Ruthless

Chapter 4

Shailene Point Of View

I stand in the shower breathing heavily, letting the water pour down my face. I cannot believe that just happened. What the hell has gotten into Theo? He's playing it up, trying to disguise his true feelings. He misses her, of course he does. How could he not? He was with her for six years! He needs comfort and to forget, and while I'd love to be that for him, I know I can't because then it would be a mistake. I want to be his forever, not his rebound for a night or two.

I put the soap down on the little shelf and I lose my balance, slipping and I fall. My head bangs against the tile wall and I get slightly dizzy. I let out a scream.

Within seconds, I mean literally seconds, Theo is on the other side of the door knocking.

"Shai?! You alright?!" he yells frantically.

My head spins and I sit down with the water still falling across my face. I don't want him coming in and seeing me naked. Not in this state at least.

"Yeah...I..just slipped. I'm fine."

"You sure?" he asks again.

"Yeah, totally. Go back to cooking. I'll be out in a minute."

I hear him walk back to the kitchen and I turn off the faucet. I dry myself with the towel quickly and steal a glance in the mirror, just to make sure I'm alright. No sign of blood or cuts, I'm fine.

I wrap the towel around my body and leave the bathroom. Before heading to my bedroom, I poke my head into the kitchen so thatt I can see, but Theo can't see me.

He's finishing up from the looks of it, and I see an opened bottle of Budweiser standing on the counter. Obviously, he decided to start drinking early.

I make my way to the bedroom and I'm faced with the decision of chosing what to wear. I don't want to be too dressed up, not too formal, yet not too casula and not too provocative either. I decide, eventually, that my best bet is a pair of lightwashed jeans, a black spaghtetti string tank top with a black and red checkered shirt over it. I leave my hair wet.

I walk to the kitchen with my phone in hand and just as I walk in, it vibrates. I glance down. It's from Roxanne.

Nahko and I just left the house. Be there soon.

Awesome.

"You done?" I ask Theo. He looks up from his own phone and nods at me. He puts it in the back pocket of his jeans and takes a swing of his beer.

My phone vibrates again. This time it's Keleigh, Miles' girlfriend.

at 7/11. you need anything?

I turn to Theo. "Do we have everything? Keleigh wants to know. She's at the grocery store."

He shakes his head and plops himself down on the sofa in the living room. I pushed the dining room table to face the wall, and put all the food there. All the chairs are in my bedroom to make more room.

I text Keleigh back letting her know we have everything and sit next to Theo on the sofa.

He looks at me. "You look nice. Sorry if I made you uncomfortable earlier, I didn't mean to."

I study his features. His hair looks darker and thicker, and it's curlier. His eyes look tired, he's been crying in private, not that he'd admit it.

"It's fine. I wasn't uncomfortable." I say truthfully. "You miss her."

He shakes his head. "No I don-"

I interrupt him. "Oh don't lie. You do. You love her."

"I loved her. That fire burned out long ago. It just wasn't the same anymore."

I frown. Alright, then." So why the long face?"

He looks at me and grabs my legs so that they're resting over his thighs. He takes another swing of the beer. I don't like him like this. "Well Shailene," I shudder at the mention of my full name. No one says that unless they're being profesional or serious. He shakes his head and lets out a sad laugh. "It might have something to with the fact that I'm thirty years old and virtually alone. I just never imagined my life like this."

I take the beer out of his hand and put it on the ground. I turn my body so that I'm facing him looking him deep in the eyes. It just so happens that I happen to be straddling him.

"So call her! Theo, work it out. Don't throw away six years! I mean that's six years,Theo! That's something special! Call her!"

He puts one of his hands on my lower back, the other he laces with one of mine. "But I don't want to Shai."

His lips are coming towards me. Ten inches, seven, five, two. "What I really want is to kiss you."

I swallow loudly, nervously. "You do?"

He nods, his eyes moving from my eyes to my lips. "Yes."

Oh crap. No no. But the othe rpart of my mind doesn't agree. Just do it! You know you want to! He wants to too!

Just as his lips are about to graze mine the doorbell rings and I jump up off of him, falling backwards and landing with my back on the floor. Theo stands up but I get up quicker.

"I'm fine!" I run to the front door and swing it open. Nahko and about twenty other people stand there. Nahko dangles a bag of cheetos in front of my face and I smile. I throw my arms around him and people start to pur in. Someone turns the music up all the way.

"Party Time!" I yell and close the front door.

xx

Thank you for reading! Let me know what you think.

Yes, yes Ruth Kearney was at the premiere in New York. Sheo is still sheo and I'll continue doing what I want!

PEACE OUT!!