Chapter 15

Author's Note: Finally Chapter 15 is out! I spent like almost 5 hours writing this. With lots of breaks.  Next chapter is going to be exciting! Trust me.

Word count: 3,057

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Chapter 15

This is finally the day we're going to my hometown to attend a stupid reunion party with the people I went with in high school. Jacksonville High School. Oh I hate that place. Not really, I'm just being dramatic. I've got a lot of memories in there – good ones and bad ones, mixing together. Melody and I went there, and we shared special moments with our friends, and well, I hate to admit it, but also with her ex-boyfriend Donnie, who may or may not be there. I hope it's the latter.

Donnie may be a dick, but he's in a special place in Melody's heart. After all, Donnie is her first boyfriend ever. First love. First heart break. First ex-boyfriend. Second favorite person, next to me. Not until they broke up.

I made sure to pack all the necessary stuff for this trip, and the things I've bought here in New York and present them as gifts to my parents, like keychains, a mini statue of the Statue of Liberty, and pictures in frames of some of New York's best places. My mom would love them as she's a big fan of these things, especially the keychains. She's a collector. She's got a bunch of collection of keychains, from animals to buildings like the twin towers in Malaysia.

I really didn't pack a lot of clothes, considering I've still got my old clothes back in my home in Texas. Some may never fit since I've gotten a big bigger, but I have some clothes that were a bit big when I first bought them.

My parents are not aware that I'm going home for a week, and I'll be home in a few hours. I realize that I miss them so much that I just want to ditch everything and stay in their loving care, even though I'm an adult already. I miss my mom's morning chocolate pancakes, dad's chocolate drink every morning, and their bickering when they think that there's something troubling me. I miss my old room, my bed, the favorite couch I used to sit on when I was watching my favorite show, the cute mini pig I purchased when I was in fourth grade and displayed it on my mother's bookshelf, and my dad's car toy collections I placed on my desk in my room. I miss all of it.

"Excited?" Matt asks me as he offers his Cheetos, Jalapeno flavor, to me.

I nod my head furiously, beaming as I take a handful of Cheetos. He chuckles and takes a seat on one of the metal chairs. We're here at JFK Airport and we're just waiting for our flight, which is about an hour from now. Matt also got the chance to take days off for a week, of course, with an approval of Wyatt. Melody talked to Wyatt and pushed it, and Wyatt agreed without hearing here. She just said that she'd like to invite her boyfriend, and Wyatt just shrugged and nodded his head. It also means that Matt is going to be her date in the reunion, and that's allowed.

"I couldn't care less about that stupid reunion party, but I'm going home, in Texas!" I grin.

Matt lets out another chuckle as he shoves a handful of Cheetos in his mouth. Melody takes a seat beside her boyfriend and kisses his cheek, then she squeals when our eyes meet. She is just as excited as I am. She fishes her phone, opens the camera while slapping his boyfriend's forearm – Matt looks, then takes a picture of us all grinning.

"Finally, away from work-stress!" My best friend half-yells and leans her head down on her boyfriend's shoulder. Matt positions himself, turns his head a bit, and places a gentle kiss on Melody's forehead. "Thank you for coming with us."

"I won't abandon my girlfriend," Matt says lovingly. Melody dreamily sighs. "There are guys out there and I don't trust them because you, my girlfriend, grew up to be a very beautiful, hot girl." Melody lightly punches her boyfriend's arm and giggles. Matt smiles, brushing his nose across Melody's cheek.

I pretend to gag.

"Oh shut it, Pierce." Melody shots back, grinning. "You and Kevin will be doing this in the future."

"We're not."

"Yes."

"No, Kevin and I are not."

"You and Kevin definitely will."

"Did someone mention my name or is it just me?"

Kevin slings his arm around my shoulder, pulling me closer and Melody gives me a knowing look. I roll my eyes at her and focus my attention on Kevin, who is beaming brightly at me. Kevin and I aren't boyfriends, and I'm not sure if I should say "yet" after that or not. We really have no label. He's special to me and I'm special to him. Maybe. I take a seat beside Melody, and Kevin sits beside me.

Wyatt appears with a phone in his hand, over his ear. His brows are furrowed, and his face is scrunched up in a cute manner, like he's confused. Light shines on his face, making him look like an angel. For a brief moment, our eyes meet. I forget how to breathe, and I know I should look away, but his eyes have got this pull on me that I can't quite explain. His eyes never leave mine, and that just makes it more difficult for me to look away.

He turns off his phone and puts it inside his pocket, and breaks the eye contact. Finally I manage to look away, heart beating erratically. His eyes were so intense when he was looking at me, and it seemed like his eyes were saying something, but I couldn't understand what.

"Do you guys want something?" Wyatt asks, his voice sounds bored. But his eyes tell a different thing. He looks at me and I avert my eyes, anywhere but him.

We all shake our heads.

"Alright then. We've still got an hour before our departure."

Wyatt turns on his heels and I want his retreating figure, getting lost in the sea of people milling around the airport with bags and luggage in their hands as they pass by hastily, their kids by their side screaming as they get attention from the others. I take a deep breath and tell myself that it's alright, that I can survive this trip with Wyatt around me. I should focus on surprising my parents, and that stupid reunion party.

Kevin places a hand on my shoulder, giving it a light squeeze. He knows that I like Kevin and has an idea how this is a struggle for me. He really did grow.

When we were high school students, Kevin was really different back then. He was loud, reckless, and cocky. But he's always been smart. He always wanted to pick a fight with Wyatt, but Wyatt never really paid attention. Until the time he came in barging and pissed off Wyatt. He got knocked out. He has grown so much that he became a gentleman, nice, and cheery person he is today. There's no trace of that old Kevin in him, only the new one. I like the Kevin today.

It's been an hour when the announcer tells us we're ready to depart. We all stand up and Wyatt reemerges. He has changed his clothes. He was in a black suit earlier, but now, he's dressed casually. He's wearing a white shirt over a grey and black polo, unbuttoned, matched with jeans and blue Adidas rubber shoes. His hair is done, combed neatly, and he looks like a model of the clothes he's wearing. That's how handsome he is.

He motions for us to follow him, and a bunch of girls dressed in a uniform grab our stuff. Wyatt nods at them and we all follow him. As we're about to pass the lady who is in charge of checking the tickets, she just steps aside and motions for us to walk forward. To be honest, neither of us bought a ticket – that was an instruction from Wyatt. But he never gave us the tickets. Now I know why.

Melody pulls out her cellphone and records her way through the airplane, pointing the camera at us while grinning. We wave at the camera and Matt dances his way. From the corner of my eyes, I see Wyatt staring at us, and there's a small smile playing on his lips. I pretend I didn't catch him smiling and focus my attention on the camera, yelling "Jacksonville, Texas, here we come!" and everyone chuckles, even Wyatt. No one noticed. But I did. I pretend to ignore it again.

Everyone rushes to their seat. Our seats are from 5A to 5E. Melody takes the window seat, and beside him is Matt. Kevin takes the seat beside Matt. Three seats in one side, two seats on the other, which means I have to sit beside Wyatt. Kevin notices that and is about to stand up, when Wyatt motions me to take the window seat and he sits beside me. I look outside through the window, and watch the turbulence with such interest. I can feel his stare burning, lingering at the back of my head. My heart pounds against the rib cage, and I feel every beat. He's so close to me that I want to touch him, to look at him, but I remind myself that Wyatt is off-limits. But still, why can't these feelings go away? Is this some kind of punishment? I can't believe I have feelings for my enemy, my bully, my freaking boss. This is not supposed to happen. Wyatt shuffles in his seat, attempting to find a comfortable position, and all the while his eyes are trained on me. Because I can feel his stare.

It seems like an hour and thirty minutes of flying in the air is going to be like forever.

It takes another fifteen minutes before the airplane begins to take speed and fly, after a woman has demonstrated the safety guidelines while on a flight. I shut my eyes, pretending Wyatt is not sitting beside me and that he's far away, and calm myself. But as the airplane begins to fly, the light rumbles and shakes of the airplane as it rockets upwards, Wyatt's hand seems to be everywhere. I look at him and our entwined hands, and he suddenly lets go, as if I have a skin condition that is really contagious.

His skin is so soft and I imagine my hands running across his skin, his chest, his neck. I snap out of my trance when a woman pushing a cart with foods comes to a halt across our isle. Wyatt looks at me.

"Huh?"

"I asked if you wanted some food while we're on a trip," Wyatt's lips twitch.

I pretend I didn't see it. "Just the bread and a bottle water please. How much?"

"I'm going to pay."

"No, it's alright, I've got money here."

"Not interested."

The woman gives me my bread and a bottled water, and Wyatt pays for everyone. I sulk on my seat while eating the bread. As I take a bite, I watch the clouds underneath au\us and feel at peace. The thought of meeting my parents again is making me happy, and, even though I don't want to admit it, I have to thank Wyatt for this opportunity. Maybe later once we got off the plane.

But after I thank him, that's it. I'll just go with him in that stupid reunion party. Purely business, and I respect him as my boss. So yeah, I shouldn't get my hopes up. I shouldn't really in the first place. He is off-limits. Wyatt is off-limits. I repeat those words in my head until that's all I can think off. Until Wyatt is all I can think off.

"Are you alright?" Wyatt asks me.

My heart explodes. "Huh? Yeah, I'm okay."

"Are you sure? You look like you're going to be sick."

"No, I'm going to be alright." I lie. Because I'm not going to be alright. "It's been so long since I last rode a plane, so I'm a bit nervous." The lie rolls easily off my tongue. Wyatt looks at more for a few more seconds, his face tells me he's not convinced, before nodding his head.

He lets me do my own thing while we're on this ride, and I keep replaying the words inside my head. Wyatt is off-limits. Wyatt is off-limits. Wyatt is off-limits. But the more I tell myself that, the less I'm convinced. It shouldn't be this hard. What do I have to do to get rid of these feelings? Kevin and I are going out, and he's a great distraction, really, but why is it not working between us? I keep telling myself that Kevin is the best one for me, that he's a boyfriend-material, but why is Wyatt always everywhere?

Before I put myself in an embarrassing situation, I decide I should just sleep this off. When I wake up, we should have arrived already and I should be busy enough to not care about this. I shut my eyes, focusing on the slight and soft rumble of the engine.

I wake in the sound of Wyatt telling me to wake the hell up. I open my eyes and shake the grogginess off. Wyatt's hand is still on my shoulder, and when I take a look, he retracts and looks away. I pretend it didn't happen. I stretch out my arms and let out a yawn, still sleepy. The people fall in a line as they rush out of the plane. Meanwhile, my friends and I are just sitting, letting them get out first before we do. Once I see the end of the line, I stand up and my hand accidentally meets his before I pull away, ignoring the electric shock that it gives me.

When we get off the plane, Melody squeals in delight as she stretches her arms out, already feeling that Texas feeling. She wraps her arms around me, kissing my cheek, and then she goes to wrap her arms around Wyatt. Wyatt seems shocked but accepts her hug. Melody is just probably thankful of Wyatt. She blushes once she realizes what she's done. She tucks a strand of her hair behind her ear while walking towards her boyfriend, pulling her phone out of her pocket and taking a picture of them together.

Melody takes both picture of us, and then one with Kevin, and then one group photo, before she lets us all out. Wyatt's eyes meet mine, and I smile at him shyly. He smiles back. Fuck. Our things have been dropped off, and we all pick our things. When we get out of JAX, a white van parks in front of us and a guy around 30s with a bald head gets out of the van. Wyatt nods at him, and the guy picks us our things. Wyatt motions for us to get inside and we do. Oh God. This guy is super rich. I want to know everything – how it happened and how he became the CEO, the story behind it.

Kevin has been dropped off first to his home, then we head over to Melody's house. Matt will be staying with her. Wyatt and I are the only one in the van, and the driver too, but anyway, this is awkward. Neither of us speaks, and we both just stare out the window, finding the houses interesting. Nothing has really changed about this place. It still feels the same – the wind, the houses, the people (only they got older) I've grown up seeing, and the streets.

"My mom has a birthday party this Saturday, and I'd appreciate if you go with me."

I look at him and nod my head without putting much thought about it. Wyatt lets out a smile, and my heart races upon seeing his beautiful smile. My eyes trail across his lips, and he seems to have noticed it as he runs his tongue across his bottom lip.

"Should I get a gift?" I ask him.

He shakes his head. "If you want, yes, you can."

"What does she like?"

"She isn't really materialistic, but if you give her anything as long as it's willingly, she'd gladly accept it." Wyatt's face brightens as he tells me stories about his mom. This is the first time I've seen Wyatt so happy. And it's different. I see him in a different light, and I like that. "There's this one time someone gave her a pie, that's from a neighbor, and the taste was so disgusting but as soon as my mother heard that it was made for her because for some reason, our neighbor heard that she liked pies, my mom accepted and ate the pie and she didn't let it go to waste. It's really funny."

"She's so nice I want to meet her." I tell him excitedly.

"I'll send you the address where the party is going to be held." I nod my head at him, smiling brightly. Wyatt purses his lips, fighting a smile that is threatening to come out. I look away, feeling comfortable when silence falls upon us.

A few minutes later, we arrive at my street.

"Thank you for this. I really appreciate it." I tell Wyatt before I climb out of the van. The driver, whose name is Ryan, gets my luggage from the back and brings it to me. I thank him. Wyatt nods his head. "Seriously. I've been missing home so much and this is what I needed. It's all thanks to you."

"You're welcome, Pierce."

"See you on Saturday?"

"See you on Saturday." I grin at him.

I watch them take off before I turn on my heels and walk towards my home. Home that I missed so much. I take a deep breath and knock on the door several times before my mom tells me to hold on without realizing it's me. I smile to myself, excited. A few moments later, the door opens, revealing my mom.

She drops the towel she's holding, and immediately hugs me.

"Pierce!" My mom shouts near my ear. I flinch.

"I'm home, mom."

"Welcome home!" I flinch again.