Page 35 of Worth the Wait
Freddie dragged his chair forward, the wheels snagging on the lumpy carpet and god-knows-what littering his bedroom floor—schoolbooks, socks, a half-eaten bag of Wotsits, and the open box ofTangle No More: AromatherapyHairbrushes – Limited Launch!His mum’s latest invention. Half the brushes were leaking essential oil and had left oily flower-shaped blotches on the carpet. One had lavender sprigs duct-taped to the handle.
He gave the box a shove with his foot. “Don’t ask,” he said after Nathan’s eyebrow arch, before giving up on the chair completely and standing, stepping over a rogue mug emblazoned withRevision = Precision, and dropped into a crouch in front of Nathan. He nudged his knee gently with his own, trying to coax a reaction. “Want me to go book in a fake MOT again? Wind your dad up proper?”
A ghost of a smile lifted Nathan’s mouth, but it didn’t quite land.
He shook his head.
“So what’s up?”
Nathan’s face pinched.
“Your dad’s a prick. Tell him you’re taking a year out after exams and we’re going to Ibiza whether he likes it or not.”
He took Nathan’s hand, giving it a gentle squeeze. Part comfort, part question. Then he laced their fingers together, cause it felt as if this was the moment they stopped pretending it was just friendship in the shadows.
Nathan didn’t pull away.
Didn’t move at all, really.
Freddie’s heart stuttered. So he slid his other hand along the back of Nathan’s neck, slipping into the soft, cropped hair at his nape. It was a move born of habit, of the late-night touches they never talked about. The ones that lived under blankets and behind locked doors.
It was comfort, sure.
But it was alsowant. Heavy and aching.
Freddie tightened his grip in Nathan’s hair, and for one suspended second, all he could think about was yankinghim forward and tumbling them both onto the bed. No more pretending, no more maybes. Just them. This.Real.
What he hoped they’d have in Ibiza.
His voice dipped, teasing and warm. “Ibiza, babe. Sun, sea, and…” He waggled his eyebrows before leaning into whisper, “Sssss…angria.”
Freddie chuckled, at least expecting a snort from Nathan. A roll of his eyes. A reaction. But Nathan didn’t laugh. Didn’t even smile. He stared at the floor as if it had more answers than he did.
So Freddie leant in, nudging his forehead to Nathan’s. “Want me to kiss it better?”
Thatgot a reaction. Nathan’s lips twitched. Almost a smile, but not quite. Then he darted his gaze towards the open door. “Your sister let me in.”
Freddie sighed and stood, rolling his eyes. He’d quite like his sister to walk in on them. Toknow. Then maybe she could finally get over her own years-old crush and stop doodling Mrs Carter in the corners of her old school notebooks. And he was halfway to slamming the door shut, because he knew Nate wasn’t ready for anyone to know yet, not even the fifteen-year-old girl he used to climb trees with, when Piper popped up in the doorway, holding a mug as if it was a marriage proposal.
“Made Nate a tea.” She held up a cheap, mismatched mug from the back of the cupboard, stamped with one of their mum’s failed business logos from her brief “inspirational kitchenware” era. This one read:Cuppa Ambition: Pour Dreams, Add Boiling Water.
Freddie stared at it as if it might bite. “You trying to off him?”
Piper lifted the mug to check the cracks. “I don’t think this one will break in his hand.”
Freddie turned back to Nathan, deadpan. “You fancy a tea that tastes like regret and smells like lavender PVA glue?”
Nathan grimaced. “Hard pass.”
Freddie turned back to his sister. “He said he’d rather lick the pavement outside the kebab shop.”
“You’re such a knob.”
Freddie blew her a kiss, then kicked the door shut with the back of his heel and clicked the dodgy lock made from a bent nail and a bit of hope into place. He turned, leaning back against the door, and raked his gaze from Nathan’s battered trainers to the slump of his hoodie-covered shoulders. The curve of his neck. That moody pout.
Freddie tilted his neck. “You know, if you weren’t sat there looking like you’re auditioning to be the fifth member of Arctic Monkeys circaFavourite Worst Nightmare,you’d be proper fit right now.”
Nathan huffed out the smallest laugh, barely more than a breath.
