When With You

24

Three days passed by in a blink of an eye. Life seems to flow easily when I'm here, free and without the weight of being alive on my shoulders-- well other than Michael who is still in his moods. Everyone seemed...better here, in our cottage house hidden far away.

Without the prejudiced eyes of people, I witness different sides to Peter and Divine.

Peter is clingy with me, in a loving way. I wondered if it was how he treated Dee when they were together, but even she was shocked when Pete fell asleep on me. Sometimes he refused to get out of bed, wanting to cuddle with me on a cold day. It warmed my heart so much, the butterflies turn into doves when he mindlessly touches me. His affections lingered on throughout the hours, during the day and night all I felt was him.

Now Divine was another case. I didn't think she could be so... fierce. In a cute way. She'd scream bloody murder if one of us didn't clean up our mess after eating-- Peter and I were extremely careless until she told us that the carpets cost more than our lives combined. She was not only a sister but a mother too, she made sure we made our bed; our room was spotless, and we didn't spend long hours of a day without bathing. I kinda liked it, I've been looking after people my entire life so when she fussed about me like this, I feel special.

"How is he?" She calls out as I reach the bottom of the stairs. I've just returned from a battle of trying to get Michael to talk to me.

He's gotten better, he eats more and would sometimes make his presence known around the house but other than that he mostly rests in his room. I feel bad, this was supposed to be a calming week for him but he's stuck 'doom and glooming' in the room.

Divine wanted me to persuade him to come to the Thanksgiving dinner she would be cooking, with my help, of course, we don't want the house to burn down.

"He says he'll try to come down when the food is ready. I think he's getting better..."

Peter turns away from the TV to look at me, his grey eyes soft and warm, "At least he didn't jam the door on your finger again."

I grimace at yesterday's events. I tried to get him to watch a movie with Peter and me, while Dee fought her father over the phone-- her dad isn't the only parent who called, my mom called a few times and I only answered once and that was by mistake, Peter civilly spoke to his family every day. That was something.

I plant myself in front of Dee, she sits on the couch so I relax on the floor. She runs her hand through my hair and I tense. I can feel Pete's eyes on me but I try to ignore it, I try to imagine Farren touching my hair instead. But I couldn't.

I pull away from her. "Please don't touch my hair." I tried not to sound harsh.

"Oh. Sorry, didn't know you would be uncomfortable." I know she didn't want to show she was hurt by my rejection, but another thing I learned about Dee was that she wasn't good at hiding her emotions like I thought she was.

I turn to smile at her, "It's messy and tangled, so it hurts when...people touch it."

She straightens her back, hopefully staring at me, "I could comb it out for you? It'll hurt less."

"No!" Shit, I panicked and shouted at her. "Sorry, but...just no."

Her eyes widen, confusion and slight concern swim in her eyes. Regardless she pats my shoulder with a small smile, even if she didn't understand she'll respect my reaction.

"Amintore," I look at him and the sparkle in his eyes makes me clench my hands, here we go. "When are you going to rail me?"

...

The choked laughter exploding out of Dee is the only thing keeping me grounded. The serious look in his eyes surprises me because the words he spoke were... dear universe take me.