The Tortoise and His Sunrise | ✓

22. Promise

Despite the good shake I gave him, he remained an unresponsive lump. My memories of desperately shaking his arm in English class brought a nostalgic smile to my face.

I pried the comforter off his head, which he had tucked under his cheek. He still didn't stir.

"Hey, wake up," I said. "I'm leaving soon! Your dad's waiting downstairs."

Mr. Lawson was likely grabbing breakfast, actually, but a little hyperbole wouldn't hurt if it meant he got up faster. He'd offered to drive me to the airport when I had to leave. I initially wanted to turn him down, afraid that he was only asking out of politeness. Then he insisted that he would be happy to give me a ride and it would be more convenient than waiting for an Uber, looking at me with such a sincere smile I couldn't bring myself to turn him down.

"Nolan." I put some renewed strength into my arm-shaking. "Why is it so difficult to wake you up?"

A small whine left him when I yanked his comforter off entirely, revealing the T-shirt and sweatpants he'd fallen asleep in. My heart constricted at the sound. It was so cute. I loved that I was the only one who got to hear it.

"Chelsea?" My name came out of his mouth slowly, as if he was testing it out.

The grogginess in his voice amplified his cuteness, snapping the tenuous grip I had on my willpower. I reached out and pinched his left cheek.

"So adorable," I cooed, kissing him on the same cheek.

"Hey ..."

His own hand came up to close over mine, which was still on his face. He tugged it to his mouth, brushing the back of my hands against his lips. A tiny shiver trickled down my back at the cold touch of his hands and lips.

"Morning," he said, his voice still a little rough from sleep. "Thanks for waking me."

"Yeah, you should thank me. You'll never understand how hard it is to wake you up."

He responded with a roll of his eyes, and then he sat up and swung his legs over the side of his bed.

"Have you eaten yet?"

"I will soon," I said, but my stomach churned at the thought. "I'll grab a piece of toast or something. Just wanted to come see you first."

He stood up, shuffled over, and pulled me into a tight embrace. Because he didn't typically use his body warmers before bed, his whole body was cold, like my hands and feet were in freezing weather. If I had to put a number to it, this was probably the third time I got to hold him when he wasn't warmed up. Nolan didn't talk about it much, but I could tell he didn't like to hug me while his torso was cold.

"I love you," he mumbled, the words I hadn't heard for a while now flowing out easily.

It was like my heart curdled and couldn't move anymore.

I thought it all the time—I love you; I really love you; I don't want this to be the end of us because I love you, Nolan—but they remained as thoughts in my head, with me slamming a lid on them so firmly that they couldn't escape. They circled my mind constantly, but I couldn't say anything because then we'd have to talk about how everything between us was falling apart.

His breath tickled my ear, causing me to huff out a short giggle and squirm in his arms. My own arms shot out to close around his back, pressing him to myself.

"I love you too," I bit out. "Can we talk about last night real quick?"

He leaned back enough to look at my face, before dropping a kiss on my forehead.

"I feel like that's a conversation that's going to take longer than the time we have right now."

"We don't have the time to go over everything," I agreed, "but we should at least cover a little bit before I go."

"Sure. What were you thinking of?"

I wished he'd also booked a plane ticket with me. I didn't want to leave him here alone to dwell on what we'd learned yesterday. Granted, he was with his dad, but I didn't know if he'd talk to Mr. Lawson about it, or what Mr. Lawson would say about it if he did.

"We heard a lot of ... stuff yesterday, but we've barely had time to digest it, and now I have to fly home in a few hours. Can you promise me you won't do anything crazy while I'm gone? If not, I'll be spending the rest of winter break worrying about you. I mean, I'd be worrying about you anyway, but I'll worry about you more if you don't."

"It depends on what you mean by crazy," he said, giving me a solemn stare.

Well, that wasn't suspicious at all. I narrowed my eyes at him.

"What are you planning to do? No searching for Sierra or Sylvan or ... or going out into the sunlight, okay?"

He opened his mouth as if to say something, but then closed it again.

"Alright," he said after half a beat. "Nothing crazy."

"Nothing that can hurt yourself, you hear me?"

This time, it took him twice as long to reply.

"Mm." That sounded more like a noncommittal hum.

A hurricane stirred up inside of me, tossing about my insides with careless abandon. How could I leave like this? Nolan needed me.

"Promise me," I repeated. "I can't leave with peace of mind if I know you're going to do something funny. Or should I stay here to make sure you don't do anything?"

Ironically, it took the threat of my staying for him to throw up the white flag. "You can't. Your parents want to spend time with you. And I know you want to see them too."

"Then promise me."

With a long, dragged out sigh, he said, "Fine, fine. Nothing funny. I promise."

I thought I'd feel more relieved than this, but this was all I had. Regardless, I shook my head and smiled at him.

"Thank you. We'll talk about everything when we get back to school, okay?"

His hand moved up to my hair, patting it with light, gentle strokes.

"Okay. We'll talk about it then. Let's go down and get you some breakfast."

Despite my lack of appetite, I let him lead me by the hand downstairs to the kitchen.

It'd been so long since we'd walked hand-in-hand, I couldn't help but lean into the solid, reassuring feel of his side.

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AN: thanks for reading and voting! i really appreciate everyone who votes and comments on each chapter, it makes my day! hope you guys have a great day!

come follow me on instagram @lottestarburst for sneak peeks of future/bonus chapters and small doodles of my characters! i've started on Nolan's POV (Patreon-exclusive) for The Tortoise and His Sunrise, it should span through most events that have taken place here. Part 1 is up! you can also read other bonus chapters and 2 chapters in advance on Patreon as well! (link in my bio)

take care and get some sun and drink enough water! love you all ( ' ω ' )