Kind of a Thing ♥ (Part 3 to All My Heart)

I made my way back into Rejavanate with a massive grin on my face. Christina, who was cleaning the countertop beneath the cold brew tap, immediately snapped her attention to me and arched one of her perfectly symmetrical eyebrows at me. 

“How did it go?” she asked primly, her dark eyes scanning me up and down. 

“Great!” I said cheerfully, still smiling. “It went fantastic.”

I stopped in front of the register as Christina turned and walked up behind it, her arms crossed and the damp rag dangling from her fingers. 

“Are you lying to me?” she asked, her brow still arched, her radar on high alert.

I sighed lightly and laughed, shaking my head.

“Christina, it seriously went fine. Better than I ever could have imagined. Jade is…actually really, really sweet.” 

“She apologized to you?” Christina asked, ignoring my comment.

“Yes, she did, and she opened up to me about some super personal stuff. About why she even went off on me in the first place, and what she’s currently struggling with. She even admitted she has a crush on Chase.”

Christina rolled her eyes.

“I already knew that.”

“But did you know this?” I leaned in towards her and lowered my voice. “I told her Chase and I are kind of a thing now, and she was totally accepting of it.”

Christina’s eyes widened so fast they nearly exploded out of her head, and her jaw dropped.

“I’m sorry, you and Chase are what?” she asked, trying not to screech. 

“Kind of a thing,” I repeated, trying to look deadpan, though I was near close to bursting with laughter.

“A thing? A thing?” Christina parroted, her tone rising. “And when was I going to find out about this?”

“I thought you already did?” I lightly squeaked out.

She looked at me incredulously. 

“What am I, a freaking physic?” she squawked. “No, I had no clue! When did this happen?”

“Last night,” I answered, trying to keep my voice low to not attract further attention from the customers in the shop.

“What happened last night!? What were you two doing?” Christina exclaimed, her maternal tone now on full blast. 

I noticed customers were now looking at us, and I felt heat on my cheeks.

“Nothing bad happened, calm down,” I pleaded. “It was cute and innocent…we just talked,” I said, leaving out the kissing details for now. “It’s all new to us, we weren’t ready to make it known yet.”

“And yet Jade got to know before me?” Christina practically wailed. 

She suddenly did a perfect military about-face and marched towards the double doors, using both of her hands to push through them like she was a queen storming her own castle. 

I quickly dashed to the back door and pushed in, taking in the sight of Christina smacking Chase wildly with the cleaning rag as he yelped and tried to defend himself by attempting to avoid her attacks. 

“Walker, you idiot,” she was half-bellowing as she whacked him. “You finally got with Avery and you didn’t tell me?”

Chase ducked as she swung the rag at his head and quickly backed away from her, only making Christina advance with a vengeance.

“Salas, chill, I just-”

Christina’s eyes grew murderous.

“Unless you want this rag to be the last thing you ever have down your throat, you will not tell me to chill,” she said icily. 

“Kinky,” Chase whispered, earning him another barrage of smacking. 

“Wait, are you actually mad?” I asked, not daring to step in between Christina and Chase. I loved him, but I was smarter than to try to stop Christina. 

Christina turned her attention to me, giving Chase the chance to hide behind the shelves of dishes. 

“I’m only half-teasing right now,” she said, wagging the rag at me. “I’m thrilled for you both, I truly am. But seriously, when was I gonna find out!? I’ve been rooting for you two to get together since I met you!”

She glared at Chase, who looked sheepish as he peeked out between the stacks of plates.

“Christina, we just wanted some privacy before we told everyone,” he said from his fortress. “You were not going to be in the dark for very long.”

“And yet Avery told Jade!” Christina said, looking hurt, even though I knew she was just acting.

Chase looked at me with concern and then stepped out from behind the shelves.

“Wait, Ave, you told Jade?” he asked, a hint of apprehension in his voice. 

I instantly felt a tidal wave of guilt and anxiety slam into my heart at his tone.

“Hold on, it’s not like that,” I said, putting my hands up and looking between the two of them. “Can I at least explain what happened?”

Chase came around and stood next to Christina, who lowered her weapon and returned to her crossed-arms pose. 

I told them what had taken place between Jade and me, from the apology to her explanation of why she had been upset, to her confessing she had a crush on Chase, and to her asking me to be friends. I didn’t include the details about her ex-boyfriend since I didn’t feel it was my place to share that, but I did tell them her reaction to me telling her Chase and I were now together, and that she had been happy for us. 

Chase’s expression softened as I talked, and even Christina had a smile on her face, her lips quirked up in a half-smirk. 

“So, it went well, and I think…I think she’s my friend now,” I finished, my voice quiet. My eyes were on my shoes, and I came back into my body, noticing how hard I was twisting my ring. I was nervous, especially since I felt I had upset them both, more notably Chase. “I didn’t expect to tell her what had happened between Chase and me last night, but it felt…safe. She reacted super well, and was supportive. I think it even helped her, too. She told me she had told you that she had feelings for you,” I said, looking up at Chase. “You two had talked.”

“We did,” Chase said, moving towards me and pulling me into a gentle hug. “I’m not upset with you, Ave. I’m actually very proud of you for being open with her, even though you didn’t know how she would react. It’s best she knows, I agree. And I’m so happy she responded so well. She was really sweet when I talked to her myself. I had been planning on telling you about that conversation, but things have been…hectic lately.” He squeezed me lightly and I hugged him back.

I heard a sigh and Chase and I both turned to look at Christina, who looked resigned.

“Okay fine, I’ll admit Jade isn’t a bad person,” she said, unfolding her arms. “She was also very apologetic when I spoke with her, and she did mention she had a lot going on. She didn’t get into specifics, and I respected her space. But what I do wanna know-”

She raised the rag again, and I felt Chase flinch against me.

Christina paused and then broke out into a huge smile.

“What I do wanna know is, what did happen last night?” she asked, a mischievous smile on her face.

I let out a giggle as Chase relaxed, realizing he wasn’t about to get beat again. 

“Well…” he said, looking down at me with a smile.

 

“We…” I said, returning his gaze and letting out another giggle.

“Basically, Miss Avery here was a little tipsy and I ended up meeting up with her in her treehouse yesterday after work. We talked a bit, she opened up about her feelings, and we…” 

He trailed off, looking a little embarrassed, 

Christina arched her eyebrow, raising the rag once more, and Chase looked desperately at me for permission. 

“We kissed,” I quickly said, affirming his glance and then smiling up at him.

He smiled softly, letting out a deep breath. 

“Yeah, we kissed,” he said, looking at Christina, who once again lowered her cloth baton. A serene smile settled across her face. 

“That. is. precious,” she said, enunciating each word and nodding with each one. “And that’s it?”

“Yes, mom, that’s it,” Chase laughed, throwing his head back. “We kissed, I took her to bed, tucked her in, and I left. And now here we are today.”

She nodded once more with satisfaction, and then outstretched her arms towards both of us.

“Come here, lovebirds, give your momma some love,” she said with a laugh and huge smile.

Chase and I remained in our hug and shuffled towards her, and she wrapped her arms around us as best as she could and squeezed, and we all laughed. 

“Sorry for the beating, Walker,” she shrugged, releasing us and flipping the rag back over her shoulder so it hung there. “Couldn’t control my instincts.”

“Does this mean you’ve accepted that you are Team Mom?” I asked, giggling hard.

She looked skyward and put her right hand over her heart.

“I swear I’m not that old, but yes, I’ve accepted it,” she sighed with a laugh. She turned back towards the double doors and went to exit. Before she did, she shot us both one last glance, smiled, and then was gone. 

Chase and I both let out a collective sigh before looking at each other and bursting into a fit of laughter.

 

What a crazy day. 

…..

Soon, it was closing time, and I began putting my things into my backpack as Christina and Chase cleaned up the counters, washed the remaining dishes, and began putting up the chairs as the shop was now void of customers. 

I noticed that Chase was murmuring something to Christina, who broke out into a massive, goofy grin when he finished whatever he had been telling her. She squeezed his arm and smiled at him softly, saying something that I couldn’t make out, before she closed up the register and counted out the tips, still smiling to herself. 

I was deeply curious to know what had just transpired between them, but I figured I would know soon enough. I pulled my backpack on and made my way to the counter, all ready to go. Chase popped out of the back with his bookbag on his shoulder, his apron now gone. He was wearing a loose black T-shirt, black jeans, and his usual black-and-white Converse. He looked devilishly handsome with his angelic face, his silver-blue eyes shining at me as he came up to my side. He smiled down at me and nudged me gently.

“You ready?” he asked me as Christina joined us and took one last look around the shop. 

“I’d say we all are!” she crowed, making her way to the front doors as Chase and I followed, slipping out of the door she held open for us. She pushed it firmly shut and turned the key, jiggling the doors to make sure they were locked. She nodded with a look of satisfaction, dropped the keys in her tote bag, straightened up, and saluted us as she clicked her heels together.

“I will see you both tomorrow,” she said with a grin, mainly looking at Chase, her eyes alight, her eyebrows lightly waggling. “I expect a full report tomorrow morning, Lieutenant Walker.”

“Yes, ma’am,” he sighed before laughing and blushing a bit. 

I looked between the two of them, confused. I was dying to know what was going on. 

Christina smiled at me, reached out, and then took my hand. She patted it gently. 

“You’ve got yourself a good one, Ave,” she said tenderly before hugging me. “I’m excited to hear from you tomorrow,” she whispered in my ear. 

She pulled back, spun on her heel, and made her way off to her car, waving as she went.

“Goodbye, kids! See you tomorrow!” she called over her shoulder.

“Bye!” I called out after her, my curiosity now even more on fire. I looked over at Chase.

He turned and smiled at me, bending down slightly to take my hand. I felt my pulse quicken. 

“Alright, let’s go,” he said, leading me off toward our cars. 

“You gonna ask me what you wanted to?” I asked, tired of being in the dark. I hated surprises.

“Not here,” he said, a slight smirk on his lips. “But don’t worry, soon.”

I whined and he laughed before picking up his pace.

“The sooner we get to your house, the sooner you know,” he said, still holding my hand as he sped walked.

“Is that so?” I asked, slipping my hand out of his. I took off running towards my car, and he laughed loudly and began running too. 

We each jumped into our respective cars, started them up, and took off and out of the lot. I started up my music and sang as loudly as I could, driving the streets with glee in my heart.

I knew he had something good planned, and I didn’t want to wait any more than I had to. 

♥

Image source: Nijiiro Days by Minami Mizuno