Chapter 97

Olivia

Morning broke with a palpable tension in the house. As I shuffled into the kitchen, Nathan was already there, hunched over a cup of coffee, his brow furrowed in concentration.

“H-Hey,” I murmured, clearing my throat. “Good morning.”

There was no answer. He didn’t even look up as I entered. In fact, he just stood and walked out of the room, his gaze fixed on the floor. He didn’t even remember to bring his coffee mug with him, and left it sitting there on the counter with little puffs of steam rising out of it.

That stung. He used to greet me every morning, usually with a quip or a sarcastic remark, even when we were annoyed or awkward with each other. But now… now, there was nothing. Just a wall of ice between us.

I told myself, however, that he would get over it in a day or two. I just needed to give him some space so he could cool off. But it didn’t seem to make a difference.

This silence stretched on for the entire week.

No words were exchanged between us, no lingering glances shared. Our interactions were curt, clinical almost, nothing more than what was absolutely necessary.

It felt as if we were two strangers forced to share the same living space. Before, I had thought that our awkwardness was bad. But now it was unbearable.

The awkwardness didn't go unnoticed, either.

Angela, who was pretty much my best friend by now, visited us one day.

She picked up on the tension almost immediately, her eyes flitting between Nathan and me with a frown etched on her face as Nathan walked through the room in silence like a ghost. He disappeared through the front door without so much as a word.

“You two have been quiet,” she noted, glancing at me pointedly. “What happened?”

I let out a sigh, pulling her into the living room. Away from prying ears, just in case Nathan was still standing on the porch.

“Listen,” I said, sitting her down on the couch.

“Last week, I went to dinner to talk with my ex. It didn’t go well… He told me that he has no interest in even paying child support. But that’s not the biggest thing about all of this; when I came home, Nathan got so jealous over Levi that he almost beat him up. He kept telling him to keep his hands off of me…”

Angela listened, her eyebrows knitted in thought. When I finished, she leaned back on the couch and let out a low whistle. “Sounds to me like Nathan’s in love with you, Olivia.”

My heart skipped a beat. I shook my head, a feeble attempt to brush off her assertion. “It’s not like that, Angela.”

But even as I said it, I couldn't help but wonder. Could she be right? Nathan had always been there for me, but I had assumed it was because we were friends. But the confrontation, the jealousy... maybe there was more to it.

“He’s your best friend, Olivia. Talk to him,” Angela advised, placing a comforting hand over mine.

“Have a heart to heart. Clear the air. You guys are gonna have to go one way or the other eventually; either you need to stop beating around the bush and convey your feelings to each other, or you need to agree to stop with this bullshit.”

I chewed on my lip, pondering her suggestion. Maybe it was time to face the elephant in the room. I needed to know where we stood, what Nathan truly felt for me.

And if he didn’t actually feel how I thought he felt about me… Then I needed to hear that, no matter how much it would hurt. I needed him to cut me loose if he never planned on being more than friends. I could only handle so much heartbreak in my life.

“I don’t even know what I would say, though,” I said, leaning back on the couch.

Angela cocked her head. “Well… How do you feel about him?”

My face turned red. No words would come out, but it seemed as though the red tinge on my face was all the confirmation that Angela needed.

“Well that settles it, then,” she said with a chuckle. “You two like each other, clearly. You need to talk.”

I nodded. “You’re right, Angela,” I murmured, lifting my gaze and shooting her a warm smile. “I’ll talk to him.”

Later that night, I found Nathan in the living room, his attention fixated on a book. I took a deep breath, steeling my nerves, and marched up to him.

“Nathan,” I called out, my voice echoing in the silence of the room.

He looked up, his blue-green eyes wide with surprise. “Can we talk?” I asked

Nathan swallowed and cleared his throat, then stood with his book still in his hand. “Actually, um, I just remembered that I have something that I need to do. Can it wait until tomorrow?”

He tried to brush past me, but I blocked him in the doorway. Our bodies bumped into one another for a brief second, and he hesitated before he took a step backwards. His face was almost beet red.

“No, Nathan,” I commanded, narrowing my eyes. “I want to talk. Now.”

Now, Nathan’s eyes were the ones who narrowed. “I can’t right now, Olivia,” he said, brushing past me again—and succeeding this time. “I’m sorry. We can talk tomorrow, okay?”

I had had enough. A low growl escaped my throat, and I stamped my foot on the floor.

“Stop right there, Nathan!” I yelled. He froze just as his foot was about to land on the bottom step. “Don’t you dare take another step away from me!”

Nathan stood there for a moment, his foot hovering above the step, before he slowly set it back down on the floor and obediently turned to look at me. “Alright,” he murmured, his eyes wide. “What is it that you want to talk about?”

Good. I had his undivided attention. “If you have such strong feelings for me, why don’t you take me out instead of getting so jealous?”

My words came out all at once in one big jumble. I hadn’t planned on saying that; in fact, I hadn’t really planned on much of anything. My heart was pounding too fast all afternoon for me to be able to come up with a script for myself.

His eyes grew even wider, if that was possible. He blinked at me, clearly taken aback by my straightforwardness. His mouth opened and closed, words failing him for once.

I just stood there, waiting for him to say something, anything. My heart was pounding in my chest, and the silence seemed to stretch on forever. But I knew I had made the right choice.

We needed to confront our feelings, no matter what the outcome might be. The silence was too painful, the distance too great. We had to bridge the gap or risk losing our friendship altogether.

And as I looked into Nathan’s wide, surprised eyes, I thought that I was prepared to face whatever came next.

But as the silence between us grew, I wasn’t so sure anymore. I felt myself shrink as his lips parted, and he spoke my name.

“Olivia, I…”