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𝟎𝟖 | 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐡𝐞 ── ««
❝Did you really memorize all that? For me?❞
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HIS CAR SEEMED TO GET a little colder as he buckled in his seatbelt. The silence made him feel out of place, annoying him from the inside out. Theo checked his mirrors and saw his reflection staring back at him with a soft expression, haunting his thoughts with the sight of tenseness. Multiple questions surrounded his state of mind, constantly creating pathways of uncertainty to hover in his facial expressions as he glanced behind him―to see the backseat―numerous times.
The humid summer air failed to provide warmth to skin, and instead gave him shivers. His hazel stared at the luminosity of the starry night as he sat in the parking lot of Demi's apartment building. Theo's fingertips brushed against the roughness of his black jeans that sheathed his thighs, his soft hands finding the lap of his legs in nervousness, and it made him seem perturbed.
Theo was naturally a nervous person. The brunet had a hard time looking people directly in the eyes unless you were someone who was close to him. And he'd feel drops of sweat appear when his crush came around him. But he was a sweetheart that smiled at anything that came into his sight, and that loved affection that came in the forms of touching when it came from his favorite people. And according to the girls who always flirted with him, it was adorable to them.
Whilst being a tricky person, he had numerous encounters where it caused him to chastise himself in his mind. Yes, he had the looks and the money, but the confidence was something that you'd think would come naturally. With his background, most of his family―his brother especially―never had it bad with the girls. His family were people who didn't have bad genes, and all his family were attractive. But he was the odd one out when he didn't have the confidence in himself, and it was the moment where he believed that he would forever be alone.
However, a girl who was the total opposite of him showed up in his life, helping him experience the meaning of fun. She helped him learn that the future is important, but living in the present was an encounter that could never compare. To spend every millisecond like it was your last, but spend it without having a smile to disappear from your face.
And that was the moment that he realized, there really was somebody out there for him.
Theo's hazel eyes narrowed at the dark figure that walked towards his car. His hand unbuckled the tight seatbelt and pressed the button on his side of the driver's door, the window rolling down so he could communicate with the figure, "Do you have all her stuff?"
"You calling me irresponsible, Porter?" Demi replied in annoyance, his face appearing and squinting from Theo's harsh headlights, "And can you turn that shit off? You're not on the road, dumbass."
"No one's calling you irresponsible, Demi. I just don't want to have to waste gas and drive all the way back here just in case you forgot her stuff or some shit like that." Theo grumbled while turning off the headlights.
Demi's face stared blankly as he stood in front of Theo's window, Leeyah's hand holding his left one, "What could I possibly forget? Tori's probably gonna have food there anyway."
Theo's breath hitched at the nickname that he wished he could say in her presence, but no matter how hard he tried, it was to no avail. Satoria wouldn't allow the name to come past his lips. Theo didn't want to admit it, but a part of him felt hurt. How come Demi was allowed to say it without getting yelled at? He thought. But he shook his head at his thoughts and rolled his eyes, "You could've forgotten her diaper."
His best friend's eyebrows furrowed incredulously, "She's five!"
"Still." Theo shrugged.
Demi scoffed and cursed underneath his breath. His hand went to the back door to sit Leeyah in the booster seat with her messy hair, "You're rich. It's probably not even gonna put a dent in your bank account if you get a little extra gas."
Theo ignored him and a smile came onto his face when his eyes met Lee's in the mirror, "Hey Lee, what's up?" He asked, his accent coming out more in his excitement.
"Nothing." Lee mumbled, giving a short answer that confused the adults around her. Lee was usually an energetic person that never failed to make someone smile. Theo had a hard time handling her himself, and to witness the action of her not saying much confused him. His gaze went to Demi's dark brown eyes, narrowing in question.
What's wrong with her? He eyed his best friend.
'I don't know' Demi mouthed and gave him a shrug in response to his matching uncertainty.
Theo sighed and turned his head to look at his glove compartment. His hand opened the section with a frown on his face and his eyes found what they were looking for. Theo took the little stick with confidence knowing that it would help to raise her spirits, turning in his seat to have a good look at the ball of cuteness with a Hello Kitty shirt on. "Lolly?" He asked, a grin rising to his face.
Leeyah's hands grabbed the piece of candy from his hand, inspecting it a little and removed the plastic barrier, placing the sweetness into her mouth. Her nose scrunched a little when the taste finally came into her senses, "Gwape?" She remarked, her words sounding different because of the candy in her mouth, "Ank oooo."
"Now are you feeling better?" Theo inquired as Demi kissed Lee on her forehead and closed her door. He placed her backpack on the ground next to her seat and waved her goodbye, causing some of his dreads to fall across his forehead.
"Yeth." Leeyah nodded, but Theo could still tell that something was wrong by the troubled look in her eyes. She blew a kiss to her older brother and he caught it with his hand to place it over his heart.. Theo started the car and looked out his window to see Demi staring at him with a pointed expression.
"What now?" Theo asked, fed up with the amount of times Demi's been giving him a look.
"Don't do anything stupid, Theo."
"Isn't that your job?" Theo responded with a fake smile. Luckily, Lee wasn't paying any of them attention, instead she opted to hum a little tune that she learned in school.
"Look, I know this came out of nowhere and I randomly called you, but I'm just trying to help you. I know you still like her." Demi smiled as he recalled the face Theo gave him when learning about her allergic reaction. Demitrious believed that if he wasn't there to calm him down, he definitely would have started tearing up since he was bad at handling his emotions.
"Can I go now?"
"I called you here for the playdate because I know you'd want to go, and it's not just for Lee." Demi ignored his past statement, rolling his eyes and leaning against the top of the car, "You broke up with the blondie, right?"
"Demi―"
"Am I right or wrong?"
When Theo failed to reply, Demi responded for him, "Okay then I'm right."
Theo clenched his jaw in irritation, his tongue running against the back of his teeth to try and calm his racing heart from Demi's accusations, "What's the point that you're trying to make?"
"That you should try shooting your shot, Theo. And I'm gonna help you get her back."
"You've barely seen us together. Plus, I just got out of a relationship―"
"I can feel the tension from across the room. And don't insult yourself like that, Theo. Do you really call that hex you were in a relationship?" Demi exclaimed, making Lee stop her humming.
"Theo, can we go now? I miss Mason." Lee pouted as she removed the piece of candy from her mouth.
Demi sighed in defeat when he realized that they weren't alone, and were in fact―with a five year old. He stood up from his relaxed position and bit his lip in thought, "Just―just think about what I've said, alright?"
"Fine."
Lee, from her position in the backseat, noticed that the two men were ending their long conversation. Her eyes filled with relief as she sighed loudly, catching the attention of the pair in front, "Finally. You guys took so long. I have my best friend to play with."
Demi glared at her playfully and pointed a finger at her, giving her a stern look as he saw her on the other side of the window, "Behave."
Theo laughed loudly, bringing out his dimples on the side of his cheeks. His mind went to what Demi told him and the amount of times he's been thinking about it himself. Truthfully, there wasn't much of anything to hold him back. Before, his excuse was his loyalty to his girlfriend and he didn't want to admit to his feelings. However, things have changed in the past few days since the breakup. Theo himself wasn't surprised when he received another call from his best friend to take Lee to her playdate and watch her as she hangs out with no one other than Mason King, Satoria's nephew. But he only had one fear in the back of his mind.
Would she forgive him?
She shouldn't, but he wants her to. And it made him want to chastise himself silently at his internal selfishness.
The brunet wasn't focused as Demi said goodbye once more to his younger sister and to Theo. As he drove away from the building, his thoughts began to race even more. Light brown eyes, beautiful smooth skin, heart–warming smile, bold personality, she was perfect in his eyes. But they were polar opposites. One found a way to try to be as nice as he could, while the other enjoyed being as honest and blunt as she could. One wore his emotions out with an open heart, while the other hid hers and buried them deep, deep down.
But no matter how different they were from each other, it felt so right.
Maybe trying isn't that bad of an idea, Theo thought in his mind as he turned on the A/C to calm his rushing cheeks.
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Theo didn't mind babysitting. It wasn't the first thing to do on his list, but he wouldn't mind doing it for a friend. He knew that Demi was the one who practically raised her from the start. His parents were never really around since they were always working, and Demi was also his own man that had to work. Theo would do anything to help his best friend and didn't mind giving him a hand.
When arriving, Theo was surprised when Tori opened the door with a neutral look on her face. He expected a look of anger, or surprise at least, but instead she didn't mind him being there.
Demi told him that he informed Satoria of his absence that night. Ever since the birthday party, Leeyah and Mason had been begging to have another playdate night, and Demi doesn't trust his little sister to be alone. So he asked Theo to go. The brunet wondered what her reaction would've been when he told her. Was she mad? He hoped that she wasn't, but deep down he knew she probably was.
The air was a little awkward. Satoria skipped the formalities and gave him an obvious look in her eyes to not ask about what happened after the party. But Theo was still worried for her. He spent nights prior to the babysitting looking up ways to help with allergic reactions. When he couldn't find anything he buried himself in his pillow while cursing himself out in his mind.
He was also going crazy.
So far, the babysitting wasn't as bad as he thought it would be. Satoria and Theo were able to play off everything else and take care of the kids. He could tell she still had some lingering confusion on why he was there instead of Demi, but she never asked any questions. And he was thankful.
The kids wanted to watch a few movies together and the adults didn't mind it. If anything, it relieved them to know that they finally wanted to calm down off of their sugar rush. Satoria took notice of the messy bun on top of Lee's hair and called for her to sit in front of her on the floor. Her hand grabbed the pairs of combs and moisturizer before taking out a few hair ties. Theo sat at the end of the couch and noticed Mason already passed out next to him, so he laid him on the other side and took his place next to Satoria.
Theo admired how her fingers were able to braid and cornrow. The way her hands gracefully glided across Lee's hair and laid it down to look nice and neat was a beautiful sight to see. His mind recalled Mya's words about 'nappy hair' and scoffed to himself quietly. Stupid.
As Tori kept braiding, Theo couldn't keep his eyes away, and he realized what he wanted to do. Without noticing, his lips moved by themselves, causing Satoria to stop her braiding and look up at him in confusion.
"Can I try?"
Lee's laughter is what cut the silence in the room.
"Theo, you're so silly!" Lee's giggles erupted from the silence that erupted from him in waves. Tori's hands patted the girl's shoulders to silently warn her about her volume and Lee quieted her voice, "You can't do my hair. You can barely do your own hair!"
Satoria gaped at the girl that sat in front of her and playfully slapped her forehead, making Lee lean her head back against Tori's lap, "Lee, shush or I'm giving you tight dreads. You want dreads?" She warned while looking into her eyes pointedly.
Lee's eyes filled with fear as she thought about the pain that would come with it, "Noooooo," she grumbled and turned her head towards Theo, "Okay, I'm sorry. Please just make sure Tori does all the work."
Satoria couldn't help the laugh that escaped her lips and repositioned her head in place, turning to Theo with a sweet smile, "You really wanna try?"
"I've never done hair unless it was on you."
"And you did horribly on it."
Theo rolled his eyes, "You were just defending me and now you're turning your back on me? Rude behavior."
Tori grabbed the combs' other end and pointed it towards Theo, making him flinch back in fear, "I will stab you with this, Mr. Porter."
"I wouldn't doubt you, Ms. King."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah." Theo smiled and stared into her eyes. She cleared her throat and parted a path of hair to braid himself. Tori grabbed his hands and placed hers on top of his. Theo felt a giddy feeling stirring up in his chest at the sight of her neutral face of them basically holding hands. She wasn't even angry, or grumbling. She allowed it.
Satoria demonstrated how to do it as she looked down at the path of hair, but Theo didn't pay attention at all. He stared at her at the corner of his eye, trying to be as discreet as possible. He saw the way her eyes lit up at doing what she loved to do the most, and a laugh escaped her lips at something Lee said to her. She was amazing.
If only he paid attention to what she tried to teach him, then the hair wouldn't look as horrible as it did right now.
"I'm sending this to Demi and Sapphire!"
"No, Satoria. No."
A tear left her right eye as she started to laugh again, "This ain't no cornrow. These are the dreads I was warning Lee about!"
Theo kept a straight face but he knew he wanted to laugh. He had to. The 'cornrow' was the odd one out since she did all the rest. And Leeyah sitting there looking clueless was honestly pretty funny.
He started laughing again.
"Whatever." Theo scoffed, causing it to turn into a smile when he noticed the look on Satoria's face.
He had to give it to her. For someone who hated smiling a lot; she never failed to make him smile.
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Satoria's house still looked the same from when he went there for Mason's birthday party. It was cozy with soft couches with limited space―something Theo wasn't really used to―and frames of the mini family hung around the white walls. In the home, everything seemed to be put in their desired place and it wasn't surprising knowing that Satoria lived there herself. The carpet floor created a warmth underneath his socks since Tori told him to take off his shoes.
"Did you bring her notebook?" Tori asked as she picked up her remote that sat on the living room table. The kids were finally put to sleep after a long night. She stood with a pair of cotton shorts that ended in the middle of her thighs, and a graphic tee that covered her torso. Her hair remained hidden underneath the bonnet that covered her freshly done twists.
"I–It should be in that bag." Theo stuttered and pointed to the little bag on the corner of the couch, chastising himself when he realized he got a little nervous. Just looking at her standing in a simple outfit made her look beautiful. Her face was bare of any makeup to show her smooth skin, and he just wanted to stare all day.
His mind went to the talk that Demi had with him. What if he was right? Theo was sick and tired of trying to hide his feelings. He wasn't in love with her yet per say, but what if the attraction never left in the first place? Satoria would always be his first love. She's the first person who ever gave him the euphoric feeling to love someone and for them to love you back. Theo and Mya were done, and maybe it was too fast for him to want to move on already, but to be fair he didn't necessarily love her in the first place.
Theo smiled at his thoughts while picturing the last time he felt her lips on his when she said bye to him at the airport about five years ago. He was ready to start the journey of his life to become ready to take over the family's business and study at a school that was too far away from Tori―the love of his life.
But his smile fell at the image of his tears streaming down his face. The brunet remembered his heart being torn into pieces while staring at pictures of the two of them after their breakup. One in particular had both of them wearing face masks and she took a picture of them in the mirror, forcing him to make it his lock screen. He made sure to purposely show others the image just to show how proud he was of the relationship.
Theo believed out of the two of them, he was the most hurt.
"Did you go to work today?" he continued, trying to start a conversation. He was still thinking if he should even try with her again. But at least he'd try being friends.
"Yeah. I was surprised when I got a call expecting it to be Demi telling me more about our plans tonight, but instead told me you'd be coming." she commented, sounding genuinely confused, and made him feel a little guilty. But nevertheless, he was selfish and wanted to be here anyway.
"About that....I'm really sorry." Theo grimaced, "Demi's such an asshole―he did the same to me." He could feel the tips of his hands shaking in nervousness.
"He interrupted your work day and changed all your plans too?"
"Well—yeah if you want to put it like that. I was at the gym—getting my mind off of things and he randomly blew up my phone."
"That sounds like something he'd do. Wanna tell me why he did it in the first place?" The woman asked as she browsed through the channels on T.V looking for a movie for them to watch.
"Don't even get me started," Theo scoffed in annoyance while rolling his eyes, "He just loves getting off my stress."
"Stress? I make you stressed?"
"W–what no. When I mean stress I just mean encountering my past, you know? Future is there, but then the past just gets all up in your face like―ah!" He waved his hands in front of his face as a few chuckles escaped, "It's just crazy. Wait―just ignore that."
Satoria's lips formed into a smile for the umpteenth time that night, "Don't worry I'm just playing."
There were a few beats of silence before he got over his embarrassment, "Are you alright? You know from your reaction?"
Tori's face drops, "Of course I'm fine."
Theo realizes he brought up a sensitive subject but he wanted to make sure he was alright, but the thought of Mya couldn't get out of his head.
It's because I saw the stupid fucking ex of yours at the party. She stood there staring at you in the corner, looking like she was in love with you, and I got sick and tired of it, her voice echoed in his mind.
"According to Wikipedia―"
"Yeah because that website is so reliable." Satoria joked as she rolled her eyes.
"―drinking a lot of water could help with the itching. Sometimes headaches come with the reaction and it's better to take a short nap. Preferably one to two hours of rest to have your energy go back up. It's safe to remember to take a safe amount of allergy medicine. Overdosing is not on the list of things that should be happening in your life." Theo ended his information, slightly out of breath from the amount of words he had to spew. Satoria turned her head from the T.V to his hazel eyes, her face softening in appreciation.
"Theo, in my whole life, I don't remember you taking a liking to the medical field."
"Wikipedia can make me look like a doctor I tell you. The joys of the internet!"
Then, there was another beat of silence.
"Did you really memorize all that? For me?" She blinked a few times in confusion, making her eyelashes brush against her soft skin.
"You were sick, Tori. I'd do anything to help you." The brunet replied, giving her a child–like smile. Their eyes met after he finished his words, and suddenly, it felt like they were the only people in the house. The T.V noise was drowned out as Tori stood up from her place on the couch and walked over to his side. A pulse of warmth encased his strong build when their arms brushed against each other. Nothing could compare the amount of longing he felt as he stared deep into her eyes. He could see the outline ring of her chocolate orbs, and noticed a twinkle of gold surrounding the globe. And that was what made his mind to run all over the place.
All his life he's heard of cliché romances. They were all over the movies that he was forced to watch when he was younger, and as a kid staring at the moving pictures left him in confusion. Did true love really exist?
There was 'you had me at hello' or 'absence makes the heart grow', and we can't forget the signature 'it was love at first sight' but in all honesty, he couldn't believe that all those things were true.
When he first heard of those clichés, he refused to believe any of them. Seriously, 'absence makes the heart grow'? How is being away from the one person you love the most going to make you love them anymore? If anything, it should hurt you, and tear you apart from not seeing your other-half.
But then that's where 'you never truly know the value of something until you lose it' comes in―not that he was calling her a something―but being away from Satoria and seeing her again gave him the velvety satisfaction of having her addicting aura around him. There was tension where they sat, but it was comfortable. He felt soft seeing her in a cozy outfit on the couch with knee–length socks covering the other half of her leg. And it made Theo have a fuzzy feeling inside his soul.
And in that moment 'Love will set you free' printed its words in his mind. The last cliché he ever thought of, but never fully understood to the full extent of its meaning. Looking into her deep eyes made the barrier vanish in his soul. The hesitance that he felt before, made him want to take the special leap of faith. Maybe Demi was right. Maybe this was a sign. And the way they looked into each other's eyes made him want to use that sign as a signal of hope.
Satoria blinked, breaking the contact as she lifted her arms to wrap around his neck. Her scent became more prominent as she buried her face into his neck, creating a tingling sensation to rest upon his skin. Theo was speechless. Of course, he expected some sort of gratitude from her, but he didn't expect a long lasting eye–contact with a hug.
Soon enough, his arms began to wrap around her body, encasing her with his large arms. It was like both of their figures were made for one another. He felt her lips brush against his neck, but he kept his composure and kept his hands on her waist.
And God, at the moment he just wanted to say those words.
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word count: 4564
AUTHOR'S NOTE: .....hey.
honestly, i'm happy with this chapter but i'm also really scared if i did something wrong. writing is lowkey hard so please give me feedback :) things aren't going fast but they're also kind of going fast because this story is only 15 chapters guys remember!!!
anyways, i posted this early because we hit 1k reads!! i'm so happy and i'm so grateful for the amount of love we've been getting!! this is only because of you guys and im so grateful tysm my babies :,)
and no theo hasn't said 'i love you' yet, but he's in the process of saying it! i told you guys that new content will be coming out since he's a free man now purrrrrrr next chapter is gonna be a flashback and it's the one you've all been waiting forrrrr
i wanted to ask again now that more content has been out, but who's your favorite character? mine is theo lmao he's my baby idc idc. i purposefully made his character to be reallyyyyy cringey since he's that type of person.
drink some water and remember you're so beautiful byeeee!
~precious <3