Chapter 26
Aden and I went to a cozy café on the other side of the city that afternoon. He told me that it was one of the best places he had ever been to and that their pastries were amazing. Since it was only four in the afternoon, neither of us wanted to eat a real meal, so that was how we ended up at the place.
We had a really good time, talking about everything from work to friends and memories. The pastries turned out to be delicious too. I settled for a cinnamon bun since they were my favorite, and even if they didn't beat my work's cinnamon buns, they were close enough.
It was not until it started turning dark outside that I even thought of what time it was. Aden and I were so engrossed with our conversation that we had lost track of it. So, when I noticed it was already six in the afternoon, I told him that it was probably time to leave.
He didn't mind at all. He just got up from his seat and led me out of the café, opening the car door for me before getting into the driver's seat. The ride back to the house was quiet at first until he broke it.
"Do you think Timothée is going to be mad when you get home?" He wondered, slight worry lacing his voice.
I pursed my lips as I shrugged my shoulders. "I don't know, to be honest. I haven't witnessed him being mad enough to have learned how he reacts in these situations, but I don't think he'll be that bad."
He nodded his head slowly. "I'm just asking because I don't want you to get in trouble for something I caused. If he's mad at you, it is because of me."
I shook my head vigorously. "No, not. It's not. I was the one who agreed to this. I could have said no and gone home with him, but I wanted to hang out with you."
His lips twitched in a smile, his eyes still on the road. "Is he always this overprotective over you?"
I closed my eyes, a smile creeping to my face too. "It happens, yes. I don't know why, though," I told him honestly.
He turned to meet my gaze for a split second. "I'm quite sure it is because he cares. I only met him for a couple of minutes, but it was clear that he didn't want you to get in trouble."
Letting out a sigh, I threw my head back against the headrest. Honestly, I didn't want to talk about Timmy when I was with Aden. He was supposed to be the person making me stop thinking about him, but we couldn't avoid this topic apparently.
"I know he cares. I just wish he wouldn't act like he thinks he can control me and my doings. I am my own human being with my own free will. He can't make my decisions for me," I muttered, recalling the time he had stopped me from kissing James at Ansel's party.
"I understand," he said calmly. "I'm sure things will get better once he understands that I'm not going to hurt you, though," he chuckled, making me roll my eyes.
"Well, I sure hope so."
A few minutes later, he pulled over outside the house. I grabbed my bag from the car floor and turned to him. "Thank you so much for today. It was nice."
He flashed me a wide smile. "It was," he agreed. "I'll text you later, yeah?"
I nodded my head. "Sure."
Before I could exit the car, he leaned over to press his lips to my cheek gently. "Bye, Julie."
Feeling myself blush a little, I waved at him before shutting the door behind me and running up to the porch. I entered the building, instantly inhaling the delicious scent of food being made in the kitchen. Could it possibly be Pasta Bolognese?
The second I had discarded my outdoor clothes, mom accompanied me in the hall. She had a look of slight accusation written on her face. "Eh, hi mom?" I said with uncertainty. "What's going on?"
"What did you do to Timothée?" She asked, making me frown.
"What do you mean?"
She inhaled a deep breath. "When he came home earlier, he was angry as a thunderstorm, but he wouldn't say why. Nicole tried to talk to him, but he just went up to lock himself in his room," she explained.
"And you just came to the conclusion that it must be because of something I did?" I asked, feeling offended.
She shrugged. "Well, yeah... I don't know. You two are pretty inseparable, so that's what I assumed."
I rolled my eyes. "Wow, that makes so much sense. Maybe you should have asked me if I had done something before jumping to conclusions."
"Alright, alright. I just want to know if it is because of you, Julie," she sighed.
I flailed my arms out. "It has nothing to do with you, mom."
"So it is?"
Letting out a loud groan, I walked by her. "It's not my fault he reacted the way he did, that's all I'm going to say."
With that, I walked up the stairs and went into my room, slamming the door shut behind me. Without a second thought, I threw myself onto my bed, letting out a loud sigh against my pillow. What was even happening?
Before I could think more about it, there was a pretty harsh knock on the door. "Mom, please. Just leave me alone," I grumbled.
When the knocking didn't stop, I let out another groan and got up from the bed to walk over to the door. "What don't you understand with--"
I cut myself off at the sight of Timmy standing in front of me, his eyes darkened with anger and his hair tousled, probably from running his hands through it too many times.
Without a word, he walked right by me to get into the room, almost knocking my shoulder with his as he did so. "What are you doi--"
"Not a word, Jules. Not a fucking word," he said coldly the second I had closed the door behind him.
Since I didn't get to say anything, I crossed my arms over my chest and stared at him while he paced the room a few times before he stopped abruptly. He walked over to me, getting so close that I had to take a step back. I ended up with my back pressed against the wall while he was hovering over me.
"Why, Jules? Why would you do that?"
I furrowed my eyebrows together, feeling a little intimidated by him. "What do you mean?" I asked stupidly, making him roll his eyes. He was not amused.
"You know exactly what I mean. Don't play dumb. Why did you go with him when you knew I was there to pick you up?" He demanded.
Technically, I didn't know that he was going to come in the first place, but I assumed he was since he drove me to work in the morning. I didn't want to tell him that, though, because I didn't want him to get even angrier with me. "Because I wanted to?" I said, but it came out as a question. It was the way he was looking at me that made me so uncertain.
He let out a humorless laugh. "Oh, I see. You decided to go with someone you barely know instead of going with me, someone you knew one hundred percent would drive you home safely?"
Now it was my turn to roll my eyes. "Timmy, he's not going to hurt me. You have to stop being so fucking overprotective all the time," I muttered.
His still darkened green eyes stared into my own with so much intensity that I had to swallow hard. The fact that he was so damn close didn't exactly help either. If anything, it was only making it more difficult to stand up to him and defend myself.
"Overprotective?" He snorted. "I call it common fucking sense. You don't go out with someone you barely know."
I narrowed my eyes at him. "Alright, so how did you meet Lily then? I mean, you didn't know her at first either, right? Yet, you decided to go out with someone you barely knew. Timmy, you have to understand that's how you meet people. You don't know them, but you get to know them by spending time with them. Besides, I have known Aden for quite some time now. I know that he's not going to hurt me."
He was being ridiculous. I didn't even understand how any of this made sense in his head. It just sounded like a bunch of bullshit. It was like I was talking to a parent who was scolding me for talking to a stranger. I mean, come on. I was twenty-two years old.
"I don't trust him," he muttered, looking at the floor beside us.
I reached out to wrap my arms around his waist, feeling that his anger was slowly leaving his body. "You don't have to trust him, Timmy. As long as I do, you don't have to worry," I told him, making him look me in the eyes again.
They had turned back to its normal green color, and I was melting. I could stay here like this for the rest of my life and I would be happy.
"How do I know that for sure?"
I shrugged my shoulders, flashing him a small smile. "You just have to trust me."
He rolled his eyes, but this time, his lips twitched as he did so. His hand reached out to tuck a strand of blonde hair behind my ear. "I don't know if I can," he mumbled, his green eyes still holding mine with his gaze.
His face came closer and closer, so close that I could feel his breath on my lips. "I don't know if I want to," he breathed as he placed his hands against the wall on either side of my head.
He was so close that I could feel his chest pressed against mine, and it was making my heart race. The way his breath hit my lips, the way he was looking into my eyes and the feeling of his body pressed against mine. It was all making me feel something I had never felt before, and I suddenly wanted to kiss him again. No, I ached for it. I was desperate to feel his lips pressed against mine.
I tilted my head up so our faces were just centimeters apart. One of his hands left the wall to cup my cheek, his thumb tracing the skin just below my bottom lip. My lips parted automatically as he did this, his thumb touching my bottom one. He leaned in even further, his own lips slightly parted too. I tilted my head to the side, ready to close the distance between us so I could finally feel those pouty, pink lips kissing me back. He inhaled a deep breath before leaning in even more and--
"Julie, Timmy. It's time for dinner!"
We quickly pulled ourselves back to reality, and he backed away from me. Without a word, he scratched the back of his neck before turning to the bedroom door and striding out of the room, leaving me there gaping.
I blinked my eyes at least ten times, trying to register what had just happened. Or, more like what was about to happen. Were we going to kiss if we hadn't been interrupted? And if so, what would have happened if we had done so?
There were so many questions spinning around in my head that it was almost causing me a headache. Therefore, I decided to put them to the side for now because I was hungry and I wanted to go down and eat my favorite dish.
Without thinking twice, I strolled down the stairs and into the kitchen, where everyone was already sitting at the kitchen table. As usual, the seat opposite Timmy was waiting for me.
Clearing my throat, I walked over to them and joined them at the table. "Have you two sorted things out?" Nicole asked, breaking the silence that had occurred.
I looked up at Timmy, but he didn't meet my gaze. Instead, he reached out to plate some spaghetti. "Yeah, we're good," he said flatly, making the topic die down as quickly as it had been brought up.
I could feel my mom's eyes on me, but I decided to avoid her. I was tired of everything that was going on right now, including my mom's nosiness.
During the entire dinner, Timmy didn't so much as glance at me, and it was making me panic a little. I hoped that whatever was about to happen up there earlier wasn't going to change anything between us because I had no idea what I would do if he decided to treat me differently after this. Honestly, I already missed how he would usually treat me, how he always gave me all his attention.
The second we were finished, he pushed his chair out and got up from his seat to leave the room. He walked up the stairs, and it didn't take more than a few seconds later until you could hear the sound of his bedroom door slam shut. Both Nicole and mom turned to me, making me lift my hands up in defense.
"Don't blame this on me," was the only thing I said before getting up myself. "Thank you for dinner, though. It was delicious."
With that, I left the kitchen myself and walked back up the stairs. The second I entered my room, I let out a deep groan as I threw myself onto my bed, burying my face in my pillow.
What a fucking mess this had all become.
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DRAMA!! Julie and Timmy almost kissed... again! Hahaha I hope you liked the chapter, though! Btw, chapter 28 is probably my favorite in the entire story, so be prepared for it!
And oh my God, I can't explain how thankful I am guys! 8,1K+ reads?! That's incredible! And almost 100 votes in three days! You guys make me cry, I love you so much! Thank you for supporting me <3
Pauline .xx