Chapter 13
“Y/N/N!! Y/N/N!! Look what I drew in art class today!!” Katie comes running into the family room where I’m sitting with my laptop dealing with some bills. As soon as I set my laptop on the coffee table she jumps into my lap with her backpack still on.
She shows me a picture she drew with some colored pencils. In the drawing it has the house, the boys, her, and then me. But what catches my eye isn’t the purple skinned Austin but the person drew next to me.
“Katie, who’s this?” I point to the drawing of the man next to me and her face splits into a wide smile.
“That’s James!! When Miss Smith asked who it was I told her he was your boyfriend James.” She smiles as if she’s accomplished the greatest thing.
“Alright sweetie. Go ahead and put it in the fridge. I’m sure the boys will love to see it.” Katie jumps off my lap and runs to the kitchen pinning the picture right in the middle of it.
Of all days she picks today to draw a family drawing. She couldn’t have thought of a better excuse for James?
“James!! Look at what I drew!!”
“That’s amazing Katie!! Wait, is that me?”
“Yea!! I told Miss Smith that you’re Y/N/Na's boyfriend too!!”
“Boyfriend huh?”
“Yup!!”
“Well thank you for including me in your family drawing.”
“You're welcome!” I watch as Katie runs through the family room and up the stairs. A minute later I hear Bucky walk through the doorway. I quickly look down at my book acting like I don’t hear him.
“Y/N.” Bucky says in a low husky voice. I ignore him and try to focus on my book. Through the corner of my eye I can see his feet come around the corner of the couch.
“Y/N.” His feet stop in front of me. I don’t look up but instead pretend to be hyper focused on my book. I see a metal hand reach down and gently take the book from my hand. I move to the side, stand up and move around him. Just as I’m walking out I hear him whisper.
“Please don’t start.” I stop mid step but I don’t turn around.
“Don’t start what?” I ask but I don’t turn around.
“Don’t start ignoring me, please.”
“I’m sorry.” My voice comes out barely above a whisper as I race towards my room. I close my door quietly and sit on my bed.
“What am I doing?” I bring my hands to my face and let out a groan. Things just got a lot more complicated. And not a good complication either. I can’t believe things have gotten this far.
For the next couple weeks I spend my time ignoring and avoiding James. It’s extremely hard when he’s always around helping with the cattle and horses, when we eat together and every morning when we run into each other in the hallways.
Katie wanted to make some cookies so we’re in the kitchen and started mixing the ingredients.
“Y/N/N?”
“Yes?” I walk over to the pantry and grab out the parchment paper for the cookie sheets.
“Why are you avoiding James? Did he do something bad?” Katie reaches over and takes a small spoon full of cookie dough.
“James didn't do anything wrong sweetie. I’ve just been a little busy the past couple days, that's all.”
“But I never see you guys together. You used to watch me play with the boys from the porch together, watch tv together, have tea after dinner together, read together. Now you’re never around him.” I walk back over to Katie so she’s pouting, tears pricking her eyes.
“What’s wrong sweetie? Why are you crying?” I quickly set down the parchment paper and picked Katie up. I wipe away her tears, frantic to find out what's wrong.
“Is James going to leave us? Are you going to leave us?”
“Katie! Of course I wouldn’t leave you! What makes you think I’d leave you guys behind?”
“Because you don’t hang out around James like how mommy and daddy never hung out around each other.” She mumbles, looking down at her small hands.
“Oh Katie, sweetheart. I’m not going to leave you, ok? I’ve just been busy with the cattle, that's all ok? James and I are both staying here on the ranch with everyone.” I set her down on the ground and pulled her into a tight hug. I didn’t realize what I was doing was affecting her too.
“Is James going to leave us?” Katie pulls back and wipes away the tears that have fallen down her face.
“He’s not going anywhere either. I promise.” I give her the best smile I can manage. I’m not actually sure whether or not James will stay with us. I don’t even know how long he’ll stay here for.
Katie and I go back to baking the cookies. She places the spoonfuls of cookie dough onto the pan and I put the baked ones on the cooling rack. Slowly the boys trickle in, grabbing a cookie as they pass through.
“James!! You want a cookie? Y/N and I made them!” I freeze where I stand in front of the counter. I didn’t even hear him walk in. I placed the spatule down and started to turn to make my escape but then I remembered what happened only a few minutes ago.
“I’d love one Katie.” Katie rushes over to James with the plate of cookies. He takes one from the plate and bites into it. A noticeably loud groan comes from James as he chews the cookie.
“These are amazing Katie. I haven't had homemade cookies in years.” James bends down and gives Katie a light peck on the cheek as a thank you.
“You can have as many as you want then. The boys get a whole bunch all the time so I’m sure they don't care about sharing with you.” Katie walks back over to me, setting the plate down so I can place the next batch onto the plate.
“Katie, could you actually give Y/N and I a little time alone? I need to talk to her privately really quickly.”
“You’re not leaving us are you?” Katie rushes over to James and wraps her arms around his waist the best she can manage. “Please don’t leave us. I don't want you to leave James.”
“Don’t worry about sweets, I'm not going anywhere.” Katie eventually leaves the kitchen after drilling James a million questions and forcing him to promise he’ll stay forever.
“Y/N, we need to talk please. You can’t avoid me forever.”
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Word Count: 1124