It Was All In The Eyes

Chapter 5: Enter

"Micheal, wake up." I was awoken by the sound of light knocking on the door. Judging by the amount of light coming in from the blinds it had to be midmorning. Meaning that it was Saturday morning. The third anniversary of Stephanie's mother passing.

My mother continued to pound on my door. "Michael, take care of the guest, your sister and I are heading out." she yelled through the door. Ever since I turned eighteen, she's been trusting me alot more with being alone in the house. I stared up at the ceiling above me for awhile before realizing I was in the guest room. I almost had forgotten that I had picked Stephanie up last night and locked her in my room. How did Mom know to knock at this door? I didn't think about it much before I began wondering about Steph. I figured she was still asleep, since her level of drunkenness last night was crazy high. She's definitely gonna be feeling it. I took my time getting out of bed and made my way out the room and down the hall towards my bathroom to get her some medication, knowing that the headache she would be suffering from would surely debilitate her.

I looked into the mirror at the young man that stared back at me. My eyes were dark and brown, with bags forming under them from all the late nights I've stayed up dealing with Stephanie lately; my skin was brown, and my short clean-cut hair, stuck to the side of my head despite the miniscule amount of sleep I'd actually gotten. I yawned and took care of my hygiene before leaving. I couldn't find the meds and assumed they were in my room. I didn't bother putting on any clothes and I figured she would still be asleep, so I didn't see the point in getting dressed beyond just boxers. I treaded out of the carpeted guest room out onto the cold, dark hardwood hallway towards Stephanie.

Carefully unlocking the door to my room, I walked right in. As I began to open it I heard a rising voice on the other side of the door. Before I knew it, I was standing in the doorway in my checkered boxers looking at Stephanie sitting in my bed, her bare skin glowing in the light of the afternoon. Her long black hair fell down her back exposing her illuminated face, which was in a shocked "o" shape, and bare chest. "Micheal, get out!" she screamed, throwing one of my brushes in my direction. The dull, loud thud shook me out of my entranced state and right before I stepped out the door I threw the medicine in my drawer. I couldn't believe what I just saw. "Steph!" I gasped. "I'm so sorry! I figured you still be asleep after last night, so I came to bring you some medicine for the headache I knew you'd have and I didn't want to wake you up so I didn't knocked and-" "Micheal." she cut me short. "Come back inside." she said.

Goosebumps spread all over my body as my blood ran both hot and cold at the same time.

Come back inside? Did I really hear that right? "Did you say-" "Yes" she said before I could finish my sentence. I couldn't believe this. I pushed open the door and stood in the doorway yet again. This time my hands rested in front of me to hide my....situation as I looked into my room once again.

Stephanie still sat in my bed, only this time a shirt of mine was draped over her frame. A sense of both relief and sadness forced it's way through the adrenaline in my system, mixing my emotions.

"Uh, Michael." Steph said, pointing at my crotch. "You've got a, uh...big something hiding under there." she snickered. I cut her a smile and a look and made my way over to my dresser to pull out some shorts for both of us to wear.

After a few minutes of getting dressed we both decided to lay in my bed. The drawstring on the shorts she was wearing was pulled and tied as tight as it could go without running out of string, and she was putting her hair into a ponytail. The long shirt concealed her curves that were usually made quite obvious in the daylight that streamed past the thin, cream curtains onto my dark earthy templated room furniture.

It had been awhile since the last time she had spent the night in my bed and I was still recovering from our earlier encounter making her close proximity difficult to cope with.

"You gonna hook me up with that medicine?" she asked through the silence. I had forgotten about the medicine. "Oh shit, I think its in my drawer." "I can get it." she said, and reached over to open the top drawer. "Hey, wait a-" I started. She opened the drawer and was greeted by a few headache pills resting on top of a stack of condoms.

My jaw dropped to the floor as I watched her in anticipation of her reaction. "When did you start doing this?" she asked, both seriousness and laughter lacing her words. I had only recently started to put those in there. I didn't really have much a reason besides just because. "They are new, I only just started to keep those there." "Oh really?" she smiled coyly, "Who ya preparing for..."

I smiled and pushed her on the bed playfully. She smiled and asked if my family was home. I told her they were out.

She rose from my brown and white striped sheets and walked across the carpet towards the door. "I'm gonna go freshen up, and take these." she pointed to the meds in her hand. "Good, " I said. "Cause we're going to do some living today!"

"Sounds good to me!" she bubbled. I used the time she was out of the room to get properly dressed and waited for her to finish up.

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As they finished their conversation, a black car creeped along Michael's driveway. The near silent rumble of the dark, sleek sedan's engine and the quiet crunch of its wheels on the asphalt insured it's approach went unnoticed to the residents of the home. The figures inside shielded from sight by the black tinted windows as they watched the house slowly go by.
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Stephanie's POV

As soon as the door to Michael's bedroom closed I made a beeline for the shower.

Ever since I woke up my head has been killing me, but that wasn't why I was curled up in the corner of the shower crying. I made sure to turn both the hot and cold water on full so Micheal wouldn't hear me. I'm hurting so much, and even though he's been trying hard to stay strong for me, he can't make me forget what happened today. I thought to myself. Nothing could ever make me forget. she sobbed harder at the thought, and wished for her mother's loving touch.

Stephanie's black hair hung heavy and limp on her shoulders as the now warm water cascaded smoothly down her body. She washed herself, turned the water off, and dried herself off before stepping onto green tiled floor.

In her rush to the bathroom she'd forgotten to get herself some clothes to wear, and with the towel now on the floor there was no way she was getting back into it. Shit. With no other options she put her contacts in and peeked her head out of the bathroom door.

With noone in sight she hurried down the hall towards Michael's room and the guest room. As she passed the stairs she heard what sounded like footsteps downstairs, and decided that Michael had gone to make breakfast or something. I hope he makes pancakes, she thought as she opened the door to his room. I pray he doesn't burn the fo- she was cut short when she saw Michael standing in the room by his closet, slipping his shoes on.