Who Knows?

"Look at my hand,"

I wake curled up in a ball in Eli's truck, his jacket thrown over my body. The morning sun is starting to come out, orange light filtering through the windshield. I stretch my aching limbs and yawn, I want to go back to sleep. Preferably in a bed, this time. I couldn't have been asleep for long, the drive wasn't even three hours, Eli said. Speaking of, where the hell is he? He's not in the truck with me. My eyes regain more and more focus after being blurry with sleep and I take in the surroundings of the truck. We are parked on the street, in front of a small house, in a neighborhood where all the houses are quite close together. It doesn't look like we're in a big city, more like a small town. Most of the houses look old and a little run down, but cozy nonetheless.

I take a closer look at the small one-story house we're parked in front of. It is a wooden house with red roof tiles. Poison ivy covers most of the walls. The front yard looks neatly cared for and a cat is sprawled on the tiny porch in front of the house. Before my excitement takes over, making me want to run to pet the cat, the front door opens and Eli steps out of the house. He reaches the truck in a few strides and opens the car door. A chill hits my exposed legs. The morning air here is cold.

"Hey, I didn't want to wake you," he greets, pulling his jacket tighter around my shoulders and brushing a strand of my hair behind my ear.

"I see," I smile at him. "This is where you grew up, then?" I look over his shoulder at the house behind him.

"Yes, darling."

Another yawn escapes me.

"Yeah, I'm tired, too," Eli comments. "We can go to bed now. My mom definitely wants to say 'hi' though, is that alright? Otherwise, I will tell her not to bother you."

"Of course, I'm going to say 'hello'. My parents might not care for me much, but I was raised with manners, you know?" I jest.

"I wasn't implying you are ill-mannered. Just wanted to make sure you're comfortable with it. I kinda just whisked you away witho-"

"Stop it. I wanted to come, don't think otherwise, okay?" My hand finds the side of his face.

He nods.

"Use your words, baby," I cite him in a stern whisper and his eyes go wide in surprise. I can't help but laugh at his reaction.

"Okay," he mutters before laughing out loud. "You are something else." His arms grab me under my shoulders and he effortlessly lifts me out of the truck. "I already took our stuff inside."

"Thanks. What're your parents' names?" I inquire as we start walking toward the house, our hands linked. I notice that the cat is now gone.

"Elizabeth and Ray. Mom will tell you to call her Lizzy and my dad will introduce himself as Raymond, though."

I chuckle. "Alright, I hope they'll like me." My teeth start to worry my bottom lip.

"They'll love you. I think they will be surprised, but they'll love you."

"What will you introduce me as?" I ask, before thinking. Shoot.

"Uhm," he seems nervous all of the sudden. His hand rubs the back of his neck before scratching his ear. It's an odd image, Eli is rarely nervous. "I already told them you're my girlfriend. I hope that's okay, I just thought it's the easiest thing to describe this as and I didn't want to overcomplicate it or downplay what we have. I know that I probably should've asked you first but you fell asleep so fast on the way here and I wanted to let you rest and the-"

"Hey, Eli?" My words snap him out of his monologue. We are standing at the front door, now. He looks down at me and I take his hand. "Are you rambling?" I ask, flabbergasted. "Who are you and what have you done with my two-word-answers Eli?"