Because of You

A Jacket and A Question

Stupid Wattpad passed over my chapter! It skipped! I'm so sorry. I left a huge gaping hole in the middle there. THIS IS WHAT TAKES PLACE AFTER IOU. 

The following morning, I slung Bellamy's jacket over the stair railing, glad it hadn't received any water damage from the rain. Mom was gone before I'd even left my bed and I ate the leftover lasagna from dinner I'd made myself the previous night, before having been dragged from my house and thrust into a two-person search party. Once finished, I cleaned my plate and stored it away. Maybe it was strange, but I missed doing the dishes. It reminded me that someone else still lived here. That I wasn't alone.

I shook that thought away before it could bring others, and went into the living room.

Bellamy had agreed to come over at eleven, but as the hand of the living room clock drew closer and closer to the number, a seed of doubt was beginning to grow inside me. It grew bolder when the hand landed on eleven and sprouted roots when the hand drifted over it.

Either Bellamy was late or he was no longer coming. I plopped down on the couch, sighing to myself. I didn't know why I felt disappointed. Bellamy and I were like water and oil. We didn't mix. But I also knew how different Bellamy was from my original perceptions of him, and how drastic a juxtaposition they were. Or maybe my motives were selfishly intended, because it gave me something to do. Something to figure out. Something to understand.

What kind of person did that make me?

I didn't have the chance to answer, interrupted by a knock at the door.

I stared at it, perplexed, before I got up. Opening it, I prepared myself for the mailman. Maybe a girl scout. But it was neither.

"Hey," Bellamy said, perhaps a little stiffly, as his eyes found mine. He looked antsy, like he was resisting the urge to walk off the porch and back to his bike.

I blinked, finding nothing intelligent to say.

He raised a brow. "Are you going to let me in?"

In answer, I stepped back, swinging the door open further. Bellamy came inside, dubious, and he looked at the house even though he'd already seen it before. We stood in the entry, neither of us speaking. His hands were shoved into his jean pockets. I averted his wandering gaze, trying to think of something to say It struck me then how much I really hadn't expected him to come, on time or late, but I didn't make any mention of it and neither did he. Luckily I was reminded by his naked arms of his jacket and quickly fled to the railing to grab it. I turned on my heels and extended it to him.

He mumbled a thanks and shrugged it on.

I brushed my tongue over my teeth, contemplating some kind of response. "Let's go for a walk," I blurted.

Bellamy's eyes puckered in distaste as he fixed the collar. "A walk?"

"Yeah. You know that thing you do when you put one foot in front of the other consecutively to get from point A to point B?"

He didn't laugh at my joke, but kept his eyes on me, like he was waiting for another option. "Or if that's too much, we can just sit outside," I proffered. "I'm getting a little tired of being in this house." I left him in the hallway to decide as I strode out the front door. It was cold, and I didn't grab my jacket but I liked the chill of coming winter on my bare arms. It grounded me to the moment and gave my mind something to focus on.

I heard Bellamy behind me and I dropped on the porch steps, extending my legs out. It felt a little weird, to be like this with him, almost natural, but it didn't compare to the awkwardness that was last time. He wasn't shirtless now and he wasn't making coffee complaints after watching me lose it on the side of the road.