saturday mornings are for pancakes // a dream x reader fanfiction

CHAPTER SEVENTY-TWO: THE DOOR

I smile. "Bye Nick."

_ _ _

The windows are dark as Nick navigates the back roads. There's a patter on the windshield from the light rain outside. I can't seem to sit still in the backseat from all the nerves.

"Wait, wait, wait, let me get this straight" George turns around in the front seat to get a good look at me. "Ben wanted you to move with him, and you said no, then booked a flight to Florida to see if there's a chance Clay might still want to be with you."

"Well, it sounds really reassuring when you put it that way." My leg bounces up and down. "I don't know, maybe I wasn't thinking."

Maybe I'm absolutely crazy for coming back to Florida. Maybe this is going to absolutely blow up in my face.

"I think it's romantic," Nick says.

George turns his head, wearing a disgusted face. "I think you watch too many chick flicks."

Nick ignores him, meeting my eyes in the rearview mirror. "How are you feeling, y/n?"

"Not very good." I let out a long breath of air. " On the plane I imagined hundreds of ways to say all these feelings and words I have, and in every single one he says yes." I take a deep breath. "But then, as I got closer, I realized that he could say no." I bury my face in my hands. "What if I'm too late, guys?"

"You're not too late." George is actually the one who reassures me. "I think he's your person. The one that you were always destined to end up with. That's who he is."

"I don't think you could ever be too late," Nick says, "I think you've had a little piece of his heart ever since you were hidden in my room to code the first video."

I remember that. I remember talking to him while I worked. I remember him trading goldfish for skittles through the door, all before I ever saw his face.

"I think you've taken a piece of all of our hearts with your smile and your pancakes, y/n," Nick adds, "You just took a different piece of his. A stronger one."

The boys talk about their lives while we drive the rest of the way. I learn that Nick and Bella are doing really well. Nick's coaching her little brother's soccer team now, and all of the kids think he's really cool. "It's a big accomplishment from a group of eight year olds," Nick had said.

I learn George is planning a trip to visit his Mom in the summer. He's trying to convince everyone to go with him to the UK, but nobody seems excited to go with him. George looked at me. "You'd go, right?" I nodded without a second thought because I could never say no to those puppy dog eyes.

The drizzle from the rain is slowly moving up to a downpour, and it feels as if it's telling me to go away. I look at the two boys sitting in the front seats. They're the same guys I two years ago, but not they seem a little older.

"Since when are you guys so grown up and mature?" I ask.

"I'm not sure what you're talking about." George laughs. "Sometimes I think we're the same twenty-one year old's as before."

"No, you're definitely not." I lean forward. "In fact, I think I see a gray hair."

"What? No." George pulls his phone out to look for grays.

I fall back into my seat, laughing.

"I think we had to step into your shoes a little bit when you left," Nick says, turning the wheel onto Clay's street, "We had to learn how to make pancakes and how to not burn down the house."

"We would probably have been a frat house if you didn't step in, y/n. You helped us grow a lot." George puts his phone back in his lap. "Although, our pancakes still don't taste like yours did."

"If one thing is for sure–" Nick looks at me in the rearview mirror "–we owe you a lot."

My eyesight goes a little blurry, so I wipe a tear from my face. I see the lights of the house and realize we're actually here now. This is real.

"Thank you, really, you have no idea how much you taught me." I take a deep breath, ready to take a leap of courage. "And also, try putting a a little bit of cinnamon in the pancakes. That's what I always did."

Nick turns to George. "We'll have to try that tomorrow morning."

I still can't believe that after all this time, they're still making pancakes every Saturday.

"Well, hopefully y/n will be here next Saturday to help us," George points out, "We might not even have to do anything."

I roll my eyes. "Whatever."

Nick meets my eyes in the rearview mirror again. "You've got this. Remember, it's just Clay you're talking to."

I nod. "Thank you." I open the car door into the heavy rain.

I got this.

I'm drenched by the time I get to the front porch, and I remember the first time I stood here, looking at the once-atrocious looking door.

The muted green George and I painted it to is so much better. I hated that door. I still hate the color of the old door, but it led me to so many amazing things in my life.

Walking through that door led me to Nick. It led me to new jobs. It led me to new friends. It led me to laughs. It led me to actually being friends with George. 

It led me to Clay.

I take a deep breath, preparing myself. I still have my key, but I choose to knock anyways.

I wait a second, then two. The porch covering has put me out of the rain, but I still get sprayed from drops all around it. My foot taps on the concrete.

Please be home, I whisper to Clay, Please open the door.

There's a chip in paint right near the doorknob. I wonder what happened to cause it. Maybe they were moving something big inside, and it hit the paint. Maybe they did it with their keys. Maybe it was there all along, and I just didn't notice until now.

I hear shuffling from inside the house. It takes a few seconds before the door opens slowly.

And there he is.

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

alrighty what are we thinking guys? tomorrow will be a mass update of the rest of the chapters!

thank you all for staying with me until the end. it's been a wild journey, and i'm so glad to share it with you.

have an amazing day <3