Love Within

Chapter 5 - Connor

I woke up, disoriented. I wasn't on the couch nor in my bed. I woke up to find myself sprawled out in the middle of the hallway. I had one sock on, and I was shirtless. Mystified, I tried to think back to last night to find out what happened.

"I should go home now," Jade murmured, opening the door.

"Hey, wait!" I quickly glanced away when she turned to look at me, trying to keep myself from blushing. "I'll be right back." I ducked out of the hallway and into my room, throwing open my closet and riffling through the piles of rumpled fabric until I came upon a giant grey sweatshirt of mine that I was fond of. It was huge even on me, but it was warm. I hurried back to where Jade stood and pressed it into her arms. "Take this," I told her.

She looked at me. "This...? I have jackets, Connor. It's not a long walk back. This is yours, you should keep this. And I'll wash your clothes and give them back to you--"

"No, no." I pressed it into her arms with a little more force, insistently. "Keep it. I'd be happy to give them to you."

Something I couldn't read passed through her eyes, but her entire expression softened then. "Okay. I appreciate it, thank you. Would you like anything in return?"

I shook my head. "You giving me your time is enough." Never in my life had I been more cheesy.

She smiled. "It is not much. In this case, I suppose I owe you more of my time." 

Ouch. Did she actually mean that she owed me time? "Uh...thanks, but you don't owe me anything." 

Her eyes widened. "Wait, my bad. That came out wrong." Her face instantly reddened, and she ran out. "B-bye! See you tomorrow!" I watched her speed-walk onto the sidewalk until she disappeared past the tree in the front yard, and I couldn't see her anymore. I should have offered to drive her home, no matter what a short distance it was.

I stumbled to my room, but crashed into the wall, my thoughts dizzying. So many things I should have said, things I should have done instead...They all tormented me, and I could only pray for Jade's safety, worried sick about her well-being. I slumped to the ground. If anything happened to her, it would be my fault. Feeling nauseous, I closed my eyes, and waited as everything turned black.

Well, it still didn't explain where my sock went. And why I was no longer wearing a shirt. I guessed it didn't matter though...

"Morning, Connor!" Tori popped out from the kitchen, her hair done up in a bun, wearing a soft sky-blue sweater and a pair of dark blue skinny jeans. I jumped out of my skin and awkwardly tried to cover myself with my arms. 

"Oh GOD! Tori, what are you doing here? How did you get into my house?"

Tori gestured to my front door. "You left it unlocked."

"Okay, but that doesn't explain why you're here!" 

"Oh, that? I decided to come by and crash for the day." She popped a forkful of pancake into her mouth. It was then that I noticed the plate in her hand. My stomach growled.

"C-crash..."

"Hush, Connor, I made pancakes for you too, don't worry!" I shied away. Tori might work at a food establishment, but her cooking was terrible. Or at least that was what I remembered from personal experience. "Come on, pancakes are the best things I make!" I guessed she had read my mind. "No, Connor, I'm not psychic. You're just saying everything out loud." Oh. That wasn't embarrassing at all. "You WILL eat my pancakes. And you WILL like them." Making sure not to say the next part out loud, I thought and here come the death threats.