Alone

Keeping the world alive

He ran through the house making me scream and laugh as he almost knocked me into things, he was clearly just running around the house and not taking me to the pool, he ran me up the stairs and finally set me down in the bedroom.

"Put on your bathing suit." He said and just abruptly walked out of the room closing the door behind him.
I got it out and put it on before opening the bedroom door and unexpectedly being picked back up again, this time he threw me over his shoulder.

"Why do you do this, I can walk." I groaned.

"Because I can and this is probably way more fun than walking. If you walk then where's the thrill of me dropping you?" He laughed.

"Please don't drop me. I'll kill you."

"No you won't." He retorted as we went down the stairs. "I won't, but I can do this." I said and reached down and smacked his butt hard making him squeal like a girl.

"You really shouldn't have done that." He warned and went through the kitchen.

"I'll do it again." I said and smacked his butt again.

"Stop." He laughed as we went out finally to the area where the pool was, it looked surprisingly crystal clear.

He stopped at the edge of the pool and I knew what he was going to do.

"Don't." I warned him.

"The water is so cold." He laughed. "It's going to be awful for you."

"No no no!" I said as I gripped onto him. "Don't do this!" I managed to climb off his shoulder and attach to his front side.

"I'm going to." He warned.

"I will be so mad at you." I said with my arms around his neck, clinging to him.

"The water isn't cold, I lied." He laughed.

"I don't believe you!"

"Yeah? Why don't you see for yourself?" He said and picked me off of him unwillingly and screaming.
Then he just put me down on the ground. "Check." He said and I dipped my toes in to see that it was warm.

And then I felt a push on my back sending me into the water.

"You bitch!" I shouted at him when I came back up to hear him laughing. "You're so mean to me!" I was only half joking.

"No I'm not." He laughed. I swam over to him with revenge on my mind.

"I hate you!" I splashed him as he still stood at the edge of the pool.

"No you don't, you love me." He mocked me.

"Shut up." I felt my face go red. "You're an ass! I'm going to get revenge."

"What are you going to do? Throw me in the pool?" He said sarcastically.

"Yes."

"You can't." He replied.

"Why can't I?" I asked.

"It won't matter if I'm already wet." He said and sat down on the edge before sliding in with his clothes on.

I splashed his face but it didn't seem to affect him.

"You're such an ass."

"I know." He grinned before getting back out.

"Why are you getting out?" I asked.

"I have stuff to do." He said simply.

"You seriously got in here just so I wouldn't throw you in?" I asked.

"Yup."

"Can I come with you?" I asked.

"Just stay here and have fun, I shouldn't be gone long, okay?"

"Fine." I huffed.

"I'll be back." He said before walking back inside.

After a moment I heard his car start and him leave. To be honest I didn't really feel like swimming so I got out and laid down in a lounge chair for a while.

I wondered what Dan was doing. He was probably out to find more stuff to hoard away. I get that he wanted to make sure we were safe and had enough stuff, but I didn't understand why he liked doing it alone so much. I guess he probably just needed time to himself and being with someone so much probably got on his nerves a little bit. He didn't get on my nerves though, not even when I said I hated him or yelled at him, I knew we were just playing around.

Or maybe he decided to leave because it actually hurt him that I said I hated him and yelled at him. He knew I was joking, right? I decided I would talk to him about it when he got back just to make sure he knew.

What he had told me in the kitchen had really meant alot to me, and I could tell he was being sincere about it.

"Even though the world had ended, they kept yours alive."

Something about his words had really hit me hard. I felt the same way, and I wanted him to continue to feel like that. I felt like I should be giving more to him.

I got bored of being outside and decided to go back in and explore the house.

I liked this house, it seemed like a nice family lived here and I bet they loved it too. I bet the parents were happy together and maybe stayed up late at night watching tv on the couch together after work. I bet in the mornings the kids would come sleepily down the stairs ready to have breakfast with their parents, just like my family did. I bet the parents worked hard for this nice home just so their children could be happy. I bet the father worked more than necessary just to stock pile back money and things so if the family ran into problems then they would be okay.
Dan would be a good dad.

I wandered up the stairs and looked at the the two closed doors by the open bathroom door.

I picked one and opened the door.

There was a little toddler bed with green walls that had obviously belonged to a little boy. There was a bear on a dresser and little lions on the sheets. It made me think of Phil somehow, maybe it was all the green and blue or maybe it was the lion sheets.

I took a look at the bookshelf and got "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" off the shelf. My little brother use to have this book when he was little. I remember Nate being little, even a small baby. I remembered the way my parents looked at him and pointed out whose eyes he had or whose mannerisms, it seemed silly to me.

They loved us all very much, I knew they had done that to each of us as babies.

I had thought I didn't want to be like them someday, but I now realized that I do want to, because they loved their children.

I flipped through the book mindlessly.

Was I ready to be this now though?
Was I ready to give Dan something more? It was scary.
Not because of some complications, or something horrible happening or having children in a world without doctors or medicine.
But it was because I didn't think I loved him. I had never been in love before and had no reference point of what it felt like. I knew I liked him alot, but I didn't know how much.

"Amelia? You alright?" I heard Dan's voice come from the doorway behind me.

"Yeah." My voice sounded cracked so I cleared it and felt wetness rolling down my cheeks. Had I been crying? Why was I crying? I quickly whipped the tears away, closed the book and thought of something to say.

"Just wanted to see what was in here." I said before turning around and putting the book back on the shelf.

"The Very Hungry Caterpillar?" He asked with a smile "That book isn't even good. If you're looking for a good read, Good Night Moon is where it's at." He said making me smile.

"I uh, I wanted to tell you I was sorry for telling you I hated you in the pool and calling you a bitch and stuff." I said.

"You were joking." He laughed "I knew you were. Don't apologize, I like it when we do stuff like that. Even when you call me a bitch." He grinned. "You want to come down stairs and help me make dinner? Or sit on the counter and look cute as I do it?" He asked.

"Of course, you bitch." I answered with a smile.