Checking Up On You

9 Nora

"Can you turn around please?"

I smile to myself at the fact that he doesn't want me to see him. Believe it or not, it's not the first time I've seen a shirtless guy.

My eyes meet his when I realize I've been staring him down.

He has a rose vine starting at his right collarbone and trailing down his arm, reaching his hand. On his left pec, reaching to his shoulder and then wrapping around his arm are intricate lightning streaks. And on both sides of his ribcage, he has detailed tattoos of Icarus falling from the sky, winging splayed out.

"Yeah sure," I stutter out. He turns around and my eyes gawk at the last tattoo between his shoulder blades. I'm guessing it's a tribal tattoo of some sort.

"Nora..." He can feel my eyes on him.

I do as he asks and change my own clothes as well. I don't want to go over the top but I don't want to look like I came in what I wore to bed last night. Which is also what I wore to classes today.

I pull my shirt over my stomach and turn around, thinking Owen is done before me. He has his pants on but I notice a dark spot on his side that I didn't see before. He sees me looking at it and tries to pull his shirt quickly but it's obvious it hurts.

"So first you get your lip cut open because of family problems. Am I supposed to think that bruise was an accident?"

"Please leave it alone Nora. I really don't want to talk about it."

"Is someone hurting you? You need to tell someone. You can tell me." I place a hand on his arm tenderly.

He looks at me and he has an unreadable face. I see a couple tears well up in his eyes but he shakes his head quickly.

"No, I can't Nora. It wouldn't be right to tell you."

I bite my bottom lip. "Okay."

"It's that one," I say, pointing to the baby blue house on the right. Cars fill the driveway and both sides of the street. He pulls up to the curb and puts it in park, ready to get out but I stop him.

"Slow down Sonic, you can't just walk in there." I unbuckle and turn in the seat to face him.

"Did you just call me Sonic?" He snorts to himself.

"Shut up and pay attention."

He unbuckles to turn in his seat like me.

"My dad will interrogate you. But not the usual interrogation. He asks about your family's medical history like allergies, uh cancer, et cetera."

A look passes over his face but he distracts me with a snarky comment. "So he'd rather know what allergies our kids will have than if I'm in the mafia?"

"Exactly. My mother will make you feel insignificant. You are merely a fly to her. If you ask her to pass the mashed potatoes, she'll completely ignore you. Don't let her get to you."

"Alrighty." I give him a weird look. He's acting like this is grocery shopping, a complete breeze. My family is insane.

"My sister will hit on you. Whatever I own, she wants. And she won't stop til she gets it."

"You own me?" He's got a sly smirk on his face. I discreetly crack a knuckle, trying to calm my nerves.

"In this situation, yes. But you own me. We have to make it look like we like each other."

He runs a hand through his hair. "Nora, you can just say we're dating. That's what couples do."

I rub my face, frustrated. "This shouldn't even be happening. If my sister could've kept her fucking mouth shut, we wouldn't be in this position." I throw my head back against the headrest on the seat.

He reaches for the console and takes my hand in his, squeezing reassuringly. "It'll be alright. You can do this. Just be normal and I'll follow you around like a little puppy dog."

"Me acting normal is typically starting a fight and telling my sister to go to hell."

He hands me my purse. "And I'm still right there with you."