Summer with the Guys

Part 5: Pizza Rolls Used For Interrogation

Part 5: Pizza Rolls Used For Interrogation

-.-.-

I could hear the front door click from my room. I knew Jared had been home, and I confirmed my suspicions when I heard him happily greet Mason. I heard them discussing something, but all I could think about was Theo.

I wondered where he had been all day. I also wondered why he seemed so concerned by my tipsy state. I mean, why did he care? I could do what I wanted.

I hopped onto my bed and twiddled with my thumbs. How long did I have to sit in here?

Until you stop acting like a child because you're drunk, I reminded myself. I laid on my back, my comforter folding around me. I stared up at the ceiling, and let all the thoughts I had run through my head.

I thought of what Mason's surprise was. I thought of Theo. I thought of getting to spend the summer with Jared. Then, I thought of college and having to go back. I thought of what might be waiting for me.

I could remember my friend's harsh words to me before I left. I guess I should consider them an ex-friend now.

I also started to think about why I had to spend the summer here. If not, he would have found me at home. As if he didn't already haunt my thoughts and nightmares.

I squeezed my eyes shut as the flashbacks ran through my mind.

The door to my room clicked, and I sat straight up at the sound. I sighed when I saw Theo sneaking into my room.

He closes the door quietly and pads over to my bed, where I sit. He hands me a bottle of water, and I take it. The bottle is cold to the touch, and I look at Theo with a confused look.

"Why did you bring me a water bottle?"

"So you will sober up," Theo replies nonchalantly.

I squint my eyes at him and open the water bottle. "I'm not drunk." I start to drink from the water bottle despite my protests.

"Then why did you take the water bottle?" Theo raises an eyebrow.

"I'm thirsty."

Theo only rolls his eyes at me.

"Jared and Mason left. Mason said they needed to catch up. They shouldn't be back till later."

I nod my head. Good. I didn't need Jared to know I had been drinking. The fuzzy feeling I had has started to fade, and I feel more aware of my surroundings. Theo watches as I drink the water. His eyebrows scrunched together. I could see the stress lines forming on his forehead.

I take another sip of the water and tilt my head to the side. "Where were you today?"

Theo sighs. "I went to visit my family." His voice was rough as if he was looking back on something stressful. I nodded my head. Theo only sighs again.

I shift on the bed. "Well, thank you for the water. You don't have to stay with me anymore. I can take care of myself." 

"No." Theo shakes his head making a few strands of dark hair fall over his face. "I don't want to be alone right now."

A blush creeps onto my face. I don't know why. 

"Okay. What should we do?" I ask. I push myself off the bed, attempting to shake off the headache that came along with standing up. 

Theo shrugs, and he walks from my room towards the kitchen. I shake my head at him and follow behind him. He walks to the fridge and opens up the freezer.  His eyes glance over the contents while I lean against the counter. Theo pulls a bag of pizza rolls from the freezer. 

"Pizza rolls?" 

Theo turns to me, remembering that I exist. "They are the most perfect food available to mankind."

He turns back towards the counter and opens a cabinet to pull out two paper plates. He pours a huge pile of pizza rolls onto the first plate and places that plate into the microwave.  He pushes a button, and the whirring sound of the microwave buzzes through the room.

"Why we're you worried today?" I ask. It was a dumb question. I shouldn't be nosy. Maybe it was still the tipsy me talking, but when it came to Theo, I was always curious.

Theo turns to me. "I didn't want your brother to come home to find you drunk and kill me, Angel," he says dismissively.

I cross my arms. "No."

Theo scrunches his face as he lets out a breath. I think it was to keep his cool. I should back down and stop asking questions, but my dumb self had to continue to pry into his private life.

Theo pinches the bridge of his nose. "What do you mean no?"

"That's not the reason why, or its not the only reason."

I've accepted my dumbness.

The microwave beeped, and Theo dismissed our conversation, more like an interrogation. He took out the pizza rolls and started to move half over to the other plate, which he then handed to me. I walked over to the couch with my pizza rolls, and Theo sat on the couch as well. 

I wanted to pry more. I wanted to ask why he was stressed and upset, but I remembered that I will not let myself get close to Theo. I will not make the same mistake twice. 

Theo and I ate in silence. The pizza rolls were as good as pizza rolls get. When I finished eating, Theo had already gotten up and thrown his plate away. I got up to throw away my plate, and I considered going back to my room. However, Theo said he didn't want to alone. And I would be damned to leave someone to their own thoughts.

I go back to sit on the couch. Theo watches me sit down. 

"What's your favorite color?" he asks in a detached tone. 

It caught me off guard. I looked down at my hands thinking of what my favorite color was. It had been so long since I had been asked. 

"Grey."

Theo nodded. "That's kind of dull."

I shake my head. "No, it's not. Grey is the mix of the color black and the color white. It is a light to the darkness and darkness to light. It is the middle, and the opposite of wherever it stands."

I realize I sound ridiculous, and quite frankly I was coming up with a stupid excuse to like the color. Grey was nothing but grey; nothing more, nothing less. I almost felt like I did a disservice to grey by giving a meaning because I was not letting it be itself, but grey is just a color. It had no feelings.

I'm overthinking again. 

Theo chuckles softly. "An explanation doesn't make it any less dull."

-.-.-