Page 58 of True Sight (Nat. 20, #4)

“I know I wasn’t ready before but I’m ready now.

I’m giving you my heart, Henry Baker, and I don’t want it back.

” I blink my eyes open and wipe a tear away.

When our eyes meet, he reaches over, and holds my cheek in the palm of his hand.

“I love you, sweets, and I promise to never let another day go by without telling you that.”

“I love you too,” I cry before he stands from the chair and kisses me hard. It doesn’t even hurt when he does.

Our foreheads meet when he pulls away and he whispers against my lips, “Thank you for coming back for me.”

“Anything for you,” I promise before pulling him into me again.

The next morning, I wake up to him hunched over the bed asleep with his head resting on my lap.

The doctors had me in and out of tests all night and no matter how many times I told him he could go home and sleep, he refused to leave.

Glancing down, I smile at our hands that are intertwined, his fingers carefully shaped around my hand that’s stuck with an IV.

I reach across and run my fingers through his ashy blond hair, causing him to stir.

“What’s wrong? Are you okay? Do you need me to get someone?” he hurries out, ready to play caretaker at a moment’s notice.

“I do need something,” I reply with a tired smile.

“Tell me what you need, sweets, I’ll get it for you.”

Instead of saying anything, I simply pull him closer until he figures out what I want. Propping himself up on the bed, he kisses me softly and smiles against my lips. We look at one another, our faces just an inch apart, when a voice cuts through the energy surging between us.

“Ope, so sorry to interrupt.” We look towards the door and see Margaret standing in it looking slightly embarrassed for walking in on us.

She has her blonde hair pushed back with a headband and is wearing a set of pearls that look like they belong to my grandmother.

Conrad stands up from the bed but doesn’t let go of my hand.

“That’s okay, Margaret. What’s up?”

“I was wondering if it’s okay for some people to come in and say hello?” Her eyebrows spring up as she looks at him expectantly.

He glances down at me and shakes my hand. “There’s some people who have been wanting to meet you. You okay with some guests?”

I nod at him and squeeze his hand, hoping that the guests he means are the people I’ve been wanting to meet for months now.

“I’ll be right back,” she says with a smile and dashes out of the room. Not even a minute later, we can hear several sets of footsteps coming from down the hall.

“Okay, remember, don’t say anything stupid and don’t say anything inappropriate. I swear to god, Malcolm, if you say something even remotely offensive I will kick your ass right here in the hospital.” The strong voice of a girl can be heard.

“ Yes, mother ,” another voice groans. This time a guy.

“Don’t ‘yes, mother’ her. I’m just as liable to smack you if you say something dumb.” Another woman adds.

“ Please relax. We’re just about there,” a deeper voice says.

“Are you sure they said it’s okay we come in?” a third woman asks, sounding timid.

“Yes, Mags, they said it’s fine. Now hurry up and come on,” I can hear Margaret say.

I look up at Conrad who’s nervously watching the door.

He glances down at me and bends over quickly, kissing me on the forehead.

As he stands, an entire army of people file in.

They all squeeze into my room and look around nervously between me, Conrad, and each other.

While I’ve never met them, I know exactly who they are.

“Henry, these are my friends. That’s Kolbi, his wife Magnolia, Hank and his wife Bailey, and then Malcolm and his girlfriend Ophelia.

Everyone, this is Henry. My boyfriend.” Hearing him mutter those two words aloud almost makes my heart burst. I squeeze his hand harder, hoping to silently bolster his confidence as he comes out to his friends.

“It’s so lovely to meet you,” Bailey gushes, smiling widely and showing off all of her teeth. Her blonde hair bounces as she shrugs her shoulders at us.

“You gave our boy here quite the scare,” Hank jokes, stepping forward and extending his hand for me to take. I shake it and smile up at him.

“Yeah, it’s not the kind of first impression I was hoping for when meeting the family, but these things never really go like you plan them to,” I sigh with a laugh.

“We’re just glad you’re okay now,” his other friend, Kolbi, adds.

“You should have seen Connie, he was losing his goddamn mind over you.” His third friend takes a step towards him and loops an arm around his shoulders and gives his hair a good fluff.

“Fuck you, Malcolm, stop calling me Connie,” he scoffs, shoving his friend off of him.

“So how long have you two been together?” the petite girl asks. Keeping track of their names is hard because of my concussion.

“A couple of weeks now,” I answer, smiling up at him.

“Almost two months,” he corrects. “Since the last Saturday of October.” My eyes beam up at him. I can’t believe he remembered.

“So you and Margaret?”

“Were never actually a thing. I just didn’t know how to tell you all that I…that I’m…” Conrad struggles to finish his sentence.

“Gay?” his friend with the tattoos says flatly. The girls in the room all roll their eyes and sigh in sync and I stifle a laugh. “Why would we care if you’re sleeping with a dude? You are sleeping together, right?”

“Malcolm,” the girl standing in front of him scolds and turns around to slap him on the arm.

“Ah! It’s an honest question, little fox, you didn’t need to hit me.” The tallest of his friends pinches this bridge of his nose at the exchange.

“I didn’t think you would care, I just…I needed to be ready to tell you all,” Conrad interjects, grabbing everyone’s attention again.

“Well we’re glad we know now and we’re very happy for you. Both of you,” Kolbi says, looking first at Conrad and then at me.

“Thanks, I’m happy for us too,” he says, looking down at me with a smile. Then, in a turn of events I didn’t expect, he leans down and kisses me in front of everyone. When we look up again, all seven pairs of eyes are on us—smirks on everyone’s faces.

“I’m really happy for you, man,” Hank says, moving across the room and pulling him into a hug. His other two friends join him quickly and squeeze him hard. The rest of us laugh as the four of them share an embrace.

“Okay, that’s enough of that. I’m done, get off of me,” Conrad says, wiggling free and brushing himself off.

“Seriously, how do you put up with him? The guy doesn’t like to be touched and avoids talking about his feelings like the plague,” Malcolm scoffs.

Conrad takes a seat in the chair he’s slept in and holds my hand, looking at me.

I chuckle to myself, thinking about how he used to be like that with me too.

But over time, I was lucky enough to crack the tough exterior he wears like a shield and get to know the real, softer side of him that many people never get to meet.

“Call me crazy, but I’ve never felt like I was putting up with him.” I smile at him and he smiles back. “Must be something about me he can’t resist.”

When I wink at him and he rolls his eyes, I know that everything’s going to be okay. With him by my side and the two of us together, there’s nothing we can’t handle. I’d do anything for him just like I know he’ll do for me.