Love Bites

LOVE BITES Chapter 11 : Walking Back Home

Chapter 11 : Walking Back Home

Another car buzzed past me.

"Make that 26 white cars," I corrected myself, tallying off an imaginative list in my head.

It was late afternoon on the weekend, the sun was blazing overhead and I was following the sidewalk back to the manor with a fresh bag of groceries tucked under each arm. My feet swung in front of each other, heel on toe, and beside me cars zoomed by. To them I was invisible; just a part of the blurry scenery they passed.

It took me a while but I eventually fell asleep after that horrible dinner Alastair had spent an hour preparing for me last night. He definitely wasn't a cook but of course I already knew that.

I could tell Alastair was even more worried than usual. He hadn't allowed me to do anything last night other than sleep, even going as far as to pull a chair up beside my bed to make sure I did just that. Honestly, with him there made it all the more difficult to relax, even if his eyes weren't on me but the book he was reading.

A smile tugged at the corner of my lips as I stared at my feet. He really does like his books.

I formulated an image in my mind of Alastair wearing glasses. Holy God, he would look perfect in them.

Despite not being tired last night, once I fell asleep, I slept like a rock for the entirety of the night. Not once did I rise, even waking up late this morning as well.

And when my eyes did finally open, I instantly became aware of the strange feeling permeating my body. It was difficult to explain but I felt different. I was still me; shy and nervous Nikki, but at the same time I also felt like...  not me, if that made any sense.

It wasn't a sick feeling, in fact, even that headache from earlier had disappeared. But what was left in place of that headache was something I couldn't quite put my finger on. But maybe I was just overthinking things.

Probably.

Alastair seemed to have relaxed the minute after finding out my fever had gone down. I could tell he wanted to delve further into the issue but not even I knew why I passed out. I really thought it was nothing and even told him that, only hoping he would somehow forget about the whole ordeal and not deem me as weak or frail.

He'd always stressed over me, always kept one eye on me no matter where I went. It seemed to have increased the older I'd gotten, or maybe I'd just become aware of it now that I'd matured.

Now that I'd matured?

That's right. I was almost an adult now, finishing my last year of high school. I was no longer a girl but a young woman.

I bit my lower lip. I wonder...

When Alastair looked at me, which did he see: his silly little sister or an attractive woman? The question circulated my mind. And if he did see a woman, would I be the type he might...?

My feet halted, a blush reddening not only my cheeks but my entire face at the explicit thoughts going through my mind.

"No, no, no, no, no," I chanted, forcing my feet to move again and shaking my head so fast that my vision blurred. I turned the corner, not realising the person doing the same until it was too late.