More Than Meets The Eye

More Than Meets The Eye -9-

Noelle had called for Autumn to come home as soon as Cassie had dropped her and Will off back at his house.

“We’ll talk in the car,” Autumn said lowly and smiled brilliantly at Eloise who smiled back at her. “Thanks for having me, Eloise.”

The woman smiled, wrinkles forming around her grin. “Any time Autumn.”

“Come on Will,” Autumn urged, grabbing her friend’s arm and started pulling him out the door.

“Be back soon Will!” Tim grunted with a frown, staring his son down yet there was a noticeable twinkle in his eyes.

“Sure dad,” Will said with a grimace and this time he dragged Autumn instead, straight to his car. He let out a groan as soon as he drove off round the corner and out of the couple’s sight.

“Ooh Will are you going to have the mature ‘talk’?” Autumn teased with a grin. After no response from Will, her eyebrows shot up and her grin broadened. “You are aren’t you?”

“No,” Will said, aggravated and rubbed his temples. He looked as though he was in his mid twenties rather than seventeen! “They’re just . . . weird that way. You know – parents? Oh what are we doing?!” He slowed down the speed of the car and glanced at Autumn from the corner of his eye. He had almost forgotten what had happened that day! “So what happened in the house?”

Autumn blanched, clasping her hands together to stop them from shaking. Ironic how Autumn wasn’t afraid of acting out a character on TV in front of millions of people and yet she was petrified at the very fresh memory of being in the house!

Then again, it was very frightening for her.

“Someone was in the house,” she whispered. “And I just know he was looking for something.”

“How . . .”

“I heard him say Viper,” Autumn said abruptly, her eyes widening involuntarily when he drove into her street. “He swore too. I was hiding in one of the rooms and he tried opening – do you know how frightening that is?!” Her breathing suddenly grew ragged and Will almost thought the whites of her eyes had taken over her pretty brown coloured pupils – only for a split second though. “It was so . . . freaky.” She shuddered. “And he was so loud, stomping around like a giant! I’m surprised you guys didn’t hear.”

“Didn’t sound too good,” Will said grimly, stopping just at the end of Autumn’s driveway. “And when Cassie honked . . . what happened?”

She shook her head and let out a bitter laugh. “The guy legged it; heavy as an elephant and disappeared. Good thing she honked.”

“Well you’re safe,” Will said, opening up his car door and strolled over to Autumn’s side, helping her out with a warm hand.

Both surprising himself and Autumn, Will pulled her into a hug, squeezing his arms tighter and pressed his chin atop of her head.

Unwillingly, Autumn’s cheeks flared brightly, the heat rising up her neck at a rapid pace.

If anybody who had been passing by were watching the two, they would have thought it was a romantic temporary farewell when the girl retired for the night.

Autumn and Will stood there for a while, Autumn finally deciding to hug him back. It felt . . . comfortable, warm . . . just right.

Autumn’s cheeks heightened to a new level of warmth and redness and she ducked her head in case he looked down at her. The very thought of feeling so comfortable made her blush even harder. She cursed herself internally and groaned inwardly, wishing the embarrassment would fade.