Ruthless

Chapter 14

Shailene Point of View

The front door opens and my mind goes blank. I'm totally dumbfounded. I was hoping that someone else would answer, but with my luck of course it was him.

He stands there in dark washed jeans and a cream cardigan-looking fucking adorable- and the look on his face shows that he clearly wasn't expecting to see me.

"Shailene?" he asks. "What are you doing here?"

I desperately search my brain trying to come up with a clever answer but I come up blank.

"I.." I begin but then my voice hitches. It's chilly out, so I shiver slightly.

I look horrendous. When I sprinted out of the hotel room, I left in what I was wearing, which just happened to be an oversized t-shirt with the matching shorts - which were a bit too tight now - and the comfortable light brown ugg boots that no one should ever wear in public. My coat hangs over my shoulders, not buttoned up, with my bare legs on full display.

"Shai?" he asks again.

"Hi Theo," I finally say.

I have to give a reason for being here. I'm not family - not like Ruth - I can't just show up here whenever I feel like it.

"I just didn't know where else to go." I answer truthfully.

On the way here, while sitting in the taxi, the though did cross my mind to just go to another hotel, but the truth was I didn't want to.

Theo looks at me once again and then places his arm around my shoulders pushing me inside. As soon as the front door closes, the heat hits me. I no longer feel underdressed. It's March so England tends to be quite cold still. They must have the heating on full blast. He takes my suitcase and leaves it next to the staircase. Theo takes off my coat and throws it on the coatrack, then he pushes me into the kitchen.

I look around in awe at the room. The entire floor is giant shiny white tile, with the cabinets that same shade except in wood. There is a small window above the cooker and through it I see Theo's mom, Jane. She's dressed in all cotton and laying on a hammock in the back garden, with just a wooly blanket thrown over her legs. She's looking out, watching the sun set. She laughs and I notice she's talking on the phone.

I haven't seen her since the divergent london premiere last year, I missed her.

"Do you want some tea?" Theo asks.

I nod. "Sure,"

He turns on the kettle and and starts rummeging through cabinets.

"Theo who are you talking to?" A woman yells from the living room.

Through the arch between the living room and kitchen, I see Theo's dad Phillip sprawled out on one of the sofas and Theo's sister Natasha on the other. They're watching some sports commentary tv show.

"A friend," Theo yells back.

Natasha's head snaps up and her gaze meets mine. She stands up immediately. "Holy shit...when'd you get here?"

She comes over to me and gives me a long hug. Theo's dad keeps looking at me. "Shailene?"

"Yeah, it's me." I don't want to trouble him so instead of waiting for him to come over to me, I go to him. I walk into the living room and hug him. He holds on tight and then kisses my cheek twice. "It's good to see you! We miss you around here, you should visit more often."

I smile. Aww, they missed me.

Why, though?

Phillip, Theo's dad, pats the sofa and I sit next to him. Natasha sits opposite us on the other couch.