Time Runs Through Our Veins.

When Nolan wakes up it's a few hours later. Jordan came in and yelled at me for leaving him stranded. When he saw Nolan curled up on me he was confused for a bit but then he had a huge smile on his face.

"Finally you realize it!" He yelled.
"Shut up! Nolan's asleep!" I whisper shouted at him.
"Sorry but I knew you were gonna be gay. I just knew it."
"Okay, jeez. Can we talk about this later?"
He nodded and left.

Nolan stirs and rubs his eyes with a sleepy smile.

"Hey, finally you're up. I want to show you something."

He nods and I slip off the bed. I grab my midnight blue acoustic from the stand in the corner and pull an art stool to the end of the bed. 

Nolan crawls over to me and crosses his legs, a confused and curious look on his face.

I ignore the shaking in my hands and start picking and pushing the strings. Wrists and pinkies bent at awkward angles in order to make the perfect sound for this stranger. This boy I've known since I was five but somehow just met. A look of recognition crosses Nolan's face as I start singing.

I think that possibly maybe I'm falling for you. 
Yes theres a chance that I've fallen quite hard over you.
I've seen the path that your eyes wander down
I wanna come too.
I think that possibly maybe I'm falling for you.

I've heard that falling in love is confusing. I guess I didn't realize how much someone could mean to me until he passed out. All these horrible situations ran through my head, each making me want to hold him. Make it all better.

No one understands me quite like you do
Through all of the shadowy corners of me
I never knew just what it was
About this old coffee shop I love so much
All of the while I never knew
I never knew just what it was
About this old coffee shop I love so much
All of the while I never knew
Ohhhhhhhhh

I've heard that love makes people do stupid things. I guess that's why I'm singing this to him. Telling him I'm falling in love with him is probably the stupidest thing I could ever do because I'm admitting to him how easily he could break me. I would do anything to have him smile at me everyday like he's smiling at me now. And what if I break him? I could never live with that. 

I think that possibly maybe I'm falling for you
Yes there's a chance that I've fallen quite hard over you
I've seen the waters that make your eyes shine
Now I'm shining too
Because, oh, because I've fallen quite hard over you

Falling in love doesn't make you stupid. It just brings that side of you out. What I feel isn't stupid. It's love.

If I didn't know you, id rather not know
If I couldn't have you, I'd rather be alone
I never knew just what it was
About this old coffee shop I love so much
All of the while I never knew
I never knew just what it was
About this old coffee shop I love so much
All of the while I never knew
All of the while, all of the while it was you.
Ohhhhhhhhh

Somewhere in the middle of the song a tear escaped from his beautiful amber eye which is why I do what I do next.

I lean over, sliding my guitar to my back and whisper an 'i love you'. I've never said that to anyone before. Not in the way I mean it for Nolan. Then again I've never felt this way about anyone before.

I touch my lips to Nolan's in a soft kiss. I would imagine that this is a lot to be taken in by him. (Waking up in my bed. Being serenaded. Being told I love him and now this). Which is why it takes him a few moments to wrap his arms around my neck and pull my mouth down harder on his. I smile before he pulls away.

"Do you really mean it?" 

"I really mean it." I assure him.

Nolan smiles wide. "Say it again."

"I love you." I kiss his forehead. "I love you." Kiss his nose. "I love you." His lips.

He giggles. "I love you, too."

My stomach does flips, my heart hammers.

The smile slowly slips from his face. "What about Jordan?"

"I talked to him earlier."

"What about your friends?"

"Nolan, I'm not letting them get in the way of this. I don't know what this is yet but I'm not letting anyone stop me from figuring it out."

It's then that my dad pokes his head in. "Hey, Ry, what's going on?"

"Uh....can we talk later? I'm kinda doing something."

"No, it cant wait. I'd like to speak to you now. Hello Nolan." Dad nods at him and then motions for me to follow. 

Nolan grabs my hand as I get up. "Should I leave?" He asks worriedly.

"No! Please, don't go." I hand him the remote and my laptop. "I don't think I'll be too long but here." I kiss his head one more time before going to find my dad on 'their' side of the house. Jordan is there too. "Hey what's up?"

"Boys, I told you the other day that your mother and I are getting a divorce. Just know that it's nothing you did. Nothing at all but we, all four of us, are going to have to make tough decisions. What I need to talk to you about now is the living arrangements. I will be moving uptown in about a week. It will be insanely easy for you to reach me, okay? It'll be better this way. I know you couldn't see it but your mother and I have been having problems for a while. We promise not to make this harder than it has to be."

"Are you gonna split us up?" Jordan blurts out.

"What? No, of course not. Not unless it's something you want?"

Me and Jordan exchange looks. "Definitely not."

Dad smiles, hugs us and let's us go back to our own thing.

"So," Jordan says as we walk back over to our rooms. "You and Nolan?" 

"Don't do this right now." I groan. "He's still here."

"Dude, you have a hell of a lot to explain."

"Shut up." I push my door open and Nolan looks up, a smile on his face.

"What's this?" He asks, turning the laptop to me so I cam see the picture of him I bookmarked. 

I feel my face heat up. "Nothing."

"Awh, I think it's cute. Come here." He holds out his arms for me.

I go over to him and he props up on his knees so we're face to face.

"Do you stalk me often?" He teases.

I smile. "Of course." Nolan laughs and closes the laptop. "What's your favorite movie?" I ask.

"Star wars!" He says without hesitation. "But the old ones. The new ones are posers."

I shake my head. "I think we have it if you wanna-"

"Go get it!" He bounces excitedly

God, he's so cute. I go get the movie, pop it in and settle against the backboard. Nolan perches on the edge of the bed and he stares intently at the screen.

Finally I can't take it anymore. Having him so close and not touching him drives me insane. I grab him around his waist and pull him against me.

He squeals and giggles from the sudden gesture and settles against my chest to watch the rest of the movie. When it's over we sit around talking for about two hours before Nolan decides he should go home.

I drive him and steal as many kisses as I can before he gets out of my car and disappears inside. When I get home I eat something, do the little of homework I can focus on, take a shower and slide in bed.

Before I turn the lights off I write 'it was real' on my arm. Everything that happened today could be mistaken as a dream when I wake up. Right now reality is better than my dreams.

My bed still has the lingering smell of Nolan so it's not hard to fall asleep.
~*~

Jordan wakes me up at 6:30 and immediately starts firing questions about what happened.

I ignore them all except for one. "Why Nolan? Why'd he bring you out

"Because I love him." I respond.

"How could you possibly love him? Two weeks ago you were telling Alex and Olivia how much you wish he would go kill himself so you wouldn't have to look at him."

Remembering this sends a searing pain to my stomach. How could I have ever said that? "Jordan, I know okay? It doesn't make sense to me either but I do love him." 

"Rylan, he's my best friend. I swear if you hurt him-"

"I'd kill you before I even thought about hurting him." I say, cutting him off. Jordan looks at me for a second before smiling.

"Okay, I believe you:" 

We drive to school in silence and as soon as I spot Nolan's adorable black hair my heart starts skipping beats. 

But before I get a chance to talk to him I'm pulled over, (literally dragged) to Alex and Olivia.

"Hey man, why weren't you answering our calls yesterday? We heard you got kicked out of Moore's." Alex says pushing his sunglasses to his head.

I glance at Nolan anxiously. "I was busy."

"Doing what?" Olivia demands. "You've never not answered us before."

"Look, a lot of things have changed. I'm not saying fuck off but I'm not your slave so I don't have to answer you."

Alex steps forward. "Dude, are you okay?"

"Yeah, I just- need some space. You two are my best friends but there's more out there, you know?"

"We understand." Olivia pipes in.

"Yeah just don't change to much from the Rylan we know." Alex smiles.

I smile back and hope it's enough to let them know that they can trust me. 

When the exchange is over I jog up behind Nolan and put my hands on the exposed skin of his hips. He helps and spins around. "Rylan! God, you scared the shit outta me. Your hands are rough."

"Holding paintbrushes for hours at a time." I say in explanation. I lean in for a kiss but Nolan dodges it. "What?" I ask confusedly.

"Everyone's staring." He blushes and looks down.

"So? Nolan, do you want to kiss me?"

His head snaps up, eyes wide. "Of course! But what about your friends?"

"Don't worry about them. If you want to kiss me then do it." He hesitates for a moment before wrapping his arms around my neck and kissing me hard.

It only a matter of time...