Close As Strangers

Six.

Now Playing... There Are Worse Things I Could Do 

"Molly!" Nova giggled as she hopped on my bed, shooting me a toothy grin, and I smiled softly as I sat up in my bed.

The night before had been busy at work, but I was grateful for the busy shifts, because they kept me moving, and the more I worked, the more I could buy for Nova. She never got to do very much since Wes had left, and I knew him being gone had taken a toll on her.

"What's up, Nova?"

"Can my friend Henry come over?"

"Sure." Her smile grew, and I winked at her. "Is this Henry kid your boyfriend?"

Her cheeks reddened, and she played with the hem of her shirt. "N-no, we're just friends."

I chuckled quietly as I tucked a piece of her hair behind her ear. "It's okay to have a crush, Nova. I've had a couple before."

"Was Wessy one?" I nearly choked on air as she continued to smile at me, and I violently shook my head as I crawled out of bed. Nova giggled as she hopped off the bed, hugging my legs. "Thanks, Molly. You're the best!"

As she ran out of my room, humming softly, I smiled, enjoying her happiness. Childhood crushes were so adorable-- unlike adolescent crushes, where all you got in the end was either the one you wanted or a crushed heart. For me, it had always been the latter.

I laid down on the bed again, wrapping myself in the blanket as I drifted back to sleep. In the middle of my lovely dream about Jungkook, my blanket was ripped off of me, and my eyes shot open, only to see Wes with my blanket in his hand as the cold air hit me.

"Jerk." I mumbled, sliding off my bed. "I was having a good dream."

"I think your boy fantasies can wait."

"Where did I ask for your two cents?"

He sighed loudly. "There's a boy down there with Nova."

I raised my eyebrows. "And?"

"And it's a boy." He glared, crossing his arms over his chest. "She's not allowed to have boys over."

I busted out laughing, and he stared at me like I was crazy. "Who died and made you King of the house?"

He rolled his eyes, his muscles tensing. Did I mention he was shirtless? His melanin skin seemed to glimmer in the sunlight and I couldn't help myself from staring, or wondering how warm his skin would feel--

"My eyes are up here, baby." He smirked, and I smacked his shoulder. He flinched as his eyes narrowed. "Anyway, you don't know what they're capable of."

I busted out laughing again, leaning against my wall for support. "What's he gonna do, Wes? Steal her crayon?"

The death glare he sent me could've put me straight in my grave.

"She's my baby sister. I care about what happens to her."

I bitterly laughed. "Sure didn't seem like it when you threw her like a toy."

"It was a mistake, Molly." He sighed, his shoulders slouching in defeat. "Why don't you believe that?"

The look in his eyes was unreadable, and it was enough to send a chill down my spine as my heart dropped in my chest. A part of me genuinely believed he had felt bad for what he did, and the Wes I knew cared about his sister more than anything in the world, and I knew that he was still in there somewhere, he just needed help showing himself again. As I stared into his eyes, I nearly let myself be consumed by the storm, but I forced myself to look away. I couldn't be devoured by the beast again. He could so easily shatter my heart in his bare hands with just a look from his piercing green eyes, and I wasn't ready to drown again just to save him.

But as I looked at him again and took in the way he so gently looked at me after all that time, I couldn't long for the feeling of his arms around me again.

***

"Alright, class, we will be doing a mid-semester journaling project." Dr. Robertson announced, and some people looked at each other, smirking. "Before you start making lovey dovey eyes at each other, you should know that you'll be paired with the person sitting next to you."

And this truly would've been okay, had Wes not been the only person sitting beside me.

"Would you look at that?" Wes whispered, smirking as he nudged my shoulder. "Some things never change."

"I want you to write a letter to your partner after getting to know them. Write what you like, what you dislike, and what you want them to know. This letter is not only a way to get to know someone better, but give someone a different perspective of themselves from your eyes. The project will be due the day before the semester ends."

The project was simple enough, but how was I supposed to write a letter to someone I once knew better than myself? How could I write a letter to the person who had hurt me the most, and left me for three years without a single word until he came back and wasn't even the same person? And the worst part of all was, I actually had to give it to Wes. He would have to read what I wrote about him. My heart couldn't even handle the thought of me pouring myself into his letter and him giving me the bare minimum.

I couldn't handle giving him another reason out of the millions he had to hate me.