Passionate Exchange

Chapter Thirty-Nine

It's the next day which means it's time for Brody to leave for his dads. He's currently standing outside the house with his mum waiting in the car behind him ready to drop him off at the airport.

Right now, he's hugging Penny squeezing her so tight that I'm surprised she can still breathe. It feels awkward standing so close to her when she's refusing to talk to me. All I want is to go to her and apologise for what I did but this is Brody's moment, and I don't want to ruin it for him. He already feels nervous. Showing the tension between us will only make things worse for him.

"Do you think I'm doing the right thing?" He asks for the hundredth time when he pulls away from the hug.

"I think you already know the answer to that," I respond and he nods, wrapping me in a warm embrace just as tight as Penny.

He wanted to go see his dad since he asked him at the start of senior year. I think there's a part of him that hopes they'll hit it off and it'll be like he never even left; I hope that too. All I want is for him to be happy. If seeing his dad is going to make him happy then I want that for him.

"Enjoy Halloween. Promise you'll go to a party or something, I'll be there in spirit."

I laugh at his request. Same old Brody. "I promise."

He goes back over to Penny, whispering something in her ear. I don't hear what he says and I'm assuming that was his intentions. If it were any other day, I'd convince him to tell me, bribing him with chocolate or something but I don't today.

He climbs into the passenger seat of his mum's car, shutting the door and rolling the window down. He waves to us as he leaves, and his mum does the same. We both watch the car as it rolls away into the distance until they turn a corner, and we can no longer see them.

Penny and I are left standing outside of the house alone. "Listen, Penny, I-" I start but she cuts me off. My lips purse into a line when she does.

"Not tonight."

I can't help but be disappointed that she's still not ready to forgive me, but I nod my head anyways, accepting that she needs more time. I guess it's going to be another night of staying out of rooms when she's in them and watching shows by myself.

She heads back inside, and I follow behind her. As I guessed she would, she takes a seat on the sofa with her parents. I know it's best that I don't sit with them, so I go back up into my room and eventually fall asleep with Archer's drawing in my hands.

*

I wake up the next morning with drool on my cheek. Once I build up the effort to move, I wipe my hand across my face lazily and stuff Archer's drawing under my pillow. Thank God I didn't roll over onto it in the night and make a mess of it. I doubt he would draw me another one if I asked him to.

I get dressed for the day, putting on a pair of black jeans with a grey jumper before heading downstairs to get something to eat. I don't understand how people can't eat breakfast in the morning. If I didn't my stomach would be growling constantly until I did.

As I'm pouring myself some cereal, I hear someone coming down the stairs. I turn my head in that direction so I can see who it is, and nerves build up inside me when I see Penny.

She grabs some bread and puts it in the toaster. I clutch my cereal in my hand to take it upstairs but stop in my tracks when Penny says something, my ears perking up. "Can we talk?"

I nod and return to my seat, proceeding to tap my foot repeatedly against the tiles, anxiously awaiting to hear what she has to say. Is it that she can't bear to have me here and her parents have agreed to send me back to London? Is it simply that I forgot to put the cereal back into the cupboard? After a while of her not saying anything, I talk instead.

"Listen, about Scarlett, I know you think I shouldn't have done it but-"

She cuts me off. "I get it now." My jaw drops. Her words shock me more than anything.

"You what?" I ask, making sure that I'm hearing her correctly.

"I get why you did it." She responds and relief hits me in waves. I feel like a weight has been lifted from my shoulders and I can finally relax.

"I shouldn't let her speak to me the way she does and I'm grateful to have a friend like you who'll stand up for me when I can't." I smile. "I've got to admit, it did feel good to see her like that. She's always so bothered about her hair being perfect and to see it dripping with juice was comical."

We both laugh. "Do you think she's going to make our life a living hell after the break?"

"Probably," Penny replies, still giggling to herself.

I tilt my head in confusion. "Why are you laughing? Hell doesn't seem like a very good thing to me." I picture pitchforks and fire, not really something to be laughing at. Considering it's Scarlett unleashing Hell on us it'll probably be worse than I imagine.

"I've got a bodyguard now." I roll my eyes. I'm hardly a bodyguard. It was a heat of the moment thing that I did, who knows if I can muster up the courage to do it again? Do I even want to do it again? Suspension doesn't sound all too appealing to me.

"I'm joking, you'd make a terrible bodyguard."

I throw one of the placemats from the table at her. She ducks despite it not being anywhere near hitting her. It wasn't supposed to hit her anyway, I wouldn't do that. Or do I just have bad aim?

"Hey," she grabs an apple and throws it at me, this time I actually have to duck, or it would have collided with my face. I raise my eyebrows when it narrowly misses me. "Oops." She laughs and I can't help but laugh too.

"Why is one of my apples on the floor?" Sophie comes into the kitchen and picks it up, polishing it with the sleeve of her jumper.

I point at Penny as she does the same to me. She shakes her head in amusement, placing the green apple back in the fruit bowl. "I see you two are friends again."

We both smile. "Please leave my fruit alone though, what has it ever done to you?"

Penny gives her mum a side hug. "Sorry, mom. It won't happen again."

Sophie ruffles her hair, and this is all it takes for Penny to leap away from her. She smooths her dishevelled hair down and glares at her mum. "How dare you."

She shrugs nonchalantly, a grin tugging at her lips. "That's what you get."

I giggle at her words. It doesn't take long for them both to join in. I'm lucky that Penny was in a good mood and I didn't have to be at her beckoning call like Archer. I wonder what it would take for the two to be on good terms again. I have a feeling it will take a lot more than a few peanut butter and jelly sandwiches this time.