I stay in my seat as the audience starts to file out around me, and it’s several minutes later that I see Alex’s mom heading to the front of the room. Alex is still up on the stage, taking questions and talking, and his mom stops back a bit, watching with a proud smile on her face.
I know how she feels.
When the rest of the room finally clears, Alex steps down off the stage, slipping his laptop into his backpack. He’s smiling and happy and still looks just as confident as he did when he first started his presentation. His mom wraps her arms around his waist in a big hug, and I finally stand up and start down toward the end ofthe row, shoving my hands in my pockets.
“...so impressed. I can’t believe you’ve done all that, and—oh, Nico! I didn’t know you were here!” Laina Hayes’s eyes light up when I approach, and she lets Alex go long enough to offer me a hug too.
Despite the anxiety still lingering from my unplanned train ride and then having to sit next to too many strangers for over an hour, I step right up into her arms and let her hug me. It’s warm and soothing, as it usually is now, although I remember a time when it was difficult to let her touch me.
“I barely made it on time,” I say when she pulls back. My eyes shift to Alex, who looks about ready to cry.
“You didn’t have to come,” he says, shaking his head softly, “but I’m really glad you did.”
I shrug. “I just wanted to learn all about dark matter and gravity and stuff. No other reason.”
He gives me a silly smile, then steps up to me, settles his hand on my hip, and places a light kiss on my cheek, lingering for an extra second with his lips against my skin.
“Thank you,” he whispers, and he kisses me again before straightening up. “Can you come to lunch with us? I couldn’t eat beforehand, but John and a bunch of others are headed over to San Agus, and we were planning to go meet them.”
I wish I could say yes, but I know the group—while his advisor and lab colleagues are all nice people, they also tend to get loud and rowdy, and I’m constantly on edge when I’m around them. I shake my head and frown. “I should get back to the studio.”
“Of course, yeah,” Alex says. He purses his lips and then turns to his mom. “Uh, can I meet you outside in a minute?”
“Sure, sweetie.” She smiles at me, too, and a few seconds later, Alex and I are alone.
He sets his backpack down on the ground next to him and thenloops his arms around my waist and hugs me to him tightly. “Oh my god, man, I’m so glad you were here. As soon as I saw you...”
He trails off as he buries his head into the crook of my neck, blowing out a long breath, and I slip my arms around him and hug him back.
“You were fucking brilliant.”
“I was fuckingnervous,” he corrects with a laugh. He straightens back up, shaking his head as he bends over to grab his backpack. “Did you see how many people were here? It was insane.”
“Did you see where I had to sit? Every seat was full. It was torture.” His smile falters, but I shake my head and slip my hand into his as we start toward the exit. “I’m fine. And I’m glad I was here if it helped you.”
“It definitely did,” he says.
I squeeze his hand, and he reaches ahead of us to push open the door. His mom is waiting in the lobby, and she smiles softly and puts her phone away in her purse when she sees us.
“I looked up the restaurant, and it seems like the train station is right nearby. So we can all walk together?”
Alex nods, still holding my hand. “Does that work for you?” he asks me, and when I agree, we start on our way, out of the building and then back across campus.
He and his mom talk most of the way, and he seems so happy and at ease that I’m reluctant to say goodbye when we get to the train station. But then he kisses me and tells me he loves me and that he’s so thankful I came. And he says he can’t wait to see me at home later.
Something about that makes my heart full.
We kiss again, and I hug his mom goodbye, though I’ll see her later, too. Then they turn and continue walking on to the restaurant while I make my way over to the platform to wait for the next train.
Not more than ten minutes later, I hop off the train at the Menlo Park stop, clenching and unclenching my fists as I try my hardest not to let anyone bump into me. When I’m through the small crowd of people entering and exiting the train, I take a left and make the rest of the short walk back to the studio.
Greta’s here again, though she’s at her computer rather than working on the painting still sitting on her workbench, and when I walk in, she looks up with a kind smile.
“Welcome back. Everything okay?”
I nod. “Yeah. Alex had a presentation today, and he was really nervous, so I went to support him.”
Her smile broadens. “How did it go?”
