Her First Kiss; His First Love (Chpt. 15)

After Mason had finished swooning over the story of how Mindy and Tom met, he left, telling Mindy that he would come back later. Mindy hadn't gotten it out of him where he was going, but Mindy just left him alone. Sometimes knowing was a bad thing.

"When is your birthday?" Tom asked, sitting down next to her on the couch,

Mindy had been cuddling up with a blanket and resting her eyes while the boys talked. Tom and Mason got along pretty well, and Mindy was pretty thankful for that.

"Three days,"

"February twentieth?" Tom asked, getting into a part of the blanket.

"Yeah," Mindy answered, giving him some room.

Their thighs ended up touching, and Mindy felt electric tingles shoot through her bones. She had to try and not hyperventilate, but it was hard when he was right there. Less than six inches away.

Clearing her throat, Mindy quickly changed the subject, moving her leg closer to her body. "How's work?"

Tom sighed. "It's okay, I guess," he pauses. "There still isn't any word on who caused the bombing,"

"Poor Bryan," Mindy sighed.

"What?"

Mindy looked at him quizzically. "His twin died in the bombing, remember?"

"Oh," Tom nodded, a blush creeping up his neck.

Mindy ignored the blush, looking down at her feet. She didn't understand what was so embarrassing about it, but told herself that it wasn't her business.

"What about you?"

"Huh?" Mindy looked back to Tom.

"Didn't you get a new part-time job?"

Mindy nodded. "Oh, yeah. It's doing pretty great. I mean - it's not that big of a deal,"

"Not that big of a deal?" Tom looked at her questioningly. "You are an assistant art teacher!"

Mindy blushed. "Yeah, but only for twelfth graders,"

Tom grabbed Mindy's hand. "That's a high-school class!"

Mindy rolled her eyes. "No, duh, Sherlock,"

Tom raised and eyebrow. "You don't swear."

He said it like a statement. It wasn't a question. He was studying her a lot more that she thought.

"Yeah," Mindy nodded. "It's a long story,"

"You have a long time," Tom reminded her.

Mindy looked down at their intertwined hands. She's told him so much already. How could she tell him more? It wasn't like she was a story book. Although she hated to admit it, she was a college-level novel.

"Well," she began, running her free hand over her hair. "It started out when my brother and mom were fighting."

Mindy took a deep breath, calming herself. If there was one thing she clearly sucked at it was talking. She hated it - a lot. And right now it hurt like H - E -double hockey sticks.

"Mason started using language, and I didn't really understand it. Even though we were the same age, I was more innocent. He started swearing, lying, and skipping classes. I didn't fully understand it until the end of high school.

"Anyway," Mindy collected herself, realizing she was off topic. "He and my mom got in this huge fight. Eventually, it turned into them completely ignoring each other. Then.... well, after a while,"

Mindy took another deep breath. She felt Tom's hand tracing hers, but wasn't able to concentrate on it. She was lost in memory.

"One day, she was coming home from work, and she pulled over because Mason called her. He was going to tell her that he was wrong, that he was horribly wrong. It was after school, and I saw the look in his eyes when he heard it. S - she crashed."

Mindy took another breath. "A truck had come around a corner, and it got to her. The last thing we ever heard her say was, 'I forgive you.' I still remember hearing the crash - Mason had put it on speaker when a weird noise came on."

Tom looked distant, his eyes sorrowful. Mindy looked down at her knee. She had let go of it and it was now pressed against Tom's thigh. Mindy gathered her courage and let her head sit on his shoulder, a silent tear trickling down her face.

Mindy's breath hitched as she felt Tom place their clasped hands on her knee. He ran his thumb over it, sending the electric tingles down Mindy's spine again. The feeling rested in her stomach, kindling a flame there.

Mindy sighed as she nestled her head on Tom's shoulder, pulling her hair out of the way.

"I'm sorry," Tom whispered.

Mindy felt more tears prick at the surface of her eyes. She never let herself cry. Maybe she just felt safe here. Maybe she felt safe because he couldn't see her face - or maybe it was because Mindy didn't care anymore. Either way, she let the tears out.

They were silent. The only sound was the cackling rain and howling wind, which were teasing the small apartment. Tom kept rubbing his thumb over Mindy's knee.

Mindy relaxed herself, letting her shoulders down. Slowly, ever slowly - she slipped into a peaceful sleep.

Author Notes: Thanks, guys! This is also on my wattpad account. Please review if you find any mistakes.
Love y'all!
-Kate ❤️

Recommend Write a ReviewReport