Page 8 of Run to Me
“I’m glad you boys made it home safely. Have a good time?” Her red-rimmed eyes are hard to miss when Nate flips the main kitchen light on. Now I know why she was standing in the dark with only the stove light on.
“Yeah. I ate way too much, though.” I rub my stomach and she smiles.
“What are you doing in here alone?” Nate asks, inching closer to the cake.
“I didn’t want to miss y’all coming in. We didn’t get a chance to sing you happy birthday. I’ve already missed so many birthdays . . .” Her words trail off and her eyes water. “I don’t want to miss any more.”
My throat clogs with emotion and I stand beside her, holding her hand. “It’s a really great cake, Mom,” I say, feeling like I’m still trying the name out for size and it doesn’t exactly fit yet.
“It really is,” Nate agrees. “Let me grab the candles.”
We light the candles, and they both sing happy birthday. Smoke rises in the air as I blow them out without making a wish. I never believed in that sort of thing. It never helped me before—not wishes or prayers. No matter how much I shouted at the sky, no one ever heard me or came to my rescue. No one made Dad’s anger settle or his hands feel any lighter when he used them against me. In the end I helped myself without realizing what I was doing.
No matter how full Nate and I are, we take a slice of cake from my mom, and it’s not until our plates are empty that she hugsus both goodnight. While she’s handling the mess, Nate drags me to his room and pulls out something wrapped in snowman wrapping paper. “I forgot to grab a birthday bag from the store and didn’t have time to get one today.”
I take it from his hand and we both sit on the bed. The paper rips beneath my hands and I can’t help but smile big when I see what’s underneath. A blue notebook that saysAll the Things That Make Jace a Good Personon the front.
We open it together and he points to the first one. “He always holds the door open for others.”
“That’s not a big deal,” I huff out.
He turns the page and says, “Shares his candy with me.”
“I can’t eat all that sugar alone,” I smirk.
The next page says, “Always lets me have the last soda and ice cream.”
They’re all little acts of kindness, but Nate makes a big deal out of each one, and all I see right now is what he sees—he’s happy with me exactly the way I am. Who cares if the rest of the world keeps their distance from me when Nate never lets anyone stop him from running toward me.
Four
Jace
Eighteen years old
“You look so handsome,” my mom says, straightening Nate’s pink jacket. Glitter shines along the lapels, matching his eyeshadow.
“When’s Rick supposed to come?” I ask, plopping down on the couch with a water bottle clutched between my fingers.
He sighs, running a hand through his perfect, thick dark locks. “Any minute now hopefully.” Nate’s gaze drifts to me. “You sure I can’t talk you into being our third wheel tonight?”
I cringe. “I’m sure. Rick hates me anyway and would probably just call me a cock block like the last time I tagged along with y’all to the movies.”
“Language,” my mom warns.
Nate and I laugh as he lowers himself beside me on the couch. An engine roars outside and he perks up, looking out the window behind us. Hope diminishes in his eyes when his dad walks through the door, and Nate looks down at his phone. As he startsto look away, it buzzes in his hands, and the light in his eyes leaves as fast as it comes.
“What is it?” I ask, scooting closer.
His shoulders droop and his eyes water. “Rick’s not coming.”
“What do you mean he’s not coming?” I ask, my stomach sinking at the sense of loss in his eyes. My parents are in the kitchen, chatting about some office party at my stepdad’s work, not paying us any attention. Good. If they were, Nate would probably pretend everything was okay and shrug it all off.
“He said he has to help his dad with something.” He huffs out a breath, his frown breaking my heart. “I don’t understand. We’ve been planning this for months. We even picked out outfits together to make sure we matched.” His eyes are sunken in when he looks at me and I sigh, resting a hand on his leg.
“I guess going to prom wouldn’t be the worst thing I could do tonight. Got a tux I can borrow?”
His eyes light up and he throws his arms around me, embracing me in a suffocating hug. I’m already missing his warmth when he pulls away full of smiles. My heart skips a beat when he wraps his fingers around mine and drags me to his room. I don’t know why, but that’s been happening more and more lately—the weird flutters in my chest and stomach. They don’t typically come this easily, but lately all it takes is for him to look my way for me to feel like my feet are lifting off the ground. I wasn’t aware of what I’d do for that smile until he needed me, like now.
