A Bit of Wolf in Her

16. Because fuck you

For the next few weeks, living in the Delaney house became like a never-ending sense of déjà vu. The days blended together. Sometimes, each day got shorter than the next and time didn't even feel like something within her grasp. The sun would come up and when she blinked, the sun would set. A small part of her harboured a secret regret for leaving. She knew she left an awful place, but she missed the familiarity of it all. Strangeness surrounded her, and she couldn't recognise anything around her, including herself.

The Delaney's were trying to help her, but since coming back from the hospital, they had not let her go down the stairs, let alone out the house. It had been fun in the beginning, watching Elijah with amusement as he brought her breakfast in bed with disdain. But Winnie sometimes wondered how long it would take them to forgive her if she broke a window and sneaked out.

During the day, she was alone except if Noah or Lydia stayed home or one of her friends dropped by while the Delaney's were at school. Besides them, Winnie only had homework and a TV to distract herself.

By the fourth week, she was close to insanity. Even though it was Saturday, the house was dead quiet. Her friends were all busy, and she didn't have the strength to come up with ways to entertain herself.

Winnie slammed her biology textbook shut, her homework having failed to distract her for a while, the lack of movement causing her limbs to ache all over. When she went to stand up, a wave of nausea came crashing down on her. Besides a long groan, nothing happened and somehow got herself into a seated position on the bed. Another wave hit her, but this time, her memories caused the wave. Winnie's fingers absentmindedly grazed over the bandage covering a healing wound she hadn't had the guts to look at yet.

Winnie waited for something to happen–someone to burst through the door or someone's footsteps to sound downstairs, which happened every time she made a sound, but nothing happened. With surprising ease, she pushed herself out of the bed and, although it took her way too long; she made it downstairs. Although she hurt all over, her cabin fever won and she shuffled to the pool.

By the time she lowered herself onto the ground and dipped her feet into the cold water, she had done her workout for the day. The quiet was nicer outside, where Winnie could feel the sun on her skin and watch the water rippling beneath her.

"You know Lydia would kill you if she found you down here," she heard from behind her. Elijah stood on the porch, looking like he had just finished a workout or something, leaning against the sliding door leading to the backyard.

"I wouldn't hold my breath." Winnie closed her eyes, soaking in the sun. Silence before the body of water beneath her shifted, but Winnie didn't open her eyes.

"Does it still hurt?"

It was strange seeing him and talking to him at the same time. Since she got there, he made sure that just because they lived in the same house; they weren't in each other's company more than necessary. She shrugged, eyes still closed. Neither one of them moved, and Winnie tried not to cringe at the awkward silence between them. Curiosity prompted her to speak, though.

"Where is everyone?"

Elijah ran a hand through his hair. "Oh, one of our cousins is getting married tomorrow, so everyone headed up to the cabin close to the venue. I thought maybe Lydia said something to you."

Winnie shook her head but doubted that Lydia failing to divulge the information had been an honest mistake. She and Elijah were alone in a house with nothing to talk about but their feelings, which was Lydia's wet dream.

If Winnie had known there would be no one but the two of them there, she would have slithered home to the Andrei's on her bare stomach.

"You're not going?" she asked, despite wanting nothing more than to not be in his presence.