Stay With Me (Come Back to Me #2)

Chapter 10

My thought tangent goes awry. I don't know what Justin likes to do. When texting, we usually stick to school-related stuff or he asks me how my basketball game went. I haven't learned anything about him – what he likes to do in his spare time or what his favourite TV show is.

I glance around his room. There isn't much on the walls, minus a few pictures of him and his mom, and there's nothing I can pick out that screams "hobby".

"Shit," Justin mutters, rubbing his temples. "I don't think my brain can absorb any more information."

I grin. "It's a lot to take in, right?"

He grins back. "It's atrocious how much we have to know."

"So I'm guessing you want to call it quits for tonight?" I tease.

"Yeah, I think so."

I look closely at Justin. He looks rough; dark half-moons shadow the area beneath his eyes, he's startlingly skinny, and there's a dark five o'clock shadow covering his jawbone. Though Sophia's words from last week come back to me front and centre, I decide that maybe he just didn't sleep well last night and the exhaustion is finally catching up. Everyone has a bad night.

As I'm packing up, a grey kitten with remarkable stripes and tan-coloured undertones intertwined into its coat hops up on the bed. I almost squeal. Almost.

But the words do come out louder than I expected.

I drop everything I'm holding and pick the kitten up, cuddling it close even though its claws are digging into my skin through my knitted sweater. "You have a kitten?" I exclaim. "Why didn't you tell me?"

Though I should probably be embarrassed by my reaction, I'm not. I love cats and kittens. My whole family does, actually. We have two cats at home – both grey females.

Justin closes the drawer to his desk, where he was storing our tutor papers, and laughs, walking over to where I'm standing. He scratches the cat's chin and it immediately starts purring. "Yeah. His name is Aedion."

My nerves are in shock as I slowly turn to face him, almost forgetting about the cat. "Do you mean Aedion from the Throne of Glass series?" I ask, cocking an eyebrow.

Stuffing his hand in his pockets, Justin shrugs and gives me a sheepish grin. "Maybe. I like to read."

A smile breaks over my lips. "Well, so do I. A gene I proudly inherited from both my parents."

"Think it skipped a generation for me – both my grandparents read."

I rub my cheek against the cat's soft fur. "Books are the best – they take you places when we're stuck where we are. They're absolutely magical."

"Couldn't agree more," Justin nods.

As I stand here, cuddling the cat, an idea blossoms in my head. "Hey! Are you coming to the party tomorrow?"

He runs a hand through his hair. "I guess so."

"Okay. This might sound crazy, but what if we did a couple costume and you come as Aedion and I dress up as Lysandra? Our favourite characters."

"C-couple costume?" he stutters, looking extremely uncomfortable.

Deciding I better stop mauling Aedion with cuddles, I set him down on the bed and turn to face Justin. When my eyes meet his, I know what he's thinking about. "Oh my gosh!" I gasp, raising my hands so both palms are visible. "I didn't mean it like that – going as a duo doesn't mean we're actually a couple or anything like that." Unless you want it to be."I just think it would be better than dressing up as a Disney Princess like the girls want to do. I've always wanted to take a character from a book and bring it to life." Especially when it happens to be the couple I ship the most in the young adult fiction world. Especially when it's with the boy I'm majorly crushing on. "It would be so fun, Justin. You and me dressing up like them." I pause. "Am I blabbing?"

Through the uneasiness, a small half-grin breaks through. "Just a little," he replies.

"Please, Justin," I whine, gripping his hand. "I know it's last minute, but we could figure something out. I know we have a blond wig you could wear and a dark brown wig I could wear. We'd just have to figure out the clothing. It would be easy – Mom and Dad have so much Halloween stuff."

Justin's face contorts into one of those looks that says "Oh, I don't know, Addie."

I raise my eyebrows and stick out my bottom lip.

He looks down at our adjoined hands and sighs. "What the hell? Why not?"

Squealing, I throw my arms around him and pull him into a tight hug. "Oh my God, Justin. You are not going to regret this. I will bring you your costume tomorrow at school, okay?"

He laughs, but it's a forced laugh. I can tell because it's shaky. I don't question him, though – he's tired and it's been a long day of school and then studying. "Okay," he replies. "Don't let me down, Addie."

"Trust me, Justin," I smile, pulling out of the hug. "I will not."

Like he usually does, he runs a hand through his hair. He eyes me in a mockingly serious way. "I'm trusting you."

"Trust me," I tease, "I will not let you down." Over his shoulder, I catch the time on the alarm clock that resides on the nightstand. Sighing because I don't want to leave after learning this exciting piece of information about Justin, I say, "I better get going – I'm supposed to help Mom with dinner tonight. And I need to make some cupcakes for tomorrow's party."

He nods, a lock of ashen-blond hair falling across his forehead. "Thanks again, Addie."

Because I'm feeling high on life and happy and confident, I step closer, lean up on my tiptoes, and plant a small kiss on his cheek. It's a peck, really.

But it feels like more.

Like chemistry.

Like a spark igniting a massive wildfire.

Pulling away, I watch as Justin's cheeks turn a bright pink, most likely mirroring my own face. He lifts his hand to the spot where my lips touched his skin, and before he can say a word to me, I'm out the door and rushing down the stairs to the front door.

My mind is racing. I've never kissed a boy before. On the lips. On the cheek. It doesn't matter where. My lips have never touched the skin of another boy.

I barely say goodbye to Justin's mom as I exit the house, my cheeks still burning.

Once I'm in my vehicle, I collapse in the driver's seat and gently hit my head against the steering wheel, a big smile on my face.

"Oh my God," I whisper.