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I breathed in the cool forest air surrounding us, feeling totally cozy and warm in my favorite peach-colored hoodie. The moment was perfect, with Nolan's arm around me and Blue hopping around on his lap.

"Chelsea," he said, withdrawing his arm and shifting a little away from me. "I need to tell you something."

The cold air swiftly swooped in to take his place, and I shivered slightly. I missed his warmth already, although I knew that it technically wasn't his body heat.

"Well, that doesn't sound ominous at all," I said, turning to him. "What is it? Is something wrong?"

The moonlight was pretty bright tonight, so I could see the solemn expression on his face.

Everything had been smooth sailing between us since we became official. It wouldn't make sense for him to take me to the forest just to dump me, right?

He shook his head. "No, nothing's wrong."

"Can't you just tell me without removing your arm, then?" I said, attempting a smile.

My stomach tightened.

"It's better that we can face each other while talking," he said. "This is kind of serious. No, actually, this is very serious."

"Um, okay. Can you just say it? Please don't keep me in suspense."

"I will," he said. "I just need to say something else first—Chelsea, we've been together for a few months now, but before this I never thought we would even start dating, let alone get to this stage."

As he talked, I felt my frown grow deeper and deeper. What exactly was he trying to get at?

"I was never going to tell you that I was a vampire on my own. If you hadn't seen me transform that day, I'd never have told you I liked you. I was sure you'd run away screaming if you found out, so I wanted to ensure that you would never find out. That was why I never wanted to tell you how I felt. There was no way I could keep it a secret forever if we became more than friends."

That explained the way he admitted his feelings in such a harsh manner after I saw him turn from a bat. Before, he'd never even remotely hinted at it. This wasn't something I'd given much consideration to after he asked me out, since I was so happy that we were finally together.

"I get that," I said. "Why are you telling me this now, though?"

"I want you to at least know why I haven't told you this yet. Sometimes I'm still in disbelief that we're together, that this isn't all a dream." He looked down at his hands. "Sometimes, I get up from bed convinced that I've finally woken up this time, and the dream is over."

"I'll get mad if you say things like that," I said, reaching over to grasp his hand. "This is reality. Do you need a pinch to help you realize that?"

His laughter spilled out into the cold night air, and the corners of his lips twitched upwards, but I noticed that he was still avoiding eye contact with me.

"I appreciate the offer," he said, squeezing my hand back. "Not sure if that will cure me permanently, though."

"Hey. What's wrong?" I asked.

After a short pause, he said, "Nothing. My real last name isn't Rowe."

"Wait. What?"

That was so abrupt, I didn't even care that I totally looked like a gaping goldfish right now.

"Yeah," he said, finally turning his gaze on me. "I lied. Sorry. I didn't think you'd need to know something like that back then, so I just gave you the last name I used to enroll at this school."

"Wait, what? So, according to the school, you are Nolan Rowe?"

Was it possible to become even more nonplussed than I already was?

"The school thinks that I am, anyway," he said. "It's what I put down on school assignments and stuff like that. If, for whatever reason, anyone at school asks me for my last name, it's the name I'll give them."

Including me.

"You're telling me now, though."

"Sorry," he said. "I didn't want to lie to you, but at that time we were just friends. I wasn't sure if I would keep in contact with you after graduation."

That was why it took so much wheedling to get his last name out of him.

Why did he have a fake last name in the first place? What was his real last name? Why was he telling me this now? Were there more secrets I knew nothing of?

My brain was drowning in too many similar questions to be capable of stringing together a coherent sentence.

All I could say was, "Why?"

"I was thinking about the future," he said. "I don't know what the next few years for me are going to be like. I don't know what I'm going to do in the long run. I prefer not to think about my future, but now that you might be in it, I have to give it some thought."

"Because you might not age?"

"Yeah, and I really won't hold it against you if you realize later on that you really can't deal with it." He offered me a wry half-smile. "If we're still together a few years down the road, though, we might eventually meet each other's parents. I don't want this sprung on you at the last minute."

"If? Way to be optimistic about us," I said jokingly, but I kind of meant it. "It hasn't even been a year yet. Aren't you thinking a little too far ahead?"

It was as if he'd already determined the end of our relationship before we'd even encountered any major bumps in the road.

He shrugged. "I know we only just started going out, but I'm not exactly normal. I have to consider what might happen. It doesn't feel right to keep lying to you about my family, especially since I'll probably be learning more about yours."

I didn't know what to say.

"My actual last name is Lawson," he said, training his attention on Blue, who had decided to scuttle up onto his forearm.

"Lawson?" I frowned.

That sounded kind of familiar.

His next words wiped my mind completely blank.

"Principal Lawson is my father."

"What?" That word came out more like a gasp than a real question. "'Principal' as in, our school principal?"

I mostly only saw Principal Lawson at school assemblies and other various major school events. Melissa probably knew more about him since she'd been sent to his office a few times before.

"Yeah, our school principal."

"What?"

I'd never spoken to him in person, but he was a very dignified-looking man who dressed well and looked like he knew what he was doing. I couldn't believe he was keeping such a huge secret—his son was attending his school under a false last name.

"Yeah. I spent the whole week wondering whether I should tell you, but I knew that it ultimately all boils down to trust—and you've earned mine. I'm really—really—terrible at trusting people, but you make me want to try," he said in a light tone, flashing me a smile that faltered almost as soon as it appeared.

I tightened my grip on his hand. Nolan was right here next to me, but in this moment, he felt so far away.

"I won't tell anyone," I said. "I mean, obviously."

"Yeah," he said, finally meeting my eyes. "I know you won't. Even if we're no longer together in a few months, I trust you to keep it a secret."

"Stop talking like that." I glared at him. "Do you want us to break up that much?"

"Sorry," he said. "I'm sorry. I want us to be together, but I ... Seriously, every single day for the last couple of months, I kept expecting you to break up with me. And then you didn't, and it just ... made me anxious for it. I know it's not logical, but it feels inevitable."

"Don't you know how I feel about you?" I felt so embarrassed saying that, but I had to. "Why would I dump you?"

"I know." He looked back down at the ground. "I know you like me, or you wouldn't be with me otherwise. But there are so many things I can't do. I can't accompany you when it's bright out. My day starts when yours is about to end. There will probably be more problems that surface as time goes on. I keep thinking that each passing day is one step closer to you realizing that you can't do this. If you had a normal boyfriend—"

"But I don't want a normal boyfriend," I interrupted. "I want you. I wasn't even interested in dating anyone until I got to know you."

He fell silent.

"I'm not saying that I don't have any concerns at all. I think about this stuff sometimes too, you know. But my feelings haven't diminished because of it, and it definitely doesn't make me not want to be with you." Blue landed on my lap, giving me the perfect excuse to look away from him. "Hearing you say that is kind of ... kind of really upsetting."

It was getting hard to ignore the piercing twinge in my chest. Worries about the future occasionally bothered me, but the idea of breaking up with Nolan because of it had never once crossed my mind. Apparently, it was constantly on his.

"I'm really sorry. I didn't mean to upset you." Tugging his hand out of my grip, he put his arm around me again. "I'm not trying to be negative on purpose, but my brain just won't stop, even when I'm trying not to think about anything."

"I know what you mean," I said. "But I really like you, and I haven't even thought of breaking up. So remind yourself of that whenever you start to overthink again, okay?"

He nodded. "I will."

I had no idea that he had been feeling so insecure about us. Nolan never struck me as the type. Overwhelmed suddenly by the urge to hug the anxiousness out of him, I flung my arms around him and pulled him into a tight embrace.

The feel of Nolan's warm and sturdy body under my grip was reassuring. I inhaled the comforting scent of his pullover hoodie my face was buried in. I never wanted to let go.

"You have me," I said, my voice coming out muffled through his chest. "Don't feel like you have to face everything by yourself."

He nuzzled the top of my head, and I felt like my heart was being squeezed.

"Okay," he said softly.

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AN: did anybody see this coming? probably not, right? hahaha. ahhh i'm late again :( sorry! it was really difficult getting this out. have a great week! thank you for reading, hope you liked it, love you all <3 i'll reply to your comments on part 66 later during my break at work! ^o^

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