We watched as the cars passed by. My phone rang and it was my dad, he had texted me.
Dad: Heading off to work. Be home at 4 AM, love you.
Me: Okay, See you in the morning.
Dad: Bye.
I turned off my phone and got up.
"My dad is on his way here. He has a shift, we need to get out of here."
Brandon got up, "I guess I'll go home." he said running his hand through his hair.
I remember how horrible his father was to him that day, I know that if I let him go home he could be hurt. Plus I wanted to keep my eyes on him until I knew I could trust him.
"No, you can stay with me," I said grabbing his arm as he turned around.
"It's fine. Really, I can just go home," he said smiling.
God, that smile. I missed that smile, I haven't seen it in a while. "Please, I want you to." I paused.
"Now come on, my dad can't know I'm here," I said as I started walking backward, still facing him.
He grinned and walked with me, we went straight to my house. Yet again, in peaceful silence. When we got there, we walked inside and went to the kitchen. "Want anything to drink? To eat?" I asked opening the fridge.
"Water's fine," he said, sitting down at the table.
I tossed a water to him and got one for myself. I then sat on the counter looking down at my knees. "What was it like?" I asked him.
"It- It was hell. But, I deserved it," he said with guilt filling his voice. I could feel his eyes lingering on me.
I didn't know what to do. I still couldn't trust him, I would have to stay with him at all times, so we couldn't stay here.
"Row, why did you get me out?"
"I don't really know. I thought I had a plan but now, now I just need to keep an eye on you. We can't stay here, we'll have to get a hotel room. I still can't trust you. I want to, I just-" I paused. "I can't."
He nodded and got up, "We should get going then." he said understanding the urgency.
We went out and I pulled out my phone. I called my dad and when it went straight to voicemail. I was glad he didn't pick up because I would have to argue. I could already feel that Brandon was listening to my every word.
"Hey, dad. I- uh, I know that this is really sudden but I'm going to be staying with Hailey. Her mom is out of town for the week and she didn't want to be alone. I'll see you soon, bye."
We kept walking and making small talk until we got to the closest hotel. As we talked to the lady at the front desk we got stuck in an awkward situation.
"We only have one room available. It has one bed, is that fine for you two?" The lady told us.
Before Brandon could say anything "That's fine, thanks." I said quickly, twiddling my thumbs.
Once we got to the room Brandon threw a pillow on the floor, "I'll call room service for another blanket." he said.
"No, it's fine. We can share." I said. It would be awkward but he has been sleeping in a cell on a hard mattress for months. Plus I didn't want to sleep on the floor.
Brandon sat there for a moment and then got in the bed. He laid down but I sat up. While sitting crisscrossed on the bed I faced him and just stared.
"What's up?" He asked.
"Did you ever actually like me?" I paused. "Was that kiss real?"
"All of it was real. That kiss- that kiss was definitely real." He said. " Everything I said to you that night was true."
I looked down and smiled. I knew he could've been lying. But, I needed this. I needed this one night to be like a dream. I slowly leaned down and kissed him. It was slow, I felt safe. We were still kissing as I laid down, my hands were going through his hair, his hand was on my face. I stopped, leaning my forehead onto his.
"I'm sorry, for everything Row," he said rubbing his thumb on my cheek.
"I know. I just- we should get rest. It's been a long day." I said although I wanted to talk all night long. We were just lying there, looking at each other. I grabbed his hand to let him know I don't regret what just happened. We fell asleep holding hands.
Brandon Darrow. The guy that no matter what he does to me, I'll always come back.
