𝔸𝕕𝕦𝕝𝕥 𝔻𝕚𝕧𝕖𝕣𝕤𝕚𝕠𝕟 // Weston Koury

Home Again

The next morning we woke up early, packed our things, and headed out into the melting snow to walk to the bus stop. We trudged up through the last of the slushy path as the sun started to rise, casting a gentle glow over everything.

Despite the picturesque scene, none of us were awake enough to be okay with waiting around for the late bus. "Finally, oh my god, finally." Kalynn said as the bus rolled up to the stop, and we all hauled our bags onboard. I didn't want to leave the Koury's yet, and when I'd taken a last look at the cosy room I'd been staying in there I'd felt a twang of a sort of nostalgic anxiety, only able to hope that I'd be back there again someday. 

I walked up the narrow aisle of the little bus, and sat down in a window seat. Weston, who walked behind me down the aisle, put his bag up in the overhead locker, before sitting down in the seat across the other side of the bus. I glanced over at him, and he just looked out the window, lost in his own thoughts. 

Kalynn got on after, and sat down next to Weston. I looked out the window as the bus started to go. I put in my headphones and pulled my hood up, preparing for the long journey. As I stared out at the sunrise peeking through the passing trees in glimpses my thoughts started to wander aimlessly.

 Was it irrational for my thoughts to keep returning to the question of why he'd choose to sit over on the other side of the bus? Why wouldn't he have just sat next to me? We'd almost kissed last night, I knew it, and he was seriously going to give me the cold shoulder today? Last night the chemistry between us had felt electric, and I couldn't understand why he wouldn't be all-over me today. My mind wandered to the time we'd made out at the halloween party, and he'd told Sam we'd been talking about... Politics. The next day he'd acted like he didn't remember it, but i just found that so hard to believe - he hadn't seemed wasted at all. Was he embarrassed of me? The memory of our almost-kiss replayed over and over in my head. Why couldn't he see what a good thing we could have? Why couldn't Weston just...

My thoughts were interrupted by the sound of my own name. I turned to see Weston leaning over my seat, concern etched onto his face. I pulled out one headphone.

"Anais, you okay?" He asked.

I looked past him to see Kalynn, who was fast asleep in her seat.

"I'm just thinking is all." I said to him, and his eyes darted around my face, as he tried to read me. 
"Can I sit here or is it gonna interrupt your, uh, thinking time?" He said, a mocking tone in his voice.
"Go ahead, Weston." I moved my bag and he took it's place in the seat next to me, before stretching and yawning loudly.

"You have a good time staying at ours?" He asked me.
"Yeah, yeah actually it was great. I appreciate you letting me stay, I really didn't want to just be at college on my own."
"I mean, thanks for coming, you can come next break, too."
"I don't know, maybe if I don't have any other plans."
"Riiight, of course, of course."

"You want a headphone?" I offered, and he nodded with a smile and took the earbud out of my hand.

He reached to turn up the song, and I averted my gaze back out the window as the coach grew closer to the place I now considered home.

Eventually I woke up to Weston tapping my shoulder. I took a second to come to and realise that we had finally made it back. I got up and followed Weston and Kalynn down the aisle, out off of the coach and up the path to our apartment complex.

The air was so cold, and I my eyes felt puffy and tired from being woken up in the middle of the day. All I wanted was to get warm and get back to sleep.

We made our way up the stairs, hauling our bags, and eventually, finally, got to our flat's front door. When Weston unlocked it we basically fell inside.

I said bye to them half heartedly, my social battery as low as ever, and dragged my stuff to my room.

I breathed out, happy to be back in here again, looking around at the fairy lights, plants, and familiar posters. I collapsed into the layers of blankets in my bed, and resumed the power nap I'd started on the bus.