Before you knew

63.

Its Sunday.

Its quiet as we stand at the airport. I got a ticket back that is in two days, yet letting him leave is hard.
Yet I have no right to say anything. 'I guess I'll see you soon.' He says. I know that my father has left America by now, but I doubt he won't come back. But I'll take the risk.

We hug one last time before he walks off.

Two days later I'm sitting at home, book in my hands and Pebbles purring next to me. I can see Clay looking at me in the corner of my eye. I tried to ignore it but he keeps looking. 'Something wrong?' I ask as I meet his eyes. 'I- you remember the glass rose I gave you, right?' He asks. 'Of course.' I say. 'It wasn't where you left it when I went to look.' He says. 'How do you mean?' I ask. I know I put it on the corner of my desk. 'It wasn't there.' He says. He looks more upset then he should be. 'Well, when did you look?' I ask. 'Couple of days after you left.' He says. I smile to myself and look away 'where did you think it went?' I ask him. 'I don't know, you put it away or something?' I shake my head. 'If you go and look now, it'll be there.' I say before looking back at the page. 'Huh?' I smile again and look at him once more 'I took it with me.' He looks at me for a second before looking away and smiling softly 'oh.'

Its past three am when I decide to go to bed. Normally Clay always stays up longer then me, but he still seemed exhausted and lacking sleep. I wash up and change before crawling under the clean sheets. Clay washed them before I came back, using the fabric softener generously, and picking out the one I like most. I smile as the clean smell surrounds me, sheets softer then normally.

I'm about to fall asleep when I faintly hear a door open. I know it's mine, but my mind and body are to tired. When it closes is when I look, feeling eyes on the back of my head as I lay with my back to the door. I blink my eyes open and look behind me to watch Clay get in the bed. I frown a little. what is he doing? 'Clay?' I ask softly. He's never stayed in my room. 'I couldn't sleep.' He says. He has his back to me as the sheets cover him till his shoulders. 'Why not?' I ask.

'You.'

I stay quiet at the answer. It's only fair that I feel bad because of it. I move closer and kiss the back of his neck 'I'm sorry.' I whisper as I roll back over to face the opposite way. 'You can't just do that.' He says. 'What?' I ask. 'Kiss me. You can't just do that anymore.' He says. 'I-' 'we're friends right?' He asks sounding slightly angry as I roll onto my back so I can look at him. His back is still facing me. 'You shouldn't kiss friends.' He says. 'Who says I do?' I ask. 'Oh come on. Bet you kissed Nick like that too, you two are closer then you and I.' He says. 'I Neve-' 'just don't do it again.' He says before huffing.

Geez what's gotten into him.