Chapter 5: Turn that Heartbeat Over Again

"Travis called" I heard Chris announce the moment I walked out of my room in only boxers & a t-shirt. I had just taken a nap & I could feel my hair was messed up. My eyes snapped open when he told me Travis called. Chris was in the kitchen

"What? When?" I called frantically. I walked quickly to the kitchen

"Like 20 minutes ago I guess" he answered as I stepped into the kitchen. He was sitting at the bar chewing on something. Twizzlers I guessed.

"Why didn't you get me then?" I asked, irritated.

"You were asleep Connor" he retorted.

"You still could have woken me up."

"You should have told me that then" he said sharply.

"I was asleep."

"EXACTLY!" he exclaimed as he shook his hands.

"What'd you say when you picked up?" I asked, averting my obvious failure now.

"I said you were in your room taking a nap" he said with a mouthful of candy.

"Why?!"

"Because you were" he said. I made a sour face before he spoke again.

"Why are you wailing on me, Connor? I didn't do anything wrong" Chris defended himself.

"Yeah well you sure didn't do anything right" I snapped as I stormed off to my room. I didn't bother looking back at him.

When I got in my room, I closed the door & picked up the phone. Chris knew how much I liked Travis, he knew that sleep shouldn't stand in the way of me talking with my boyfriend. So I thought I had a good reason to be a bit ticked at him.

I put the phone up to my ear after I dialed Travis' number.

"Hello?" said a woman's voice. It was his mom.

"Hi, is Travis there?" I asked.

"Yeah hold on a sec" I heard some talking in the background & then phone being passed to somebody.

"Hello?" I heard Travis' voice on the other end.

"Hey you."

"Oh hi. I called you earlier but your brother said you were sleeping."

"Yeah sorry about that."

"Not sure what you have to be sorry 'bout, but alright" told me.

"Yeah. So what's up?"

"Well I wanted to know if you wanna come over tonight. You can sleep over too. My mom & dad are going to leave us alone for the night if you can come..." he trailed off.

"Yeah I'll be there. So I'll see ya later."

"Connor..."

"Yeah?"

"Don't you wanna know what time to come over?"

"Oh...yeah."

"Haha. Well be here at 8:30, k? My dad can pick you up."

"You got it. See you then" I said.

"Bye."

I hung up the phone & put it back in the charger.

I decided I'd get some more sleep in before I left. But before I did that, I needed to get some homework done. So I did.

After that was done, I climbed into my bed, closed my eyes & drifted off for a few hours. I woke up to the sound of the tv being turned on with the volume very high. But within a few seconds it dropped significantly. I looked at my watch on top of my nightstand. CRAP! Travis' dad was going to be here in 10 minutes & I needed to get ready.

When I had changed into some comfortable clothes to wear, I opened my door & headed towards the living room where I heard the tv was on. Chris was watching Whose Line is it Anyway?

"Hey bud" I said nicely, hoping he'd forgive me for earlier.

When he heard me, he looked up & then back to the screen not saying a word. I walked over to the couch & sat next to him. He then moved away from me on the couch.

"Aw Chris, I'm sorry for earlier. I don't know why I flipped out."

He didn't budge.

I held out my arms stupidly.

"Oh c'mere" I said with a goofy grin on my face.

"No."

"Chris, c'mon. I said sorry. Why are you still mad?"

"Don't get me wrong Connor, because I'm glad that you have Travis as a boyfriend & all..."

Uh oh, I didn't like where this was heading.

"...you seem really happy in general, but you've sort of been putting me down a lot lately. You treat me like crap."

"Hey, watch it" I warned him.

"What, you say that word all the time..."

"I'm 15, you're 11. You shouldn't be talking like that" I said with authority.

He his head turned back to the tv screen watching Drew Carey announce the next game. He had an upset look on his face, almost like he was going to cry.

Neither of us said anything for a few moments.

"Look, I'm sorry if I've changed a bit since Travis & I started dating. I don't mean it, you know that, right?"

"I guess" he mumbled.

"Can I have a hug now? You forgive me?"

A little smile crept its way onto his cute face.

He got up, walked over to me & hugged me quickly. That's when the doorbell rang. Perfect timing. I stood up to get my jacket.

"I have to go. We cool?" I asked hopefully.

"I guess. Just stop being mean to me & ignoring me, ok?"

"Deal. 'K, see ya later kiddo" I said as I left the house. I walked over to the car & got in.

"Hey Connor, how ya doin'?" asked Ben, Travis' dad.

"Eh, good I guess. It's cold out."

"Yeah I know. Well the heats on, so it should warm up."

Ben & I just talked about nothing in particular. School, parents, vacations, my brother, music, tv, etc. Then he started talking about Travis.

"Well Travis is really excited to see you Connor. He keeps talking about you. I know that he has a good amount of friends, but he talks about you the most & I'm glad for both of you."

"Thanks Ben, that means a lot."

After that, we continued talking about random stuff. I was glad that I had his dads blessing. I mean I guess I assumed that his mom & dad were fine with it, but it felt nice having them say so.

Once we got inside, Travis & his mom came outside. Katie had her coat on, as she was walking towards the car to leave. But not before giving me a warm hello.

We waved goodbye tot hem & then headed in. Once the door was closed, he turned to me & threw his arms around me, followed by a long kiss on the lips.

"What you wanna do, city boy?" he asked with a sly grin on his face.