July 4th,
Nova wasn't looking forward to today, really not at all. First of all, she had been sick in bed for three days. And secondly, she didn't want it to be a holiday again because she was mad at Javi. Like really mad.
Nova missed him very much. Already the day after mother's day she thought about texting him. But when she saw that he had left his sweater in her apartment, she decided to bring it over this house. So she had an excuse to see him again.
But just as she was standing in front of his house and about to ring, she looked through the window and saw that he was sitting on the couch with a woman and had his arm around her.
So she hung the sweater on the door handle, turned around and left again. Nova didn't realize that this woman was crying and Javi was comforting her, but she just wanted to leave.
Because she didn't want to disturb them.
And she hasn't spoken to him since that day. Maybe she was overdramatic and overthinking, but she knew that Javi is very charming and has always had many women in his bed.
And now, on July 4th, she was sick and binge-watching her favorite series in her bed. Actually, she would have gone to a party with him and his friends today. His best friend, Steve, had a house by the lake with his wife and invited everyone.
But Nova texted Steve, he gave her his number on St. Patrick's Day, and told him that unfortunately she won't be able to come because she's sick.
At 4 pm, Javier stood nervously at her door. Steve had told him that Nova had canceled because she was sick. And Javi was a little worried since she hadn't texted him at all. In fact, she hadn't texted him for weeks. Since the day she left his sweater on his patio.
He thought that maybe she needed some space. But now he was only worried that she might not want to see him ever again.
So he took a deep breath and then pressed the button next to her name.
A few floors up, Nova looked up from her laptop in confusion. After getting up, she picked up the blanket and wrapped it around her shoulders.
When she pressed the button next to her front door and heard his voice, her heart immediately started beating faster.
"Uhm, Hi" she replied.
"Can I come up?"
"Well, uh, I'm sick. So that might not be a good idea"
"Please, Nova"
She sighed, "I told Steve I'm staying home. You can't change my mind, Javi. I'm sick, like for real. It's not an excuse"
"I know. But I'd like to know why you didn't let me know?"
"I will not discuss this over the intercom"
"Then let me up"
She closed her eyes for a second and rubbed her temples, "Fine. But you can't stay for long"
And so he entered her apartment two minutes later.
"Oh wow, you look —" he started, but Nova interrupted him.
"Like shit? Yeah I know" she replied with a weak grin.
"No, that's not what I wanted to say"
"Yeah, uh, so you wanted to talk to me?" she changed the topic.
He nodded, "Can we sit down for a moment?"
"I don't know, I don't want you to get sick"
"Really? That's the reason? I rather think you're mad at me, or you don't wanna see me anymore"
Nova immediately felt guilty. Yes, she was mad at him, but she would never want to lose touch with him. He's too important to her.
"No that's not true, I wanna see you. And I missed you" she whispered and squeezed her eyes together.
Javier looked at her overwhelmed, is she going to cry?
"Nova" he mumbled softly, and hugged her tightly.
"I don't want you to get sick" she told him again, but still pressed her head against his chest.
"Well, I don't care" he replied and gently stroked her hair.
He gently led her to the sofa and sat down next to her.
"What's going on? Please talk with me, Nova. I don't want you to cry," he whispered, wiping the tears from her face with his thumbs.
Fuck, that's so embarrassing, Nova thought to herself.
"There's just so much going on right now"
"Do you want to talk about it?" he asked sympathetically.
She wiped her eyes once, "My brother is devastated. His wedding is canceled and I'm trying to cheer Diego up. He wants me to help him, but I don't know how" she explained and he pulled her closer as she spoke.
"And my mother started drinking again because she didn't cope well with my father's death" Nova added.
"I'm so sorry" he whispered, shocked. He didn't even realize that her father had passed away.
"No that's not your fault. But you know, apart from all this stress I'm going through right now, there was this one thing that made me really happy. And this is gonna sound so fucking cheesy and embarrassing, but I really enjoyed spending time with you because it made me happy. And then I saw you with another woman"
Javi looked at her confused, "I'm not seeing anyone" he told her honestly, "Maybe you saw me with Lisa again?" he then added with a small smile.
"No. That wasn't Lisa. When I brought your sweater and wanted to ring, I saw you through the window. I know it's my fault. And wow, I sound like a creep. But I thought you'd be happy if I brought you the sweater. — And I swear I didn't stalk you or something like that. You know, the window is right next to the door, I wasn't watching you on purpose or anything, okay? But yeah then I left your sweater on the patio and left" she explained.
Javi sighed loudly and stared at her thoughtfully.
"You think I'm a creep, don't you? Fuck, I'm sorry, I knew that was weird to say. Please just go before we start fighting"
"No, I think—"
"I probably shouldn't have let you in. I just don't wanna fight with you" she interrupted him and got up from the sofa.
"No, just listen for a moment, will you?"
She just nodded hesitantly, standing in front of him.
"Sit down again"
"Javier, I—"
"Just sit down for a moment"
Nova did what he asked her to do and sat down next to him again.
"I just don't know what you want, okay? You say you only wanna see me on holidays, but you don't act like that. Just tell me what you want from me. From us"
Nova tried her best to hide her nervousness, "I can't" she whispered. She still remembers New Year's Eve, and when he told her that he's not a relationship person and just wants something casual. And now she has this huge crush on him and doesn't want to scare him off and lose him.
"Nova, please stop being dramatic. You're scared to tell me? You don't have to, okay? So you still only wanna see me on Holidays? Or do you want more? Tell me, I can't read your mind"
"You said you don't do relationships" she replied.
"I guess I was wrong" he told her, trying to hide his smirk.
Nova looked at him with wide eyes, "Really?"
"Yeah, I wanna be with you every day, not just on Holidays. This whole Holidate-thing sucks. I liked the idea at first. It was nice to have someone on holidays, you know? But now I hate always having to wait for a holiday to see you. I don't want that" he told her and Nova felt like crying again.
"Are you still thinking that after I basically admitted I stalked you?"
Javi let out a chuckle, "I don't think you stalked me, don't worry. And by the way, that woman you saw was Fiona, Lisa's ex-wife. Or wife, I think they won't get a divorce"
She blushed straight away and put her hands in front of her face, embarrassed.
"I'm so sorry" she mumbled, too embarrassed to even look at him.
"It's okay, and uh, can I stay a little longer now? I don't wanna go to the party anyway. I just wanna be here with you" he asked her.
"Yeah" she immediately replied, "But please don't be mad at me if you get sick too" she added.
"I won't" he told her and lifted her onto his lap.
"Sooo, Nova, would you like to be my girlfriend?" he then asked with a big smile.