Crooks & Nooks

Reassurance and Puppies

Chapter 14

I pulled into a parking spot and walked in. I walked in the elevator and hit the third floor button. I tried to hold the tears in and covered my cheek with my hand. When the elevator stopped, I quickly walked out and to Will's apartment. I knocked on the door and waited. Jack appeared behind the door and took in my appearance.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"I need Will," I said, instead of answering his question. He nodded and gestured me to come in.

"Hey, what happened?" Will asked and the tears started to flow. I hated crying, I hated feeling helpless, so I told myself that I wasn't going to cry, but I couldn't keep it in. Will immediately wrapped his arms around me and I hugged back.

"Will, I'll be back later, okay?" I heard Jack yell and then the door slammed shut.

"It'll be okay, shh," Will whispered in my ear.

I cried and cried and cried until I had no more tears left, and then I cried some more. After I cried, I went into Will's bathroom and washed my face off. I looked in the mirror, all of my makeup gone. I never really was insecure. Since I danced so much, I was healthy and that was all that mattered to me. I loved wearing makeup, not because it made me look better, but because I loved trying out new looks and seeing how I could compliment my face. I quickly dried my face and went back out.

"I made you some hot chocolate," Will said and handed me a cup.

I went back to the couch and sat down.

"Do you want to talk about it?" he asked softly.

"Yeah. My mom and I were arguing about posters. I want to redecorate my room, and I want to put some posters on the walls, but my mom hates posters and she doesn't want me to put anything on the walls. One thing led to another, and the next thing I know, she's slapped me and I don't know who to go to," I explained, hiccuping after every few words.

It was a stupid thing, just like it always was. We always fought over the most stupid issues and then it just turned into a big deal. 

Will pulled me into another hug and I almost started crying again.

"Do you like dogs?" Will asked.

"That's a little random, but yeah, I love dogs," I told Will.

"Okay, come with me, I know what will cheer you up," Will said and stood up.

We left his apartment and walked down to his car. Neither of us said a word while he drove. I was lost in my thoughts and well, Will was focusing on driving. We got out when we got to an animal shelter, and Will walked in.

I took a moment to calm myself and then I followed him inside. When we got in I saw a whole lot of cats. I was not a cat person, they scared every little fiber in my body. They were small and their claws and eyes and teeth were all so dangerous. I preferred dogs. Will walked past the cats and he got to the dogs. I looked at all the dogs, already feeling better. I ran over to a Maltese puppy and started to pet him or her. I looked at the tag next to the kennel.

Name: Molly

Age: 6 weeks

Sex: Female

It went on and talked about other things, but I started to pet her again. I looked up to see Will talking to a Golden Retriever in a baby voice. I laughed and made my way over to him.

"Aww, who's a good girl, yes that's right, you are," Will said with a baby voice.

"You're going to spoil her," I said and his attention snapped back to me.

"I'm glad to see that you're feeling better," Will said.

"Why are we here?" I asked.

"I figured coming here would make you happy and I wanted to get a dog," Will said.

"You're getting a dog?" I asked in surprise.

"Yeah. Harry died a year ago and I wanted to get another one," Will said.

"You had a dog before?" I asked.

"Yeah, he was a Labradoodle mix," Will said.

We went back to looking at dogs. I petted every single one of them, and then Will made his choice.

"Aww, she's adorable," I said.

He had chosen a black Labrador Retriever puppy and he named her Tessa. Will and Tessa. It had a nice ring to it.

"Why Tessa?" I asked when we were in the car.

"My sister's name was Tessa and I just felt like it would fit, you know?" Will explained.

I nodded and kept brushing my fingers through Tessa's fur. We got back to his apartment and I played with Tessa. Will was doing some homework that he needed to turn in tomorrow.

"Do you want to watch a movie?" Will asked.

"Yeah, sure," I replied. Anything to distract me from my thoughts.

"You can choose," Will said and gave me the remote. I chose some random movie that I thought was remotely interesting.

Will had popped a bag of popcorn and we were sharing it, the bowl sitting in between us. 

I tuned out the movie and turned to my thoughts. I could not believe that my mom had hit me. She had never done that before, no matter how mad she was. And I had ruined our date thing. But Will did get a dog, which was awesome.

"Rayna?" Will asked.

"Yeah?" I replied.

"Movie's over and I'm really tired so I think I'm gonna go to bed," Will said.

"Okay, I'll take the couch," I said and started to make myself comfortable.

"No way. I'll take the couch and you can take my bed," Will said.

"I'm already in your house, I can't take your bed too," I argued.

"Come on, I'll sleep in my bed only if you sleep there too," Will compromised.

"Okay," I said and pretended to look disappointed. 

I was no where near disappointed, I was gonna share a bed with a really attractive boy. We both got up and walked to Will's room. I made myself comfy and started to sleep.

~*~*~

I rubbed my eyes and stretched, feeling my back crack. I sat up and threw the blanket off of me. I went straight to the bathroom, and washed my face. I walked into the kitchen, following the smell of waffles. I found Will throwing the waffles in the trash.

"Why are you throwing the waffles in the trash?" I questioned.

"I may have burned them," Will said sheepishly. "I got distracted with Tess, so I didn't hear the sound when it was over, so they got burnt."

I laughed and soon, Will joined in. I cleaned up the waffle maker and started to make some more. Will grabbed two glasses and poured some orange juice in them. I put the waffles in the plates and we sat down at Will's dinner table and started eating.

"I'm really sorry for barging in yesterday and ruining our day," I said to Will.

"Hey, it's okay. All that matters is that you're feeling better. I don't care about the carnival," Will said.

"Thanks, Will," I said.

"Anytime," Will answered and we continued to talk and eat. 

Will was easy at helping my problems disappear, if only for a little while. 

~*~*~
A/N: So this chapter was pretty cute, well the end was. How do you guys feel about them missing the carnival and Tessa? And Ray's mom situation?