sixteen

—

i sit on the sidewalk, elbows propped on my knees as my head rests in my hands.

i'm exhausted. i just want to sleep.

finally, after an hour of waiting, devin gets here. his ride here was shorter than ours since there's really no traffic at this time of night.

i look up at him with my tired eyes, trying my best to form a smile.

he gets out of the car and helps me up, he then walks over with me to the passenger side and opens the door for me.

he walks back around and gets back in. he looks at me for a moment, worried.

he sighs when i don't say anything. "so i was right, he is a douche?" he says as he starts the car again.

"yeah" i answer bluntly.

i hadn't really told devin anything. i just said that dallas left me at the beach and that i need him to pick me up, though it was obvious i was crying.

we drive off in silence. it's around 2am now, i try my best not to fall asleep.

he plays slow classical music, it's calming. "you want to go home?" he asks.

i shake my head "not tonight" i whisper.

he nods, and we drive to his place.

—

i wake to myself being carried inside his house. quite embarrassing, but i'm much too tired to stop him.

he struggles to open the front door, but he gets it within a moment.

he walks through his living room, and into his bedroom. he sets me down on his bed gently, and pulls the covers over me.

i flutter open my eyes, letting him know i am now awake, even though i has been since he picked me up.

i look around, his room is quite cozy. his bed set is black and red checkered, wood floors and white walls, black book shelves filled with different books and then a desk, for school work i would assume.

"thank you" i say. i know he was sleeping before he had picked me up, so i feel quite bad.

he sits on the edge of the bed. "do you want to talk about it? or wait til morning?"

"morning" i reply. he hums in response then walks off, about to shut the door, but i stop him.

"where are you sleeping?" i ask.

"couch," he replies.

"no, no, sleep here with me" i say, patting the bed. he hesitantly walks over, being gentle as he lies next to me as if i'm fragile.

i roll on my side, facing him. he stays on his back. i cuddle into him, resting my head on his chest. i feel him tense up a bit, but he relaxes quickly and then puts his arm around me.

i drift off to sleep as i listen to his heartbeat.

—SUNDAY

i wake alone in the bed, still tucked in nice and warm. i sit up slowly, rubbing my eyes.

i groan as i stretch, and then i look to his bedside table to see what time it is.

10:27 AM.

i jolt up, thinking about how worried and angry my brothers must be.

i walk out of his bedroom to find him sitting on the couch, watching the news.

he looks over "good morning" he says with a smile.

"morning" i mumble, walking over to sit next to him.

"you hungry?" he asks, putting his arm around me when he sees me shiver from the cold.

"no..thanks anyway" i say, putting my head on his shoulder like i had done with dallas last night.

he hums, "do you wanna talk now?"

i sigh, "yeah, sure."

i begin telling him about how dallas and i went to the beach after seeing him yesterday.

i tell him how we watched the sunset, and started talking about our late friend johnny who passed recently, and how he was the only person dallas had ever gotten close to.

i tell him everything, how dallas had gotten himself shot that night and how he had me come down, and then how he told me the only reason he had me come down instead of anyone else is because he didn't care about me like he did the boys.

i leave out the fact that we had kissed, not wanting to ruin the moment between devin and i.

finally, i tell him about dal leaving me there, and then having him pick me up.

he comforts me the best he can, not really knowing what to say.

"do you have a lighter?" i ask, pulling out my pack. he nods, and grabs a skeleton head shaped lighter from the table next to the couch.

"that's sick," i say, letting him light my cigarette. he thanks me, says he got it from a friend.

"do you think you could take me home?" i ask "i never called my brothers.."

he nods and gets up "shit, yeah, they must be worried sick."

i get up as well and we walk out to the car so he can take me home.

—

as we pull up to my place, i thank him and hop out, saying maybe we can see each other again tomorrow.

he nods in agreement and says goodbye, then drives off.

i walk inside awkwardly, hoping to not get yelled at. of course, that didn't go as i wanted.

everyone turns to look at me, including dallas, who i see slumped on the couch.

darry stands up "annalise curtis! where the hell have you been?" he yells.

he doesn't let me get a word in, he continues shouting about how i can't disappear like that.

i keep my attention on dallas most of the time, filled with rage about what he had done last night.

i narrow my eyes at him, wondering what he told them. there's no way darry didn't ask about if he knows where i was at.

"you look at me when i'm speaking to you" darry says, putting his finger in my face like he does whenever he yells.

"dallas tell you?" i ask, interrupting darrys speech.

dallas turns his head over at me quickly with wide eyes.

"tell us what?" soda asks from behind.

i think about whether or not i should tell them how he left me on the beach alone in the middle of the night.

i know how angry darry would be, and honestly, he would probably never let him around again.

so, i lie. even though i'm angry with dallas. "about how i was with devin. i forgot to call, i'm sorry" i say, knowing that would piss dallas off.