Macto

25; Paper Trails

"Yeah, I'm with her right now," the annoyed tone in his voice did not go unnoticed by me or the recipient of the phone call.

"She's fine. We will be over in just a second," he added after a minute.

We..?

"Let's go," Benz's attention was suddenly focused on me again. The way he made it so calm and normal between us allowed me to breath a sigh of relief.

But then I remembered it was because of the fact that he didn't have feelings for me. That's why it was so easy for him to shrug off our 'almost kiss' and pretend like it didn't happen.

I raised an eyebrow at his simple comment that lacked significant detail.

"What do you mean 'lets go'? It's the middle of the night.."

He nodded his head slowly while his eyes seemed to swallow me whole amidst the sea of darkness.

"I'm not letting you wake up alone on Christmas. Thats the equivalent of kicking a puppy," I chuckled at his reference.

"Maybe I would rather sleep in my bed...I don't sleep well on couches," I teasingly played back, wondering where the minuscule amount of flirtation was coming from.

Instead of responding, he stood from the bed and walked over to where I was laying. He leaned down slowly and refused to meet my bewildered stare. Gently, he pulled me out from under the blankets and scooped my body into his arms.

As it goes, a rosy blush melted on my face at the result of our proximity. The overwhelming feeling of comfort and belonging settled in my mind, just as they had every single time I was in his arms.

"I'm capable of walking, you know," I muttered against his shoulder as we walked out of the room. The fondness in my voice was overflowing but I couldn't help it.

"You and I both know this is where you would rather be, Brita," although he spoke casually, just hearing him say my name out loud sent chills down my spine.

I dug my head into his neck and prayed to God that time could pause. That I could just exist in a world where all I had to do was be held by the boy who had stolen every single part of my soul that held any meaning.

Unfortunately, God doesn't take too many petty requests. I realized as the door to Benz's apartment opened and the smell of Christmas and candy canes filled the air. Time had decided to keep on going.

"Brita." A concerned Shay swooped into my vision. I shot her a weak smile as she cupped my face in between her hands.

Her light eyes were chocked full of concern and empathy. She was much easier to read then Benz.

The Maddox kids had a way comforting others that did not involve speaking. It was unlike anything I had ever experienced before. It was part of the reason I had opened up to Benz so greatly, because I knew that he wouldn't hit me with a long, melodramatic speech of 'inspiration'. Or even worse, the 'don't worry about it, just trust in God'. Even though I never considered myself atheist, the religion card never seemed to comfort me. It may have sounded bad, but I was in no position to lie.

Both Shay and Benz has an ability to just look at someone and speak with everything except their mouths.

"It's okay, everything is going to be okay," I whispered, almost as if I were responding to some imaginary apology. It was an odd sensation to actually mean the words that I spoke. Something about being pressed against Benz provided me with a different perspective. A more positive one. It was mysterious but absolutely true. It was going to be okay.