Find me

Chapter 50

Gabriel POV

Something wasn’t okay.

Aria was acting weird. She was a lot quieter than usual, and I could tell that she was lost in thought.

I asked her if she was okay a few times. She would just smile and nod. But her smile didn’t reach her eyes. I saw how tense she was. I knew that something was wrong.

But I didn’t want to push her. She would tell me when she was ready, just like she always did.

I was still worried, though. Was she like this because of Janet? Did she really think that she broke Janet and me up?

I would have to talk to her about it, but I decided to do it a little bit later. I wanted to give her a little space. I could tell that she wasn’t ready to talk, and I didn’t want to push it. She could pull away from me, and I couldn’t let that happen.

“Where is Aria?” my dad asked when I walked into the kitchen.

I looked around and saw that my uncle and my cousins were here as well.

“She went to her room.” I said. “Hey, uncle Julian.”

“Hey, bud.” my uncle smiled.

“Is she okay?” dad asked worriedly.

“She is.” I smiled. “She was just tired and wanted to take a little nap.”

At least that’s what she told me.

“Okay.” dad nodded, turning around and opening the fridge.

“How was school, Gabe?” Andrew asked me, giving me a small smile.

“Boring.” I sighed as I sat down on the bar stool next to Luke. “What are you guys doing here again?”

“We came to annoy you, little cousin.” Luke said as he placed an arm around my shoulders.

I rolled my eyes, and Luke laughed.

“I can see that it is already working.” Luke said, pulling me closer to him.

“Luke is kidding, bud.” my dad said, chuckling and shaking his head. “Your uncle came to help me with some paperwork, so we decided to eat dinner together again.”

I nodded, and my uncle smiled at me.

My cousins and my dad started talking again, but I couldn’t focus on them. I kept thinking about Aria. I wanted her to come downstairs. I wanted her to go back to being okay. I wanted her to stop worrying. I wanted her to talk to me and tell me what was wrong.

I spent the next hour and a half pretending to listen to my dad and my cousins, but I was really counting down the minutes until my dad told me to go get Aria because dinner was ready.

I was so fucking happy when he finally told me what I wanted to hear for the past hour.

I rushed upstairs and knocked on her bedroom door.

“Yes?” I heard her quiet voice.

“Dinner is ready, Ari.” I said softly.

Why didn’t she invite me in?

“Okay.” she said. “I will be right down.”

“I will wait for you, okay?” I said softly, leaning against the wall opposite her bedroom door.

My heart was pounding in my chest. What happened?

If she didn’t talk to me soon, I was going to lose it.

A few minutes later, she opened the door and stepped outside.

She looked up at me and smiled, but her smile didn’t reach her eyes again.