Page 23 of The Other Half

I shake my head. “No, you don’t have to do that.”

He grabs my hand and laces his fingers through mine. “I’ll tell her to back off. If she doesn’t stop I’ll fix it, okay?” He presses a kiss to my forehead. “I promise.”

“Okay,” I sigh.

“Hey, I want to show you something.” He lets go of me and walks across the small room to the little wooden desk in the corner. He pulls the drawer open and I can see from here that it’s filled to the brim with pieces of paper. He rifles through them until he finds the one he wants.

He stares at the paper silently for a second before turning around and shyly handing it to me. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him look this nervous before. He’s usually pretty confident, in that “I don’t give a shit what anyone thinks of me” type of way.

I grab it from him and look down to see a drawing of a girl sitting at a school desk. It’s drawn entirely with what appears to be a regular pencil, but the shading and detail makes it look almost like a black and white photograph. I can’t see the girl’s face, but she has shoulder length hair and she’s wearing a sweater with a rainbow on it.

“It’s you,” he says. “Obviously.”

I swallow the lump of emotion in my throat. “When did you draw this?”

He scratches his neck, “I started it on the first day of school. I didn’t finish it until yesterday, though.”

My eyes stretch wide in disbelief. He started drawing me before we knew each other? I study the drawing again, noting the curve of my nose and the delicate features he added, like the shape of my fingernails. I’ve never found myself pretty, or even cute, but right now I feel beautiful.

“It’s amazing,” I whisper, still staring at the paper in awe.

His lips curve up into a grin. “You inspire me. You did even before we met.”

I was so sure that he didn’t feel what I felt when we first met. This moment solidifies what I’ve tried to keep myself from believing up until now, in an effort to protect myself. He actually feels the way I do, it’s not just me.

Chapter 22

Oakley

Today I’m meeting Oliver and his little brother at the park. I haven’t met him yet so I’m a bit nervous. I haven’t spent much time around kids, but I generally like them. They’re usually nicer than teenagers at least.

I see the two of them walking towards me, hand in hand. My heart swells, this guy that pretends to be such a broody bad boy is an actual teddy bear. I never would have expected that when I first met him.

“Is that Oakley?” Liam asks, pointing at me. He’s so cute, he looks like a small version of Oliver, but with more freckles and messier hair. The genes in his family are clearly strong, they look like Xerox copies of each other. I’m jealous of that, I always wanted a sibling.

“Yep, that’s me,” I reply, reaching out my hand for him to shake.

He grabs it and yanks it up and down violently, a grin stretching across his face. One of his front teeth is missing and it makes his smile even more adorable.

“Hi,” Oliver says to me quietly, pressing a kiss to my cheek.

“How old are you, Liam?” I ask.

“Six and three quarters. How old are you?”

“I’m eighteen.”

“Okay, what is your favorite dinosaur?” he asks, his tone as serious as a six year old’s can be.

“Oh that’s easy, triceratops.”

His face lights up, I guess that’s his favorite too. “She’s smart, you should marry her, Oliver.”

I laugh and feel myself blush a little.

“Maybe you’re right, kid,” Oliver says, scrubbing his hand through his brother’s hair. “Let’s go play on the playground.”

I shouldn’t allow myself to read into that too much, but I know that I will. All three of us hold hands and walk through the park to the small playground. This park is older so the playground is just one metal slide and a swing set surrounded by mulch chips, but Liam doesn’t seem to mind.

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