Price Family Book Store (ON HOLD)

Chapter 13- Need to be Nervous

Gulping down another mouthful of water, Connor left his maths classroom, clearing his throat once again. The bag slung over his shoulder was suddenly grabbed and pulled back, causing him to take a step backwards before stopping, feeling an arm draping over his shoulders. Connor took a sudden breath, his heart pounding against his ribs. The teen looked up and saw Jonah standing at his side.

"I was gonna wait for you to pack up out here so that I was out of the way," he sighed, "you just scared the hell out of me."

"Sorry, I just wanted to scare you," the taller teen let out a quiet laugh, a wide smile on his face as the boys continued walking, manoeuvring through other students in the hall as they hurried to leave the building. Jonah's hand fell from Connor's shoulders and instead returned to his side, gently taking the shorter boy's hand. Connor didn't mind but hoped that Jonah walking in front of him would completely hide the reddened tint to his cheeks. Though, because he walked ahead, he also didn't notice the same flush spreading across the face of the taller teenager.
Finally out of the school building, then off school grounds, as they left the gate, both boys walked in silence away from school, taking the turn down the pathway outside that would lead them straight past the houses and to the high street, hands still in the others' grip. Their journey, although silent, wasn't awkward, giving both of them some time to think, both considering the same thing, that fact remaining completely unknown to the other. Both thought hard about the other, the hand that they were holding and the speed of their heartbeats against their chests. Unsettling silences weren't overly common between the two, but as their comfort deteriorated due to their thoughts, it was the taller male who realised it first, reaching his hand into his pocket and producing his phone hastily, followed by a pair of headphones.

"Want to use one?" he asked, slightly quieter than he usually spoke, offering one headphone to him. Connor took it with a smile, watching as Jonah plugged his phone in and opened his music.

"What music do you listen to?" Connor enquired, looking over at his screen.

"All sorts of random crap," the darker-haired boy responded, his thumb hitting 'shuffle' and letting the first song play. Although, he soon realised that the song playing was Amy Macdonald's 'A Wish For Something More'. It didn't help. Their steps synced to the beat of the song, the lyrics 'you look at me and say I'm your best friend every day, but I wish for something more' speaking to them, calling them out on their desire for their best friend. The lyrics quickly made their impact, but still, they remained close together as they walked, letting go of one another's hands, now having linked their little fingers again.

The high street and its buzzing energy, the students fresh from school and adults shopping or visiting the various stops for refreshments all seemed to pass the boys very quickly, walking into town, zoning out thanks to Jonah's music, which once changed, switched to a song that they both liked and found much less thought-triggering, though Jonah seemed to not need to even consider those thoughts anymore.
The bookstore looked welcoming from the outside and the boys could see Nina at the register with a steaming cup to her lips, happily speaking to a customer who looked to be in her fifties.

"Thanks for walking me," Connor smiled, taking the headphone out of his ear and passing it back to the other boy, who smiled in return, hiding the panic setting in.

"Don't worry about it, it wasn't a big deal," he said quietly.

For a short while, they were both silent, both just staring at the other.
Connor had to tear his gaze away first, looking down at the pavement below his feet instead.

"Well, I've got to get inside and start work, so I'll text you over the weekend," he smiled, beginning to turn around to head inside the shop, suddenly stopped when Jonah grabbed his arm to spin him back around. It seemed he was done with internally trembling with fear at the thoughts he was having recently.

"Connor, wait," he began, stopping immediately when the two made eye contact again. He gulped, thinking again about what he wanted to say, watching Connor tilt his head slightly to one side. "Uhm, do you want to meet up tomorrow?"

"I have work in the morning, but after one o'clock is fine."

"C-cool, okay. Fine," Jonah stammered, awkwardly. Obviously, this caught Connor's attention.

"Are you okay?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah," he nodded, "I just," he took a breath, "I want to rephrase my question."

The long-haired boy was left increasingly confused, leading to some concern as he stepped backwards. "Okay?"

"Do you want to-" another pause "-want to go on a date tomorrow? With me?"

Connor inhaled, shakily, his eyes wide. What? What had just happened? Had he heard that right? While the words 'okay, that sounds good' flew around his head, not a word came out of his mouth for a short while, the student standing in complete silence for a few seconds. The silence caused a somewhat familiar discomfort to settle in Jonah's stomach, making him want to turn around, leave and even take it all back. Once again, the silence returned, the taller boy feeling the same panic that had set in a few weeks before when he'd come out to his friend, the panic that had pushed him to tears as he feared discrimination, followed by the tears of relief when he was accepted. His brow furrowed and he looked away, biting his lip.

"O-okay," Connor finally stammered. Jonah looked back to him, seeing him looking to one side with a very subtle pink flush to his cheeks. "Meet me here at one o'clock tomorrow, yeah?" He spoke very softly as he looked back up with a smile, his blush obvious.

"Yeah, okay," Jonah spoke, finding himself smiling uncontrollably, "I'll see you tomorrow then."

"See you."

As Connor turned to enter the shop, a wide smile spread across his face, holding his bag straps tightly to stop his nervous shaking.
Jonah watched him enter the bookshop, then turned and began trekking back down the street on his way home. The teenager got far enough away from the bookshop to be out of earshot, his wide smile already earning him some puzzled looks from other in the street, made even more perplexed as he slowed to a stop, letting out a victorious "YES!" He ignored the looks of the public, breaking into a sudden sprint, running straight home with his ecstatic grin never faltering.
His front door was forced open as he bolted through it, slamming it shut roughly as he started heading up the stairs, throwing it shut behind him.

"Jonah!" He heard the low and unimpressed voice of his father calling after him, Jonah stopping halfway up the stairs, wincing slightly before turning and slowly returning, his smile dropping but his spirits remaining high. He returned to the front door, turning to one side and entering his kitchen, seeing his father sat at the counter, looking over to the open archway as he waited for his son to return.

"Don't slam the front door," he told him, simply.

"Sorry, dad."

"Did something happen?" His interest in Jonah's day was rare, and so, this only seemed to raise his mood even higher, shown by just how excited the teenage boy looked as he nodded.

"But I can't say anything yet," he told his father, "I just need to wait and see how it goes when it happens, but I'm excited."

Dominik nodded, a slight tug at the corner of his lips; the closest he got to a smile. "Let me know when you can."
That was the last thing said before Jonah nodded, bounding upstairs and sprinting up both flights of stairs to his room, immediately throwing himself down on his bed. He grabbed his pillow, hugging it tightly, smiling into the fabric as he rolled around a few times, trying to use up the energy that his excitement had given him.
Meanwhile, back at the shop, Connor was just as excited, getting most of his work done in half the time that it usually takes him, thus meaning he took on other jobs that usually he wouldn't be assigned to.
Both the young men felt a considerable amount of weight missing from their shoulders.