Reconstructing Amelia (unedited)

Chapter 92

December 23rd, 2019

"Come on, Eli, please," I pleaded, standing next to his bed where he was still sleeping.

He only buried himself deeper in his covers, mumbling something under his breath. "No,"

"Eli, it's twelve already and I need to meet Janie,"

"Can't you drive yourself?" he complained.

"I can't anymore, remember?"

"Then ask her to pick you up," he suggested tiredly.

I frowned. "She's still working. She's supposed to meet me there after her shift,"

"Call Cato to drive you,"

"He and Xander are still working too," I answered irritably. "Eli, please,"

Eli only grumbled to himself again, still refusing to move.

I sighed, turning on my heel and heading for the stairs. "Fine, I'll find my own way there,"

"How?" he mumbled. "You can't drive,"

"I'm just going to walk," I informed him, leaving his bedroom and going downstairs and putting on my coat and shoes. I slid my phone into my pocket as Eli suddenly came running down the stairs dressed in sweats and a T-shirt, his curly blond hair an unruly mess atop his head.

"Wait, Mia!" he shouted, still looking half-asleep as he rushed up to me. "I'll drive you!"

I moved towards the door anyway. "It's fine Eli, I'll just walk. I don't mind,"

"No!" Eli ran through his hair with a sigh. "Cato will kill me if I let you go alone," He shoved his feet into shoes I'm positive weren't his and grabbed his keys. "Let's go,"

"Eli, I'm perfectly capable of walking," I told him. "I did it for two months on my own,"

"Yeah, well now we have six other brothers that will beat my ass if I don't give you a ride, so I'm taking you," he said matter-of-factly, grabbing my arm and pulling me towards the car.

***

We pulled up alongside the shopping area in front of the Starbucks Janie had told me to meet her at.

"Thanks for the ride, Eli," I said sweetly, flashing him a smile.

He rolled his eyes. "Yeah yeah, go do your thing," I slid out of the car. "Text me if you need a ride home, okay?" he called after me.

"I will," I promised, closing the car door and stepping away. I made my way inside the building, spotting Janie at a table with two festive-looking paper cups. "Hi," I greeted, plopping down into the chair across from her.

"Hey," She grinned brightly, sliding a cup towards me. "I got you a peppermint mocha," she informed me. "Trust me, it's the best holiday drink ever,"

I took a small sip, immediately loving the bitterness of the coffee and the sweetness of the peppermint and chocolate. "Agreed," I said as we both rose to our feet. "So . . . where are we going?"

"I was thinking Macy's," Janie suggested. "It's a couple of streets over but we can window shop on the way there,"

"Sounds good to me," I didn't really know what window shopping was but I assumed it was something close to browsing through store windows while you walked.

We walked the three blocks it took to reach the right store, talking and giggling excitedly the entire time whilst ogling at different plastic models through the giant glass windows of stores we passed. Several people gave us odd looks as we laughed and talked a little too loudly but we didn't mind.