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Nathan didn’t want to leave her. Not now, and possibly not ever.
fifty
tully
Thanksgiving offered the week-long break Tully needed and she looked forward to it from the moment she became ungrounded. With the end of the semester approaching, and finals looming over them, the pressure was double to keep her and Nathan’s grades high. Nathan was excelling on assignments and quizzes. He was much better at school than he gave himself credit for when he put in the effort.
They even managed to send off a few applications for him to different colleges, even though his financial assistance wasn’t determined yet.
The nonstop schedules of this and that gave her enough weight to cover up her crush and pretend it didn’t exist. A heart flutter every now and then, but for the most part, she’d made it this far without issue and she had a feeling that by the end of the semester, she would have gotten over Nathan and no one would be the wiser.
All she needed to do was nothing she didn’t need to.
“Do you want to come over for Thanksgiving?”
Tully would never let herself bite her lip the way she was in front of Nathan, but he couldn’t see her through the phone. “Aren’t you . . . isn’t it just family?”
“Yeah, but my parents want you there. They’re already planning an extra spot for you.” Nathan said, and laughed a little. “You’re practically family now.”
It was just a joke. Just a joke, she had to remind herself.
Tully took a long deep breath in and closed her eyes; this was a terrible idea. “I have plans.” It wasn’t a complete lie, shedidhave plans—all families do on Thanksgiving. Her family’s just included getting some Chinese takeout and eating it together in front of the TV while watching a movie. A yearly tradition.
“Why can I tell you aren’t looking forward to those plans?” he asked, and Tully opened her eyes. Could he see her? Or was he just good at reading her voice better than she could hide it? “Iwant you here. Come tomorrow, please?”
This was aterribleidea. She was trying to catch her crush before it got out of hand and hurt herself. This was a terrible, horrible, no good—
“Fine. What time?” She couldn’t even hide her excitement.
“I’ll pick you up at four.”
* * *
“Yes or no?” Nathan asked, standing on the porch outside his front door. He didn’t need to know that he didn’t need to ask anymore. The answer was yes. It was always yes for him now; she preferred it that way actually.
“Yes,” she said, and he grabbed her hand in his and gave a comforting squeeze as he opened the door and led her in.
When Nathan said he would have family over, she had no idea how much family he meant. He was an only child. Their house was overcompensating for a family of three, but maybe it was so large just so they could host their two dozen-some extended family members.
And Tully thought having two siblings was big enough. There were children ranging in all ages scattered around the halls and rooms, the kitchen was full of women passing around bowls and setting the large table, some men were with the women, while others lounged in front of the television watching the same football game that Tully had heard her dad watching when she left her house. “Is this your entire family?”
“Most of us, I have a few step-cousins that are at their mom’s house and an uncle who is out on business. And you know the best part?”
“What?”
“They’re all dying to meet you.”
Like it was scripted, a high-pitched, enthused squeal made Tully jump and suddenly a plump woman was wrapping Tully in her arms and squeezing the air from her lungs. She smelled like a mix of gravy and baby lotion. “You must be Tully,” the woman said into the air next to Tully’s face.
Tully froze up, but she felt a squeeze on her hand and realized she was still connected to Nathan. She focused on his steady fingers wrapping hers, and it pulled her away from the hug enough to forget all about her discomfort.
“She can’t answer you if you’re squeezing her.” Nathan said, which was a much better explanation than the real reason her tongue wasn’t working properly. It worked and her hug disappeared.
“Ope. My bad.” The woman pulled away and Tully could finally see her. She looked just like Sandy, but with a rounder, younger face. “I’m Pam, Nathan’s aunt. When Sandy told me about you, I knew I had to meet you. You’re even prettier than I thought you’d be.”
“Okay, Pam,” Nathan groaned.
“Oh, come on, I’m being welcoming.” She said and hugged him as well. “Glad you got here before the storm started, apparently it’s supposed to be quite the display of thunder.”
