Rocky and Delilah

Chapter 9

Delilah

A few days after my conversation with Rocky, Reese and I had our midterms. As a little celebration for passing our tests, we were enjoying dinner at a small Mexican restaurant that was only a few minutes away from campus.

We sat down on opposite sides of the booth, and once we placed our orders, I once again checked my phone, still waiting on a text back from Rocky. Typically he texted me back throughout the day, letting me ramble about minor inconveniences, and other silly stuff that I ranted about. But today, he was being quiet, and I was growing concerned, but Reese's voice pulled me out of my thoughts.

"I overheard Mikey talking about Shelby last night with some guys from the family." He told me, and I put away my phone as I frowned, "That's weird. Do you think the family has anything to do with it?" I asked, and he shook his head, taking a sip of his coke.

"Nah. I mean, she's like a total golden child here, but he said the cops were asking for help. Her dad is like the chief of police or something, so I bet he's trying to cut a deal with the family to find her."

"Hm. Maybe I'll ask Rocky about it?" I told him, "But he's been weirdly quiet today though."

"Mikey has been too." He dipped his chip in the queso, "Maybe it's a work thing?"

"Yeah, probably." I let out a sigh, "But it's just, he usually tells me when he's going to be busy and can't talk. It's been radio silence for a couple hours. It's severely annoying. Like, it makes me feel so clingy and needy, which, I kinda am, but I don't want him to know that, y'know?"

Reese gave me a funny look. "You really like him." He observed, I snorted. "Of course I like him. We're dating." I pointed out.

"Yeah, but it's different this time. You've checked your phone five times since we've been here, and brought him up twice. It's just," He quirked an eyebrow, "You have it bad. Like, really bad Delilah."

I swallowed thickly, not wanting to delve into my feelings just yet. "How about we stop grilling me and my love life, and take a look at yours, Reese's cup."

He leaned back against the booth, taking a large bite of his enchilada. "What about it? It's the same old thing with me."

"You and Duke seem pretty close." I observed.

He snorted. "You know I don't want to be tied down. Duke's not any different."

I eyed him skeptically. "Okay," I playfully rolled my eyes, "So why are you blushing then?"

"Oh, all the sudden I'm not allowed to blush, but whenever the word 'dick' gets said within a ten mile radius of you, you start sweating." He accused me, and I laughed, "Alright then, truce." I agreed, then decided to change the subject.

"So..." I started, and Reese urged me to continue, "So?"

"Rocky and I had the whole 'waiting for sex' talk." I spoke lowly, not wanting anyone around to hear our conversation. "Yeah?" He asked, "How'd it go? I know you were super anxious about it."

I let out a breath, "Good, actually. I mean, I knew he'd be okay with it, but it was nice getting it off my chest." I confirmed, and Reese smiled, "Yeah, I bet. I'm happy for you though, Delilah. Honestly." He told me, and I grabbed his hand over the table.

"Yeah," I laughed, "I'm happy for me too." I teased, and he just rolled his eyes.

•••

Once Reese and I were done eating and talking, he dropped me off at my house, and I grumbled when I remembered my dad had left today for another business trip.

I absolutely hated staying at home alone, especially overnight. Usually Reese stayed with me, but his brother was assigned a similar job, and had to leave for a few days as well, so Reese had to stay home with their two cats.

We tried once for Janet and his cats to meet and become best friends, but both Janet and his cats went absolutely berserk, so we decided to just keep them separated.

For a moment, I contemplated calling Rocky to see if he could come over. But then I quickly decided against it. I had already triple texted him today. Plus, I didn't want to bother him over something that was not a big deal. I stayed home by myself all the time, and tonight would be no different.

So for the rest of the night, I lounged around, only texting Rocky one more time, but he never answered back. So after I ate a snack, which was really just shredded cheese and some goldfish crackers, I took a shower and laid down in my bed with a bag of chocolate chips as my dessert. Janet was fast asleep right beside me as per usual, and after three hours of watching the real housewives of  New Jersey, I finally fell asleep.

...

I was startled awake by the sound of thumping. I peeked open one eye, and looked over at my alarm clock. It was just past one am, and Janet was still next to me, dead to the world. Most of the time, she barked at anything and everything that made a peep, so I listened for another minute to make sure the noise wasn't in my imagination or something.

I heard nothing for a few minutes, so I settled back down. As I drifted back out, I heard what sounded like glass breaking, and a familiar thumping sound. I instantly sat up. I didn't waste a moment before snatching Janet up, scrambling out of the bed and reaching for my phone that was charging on the nightstand.

I ran to my bedroom door to make sure it was locked, and then locked myself in my en-suite bathroom. I didn't hesitate to call the person I trusted more than anyone in the world. "Rocky?"

•••

Any thoughts or guesses?! I love hearing from everyone!

Double update because it's a short chapter! 🩷