Seven Letter Words #Wattys2016

Part 11

Liam

I was sure to turn off the bathroom light before I opened the door. Juliet had a long day and I didn't want to wake her if she had fallen asleep. It took a second for my eyes to adjust to the darkness, but then I could make out the edge of the bed enough that I could walk to the table. I set my bag down. Turning back around, I squinted in the darkness to make sure she was tucked into bed safely. Only, she wasn't in her bed. I could still see the pillows nicely propped at the top. I quickly looked over to my bed.

You know that moment when you get a surprise? A really good surprise you weren't expecting. Well, I had that moment. I saw her there, at least her outline in the darkness. Curled up and resting on the bed where I'd just been. It's not the kind of excitement you're thinking; it was an innocent excitement. The little boy inside me saw a friend. I saw someone that I could be near and protect. Someone I could share space with so I wasn't alone. She gave me a purpose.

I took a few steps towards her and stopped suddenly when I figured out what I was about to do. Did it cross a line to sleep in the same bed as her? I hated that I was having a tiny crisis of conscious at that moment. Any other guy would have just climbed right in, but I respected Pines. I didn't want to take advantage of anything with his sister, even if that was just space.

"You're over thinking it," her voice whispered and my heart launched into my throat. I felt myself crouch a little like I was about to be caught doing something I shouldn't. I almost laughed at myself. If the guys could see me now, I'd never hear the end of it. "I just don't want to be alone," she said on a yawn and I heard the sound of spent tears in her voice. My heart split in two. She'd been crying. I didn't want her to cry.

"Why are you crying?" I asked softly, moving to the end of the bed.

"It just hit me. I can't take the loneliness. I don't think I could breathe if I had to be too far away from someone." She sniffed and wiped at her face. I almost reached out, but pulled back trying to figure out what was the right thing to do.

"I can sleep in the chair or..." I tried to come up with a plan that didn't involve us being under the same covers.

"Don't be silly. I don't bite. I just need to be close to someone. We can even have 'boyfriend' rules if it makes you more comfortable." She sniffed again and my feet moved forward on their own. My heart wanted to comfort her even if my head was screaming to keep our distance.

"'Boyfriend rules'?" I asked. I was feeling a bit lost. I rerouted my feet to the hotel door so I couldn't curl up with her and pull her against me. Surely that wasn't the best move, right?

"You know? The rules for when you have a boyfriend—girlfriend in your case probably—in your room. Didn't you have rules about that?" She asked, yawning again as I made sure the door was locked and the chain was on. I moved the curtain and looked outside for a second. The same cars were there in the lot as when we'd drove up. I knew there was someone in the room beside ours and a family above us. Being aware of as many details about my surroundings as possible was going to be a hard habit to break.

"Rules?" I laughed a little, letting the curtain fall back into place as I turned around.

"In my house," she started, moving a little on the pillow, "Ken and I had to follow these rules if we had our boyfriend or girlfriend over. The bedroom door had to stay open, and if they were on our bed, we had to be on top of the covers. If we wanted to go under them, one of us had to stay on top of at least one of them. That way there was always a sheet between us." I could hear her smile.

"I wasn't allowed to have girls in my room." I answered. "I had to sneak them in at night."

"Ken didn't follow the rules very well, either." She moved her hand and pulled back the top cover. "I'll stay under the sheet. You stay on top." She patted her hand on the space beside her and I noticed she was holding something.

"Is that your phone?" I asked as I moved up the bed and into the open spot.

"Yea, I was just looking at the last picture Ken sent me." She hit the home button and the screen lit up with a picture of Garver, Pines and I.

"You know he pinched our asses as soon as Sanchez took that shot," I laughed a little at the memory. "Asshole left a bruise on my cheek."

Juliet smiled and I could see her face in the light of the screen. She was beautiful even after crying. I couldn't help but reach out and tuck her hair behind her ear. She was only a teenager, but had experienced a loss that would stay with her forever. Her eyes closed when my fingers brushed against her cheek. It was as if my touch offered some relief. It felt like she turned into my hand, but it was such a small movement I couldn't be sure. I held my breath as I watched her wet lashes.

"Thank you for being here," she whispered.

"Nowhere else I'd rather be." Her eyes opened slowly, looking into mine in the glow of her cell phone. I couldn't stop myself. I lifted my arm up and she moved to my chest immediately as if she'd been waiting forever for the invitation. I tucked her head beneath my chin and closed my eyes. My hand smoothed down her hair, making long strokes from her head to the tips of her hair. Her small hand moved to rest on my chest, her palm splayed out over my heart. I didn't even have to look to know she still held her last picture of Ken in the space between us.  

******Hope you are enjoying the story!! Do you have "boyfriend rules"? Don't forget to vote and share!