Chapter 20

Holden

       Shaw had been acting very weird these past couple days and every time I tried getting him to talk to me about it, he would just say that nothing's wrong. I didn't believe him. I knew him well enough to know that something was bothering him.

       But I also knew him well enough not to keep bugging him so I just let it slide.

       Until one morning when he was seeing very irritated as he opened the fridge door, looked inside, slammed it shut, and then opened it again. 

       I walked into the kitchen, resting my arms on the top of the fridge door and placing my chin on top. "You alright?" I asked.

       "I am fine," Shaw said. "Absolutely fine. Just annoyed that we have no food in the house."

       I furrowed my eyebrows and looked into the fridge. "What are you talking about? We got more than enough food here. What's really going on?"

       Shaw sighed, keeping his eyes scanning the contents in the fridge to find something to eat for breakfast. "It's my dad."

       "Your dad?" I asked. "What about him? In fact... What ever happened to him? I don't remember him coming around whenever you and Viola did with your mom."

       "And you also don't remember what you had for dinner yesterday," Shaw said. "Memory loss, remember?"

       "Okay, wow, point taken," I said.

       Shaw sighed and looked at me. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean that. I'm just really stressed out because of him. He decided to show up to the village not too long ago. He thought it would be completely fine if he waltzes into my and Viola's lives after everything he did."

       "What did he do?" I asked.

       "He left," Shaw said. "Nine years ago. You were nine, so that's probably why you don't remember him ever coming around. And he never made any effort to contact any of us, not even when my mom passed away. And then he just shows up out of the blue acting like everything is okay."

       "Oh, now I see why you've been so weird these past couple days," I said. "I wouldn't be happy as well if my dad left and came back out of the blue."

       "The worst part is he knows nothing about me," Shaw said, finally closing the fridge door because he couldn't find anything to eat. "He doesn't know that I'm a recovering addict or that I have three children or that I'm gay. Well, he knows that now but the point is, he doesn't know anything about me. I don't want anything to do with him but I have a feeling he's just going to keep popping up in my life. Anyway, I just want to forget about all of that. I know you're about to meet up with Jane to do some studying, so can we meet at the walkway afterwards?"

       "Yeah, sure," I said. "And speaking of, I should be heading out before Jane bashes me in the head with a textbook for being late."

       "Alright, then go," Shaw said. "I'll see you later."

       "See you," I said, giving him a quick kiss before heading out of the house and walking to the cafe where Jane and I were going to study. Well, her try to help me study and me complain that I couldn't remember anything.

       Jane was already in the cafe and when I sat down beside her, she picked up one of the books and hit me in the arm with it. "You're late," she said. "I don't have all the time in the world to help you study."

       "Sorry," I said. "I was just talking to Shaw. He has some problems going on right now. But I am here and I am ready to complain about studying. I mean, study. Totally study. Though I don't know why if I'm only going to fail."

       "You're not going to fail," Jane said. "Because I thought of a way to help you remember things."

       "Does it include a time machine?" I asked. "To make sure I never got in that car crash? Or was in the city hall when it blew up? Or was in another car crash with my brothers?"

       "Wow, you get injured a lot," Jane said.

       "Exactly why I fail so how about we skip studying and nap instead?"

       Jane chuckled. "We're not napping in the middle of a coffee shop, Holden. Just trust me on this. I've looked up a lot of different ways someone can study if they have a poor memory or short-term memory loss, and I really think it will work."

       "Wait, why did you spend time looking all that up?" I asked.

       "Because, idiot, you're my best friend," Jane said. "I'm not going to let you fall in your time of need, and I know how much you just want to be done with school and not have to go to summer school. So I'm going to do everything I could to help."

       I smiled. "Thanks, Jane."

       And as it turned out, the studying was working. Normally, I'd study for half an hour and then forget everything, but this time, I didn't forget everything. I did forget some minor things, but the major things were still clear in my mind.

       For once in my life, I was actually confident I wouldn't have to go to summer school in order to graduate.

       "Seriously, Jane, you are the best friend I could possibly I have," I said when we finished studying. "If it weren't for you, I'd probably not be as confident and fail the test on Monday."

       "That's not true," Jane said. "You're a smart guy, Holden.  In fact, you're probably smarter than me. It's not your fault that your brain injury is causing you to have a hard time to remember everything."

       "Well... I'm actually not going to deny that since my brothers are geniuses," I said. "Seriously, Julian and Noah could be done with high school right now if they wanted to. They just chose to live their teenage lives to the fullest. But I'm pretty sure the real reason is so they can show up to school in various costumes."

       "They were the ones in the dinosaur costumes last week?" Jane asked. "Why do they do that?"

       "Honestly, I don't know anymore," I said. "I just go along with it because... Well, I'd rather not get into that reason." I had a feeling part of showing up into school in costumes was so Julian could do something to get his mind off of what he did. He needed some form of joy in his life.

       My cell phone beeped with a message and I looked at it to see a text from Shaw.

       "Shaw wants to meet up with me," I said. "Is it okay if I leave?"

       "Yeah, of course," Jane said. "I'll see you in school on Monday."

       "I'll see you," I said as I gave her a hug. "And thank you for the help. You're the best."

       I left the cafe and headed to where the walkway was. I walked up the stairs leading to it and saw Shaw standing there, looking at the view so I walked over to him. "How did studying go?" he asked when he saw me.

       "Surprisingly well," I said. "Jane found a lot of ways to actually help me retain the information. I think I'm actually going to do well on the test on Monday."

       "That's great," Shaw said. "You're lucky to have a friend like her."

       "Yeah, I am," I said. "So, is there a reason you wanted to meet up here? It's not really the ideal meet up spot."

       "You're right there," Shaw said. "There actually is a reason I wanted to meet up here. I... want to ask you something."

       "You couldn't have asked me at home?" I asked.

       "Don't make me regret this," Shaw said.

       "Regret what exactly?" I asked, my heart starting to beat rapidly for some reason. 

       "First off, I just want to tell you, Holden Eaton, that you're probably crazy," Shaw said. "I have no idea why someone like you, someone who's smart and handsome and selfless, would want to be with someone like me. I was violent, I was an out of control alcoholic, and it might not even take long before something happens that causes me to fall off the wagon again."

       "What?" I asked. "Shaw, that's not true. You've worked really hard to stay sober. You're not going to fall off. You are an amazing person and honestly, I don't think I can ever be as happy as I am with you. Where's all this coming from?"

       "It's coming from the question I want to ask you," Shaw said. "Because I am so afraid I'm going to lose you."

       "You're not going to lose me," I said. "You never will. I love you too much and I never want to spend a day without you."

       "And I love you," Shaw said. "And I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Which is why..."

       My heart stopped its rapid beating and instead nearly stopped beating all together when Shaw got down on one knee and pulled a box out of his pocket, opening it to reveal a ring sitting inside.

       Ever since Mercy said that Shaw and I should get married, the idea had been on my mind here and there. I didn't know if I was ready for it, but as soon as Shaw asked the four worded question, I knew the answer.

       "Will you marry me?" he asked.

       I smiled as I nodded and said, "Yeah. Yes, of course."

       Shaw smiled as well as he stood up and pulled me in for a kiss. This man was the one person who made me feel so happy, and made me feel like I was worth something. A lot of people thought we weren't going to last but here he was, asking me to marry him.

       We were going to prove everyone wrong.

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THAT GIF MAKES ME CRY IT'S SO CUTE I JUST HAD TO USE IT. So congratulations to Shaw and Holden for being the first one of my couples to get a proposal gif. (idk if we'll ever get anymore unless i do what i did for sholden and get two actors that are together on a show)

BUT YAY SHOLDEN ARE ENGAGED NOW. Holden is now that second youngest to get engaged ahahahaha. I did have a lot get engaged at eighteen, but none that are still in school. (nolan doesn't count because he was 17 and in school ahahaha)(jerlan for the win)

get ready for a lot of spams because we're gonna get some dramatic things happening. ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡° )