Loves Me Not

*REVISED* Chapter Thirty-eight

I've been hiding in my dad's office for the past hour.

At first I tried to get Ellie alone so I could talk to her about what's going on, but she hasn't left Charlie's side since he showed up. I can even hear their laughter now echoing down the hallway from the living room. A few raps on the door cause my head to jerk up, halting my spinning in the comfortable chair.

Jeremiah peeks his head in, his eyes searching the room for a moment before they lock on me with a smile. "I was hoping to find you in here."

Once I see it's him I resume my brooding, my lazy spinning turning me away from him. He closes the door behind him as he walks into the room and sits on the chair on the other side of the perfectly organized desk. I hear the distorted sound of chewing, so I turn back to see Jeremiah has plate full of food laid out on the surface. I frown as my stomach growls, the realization that I haven't eaten yet making me look away.

"Help yourself," Jer mumbles around a bite of macaroni and cheese. He holds out a fork to me, drawing my attention. "I got enough for two."

I take the fork gently before I tentatively spear a piece of cantaloupe. I can't let the silence last even a moment before my brain fires out one of the thoughts rattling around inside.

"I'm surprised you even showed up," I grumble around my mouthful.

"I told you I would," he replies, ignoring my sour tone. I bite my tongue; annoyed he didn't play into my loaded comment.

He keeps eating like nothing strange is happening. But a thought crosses my mind: maybe he doesn't know what's going on. I mean, I never told him about Charlie. And the only time he saw us together was at the mall, but he might not have gotten that good of a look at the man driving the truck.

"How are you doing?" Jeremiah asks suddenly, putting his fork down as he leans back in the chair.

"Why are you in here?" I answer his question with a question.

He evaluates me for a second before shrugging. "Ellie wanted me to check on you. Your turn."

I force a smile at him before I start spinning again. "Awesome."

He laughs quietly before asking again. "Now that you've given your standard bullshit answer, how are you really doing?"

I sigh before answering honestly. "I've had better days."

Jeremiah sighs too, before standing up from his chair and walking the three steps to mine. He holds out his hand, before reconsidering and just gently pulling me up from the chair and sitting down in it himself. He then pulls me onto his lap, making me feel like a little girl sitting on Santa Claus at the mall. One of his arm wraps around my waist while the other hand starts tracing circles on the silk fabric of my dress. I don't make any move to get up, finding comfort in his embrace for the second time in as many days.

"Do you want to tell me what's going on?" He asks; his breath brushes my bare arm. I lean my cheek on top of his head, the short wavy strands tickling my face.

"Maybe later." I resist the temptation to kiss his forehead like I've done so many times before. He nods understandingly and continues to trace patterns on my thigh. We return to sitting in silence; Jer's presence is soothing. He doesn't demand an explanation, allowing me to explore my own thoughts uninterrupted.

How am I going to handle this situation? Should I just act like everything is normal? Should I confront Ellie and Charlie about this?

I turn to Jeremiah to ask his opinion but before I can do so I feel a vibrating coming from his pocket. He smiles apologetically as he extracts his phone and looks at the screen.