My Love.

22

B E L L A

November 21st 2019

I didn't sleep well at all last night, even though I fell asleep first at around midnight I ended up waking up at least every half an hour. It was 5am when I eventually decided that I'd had enough because my brain clearly didn't want me to rest right now. Owen had distanced himself from me In his slumber meaning that I only had to escape from under his outstretched arm rather than his whole body.

I couldn't tell if it was the annoyance and hurt that my dad had caused me or the guilt for how I treated Owen that was keeping me awake, but it was definitely one of the two. As I slowly shut the door to my room I could hear the excited taps of my puppy's feet which instantly relaxed me slightly. When I got into the living room the last thing I expected to see was Charlie bending down to scoop Arlo up into his arms, I Knew he was a morning person but I didn't think he meant this early.

"Didn't expect you to be up." I whispered as I entered the space dimly lit up by the small lamp in the corner. Charlie jumped at the sudden sound of my voice and I'll admit the sight made me chuckle a little.

"Jesus Christ Bella. Way to creep up on someone."

He was clutching his chest with his free hand and I moved closer in order to stroke Arlo.

"I'm sorry, I thought you might've heard me."

"It's alright, you've got those ninja skills down good Johnson. Whats got you up at this time?"

"Uh, my mind hasn't really let me sleep. Every time I tried I'd end up awake again not long after. What about you?"

"No reason really, my body just decided it wasn't tired and woke itself up. What's going on in that head of yours right now?"

We sat on the sofa and he placed the puppy between us so that we could both give him a fuss.

"Just everything that happened yesterday, and when things like that happen I end up dragging up old memories for myself."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"I would but I don't want to wake Ky or Owen up, we both know they love their Sunday beauty rest."

"How about we take this one out to the bathroom, we can talk as loud as you need then?"

"I'd like that. But you might wanna wear more than just some shorts Charles, it's below freezing out there."

"Very true, I'll be right back."

He snuck off 'Bond style' back into Kyra's room and resurfaced moments later in a few more layers more appropriate for the snow outside. I put Arlo on his lead and grabbed a ball for him to play fetch with before putting Owens coat on and quietly slipped out of the door. We didn't talk much in the journey down to the dog field due to the fear of disturbing any other apartments but as soon as we got there Charlie took charge of throwing the ball and asking questions.

"So what's going on Bella?"

"I assume they told you what happened yesterday?"

"They did yes, it took a lot of persuasion but I could tell Owen was beating himself up over it."

My heart clenched at the fact he'd made himself upset over me. I knew now that he was merely trying to protect me from the man that I know would just continue to hurt me if I keep giving him chances.

"Yeah I snapped at him because I thought he was trying to keep it from me, but I hope he wasn't."

"Bella trust me, he wasn't lying when he told me he was trying to get the right words out to you. He's a terrible liar and I'm sure you know that."