Page 95 of The Fake
I step toward them with my heart beating a million times per minute. “Nice to meet you.”
I extend my hand to her dad, and he shakes it wordlessly with a nod. He’s wearing a polo shirt and jeans like he’s trying to give the appearance of casual, but he’s all upper class and money. Finally, he says, “Pleasure to meet you.”
Chloe rolls her eyes when her mom gives her a thumbs up like she approves of me.
“I’m sorry to interrupt, just wanted to give you this.” I hand her the note folded up intricately like a heart, courtesy of Wes and his random origami skills.
“Thanks.” Chloe takes the note and we stand there awkwardly until I back away. “I’ll talk to ya later. It was nice to meet you both.”
I stop outside her closed door and bring my palm to my forehead.Stupid. Stupid.
She said she needed time and space, and what do I do? I stop by unannounced like some creeper. I just want her to know how I feel and what’s at stake for me.
She’s so much more than a girl I’m dating. I call her my princess, but I’m not the white knight. She is. She saved me.
“Hey.” Chloe slips out of her room and shuts the door behind her.
“I’m so sorry.”
“It’s fine. You would have met them eventually, right?”
“I would have?”
She looks at me with a curious stare. “Yeah, of course. I guess we haven’t talked about it, but they’re my parents. Don’t worry, they aren’t expecting marriage and babies just because I introduced you.”
She has no idea that those things with her don’t really scare me. With her, nothing does.
“Honestly, I didn’t know where we stood so I was surprised you introduced me at all, let alone as your boyfriend.”
Her features soften.
“You said you needed time and space and here I am crowding you.”
“I get it. It’s hard to stay away for me too. Look, Nathan, I do need time to process everything, but it doesn’t mean I’ve deleted your number or that I’m going to pretend there’s nothing between us.”
“I’m so sorry. I know I’ve said it a million times, but I am. I need you to know that I’m sincere. I never wanted to hurt you.”
“I was thinking about that tonight, about how everyone does dumb shit they wish they could take back. Look at me and the situation with my parents. The thing is, knowing we all do it is comforting in a way. Someday I’m going to do something stupid. I may not even know it at the time I’m doing it. I might think it’s the best thing for me or for someone I love, but I’ll hurt them the most in the process. The point is, I’m going to screw up and I’m hoping when I do, you’re still going to be around. I don’t need time away from you because I’m trying to decide if I want to be with you, I need it because I do. And that means I need to accept what happened and forgive you so we can move on. My feelings for you haven’t changed. That’s not how this works.”
I have so many things I want to say, but I keep them in for now. I don’t want anything I say to be perceived as my trying to win back her forgiveness or speed up her timeline for forgiving me. I owe her that. I bring my lips to her forehead. “Thank you.”
She holds up the note. “More truths?”
“Oh, uh, no. I may or may not have re-written the lyrics to ‘Ice Ice Baby’.” I clear my throat. “All right stop, please forgive me, and listen, Payne is back with a brand new…”
I stop after the first few humiliating words and give her a sheepish smile, but when she returns it—I’m not the least bit embarrassed about the lengths I’ll go to prove how much she means to me.
* * *
The rest of the week is torture, but I do my best to give Chloe space. We see each other in class and text a little, but I’m basically sitting on my hands and rocking back and forth to keep myself from pushing too hard. I’m losing my mind.
My phone rings and I dive for it, only deflating a bit when I see it’s Heath and not Chloe.
“What’s up, little bro?” I answer.
“You’re never gonna guess who just called me.”
“Ariana Grande? She finally get all your fan mail?”
