𝒑𝒆𝒕𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒉𝒐𝒓 ᖭི༏ᖫྀ 𝚎𝚕𝚕𝚒𝚎 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕𝚒𝚊𝚖𝚜

chapter twenty nine : underground

[XXIX]

THE WHITE SHEETS were plush and soft against my bare skin as I basked in the warm summer light that dappled our bare bodies with innocence that juxtaposed the marred quilt that spilled over the bed from our previous night together.

As I stirred with the morning, I felt a strong arm around me, and remembered where I was. Sun. Warmth. Her. I clamoured for it in my mind; I wanted to be closer, as if I could. But as if she read my mind, this strong arm wrapped my waist up and held me deeply against her body.

We stayed like that for a few more minutes until, eventually, I had to pee.

As all things go, pee is usually something that interrupts the romance. Unless you're into it. Weirdos.

Ellie groaned as I tried to slide from her grip gently, scooping me back into her warm arms. I wriggled some more, and she protested,

"I just got you backkkkkk," she whined, still not breaking from her sleep, determined to keep me there.

But I wasn't planning on peeing on her, despite what some of you might be hoping for.

With one final push, I swung myself out of bed and over to the toilet. Ellie's eyes had opened now, and she glared her betrayal at me as I ambled away sheepishly to the bathroom.

I had to pee, right?

But I felt the sting of shame as I returned from my break to see her swaddled grumpily in the sheets, turned away from me.

"Cmon, Williams. We've got a whole day ahead of us!"

I jumped on the little duvet-burrito and it groaned in anguish. A few more tugs and pleas, and she finally pushed her way out of the bed, still grumbling as she emerged from her domestic cocoon.

Getting dressed was a little awkward, despite what we had felt and seen the previous night. The girl with me sheepishly changed with her back turned to me, and so did I, with perhaps a sneak peek at her wonderful sports bra that hugged her body perfectly.

I wanted to see my mum and introduce Ellie properly, although I wasn't sure what we were anymore. How did we feel about each other? Was it just a hookup? Were we...together?

My mind was spinning as I opened the bedroom door, grasping at questions that hadn't been asked and answers that hadn't been given.

Thankfully, a familiar face had been waiting for me, behind the door, and could now distract me from my internal monologue. I paused briefly at the embarrassing idea of him hearing anything from outside, but brushed it off as I eyed the expression on his face. The boy seemed distressed, overtly, eyes wandering left to right as he clasped his arm with apparent fear.

"Lev?" I asked, peering at him, noting his evident concern. He wouldn't have waited so painstakingly long outside for no reason.

"It's Finn. I haven't seen him since we arrived."

My eyes shook a little as I tried to keep my calm. Lev probably just hadn't been able to find him. But I hadn't seen him for a while either. And I had been too wrapped up in my mum, and Ellie, to keep tabs on him. Sometimes I forgot he was just a kid, barely out of the arms of his mother, barely sprouted from the soil of the earth, even though the apocalypse had attempted to make him a man. He wanted to be. I could see as I watched him move through life that he wanted to be more than what he was; independent, an adult, grown. But he wasn't. He needed someone. And I was supposed to be that.