“Don’t be like that, Cadie. It’s just, something like that makes…”
He trails off and I can tell he’s struggling. He stands from the bed and I immediately miss his presence. The warmth from his body fades as he paces my bedroom.
“Zach,” I whisper his name and he turns to look at me.
He pauses, almost as if a thought comes to mind before walking back over to me.
“Can I tell you my secret?” he asks and I immediately sayyes.
“That first day in fourth grade, when you turned around and said my name. You remember that?”
“Yes,” I whisper.
“That was the first day that anyone has ever made me feel like I have a chance to belong. Besides my parents of course. But for years, I’d gotten so used to being made fun of my speech delay and for not talking and for, quite frankly I don’t even know what else. But you-” He sits back down on the bed and leans in. “You made me feel safe.”
I blush at his admission, and maybe even a tear forms in my eyes. His timbre is soft and sincere as he speaks to me, keeping his eye contact focused on me.
“Do you remember the day I first spoke to anyone? When I decided it was safe to use my voice again because I wasn’t worried about no one not hearing me?”
I close my eyes and try to recall. “I think it was the day you had asked Brayden if he wanted to come over to your house. Just a few weeks after your first day I think,” I say as I look back up at him. I can’t be too sure when that was or if I’m right, because it was relayed to me from my brother.
Zach reaches his hand for mine once more and I watch as he fits his fingers through mine and rubs my wrist with his thumb.
“No,” he says and I pinch my brows together.
“What?” I ask, pretty sure that that was the first time anyone ever heard him spoke, but he corrects me.
“There was a day in the lunchroom, you had just dropped your popsicle. Do you remember that?”
His thumb keeps rubbing gentle strokes across my skin. I nod, the memory coming into view.
“I was behind you in line, and you leaned down, picked up your mess and I could tell you were starting to cry.”
“I did do that a lot,” I quip and Zach lets out a chuckle.
“I walked up to you and do you remember what I said?”
“You handed me your popsicle and said, ‘Here, you can have mine.’”
Zach leans in, a soft smile on his face. He reaches out and cups my cheek in his palm. My breath hitches when I feel his warm skin touch mine, and he stares right into my eyes.
“Those were the first words I spoke to anyone since the day I was found in that apartment, abandoned and alone.”
My heart aches. A tear slides down my cheek. His thumb catches it and I watch as he leans closer.
“You are the first person I wanted to talk to. You made me feel safe enough to use my voice again. You have meant more to me from the day that I first met you than you could ever know and I really don’t want to mess this up.”
He’s so close, just inches away from my face. My stomach twists with something I can’t describe as my chest rises and falls with my pounding heart.
“Zach…” I whisper his name and he leans in just a bit more.
“Cadence,” he starts. “Can I kiss you?”
“Yes,” I whisper, no hesitation at all.
This is what I’ve been waiting for. This moment is all I’ve ever dreamed of. My heart races in my chest. Every nerve ending blooms with excitement.
This is really happening.
