The Word Love

XXI

I pounded on the door as I shivered. My whole body was drenched in rain because I jogged all the way to his house. From here, I could hear some shouting coming from inside. Then the door opened and Douglas appeared. He looked surprised to see me here.

Then his eyes fell on my wet clothes, "What t- What are you doing here and why are you wet?"

My eyes went to the two adults who were screaming at each other. Douglas noticed me looking and he instantly closed the door behind him. I averted my attention back to him.

"Why are you here and why are you wet?" he repeated his question.

"I wanted to talk to you," I answered, "I was jogging and then I started to think about you. Then I decided that I wanted to tell you why I didn't say anything when you asked me to be your girlfriend. I couldn't wait any longer so I decided to jog here, but then it started to rain."

He stayed quiet and I continued, "I wanted to apologize. I didn't mean to hurt you, but I did and I'm sorry for that. It's just when you asked me to be your girlfriend, I didn't know what to say. I was so afraid of being hurt again and I pushed you away. What you need to know is that I really, really, really like you."

His eyes remained icy, "You're too late. I'm with Sarah now."

"And she's cheating on you," I reminded him.

He took a step forward, anger shown in his eyes, "Stop throwing these accusations around about my girlfriend."

"You don't even like her!" I exclaimed, "And it isn't an accusation. It's the truth, and I think you know that too."

"Bullshit!" he spit out and kicked his door.

I took a step away from and he noticed. I wasn't afraid of him. I was just shocked that he was so furious. I've never seen him like this before and I didn't know how else to react.

His face softened.

"Sorry," he whispered and looked down at his shoes.

"What's wrong?" I was about to reach my hand out to give him comfort but decided against it.

"Nothing," he sighed and ran his fingers through his messy hair.

I frowned and glanced at the door, remembering about the two people arguing in the house, "Are you s-"

"I don't want to talk about it," he gritted through his teeth, "Not right now and definitely not with you."

The door opened and the shouting got louder. I looked down and saw Ella looking up at Douglas and I.

"Douglas, can we get ice cream now?" she asked.

He quickly closed the door and then faked a smile, "Sure, Unicorn. We can go now."

She looked over at me, "Do you want ice cream?"

"I'm not sure I'm invited," I told her and glanced at Douglas.

He looked away.

Ella frowned and grabbed Douglas's jeans in her small hands. He looked down at her.

"Can Aimee get ice cream with us?" she asked him with puppy eyes.

My heart melted right then and there.

He scratched his head and gave her an unsure look, "I don't know..."

"Please," she stood up on her tippy toes.

He sighed and slowly nodded. Ella jumped up and down in happiness and grabbed both of our hands. She pulled us over to Douglas's car and he helped her into the back seat while I went to the passenger seat. Instantly, I pulled the seat belt over my body and clicked it. My knee bounced up and down as I nervously waited for Douglas to get in the car and drive. When he got into his seat, I noticed that he forgot to put on his seatbelt.