missing | gilinsky

48

Hannah

I bump into a half naked Johnson on my way up the stairs. 

"Whoa," I let out, my arms pressing against his bare, damp chest. I quickly pull them away, meeting his eyes. He's grinning and I want want to slap it off his face. 

"Yeah, I've been working out," he teases, leaning against the wall behind him. 

I roll my eyes. "As if."

"Phase one is denial."

"Phase one of what?" 

"Of realizing how hot I am."

I ignore the fact that I realized how hot he was a long time ago, and he has no idea. Instead of admitting this like I want to so I can see the look on his face, I chicken out and say, "you - hot? Tell that one at a comedy show, it'd get lots of laughs."  

"Phase one is always the hardest to get out of," he replies, winking at me before heading back to the bathroom. 

"Dinner's ready by the way!" I call out, sighing. 

I walk past the wet spot that's now on the wall so I can reach Nadia's room. The door is wide open, which is weird because I was sure they'd have it shut banging each other by now or something, and I'd have to be the one to interrupt.

Gilinsky is sitting on Nadia's bed, smiling up at her as she spins around in front of him, giggling like a maniac. I have no idea what's going on, but it makes me happy to see how happy Gilinsky makes her. That's all I've wanted since everything in her life went to shit. 

I knock on the wall outside her room. "Hey lovebirds, dinner's ready." 

Nadia stops spinning and faces me, her face bright, her eyes shining. She looks like she did the day of her 13th birthday when her dad got her the bike she wanted. I haven't seen her look this way since then. 

Gilinsky doesn't stop staring at her, even at the mention of food, which surprises me. The look on his face makes a part of my heart ache. I wish someone would look at me like that...I wish Johnson would look at me like that. I shake the thought out of my head, my lips thinning out into a straight line.

As if sensing something's wrong, Nadia stops the little parade she's having in her heart and frowns at me. "What's wrong?" 

That's when Gilinsky switches his gaze from her, to me, a look of concern now etched on his face. 

I shrug, furrowing my eyebrows, pretending to be confused. "Nothing. Why would anything be wrong?" 

"You look sad," Gilinsky says. 

"I'm not," I dismiss, waving my hand at him. "Let's go have some dinner!"

"Hannah," Nadia starts, narrowing her eyes at me. 

Groaning, I make my way out of her room. "It's not a big deal!" With that, I pound down the stairs and let the smell of Jennifer's spaghetti sauce consume me. 

Nadia

"I want to know what was bothering her," I huff, slowly walking into the hallway, Gilinsky by my side. 

Johnson strides by, fully clothed in a t-shirt and sweats, and races down the stairs. I almost smile at how excited he is to have Mom's spaghetti - almost. 

"I know. I do too, but if she's not ready to talk about it we have to give her space," Gilinsky reminds me.

I nod, silently agreeing with him. But if it weren't for his input, I know for a fact I'd be continuously pestering her about it. She's good at not pushing about certain things, Gilinsky is too. But me, I need to know and I need to know right away.