Chapter 136

Emma POV

 "I'm not gonna lie, I expected more brazen advances, I didn't even know if keeping contact with you made any sense. You seem like a totally different person from what I knew at Starry, and I'm ashamed to admit to myself that I might have villianised you a little too harshly." I revealed to him. 

 "I'm glad to see I made your list of worries." He smiled. 

 "You can't be serious." I said, disregarding him. 

 "I am." He replied immediately, "it just means you think about me. That way I'm sure it's not one sided." 

 "Alright." I looked away. 

The tears in my eyes had dried a bit, but it didn't mean that I was feeling a lot better than I was a few minutes ago. 

 "You know," Kevin started, carefully placing my hand on the bench, "sometimes I want to leave you alone." He said. 

He looked so serious, and I wondered where that was coming from. What have I done again? 

 "Sometimes I feel like I'm holding you back." He explained. "You're in college you're gonna meet a spectrum of freaking cool guys. Sometimes, I feel like I'm the boring weak link from high school who might be holding you back. And maybe it's the right time to admit that it's why I stayed away from you for all the four days after our date." 

 "Have mercy!" I gasped to myself. "Really?" I looked at Kevin in disbelief. "Kevin, you look better than over half the guys in this…" 

 "It's not all about looks, Em." He cut in, still glaring at his own feet. "They have goals, ambitions, and y'all are working towards it." He said and looked away. 

I wondered where all that was coming from. 

Kevin was earning enough to buy a house in certain areas of the country every month. 

 "Kevin, you're not doing poorly." I reminded him. 

 "I'm also not doing what I thought I'd be either. He fired back. "I only applied for it and took the probation test cause I had to do something with my life. I was becoming an addict, already had so many bad grades stacked up in my final year of high school, I was beginning to seem like a lost cause to everyone who cared about me, this was the fastest way out." He explained. 

 "You think it's a way out, I think it's a way." I replied. 

It was time to take his hands. 

He really did feel tense. Since that night when we met in our home at Starry after shit hit the roof, that was the only other time I'd seen him look so sour.

 "You don't need to pity me." He chuckled dryly and looked away. "You get used to it growing up in a single parent household." He added, and I felt that way too. "Never really knew my dad." 

The more I got to know Kevin, the more I felt drawn to him. 

We really were in the same shoes, fighting similar battles. 

 "Same here." I replied. 

 "Mom thought it'd be better if she remarried, you know, just so we'd have a father figure to grow up with." He kept punctuating his stories with sad smiles and ry chuckles, "He ended up leaning with all her money." 

 "That's crazy." I offered. 

 "The world is, Em." He replied, looking at me this time. "I never want to take advantage of you, Em. I'm a much better man than he was. Or at least I'm trying to be." He said. 

 "You are." I agreed. 

 "One last thing." He said, this time, smiling a little bit. "We might feature in the school mag." He said. 

 "What does that mean?" I asked him. 

 "Hypothetically speaking," he started , "maybe I tipped him over there to take more shots with hs in it." I looked in the direction Kevin pointed and a smallish guy with round glasses looked like he was getting his feel if pictures of Kevin and I together. 

 "You're creepy." I said, looking away, but I knew it was too late. "Are you gonna keep tipping people off for me? You tipped off Casey's rent, and I'm sure you gave that guy his entire salary." I joked. 

 "Why would you do that anyway?" I asked him. "You haven't even got a school ID." I added. 

 "Just wanted to shake things up a little," he said, "like now. And being with you is with every tip off." He talked like a big spender. 

I let out the laughter I'd been holding in. It was actually quite cute. 

 "I'm glad you're happy." He said finally. "And forget the stuff I said earlier, I think I'm in a better place." He said. 

 "You don't have to be macho about things like these, Kev." I said. 

 "I just don't want you to be bothered." He said smiling. 

 "I'm glad." I replied. "Glad that you told me." I completed it. 

 "It's a good thing to know I'm not so much of a nuisance." He said. 

 "I've never seen you as one." I reassured him. "You're my only friend in this city right now." I added. 

 "We both know I'm not." He replied. 

 "He doesn't count." I replied to the question he asked subtly. 

 "Can I take you out for lunch?" He asked. "I've got a killer deadline but nothing trumps seeing my favorite person." He said and I smiled. I was gradually growing too fond of him and I didnt know if it was a good thing. 

 "I don't think I feel like lunch right now." o replied to him. I think I just wanna lay in bed all day and watch movies. 

 "Damn!" He said, "I'd kill to read places with your pillow now." He looked and sounded so passionate about it. 

 "Unfortunately, you can't tip that off." I joked 

 "It's rather unfortunate." He repeated. "

One last thing then." He swallowed heavily. 

 "You were gonna tell me over lunch?" I asked. 

 "Yeah." He admitted. 

 "What is it?" I asked. 

 "I'm gonna be away for two weeks." He said, and breathed deeply. "We've got some things to sort in the UK, and I won't be back till next week." 

 "When did you know about this?" I asked. I could hear the ice in my own tone. 

 I kept singing to myself that it was Kevin, not Chase, and that I didn't even have exclusive rights to any of them. 

 "Only yesterday." He replied calmly and looked me in the eyes. ".I'm gonna miss you too, Em." He hugged me and kissed my forehead. "We could do video calls as often as you want to." He added. 

 "They don't suffice." I winced. 

Let's go hom e. I thought he meant my place, till I saw him drive past. And against my better reasoning, I didn't protest.