Page 54 of Here In Your Arms

He lets my leg down, and we disentangle. I walk over to the couch, taking a moment to display my pseudo-nest of pillows and blankets. Wes whistles appreciatively.

“Kyle would approve of this setup.”

“I like cozy things.”

Wes grins mischievously. “I do too, and you’re the coziest thing I see here.”

He grabs me and I laugh as he pulls us into the pile I have strewn about the couch. An idea strikes me, and I hope he’s on board.

“I know this is bold for the start of a relationship… but do you play Mario Kart?” I ask.

His eyes light up with excitement and he rubs his hands together. “Fuck yeah I do, let’s go!”

Laughing, we get out the switch and select our options before taking our characters to the racecourse. Our picks are vastly different, but honestly, most of it does come down to skill. We go a few rounds and while we try to keep our banter light, the first time a blue shell comes out, so does the smack talk.

“GODDAMMIT!” I yell as a green shell bouncing chaotically takes me out.

“Gotta be aware of your surroundings,” Wes chides.

“I’ll show you surroundings,” I mutter and get back into the race.

He laughs. “What does that even mean?”

“It means, suck it loser!” I yell as I receive a star and zoom past him and another CPU on the last leg of the race.

I end up winning the four courses we chose and Wes flops back against the couch. I do the same and grin over at him.

“Well, we survived Mario Kart,” I tell him.

He smiles back. “That we did! I let you win, though.”

Laughing, I lean against him. “Whatever you need to tell yourself.”

We flip to the TV and veg out for a few minutes before I feel the heaviness slowly set in. I had hoped that maybe it would stay away, especially with the make-out session and Mario Kat fun, but my gut feeling is coming to fruition. Wes doesn’t seem to notice the shift in my mood, and honestly, it may be more subtle than it feels. I decide that snuggles might help, so I burrow in closer to him. He absently gives me a kiss on top of my head, pulling me close with his arm, and leans his cheek against the top of my head.

Slowly the heaviness sets in further, and the thoughts start up. Sometimes they’re pretty rough, but they usually start out with milder topics. I’m not good enough. Why is Wes spending time with me? I should have said something different when I was at their house the other week. Wes is going to leave the minute he figures out how defective I am, and he’ll convince Kyle to run too. Even if they don’t, when they find out about Nathan, they’ll probably cut and run. I get it. I’m not really good enough, so it makes sense. Nathan made that clear and I should remember it.

“Rory?” Wes sounds concerned and I realize I zoned out there.

“Hm?”

“You okay?”

“Why?”

“Been calling your name for a minute now. You’re really out of it.”

“Oh, sorry.”

“You don’t need to apologize, but if you need me to go, you can tell me.”

“Oh, okay.” I’ve been relegated to minimal words it seems. I must have delved into bad brain space further than I thought.

“Are you sure you’re okay? I’m a little worried.”

“Yeah. Just, um, bad brain day.”

“Oh, I don’t really know what that means,” Wes confesses, and I hear both of our phones chime with messages.

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