chocolate milkshakes | rodrick heffley

chapter two: the basement

"well we could go back to my house, my parents are gone at work. but i don't mean for-"

"sex. yeah i get it buddy." i laugh again. he laughs back shakily.

"i don't think i ever got your name?" he says as we stand up. he reaches out to help me up.

"tate," i smile warmly at him. he's quite adorable, i must admit. "and yours?"

"rodrick," he beams at me. "rodrick heffley."

°°°

on the way to his house, we make conversation about random shit; school, our families, the weather, our very noticeable height difference. i've known rodrick for probably twenty minutes and i already feel attached to him. he's the kind of person that you could meet anywhere and still have a playful conversation with. his oversized coat has now become a kind of security blanket, keeping me warm and hiding my insecurities. it's still fairly early so im surprised that both of his parents are gone. mine don't leave the house until around noon, so i can never circle back if im skipping.

"here we are." he announces, pointing to a large two story house.

"you live here?" i ask loudly.

"uhm yeah." he looks at me. did my appearance not scream IM POOR loud enough for him?

"it's very..." i shoot him a quizzical look. "big?"

"yeah it was passed down to us." he looks embarrassed. "im not a stuck up rich kid, i promise."

"alright." i giggle.

he leads me in through his front door, headed towards the basement.

"promise you're not a serial killer?"

"you caught on early." he deadpans. "do you want a snack before i chop you up?"

i nod my head, a huge dumb smile on my face, and he brings me to his kitchen. we raid the fridge for snacks and head down to his basement. when we get to his room, im surprised. although its a complete mess, with his mattress on the floor, it doesn't smell nearly as bad as any other guy's room that i've been in. a good sign.

"sorry, it's kinda messy." he says, plopping down in a beat up lazy boy. i laugh to myself.

"don't worry, my room is practically the same." i sit criss cross on the floor looking up at him. this seems to stir something in him, causing him to blush like at the bridge and look away.

"i think you're the first girl to react like that" he says, still looking away.

"really?" i chuckle. "how many girls do you bring down here?"

he seems to be surprised by my question and raises his eyebrows at me.

"well im in a band, so quite a lot of girls come to see us practice." he shrugs nonchalantly.

"you're so full of shit, heffley" i tease. "what's your band called?"

"loaded diaper." he grins widely at me.

"nice." i roll my eyes. "what do you play?"

"the drums." he responds, confidently. "do you play anything?"

"i used to play french horn in the school band." i admit, causing him to burst out laughing. i pretend to be hurt. "what's wrong with the french horn?"

"n-nothing, i just didn't take you for a french horn type of girl." he says, still laughing.

"oh fuck off." i smile. "so are you going to play me something?"

"the neighbors will know im home if i do that. but you could come to one of our practices." he suggests.

"already asking to hang out again, wow." i joke, opening up a bag of skittles.

"oh come on tate, you know you want to." he smirks, his dimples popping out.

we continue to talk and hang out all day. something about him is so interesting that i don't really want to leave. he's witty and sweet and kind of adorable when he gets embarrassed. i can definitely see myself getting attached to him. we're lost in conversation, not paying attention to the time when we hear the front door open. i jump up.

"is that your parents?" i ask, concerned.

"no, it's only three. it's my younger brother." he rolls his eyes. "he won't come down here, but if he hears you he'll definitely snitch."

"i've gotta get home anyway, i need to delete the message on the home phone from the school saying i've missed too many days." i grab my backpack.

"alright, well do you wanna do this again sometime?" he asks hopefully.

"yes, definitely." i smile at him. "oh wait." i grab a sharpie off the floor and reach for his arm.

"what are you doing?" he looks at me confused.

"my number." i answer, scribbling the numbers on his hand.

"you could have just put it in my phone." he laughs.

"yeah but that's no fun." i respond, heading up the stairs to the back exit.

"you're really something else, aren't you tate!" he calls after me as i slip out the back door. i shoot him one last smile before i close the door.

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A/N wow look at me posting the second chapter when i said i would. im trying to update this consistently lmao. as of right now the only people reading this are my friends so hi guys 😏😏 let me know what u think and vote + add please hehehe im working on chapter three soon so that'll be up hopefully by tomorrow. thanks for reading!