Forever | Protector 3.2 | Wattys2017

Chapter 16

       "Oh, no."

       "Oh, yes. Or should I say oui?"

       "I hate you."

       "Non, tu m'aimes."

       "Please don't."

       "Il est trop tard."

       "Jerome, please, you're only going to make things worse."

       I stared at him for a bit, debating if I should continue speaking French or not.

       I sighed, knowing it really was going to stress him out even more. There had to be another way I could get him to understand everything that was going to be on the midterm.

       I grabbed my cell phone from off the coffee table and typed a message to Nolan before sending it to him. While Nolan was reaching for his phone to check the message, I said, "That's what I said. Translate it."

       "The first thing says no, you love me," he said. "And the second one says it is too late."

       "Exactly," I said. "You can understand French perfectly when you read it, and that's what the midterm will be. Reading. Tell me, how well did you do during your French classes in high school?"

       "I got at least ninety-percent," he said. "I only didn't do so well during verbal tests."

       "So why are freaking out?"

       "Because I can't get a low grade."

       "Alright, I have an idea," I said. "Give me your laptop."

       "Why?"

       "Because mine's upstairs and yours is on the coffee table. Hand it over and then go nap."

       "Are you serious? You want me to nap when I'm freaking out about studying? That's not going to help."

       "Do you trust me?"

       "Should I trust you?"

       "Yes."

       "Then go nap for, like, an hour. I promise it will help."

       "I'm napping here."

       "Then nap here, but give me your laptop."

       Nolan handed my his laptop after typing in the password before laying down for a nap, curling up underneath a blanket. While he was taking his nap, I was typing up a mock midterm for him since Professor Dubois told us everything that was going to be on the midterm.

       I really hoped this would help him stop stressing out before his anxiety got really bad and he had a meltdown.

       After I finished making the mock midterm, I woke Nolan up. "Good evening, sleeping beauty," I said before handing him his laptop. "Here. Do this."

       "What is it?"

       "Practice. Do it."

       "You're bossy."

       "I know." I leaned over and gave him a quick kiss. "I'm going to run to the store because we're out of ice cream. I'll even buy some toppings so we can have a giant ice cream sundae, but only if you get ninety percent on that."

       "Are you serious?"

       "Deadly. Good luck, babe."

       Nolan started objecting, but I ignored him and got off of the couch before heading to the front door and leaving do head to the store.

       There was nothing better than ice cream as a motivation.

       And to make it better, I made sure to get Nolan's favorite ice cream flavor. At least, I hope it was his favorite. He kept changing it, like, every month. Last month it was mint chocolate chip, this month it was, I hope, cookie dough.

       He needed to make up his mind.

       I bought, along with the ice cream, whipped cream, chocolate sauce, caramel sauce, and a lot of gummy candy.

       After paying for the food, I headed back home only to find Nolan, of course, stressing out over the mock exam. "Nolan...."

       "I can't do this."

       I placed the grocery bags on the counter before sitting down beside Nolan on the couch. "Why are you getting so stressed out easily?" I asked. "Those are simple questions I made and we have all night to study if we have to."

       "That doesn't help," he said. 

       I placed my arm around his shoulder and gave him a side hug. "Nolan, you're worth more than a grade, and you're a very smart person. You're going to do amazing on the midterm and you're definitely not going to lose your scholarship over one midterm. So, what's going on? You've never stressed out so easily before?"

       "I don't know," he said. "I just don't know."

       "Is it....you know?"

       Nolan looked up at me with furrowed eyebrows. "What?"

       "Your depression? Is it coming back?"

       "Oh, no," Nolan said. "Trust me, I know what it feels like and this isn't it. If it was, I would tell you. I just....I don't know what it is. I've just been getting too stressed out."

       "Maybe it's just because of your transition between high school and university," I said. "I'm serious, though. You're going to do fine during the midterm tomorrow. How much did you finish of the practice?"

       "About half."

       I took his laptop and placed it in my lap before looking over the answers he did do far. "See, Nolan? You know this. You only got one question that you did so far wrong, but you were still close to the answer."

       "Really?" 

       "Yeah, really. You're going to have three hours during the midterm and the professor said it usually takes people an hour and a half. You'll have enough time and if you need me to, I can talk to Professor Dubois to tell her your anxiety has been really bad so you might not a bit more time."

       Nolan shook his head. "No, that won't be fair to everyone else. I should be able to complete it in time."

       "You will," I said before handing him his laptop back. "Here, finish this and take your time. The ice cream isn't going anywhere."

        While he got back to work, I went to the kitchen to put the ice cream in the freezer and the whipped cream in the fridge before going back to the couch and sitting down beside him.

       I pulled out my cell phone and decided to check my email. We sent the invitations to the wedding out a while ago, so the RSVP's were slowly starting to roll in.

       There were three more as of right now and at the last one, I was extremely shocked.

       Nolan looked over, noticing my expression. "What is it?"

       "It's my dad," I said. "He said he's coming to the wedding."

_____________________

:O Le gasp!

I'm going to start feeling really bad for my cinnamon roll Nolan. :( Things are going to get hard for him....

BECAUSE OF DRAMA WOO. (not drama for jerlan, but drama in general)

I'm almost done this school's term, and then I get four months off before heading back to school since I'm not taking a summer term. AND I GET TO GO TO WHISTLER IN THREE WEEKS. I CAN'T WAIT. It's seriously so beautiful and I'll be taking a lot of pictures for you. :D