Chapter 9: Surprised (Hope's POV)

I was making myself avocado and toast when the doorbell rang. I kept the toast in my mouth and dusted my hands, going to the door. I pulled the toast out as I opened the door, seeing Blake. "Hi," I said. 

When I ran into him earlier, I didn't realize how weird this was. I kind of forgot we had a feud going on if that makes sense. I thought we were friends. Like old times. That's why I was laughing, being nonchalant, careless. But when I got back, I realized that wasn't the case because last night, literally less than twenty-four hours ago, we had another argument. 

"Hey, can I uh, can I come in?" he asked. 

"Oh, shit. Yeah, of course. Sorry," I chuckled awkwardly, stepping aside and letting him enter. I closed the door behind him and then turned to him. More awkward silence. "Do you uh, want some toast?" I offered. 

"No, that's fine, I um..." he trailed off. I bet from the way I was acting earlier, he saw this conversation going a lot smoother than this. 

"So, what's up?" I asked, leading him into the kitchen. I continued making myself a cup of tea and made one for him too because nobody knows this, but Blake has a knack for tea. He loves tea. He makes tea all the time, all kinds of tea. Chamomile, lavender, green, herbal, you name it, he makes it. 

"Hope," he cleared his throat, "I don't hate you." 

I nearly dropped the cup of tea while turning to face him. I never liked to admit it, but since I left, I always thought he did, and hearing him say that just... surprised me. "No?" I asked, handing him a cup. 

He looked down at the cup and then back at me, biting back a smile. "No," he shook his head. "I act like it. Because I... I don't want to forgive you." 

I nodded slowly while taking a seat opposite him. 

"You hurt me when you left. You really did. You were my best friend and I knew you were going through a tough time and I was trying to help you. I was with you every single day of the week, right?" 

I nodded, looking down at my tea. 

"But I never imagined that I'd wake up one day and without warning, without any sign, you'd be gone. And that's exactly what happened. I took you to the arcade, dragging you out of your house just so you had a shot at having fun, and I thought you did. You were smiling, we were laughing. I thought we were getting somewhere. But then when I came to your house the next day, you were just... gone." 

"Blake, I-" 

"Just hear me out, please." I sighed, keeping my mouth shut and just listening. "I don't think I realized how much I um," he paused. "How much I missed you." I looked up at him, seeing his eyes trained on the cup of tea. "I was so focused on holding a grudge and being angry with you, that I didn't really think about how you would feel. I'm sorry I was such a dick," he sighed, shaking his head, finally looking up at me. 

"I'm sorry I left the way I did," I said. "I should have told you. I should have thought about it a little deeper but... I don't regret it, Blake. Being there made it a lot easier. I was able to push it to the back of my mind and move on." Which is horrible. Because it just means I still haven't dealt with and accepted my mother's death. 

"I still don't think that's what you should have done, but I get it." He keeps surprising me with his words today. I think the sun rose from the wrong side. "There's um, one more thing," he paused. He fell into silence for a minute, trying to gather his words. "I really want things to go back to the way they were." 

And once again... I'm surprised. I thought he'd never want to be my friend again. 

"But obviously, that will take a lot of time and it's going to be harder now that you're with Jonah. Hope, I know he's not the type of guy to tell his girlfriend that she can't have guy friends, I know he won't get jealous. But he'll be hurt when he finds out that we have... history? Yeah, history," he nodded. "He'll be more hurt than ever." 

I asked, "We were friends, Blake. That kind of history shouldn't hurt him that bad. So, what history are you talking about?" I think he's talking about the fact that we liked each other. For so long before we left. And I'm not supposed to know about this, but whatever. He liked me. I liked him. Then I left. Now I'm back. I'm dating his best friend. I have no idea if he still likes me and I don't know if I like him either. That is so messed up. 

"Can I take you somewhere?" he asked suddenly. 

"Where?" I asked. 

"Walking distance. Come on," he stood up. 

"Blake," I deadpanned. 

"Don't you trust me?" He arched a brow at me. 

"I do but-" 

"Then come on. No take-backs." We've been saying that since we were kids. 

"Fine," I sighed in defeat, throwing the rest of the tea down the sink and leaving the plate in it, going in my pajamas, as it is. "Wait, I need a jacket." I ran upstairs and grabbed the first one I saw, throwing it on and zipping it up, running back downstairs and following him out, locking the door behind me, shoving the keys in my pocket. "Where are we going?" I asked, walking behind him. 

He walks too fast cause he's so bloody tall. He stopped, turning to look at me, waiting for me to catch up. "Hurry," he chuckled. I did a slight jog until we were walking side by side. 

"Where are we going?" I groaned, ten minutes into the walk. 

"Do you remember our spot in this town? The one by that abandoned house we always thought was haunted?" 

"It is haunted," I replied. "Are we going all the way there?" I whined. 

"Stop complaining." He rolled his eyes at me. There's no way we're coming back before sunset. 

There's this abandoned mansion near this part of town and they had a huge backyard. In that backyard, there's a treehouse where Blake and I used to hang all the time. We weren't really scared of the haunted thing because we've never seen anything happen, but I think two years being gone and watching way too many horror movies, I'm feeling the goosebumps when we stopped in front of the house. 

"Do people come around here?" I asked, following him up the front steps. 

"Nope. Still abandoned," he answered. So if something happens, no one can hear us calling for help. Great. 

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" I asked as he grabbed the door handle. 

"Not really. I haven't been here in a while. But we'll be fine," he shrugged, shoving the door open. Something fell on the roof and it clattered, scaring me. I jumped, grabbing onto his sleeve while looking up at the roof which I'm sure at this point will collapse on us. I turned back to him, watching him staring at me with amusement lingering in his eyes. I rolled my eyes, letting go of his shirt and following him inside anyway. 

It's exactly the same. The furniture is still covered with white cloths, there are leaves and dust everywhere, the wooden floor creaks with every step, the door to the backyard is still wide open. There's definitely a homeless person squatting here. It's very convenient for that. 

"Why did you bring me here out of all the places in this town?" 

"Because no other place has the view of the lake that the treehouse back there does," he said. He's not wrong. Looking out of the treehouse, you see the lake that this town has. People go boating there all the time and it looks gorgeous during the sunset. 

"You do realize that you've brought me all the way here just to talk, right?" I glared at the back of his head. There was a loud crash from upstairs once we reached the backyard door. Both of us looked straight up. "What if someone's staying here?" I whispered. 

"Then we should probably run," he mumbled, slowly opening the backyard door. I huffed, terrified but knowing exactly where this was going to go. We both burst into a full-blown sprint, him far ahead of me because I hate running and I hate the cold. I'm dealing with both. 

He groaned, running back over to me and grabbing my hand, forcing me to run faster. I bit back a scream and ran with him, both of us panting by the time we reached the treehouse. "Go," he nodded, catching his breath. 

"You go," I panted. 

He rolled his eyes, "No one's gonna be down here to catch you when you fall. Do those steps look steady to you now?" 

I glanced at them. I started climbing up, feeling his eyes on me. If you know what I mean. I mean, on my ass. I managed to pull myself up and climb inside. I'll never understand how there aren't any bugs here. That makes us lucky though.

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Chapter 9

I wanna know how you guys think they're going to have their first kiss and guess what chapter. I'm just curious to know what you guys are thinking

next chapter: nostalgic