| torn up

~ chapter 28 ☁️

'What do you mean?' I ask, looking puzzled and not quite understanding what he's asking of me.

'I'm asking you what you want, simple as that.'

His to the point and contextless answer does little to satisfy my bewilderment and wonder.
What do I want? I want a lot of things in life, most people do, don't they? Somehow though, I don't think he's asking me for my list of a 101 personal wishes of mine about things like world peace and a lifetime supply of skittles. After pondering about it for a second, I realise the most relevant and easiest-to-do thing that I want in this situation right now is for him to just leave my bedroom.

'For you to leave so I can go to bed?' I cautiously ask whilst tilting my head up slightly at him as I await his response.

'Ouch, you do break my heart, willy.' He smirks, playfully bringing up a palm to his chest and wincing as if my words have physically wounded him. 'But no, not that. Try again. What's one thing you want right now?'

I frown at the unnecessary use of that miserable nickname again before tapping my chin in thought. What's one thing I really, really want? Well my answer comes almost instantly to me when I think about it like that.

'To meet Yungblud.' I state triumphantly, a dreamy smile already settling on my face at the prospect of ever getting to see him face to face.

Eli's face blanks at my response and for a second he looks like he has no idea what I'm on about until a look of realisation dawns on his face and he shakes his head with a scowl.

'Something you want within reason.' He stresses, rolling his eyes at me and effectively snapping me out of my daydream.

I scowl at his straightforward and expected dismissal, not liking how he pointed out that he thought this was an unreasonable thing to dream of. I don't care what Eli thinks, I moodily sulk to myself, I'm meeting him one day. Deciding to leave the Yungblud idea alone for now when I see Eli is still waiting for a response, I continue trying to come up with a so called 'reasonable' thing for me to want.

'Okay... A puppy then.'

I really, really want a puppy. I have for the longest time now. My Mum's always tried to put me off the idea, saying that it wouldn't be fair on a dog considering our house is empty half the time with her at work and me at school. She does have a point but I so badly want one. It's one of the reasons why I spend so much time at Asha's place. She has a golden retriever called Teddy and he's absolutely adorable. I have to admit too, there has been a number of times I've gone over exclusively to play with him rather than to actually see my friend.

'Willow, are you deaf?' Eli scoffs, sounding incredibly tired of me and looking like he wants to facepalm himself at my answer.

'What? That is within reason.' I bicker, pouting at how negative he's being.

Sure, maybe me meeting Yungblud might be an idea that won't happen anytime soon and that may take a bit more planning and luck. But me getting a puppy? I mean strictly speaking, it's very possible- I could go out right now and get one, couldn't I?

'No, it's not.'

'Yes, it is.'

'No, it's not.'

I quickly grow tired of the back and fourth petty squabbling, scowling when I realise he could do this all night. And I, well I couldn't think of anything less painful right now.

'Well, how am I supposed to know what 'within reason' means if you keep being all cryptic and weird about it?' I declare in irritation, exhausted of this conversation that has the possibility of continuing to go around and around in circles.