m a d e l y n
It was about nine on a Monday night, and I was with Archer and Nate at a 24/7 ice cream place a few minutes away from my house. The two were arguing, for the nth time, about the same thing—the best ice cream flavor. Since we were five, they'd debated on the topic over and over again, yet still never came to a shared conclusion.
At least they weren't all down about the game anymore.
"Sorry about them," I smiled sheepishly at the woman behind the counter. "Can I get a scoop of salted caramel in a cup, please?"
"Sure thing," she balled up a giant scoop of ice cream, stuck it in a cup and put it on the counter. "Anything else?"
I nodded, holding up a finger before turning to the boys. "What do you guys want?"
"Peanut Butter," Nate replied, still on the quest to find his holy grail.
"Brownie," Archer followed.
"A scoop of Peanut Butter in a cup and one Brownie, but in a sugar cone," I requested. My boyfriend never really liked ice cream cones, but my brother loved them. I would've gotten them each another scoop, but they were still in basketball season, after all, and I didn't want my brother blaming me for ruining his diet.
She threw me a thumbs up before quickly preparing the ice creams and handing them to me. "That would be $11.78."
I paid for all three ice creams before giving the two their orders. "You better start winning because treating you to ice cream isn't gonna do any good, to my wallet especially. Inflation's crazy."
"Thanks, Mimi," Nate threw an arm over my shoulder and kissed my temple as we walked out of the store and to my car.
"You're welcome," I grinned at him.
"God, this was what I was worried about with you two dating," Archer grumbled.
A laugh escaped my lips. "Shut up, you were the one telling me Nate was the only one you could trust."
"Whatever," he waved me off, getting into the back seat while Nate and I got in the front.
"Hold it for me?" I asked, sticking my hand out to give my ice cream cup to Nate so I could drive. He took it and continued to eat his ice cream.
"Okay, let's go home," I clicked on my seatbelt and started driving.
We pulled up in the driveway about five minutes later. The smile on my face turned into a scowl when I noticed that my dad's car was in my usual parking spot, which meant I had to take my mom's, which was the tiniest spot. "Seriously?"
After successfully parking, I took my sort of melted ice cream from Nate and walked with the boys into the house. I could tell my dad was in the living room because of the sound of golf on the TV. My mom said she wasn't feeling too well at dinner so she went to sleep early.
"Hey, Dad," I called out on the way up to my room. "We'll be upstairs."
"Okay," he hollered back. "If you kids need anything, I'll be here."
My brother went to his room to study the game earlier, and Nate went with me to my room. He was quiet most of the car ride home, and I was almost a hundred percent sure it was because he was in really deep thought.
I sat on my bed, enjoying my ice cream as I watched Nate stare off into space, mindlessly eating his ice cream.
"Ice cream for your thoughts?" I spoke.
He finally sat beside me on the bed. Not a word escaped his mouth, but the way he sighed told me all I needed to know.
"You wanna talk about it?" I offered.
"It's just... that three could've won us the game," he thought aloud. "That's all I've been thinking about."
"Dyl," I frowned, putting down my ice cream cup. "First of all, you were down five, so that three technically wouldn't have won you the game."
He raised an eyebrow, a hint of a smile on his face. "Is that supposed to make me feel better?"
"I was just getting to it," I deflected. "Point is, you made seventeen points and you're still blaming yourself. Pickle, you did what you could."
Nate's eyes caught mine before he went in for a hug. "Every single one of those were for you, you know? I wanted to win the game for you."
"I know that," I laughed softly, rubbing his back. I could've sworn I heard a sniffle. "But you don't need to win for me, win for you. Besides, I know those first two points weren't for me because you fist bumped Archer instead of looking at me like you did the other points."
"You know our first shots are always for each other," he reminded me.
I did know that. "Obviously, 'cause you and my brother are secretly gay for each other like that."
"Shut up," he laughed, pulling me down to the bed and cuddling me.
"Honestly, Dyl, I've never seen you play better than you did today," I told him. "Please don't take the credit away from yourself just because you guys didn't win the game."
"It's 'cause I wanted to impress my girlfriend, she was watching, you know?"
A smile couldn't help but creep its way to my lips. "Your girlfriend, huh? Damn, I was just about to ask for your number."
"Yeah, my Mimi has watched every single one of my games," he beamed. "I love her a lot."
"I love you a lot too, Pickle," I kissed his cheek. "No matter if you win or lose, you'll always be my MVP, and you'll always have a next game to play to make me even prouder."
"And you won't deny it if I tell Archer you said that?"
My boyfriend was a child. "Sure," I laughed.
"I seriously don't know what I'd do if I didn't have you," he mumbled. "How'd I get so lucky?"
There was an impending threat of my heart bursting out of my chest.
"And you don't think I could say the same about me?"
He kissed my temple and held me in silence for a few seconds. "No, I'm definitely the luckier one. I know I'll be okay as long as I have you."
"Why don't we agree to disagree?" I decided.
"That's fair," he nodded. "Anyway, how was your day?"
I gave him a quick recap of my day, telling him about my coffee machine breaking and my Chem homework. I even told him about Viv and Jillian's quest to find out who the mystery girl in his latest post was.
"Did you tell them it was you?"
"After the game," I confirmed. "They told me we could talk about it next time instead because... you know, but I felt bad about not telling them after I promised to so I said it and then left to go to you and Archer."
"You think the whole school will know by tomorrow?" Nate wondered.
I shrugged. "Maybe, but I doubt it. Why? Do you want everyone to know?"
"Well, I wouldn't mind it," he shared. "At least if Mark finds out, he'll stop hitting on you."
"Guess so," I agreed. "But people are probably gonna start talking about me like they talked about Kim when she and Arch started going out."
"What'd they say?" he asked.
My eyebrows furrowed. "What do you mean? You didn't hear anything? God, Kim felt so bad, she was telling me all about it."
"Really?"
Wow, did that mean Archer didn't know about it either? Or did Archer just not tell Nate?
"They would say things like they wouldn't last, which they didn't, but that's still a mean thing to say. I also heard people call Kim a wannabe and a whore and all those nasty things. I think one time, someone called her a pick-me," I revealed. "That doesn't even make sense. I can't believe you've never heard about this."
"What the fuck?" Nate muttered. "That's so messed up."
"I had to keep reminding her that they were just jealous," I recalled. "She's such a sweet girl, and I hated seeing her so down like that. God, I can't even imagine how she was feeling."
"We don't have to tell anyone if you're not comfortable saying it, Mimi," Nate reassured me. "Mark can hit on you all he wants, if it means you won't have to hear people say those things about you."
I watched his expression soften as I placed my hand on his chest gently, right above his heart. "I'll be okay, Pickle. I can handle myself. We'll just let it happen naturally. We'll be like we always are, and if people find out, then so be it."
Nate tucked my hair behind my ear and caressed my cheek. "If I asked you to marry me right now, what would you say?"
The question caught me completely off guard.
"Realistically, you shouldn't be asking me that question anytime soon," I thought aloud.
"But what if I did?" he pressed. "Just imagine it. What if I asked you right now to catch a redeye with me to Vegas and get married?"
"I'd say no, Dyl," I replied honestly. "You know I'd say no because no matter how much we love each other, we're not ready for that yet. Baby, I'm not even eighteen. Try asking me again in five years, I might have a different answer."
He chuckled. "Alright, fine, you make a lot of sense, as per usual."
I rolled my eyes playfully.
"But I promise that I will ask you to marry me one day," he vowed.
I cuddled into him. "I don't doubt it for a second."
"What about a millisecond?" he wondered.
"Not that either."
"Good."
I felt him shift and take a sharp breath he tried to hide.
"What was that?" I worried, sitting up.
"Nothing," he denied, trying to pull me back down to the bed.
"Nate, don't lie to me," I frowned. "What was that?"
He sighed, sitting up with me. "My ankle's a little messed up."
My eyes widened. "What the hell? Why are you just telling me this now?"
"It's not a big deal," he insisted. "It was feeling fine from yesterday, but I just landed weird a while ago, so it's a little sore."
"Nate," I gave him a look. "If you want to play well, you have to take care of yourself. Wait here and don't move."
I got up from the bed and made my way to the kitchen to get some ice then hurried back to my room.
"You should've told Coach," I chastised him. "What if you hurt yourself even more by playing?"
"I'm okay, Mimi," he assured me, holding the ice I gave him to his ankle.
I wasn't really convinced. "You have this checked in the morning, and if it doesn't feel better by Friday, you're not playing."
He nodded. "Fine."
"Everyone's coming next week," I brought up, watching him play with the ice pack while keeping it pressed on his ankle.
"Yeah, you excited? Haven't seen them since the new year."
I nodded. "Addie and Nat said they'll be here by next Wednesday, so we'll probably go out then or on Thursday."
"Cool. Are they coming to watch our game with you on Friday too?" he wondered.
"If you ask, I'm sure they'll come," I told him. "But people might start asking Addie for pictures after a while."
"Sometimes I forget she's Adrienne Connor. You know, kinda famous and not just that weirdo that forced us all into soaking our french fries in water before eating them when she was seven. Maybe the five of us can just go out after to celebrate our win," Nate decided.
That was a funny memory. I hummed in agreement. "Good idea. And I like your positive thinking. I'm thinking one loss all season, the rest will be wins."
"You really think so?"
"I have a gut feeling," I replied confidently.
"Well, if there's one thing I know about you, it's that you're always right," he attested.
His confidence in me was honestly endearing. "Most of the time, Pickle."
"That's good enough for me," he maintained, leaning in to kiss me.
"Hey, I noticed something from the game, come look," Archer barged into the room, making me jolt in surprise.
Nate instinctively shot up and pulled me behind him. "Damn it, man. Do you know how to knock?"
"It's a good thing we weren't doing anything," I mumbled.
"Yeah, yeah, whatever," my brother waved us off. "Make out all you want later, I have something to show you from the game earlier. Come look too, Mads."
I rolled my eyes. "Alright then, let's see what's so important that you had to nearly give me a heart attack."
♢♢♢
Author's Note:
what's up, everyone? i feel like so much has happened since my last update even if it hasn't been that long, probably because i've been so busy with school stuff. anyway, hope you liked the chapter! it's not the longest but it's what i could get out on time, so here you go!
i'll see you next week!
♡,
dani :p
It didn't matter. I was young and we were together. — Justin Go, The Steady Running of the Hour