Love and Other Diseases (bxb)

Chapter Twenty-Seven

We snuck into Blake's house through the back way and made our way to his bedroom. I could hear his parents watching TV in the room over, so I made sure to keep my voice down.

"Ow!" Blake exclaimed. "You are such an asshole."

"Sh," I said, prodding his nose with my fingers. "I don't think it's broken, but shouldn't we get you to the hospital or something?"

"No," he scoffed. "I'm fine, we just have to clean up the blood a little and I'll be good as new."

"Fine— here." I grabbed a pair of boxer shorts off of the ground and Blake stumbled away. "Come back, we have to clean you."

"Dude!" Blake sputtered and held his hands up to keep me away. "Dude, you do not want to know the fluids on that thing. Hold on, I'll go to the bathroom."

"Nope." I steadied my hands on his shoulders and kept him sitting on the bed. "You're staying here. You're injured."

"Wha—"

I left the room and slinked off towards the bathroom, making sure my feet were quiet enough that his parents wouldn't notice. I grabbed a small dish towel and ran it under the water, then rummaged through his cabinets for a first aid kid.

I entered Blake's bedroom and halted, shocked to see him smiling. "Thanks, jerk face," Blake said, holding out his hand. I knocked his hand away and started cleaning his face with the towel. "You're so bossy."

"Well, I have to be," I scoffed. "You're the one that got yourself into this mess—"

"You got punched too! I can see the bruise on your jaw."

I shook my head and wiped away the blood, little by little. "Not as bad as you," I scolded. "I can't believe you trusted Alana and followed her, idiot. You seriously could've been hurt."

Blake rolled his eyes. "She said she wanted to talk about something important. Not that she wanted to jump me with three meat-heads."

"Mhmm." I finished wiping all the blood off, and then I covered my finger with Neosporin and shoved it up Blake's nose.

"Dude!" Blake sputtered and wiped at his face, but I grabbed his hands in mine and sent him a stern glare.

"Blake. What if it gets infected?"

"You are so stupid!" Blake whined. "I don't have a cut, so it can't get infected. He hit my cheek and a little of my nose, man, I'm fine."

Huh. That was a very good point. "Oops," I mumbled, which made Blake smirk and shake his head a little.

He grabbed the tissue and blew his nose, getting blood and goop all over the towel. I got a lovely up-close view of Blake shoving a corner of the towel into each nostril to scoop out the shit that was up there. It was disgusting.

And yet, I still wanted to scoop him up in my arms and cuddle on him. And then I wanted to go find Chad and beat his face in. So yeah, I loved him.

...And he never said it back.

I awkwardly stared at Blake, trying to figure him out. He honestly was kind of a mess— hair sweaty and sticking to his forehead, cheek swollen and looking a little purple, nose covered in blood remnants and Neosporin. But his green eyes were as captivating as ever and I wanted to kiss his pretty lips.

He wasn't looking at me with the uncomfortable look of someone who didn't love the person who loved him. He also wasn't looking at me like he wanted to punch me in the face. But he also wasn't looking at me like he wanted to start confessing his love. Actually, he looked confused.

"Are you good?" Blake asked. He reached out and felt my forehead. "No fever. You look like you're about to pass out."

My heart hammered in my chest. I knew what I had to do.

Blake must've been running on adrenaline earlier. He must not have comprehended what I'd said. I'd have to say it all over again.

"Um." I wiggled. I felt awkward and too-large, like I wanted to melt into the blankets and hide. "Well." Was I blushing? "Um. I like your hair."

Blake blinked. "Did they drug you?"

"No! And your eyes; I think they're very pretty. Sorry, I'm not poetic." I cleared my throat. "And, um, I find your personality to be very enjoyable to be around. In fact, when given the opportunity to hang out with other people, I think I'd rather be with you."

Blake tilted his head, looking like he might've been putting together what I was saying.

"And I think we're very compatible," I added, looking at his eyes for any sign of disagreement. There wasn't any. "And if you would like to continue dating, I would very much like that. For a very long time."

Blake leaned in, smirking. "Oh? How long?"

"Like, as in, as long as you'd like."

"But if you could choose."

Blake Beckson was evil and I hated him.

"I think I'm blushing and I'm very embarrassed," I mumbled, staring at the carpet. Blake laughed.

"Oh, dude, you're totally blushing." He leaned back on the bed and grinned at me. "C'mon, I wanna hear you say it. I wanna watch you look at me and say it."

"You're the worst," I groaned, hiding my face in my hands. "Forever, maybe?"

Blake sat up and leaned against me, smiling in a way that lit up his whole face. "You know, Jake, I think I missed something you said earlier. Didn't I?" He wrapped his arm around mine and clasped my hand.

"Possibly," I admitted, taking a deep breath. "Blake—"

"Say those things you used to call me."

I groaned. "Blake the mistake—"

"That's more like it."

I grabbed his chin and met those electric green eyes, finding the courage to tell the man I loved what I had on my mind "I love you, Blake. Okay? I love you, and I've only just realized it."

Blake smiled so wide I thought his swollen cheek must've been hurting. Those eyes I used to pretend to hate were twinkling with delight— actually, he might've been crying a little. What a cute loser.

"Me too," he blurted, leaning his face against my shoulder. "I've actually liked you for kind of a long time, Jake. And now I get to tell you that I love you."

We kissed and I realized that, all along, I was the idiot. Blake was incredible, and I couldn't think of anything better than loving him.

-/-/-

The end :)

Finishing this book is kind of crazy, because I pretty much started it six years ago. I read a writing prompt Tumblr post about an unreliable narrator, and I wrote the first couple of paragraphs of this story. It sat in my google doc for years and I just added more bit by bit. It's so fun to now see it published!

I hope you enjoyed their journey!