All I hide

Chapter 45

"Sam your boyfriend is here!" Jacob calls from the bottom of the stairs.

"My what?" I look at Catherine and she simply shrugs.

"I'm guessing he means Elliott."

"But I never asked him over. Did you?"

"Nope."

Sighing, I leave our room, quickly running my fingers through my hair as I head downstairs. Elliott is in the living room talking to my aunt while Alex plays video games and Jacob quietly revises in the corner of the room, his books sprawled out in front of him. Alex notices me first as I enter the room and smirks. "Ellie your girlfriend is here."

Elliott turns to me, giving me the soft smile he only gives me, an earnest-almost-vulnerable look in his eyes. Why is he doing that? It's making my heart flutter. "Hey."

"Hey." I feel like I'm under a spell, being drawn in and unable to look away.

"You two can talk in the garden. It's sunny and no one will disturb you." Aunt Kathleen suggests giddily, not even trying to hide her excitement.

I take his hand and lead him outside to the bench on the patio, my attention shifting between the flower beds and other plants that Uncle Michael has planted over the years. "How comes you're here?"

"You don't want to see me?" he feigns hurt. "I can always leave."

"No, I mean you didn't say you were coming."

"I was at John's house then decided to come here to see how you and everyone else was doing. Have there been any updates about your Dad? John told me he was at Alex's school."

"None." I shake my head and try not to let the mention of John upset me. "He's not answering anyone's call and no one's seen him. It's like he's vanished all over again."

"Maybe he realised he wasn't welcome. Neither John nor Alex want to see him so what's the point?"

I hum in agreement, having nothing else to say on the topic.

"How's Alex doing?"

A smile instantly appears on my lips. "He's okay. Shaken and upset at first but now he's back to being his silly self."

"He didn't hug me when I arrived," he comments sulkily and I can't help but laugh.

"Because he's playing his games now. He doesn't get up for anything when he's gaming."

"Understandable."

"Do you play games?" I ask curiously, turning to him.

"I used to but my cousins play a lot. These days I spend my alone time playing my guitar and reading poetry..." he trails off embarrassedly, his cheeks flushing. "That's not weird right?"

"A guy liking poetry?" I shrug. "I think that's pretty romantic and anyways, I like poetry too."

"You do?"

"Mm. My mum introduced it to me and I've never looked back. There's something about the way simple words can evoke such intense feelings that I really admire. It's cool to see how others see the world, isn't it?"

"I guess so." He's giving me that look again and I try to stay unbothered as I look away.

"Movies can do that too, can't they? I'm the sort of person who when I like something, I become really immersed in it. I have to reach the end of the movie or finish the book as soon as possible. It drives me crazy if I don't."

"Mmm."

Oh my gosh, please stop looking at me like that. "H-has your birthday already passed? Should I get you a collection of some poems I've read? Or what about in a genre you like? What sort of poems do you read?"