Keeping Claire

Chapter Fifteen

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Stay Sane and Beautiful<3

XOXO

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Chapter Fifteen

Claire’s POV-

                After we left the concert, Cody drove back to my apartment with a duffel bag in hand. The thought of him staying gave me comfort. I don’t know how I would react if he left. I don’t know why I felt this way. He’d left me before and I was fine. But it was as if all the sudden I couldn’t even think without him by my side. But can you fall in love with someone that you’ve only known for about a week?

                At this point we were inside my apartment, sitting on the couch. Cody must have carried me in while I was having an internal debate with myself.

                “What are you thinking about?” He asked. I guess he was watching me while I was in my own little world. I probably looked like an idiot too.

                But if I wanted to confront him about his strange yet comforting attraction to me, now would be the time to do it. Besides, I had nothing to lose, except for Cody. Then there was no reason for living. “Why are you so protective of me? I mean, we’ve only been dating about a week, but you treat me like we’ve been going out for a year. I’ve asked you before and you just changed the subject.” I only meant to ask the first question, then everything else came tumbling out on its own.

                He looked at my wrists, gently stroking the scars that still reminded me of the potential of my state. They still hadn’t healed up all the way. They were also still tender, but his gentle touch made them tingle.

                Then he spoke. “I watched my brother wither away because he was depressed and reclusive. I loved him. When he committed suicide, we lived on Long Island. I couldn’t handle being there and having all those reminders of him, so I moved here. A few months after, you started working at the CD Shop. I saw the hurt you feel in your eyes the first time I saw you. It was the same thing I saw in my brother. But I also see hope in your eyes, Claire. I want to be with you. You bring me the happiness that I lost when my brother died.

                “I adore everything about you. Your hair and eyes, the way you blush at the slightest compliment, and how you’re so clumsy. That part is probably the cutest.” He was smiling the whole time, almost as if he were talking to himself and not me. He continued, “I refuse to let another person that I care about get sucked into that fate. To be honest, Claire, I don’t really know why I’m so attracted to you. But it’s like the first time I saw you, my whole world lit up. All I wanted to do is be with you. But when I figure out what it is exactly that makes me like you so much, I’ll let ya know.” He ended with a smile.

                I returned the smile. Smiling is all I could do.

                We sat in our comfortable silence for what seemed like hours. Me reminiscing on what he had just told me an him staring at the scars on my wrists. He never stopped rubbing his giant thumb over them. It was weirdly comforting. Only God knows why.

                Finally, Cody broke the silence. “Does it creep you out that we sleep in the same bed?”

                It was a loaded question. I would be lying if I said no, but I would be lying if I said yes. I was scared to tell him how I really felt because then he might not keep doing it. I liked it when he slept with me. I felt safe when I was in his arms. But it was somewhat foreign to me. But I ‘m positive I would get used to it eventually.