Where The Ice Gives Way Chapter 92

**Charlotte**

Jessica doesn’t even turn at first; she’s still eating and completely uninterested, but the second Annabelle grabs her arm and starts spitting fire words, she looks up and follows her gaze. Her eyes move from my face to Blake’s, then down to where our hands are still linked, before lifting again slowly. “Oh,” she says quietly with a growing smile as we reach the table. Theo leans forward immediately, elbows on the table, grin already spreading. “Oh?” Jessica points at us without looking away. “You two didn’t go into the school just to talk.” Theo slaps his hand down on the table like he’s just won something. “I knew it.” Charlie closes his eyes, already exhausted. “Can we not—”

“No,” Annabelle cuts in, dropping her hands from her face as she leans forward, her whole body practically vibrating with excitement, “we absolutely can. What happened? Did you two make out?” Shanti snickers in my mind, *Tell them how good he tastes.*

Blake guides me forward with a quiet pressure of his hand, pulling the bench out for me, and I sit, aware of every single pair of eyes now fixed on us. Annabelle leans in so far I’m half convinced she’s going to climb onto the table if I don’t answer fast enough. “Well?” Blake laughs and throws a grape at Theo’s mouth that’s hanging open. “I don’t kiss and tell.”

I watch Charlie physically cringe, his whole body giving a little shudder. “I would bloody hope not.” Theo, unfortunately, has no such restraint. He chews his grape happily and wrinkles his nose. “You’re both glowing. It’s actually disgusting.” Charlie definitely kicks him under the table because Theo jerks and winces before glaring across at him. “Shut up.”

“What?” Theo protests. “I’m helping.”

“You’re not,” Charlie says flatly, and I send him a thankful little smile that he catches with one quick roll of his eyes.

Lunch settles down after that, or at least as much as lunch with this group ever seems capable of settling. Annabelle keeps looking at me like she might explode if she doesn’t ask another question soon. Jessica keeps giving her looks that somehow manage to say *leave them alone,* and *I also want details* at the same time, and Theo cannot stop grinning every time Blake touches me, like he thinks all of this is happening purely for his entertainment. I should probably be more flustered than I am. I’m honestly surprised I’m not shrinking into myself with all that attention coming at me from every angle. Instead, I sit there with Blake’s hand still wrapped around mine under the table, my lunch half gone in front of me, and my brother relaxed beside the boys from the team. Annabelle and Jessica, across from me, have somehow folded me into their orbit without making me fight for it, and all I can think is that this feels dangerously close to normal. Not normal for me. Maybe not even normal in general. But normal.

The rest of the day slips by in pieces. Classes come and go, and every hallway between them feels easier than the last because Blake is always there. He’s nice. That sounds stupidly simple in my head, but it’s true. He opens doors without making a thing of it. He shifts his chair closer in class when he catches me rubbing at my temple. He takes half my books without asking and tucks them under his arm like it’s obvious I never have to carry anything ever again in my life now. He waits while I stop at my locker. He checks in with one look more often than he uses words. He smiles at me a lot, and every time he does, something low in my chest goes warm. Shanti stays close all day, too. Now and then, she points out the obvious. *The girl in front of us in English smells like strawberry lip gloss. Theo has been staring at the clock for the last eleven minutes. Blake hasn’t looked away from me once since we sat down in biology. I bet he want's to shove his tongue down your throat again.* That last one makes me smile to myself and keep my eyes on my work.

By the time the final bell rings, I’m halfway through packing my bag when the room starts emptying around us in a rush of voices and movement. The whole school seems to exhale at once, and I glance over as Blake swings his bag over one shoulder and looks toward the boys gathering by the door. “Head over to the rink,” he tells them. “I’ll meet you there.” One of the guys lifts his brows. “You coming late?”

“Yeah.” Theo, already halfway into the hall, turns back immediately, ready to stir up something. “Why?” He asks with a grin and a wiggle of his eyebrows. Blake doesn’t even hesitate; he swings one arm over my shoulder and kisses my forehead. “Gotta drop my girlfriend off at work first.” Theo’s grin breaks wide as all the boys seem to hoot and hollar. “Don’t be too long, Captain.” Theo sing-songs. Charlie shoulders past him with his own bag and makes his way over to me. “You going to be alright?”

“Yeah, you?” I ask. He nods and slaps a hand on Blake’s shoulder. “People will be watching her, right?” 

“Of course. She won’t be alone for a second.” I roll my eyes at their protectiveness, but I bask in it too. They care so much about me that it makes me dizzy.

The boys spill into the hall after that, still talking, still laughing, and I’m left standing there with Blake while he looks down at me like he hasn’t just casually rearranged something inside my chest. “What?” he asks, and I realise I’ve been staring. I shake my head quickly, trying and failing to hide the smile pulling at my mouth. “Nothing.” His expression softens, his eyes flicking to my lips before he ducks his head, and I’m met with utter bliss once more. He smiles as he pulls back and takes my bag from me. “Come on then, girlfriend,” he says quietly, and just like that, I’m weak at the knees again.