fathers address written on it, and hurry back out of the room. 

I make the short walk up to the lobby where Cindy sits, reading an email on her computer screen. 

"Cindy?"

Her face lights up when she sees me. 
"Hey, Matthew! What can I help you with?"

I hold the two pieces of paper out to her. 
"Could you mail my letter to this address for me?" 

She takes the papers from my hands and nods.
"Yeah sure."

"Thanks. I'll see you later."

I can't help but wonder if mailing that letter is a good idea or not. Will it even make a difference to him? He didn't want anything to do with me then, so why would he change his mind now? The part of my heart that still misses him starts to creep its way back into my head but I politely tell it to fuck off, and head back to the cafe.