The phone's ringing.
"Okay Mrs. McDonough, you can answer," I say as I put the headphone to my ear.
"Hello?"
"Hello, Joan," a distorted voice says.
"Who is this?" she asks.
"Did you know that Riley and Kristen are VERY cute together?" it asks.
"If that's your way of asking if I got the pictures, yes, I did. Who are you, and why are you doing this?" she asks.
"Knowing that isn't important. Talk to you soon, Joan." The line clicks dead, and Mrs. McDonough looks at me.
"It's near impossible with trying to mess around with the audio if I don't know what kind of distorter they used. I'm sorry."
"It's okay. You're doing the best you can. I'm just going to go read a book," she says with a strained voice, a fake smile on her face, and she walks out. I sigh and put my head in my hands, a headache coming on.
"Hey, are you okay?" Connor asks, placing a hand on my back. I look up and give him a weak smile.
"Yeah, just another headache."
"Ibuprofen's in the kitchen, in the cabinet next to the microwave," he tells me. I thank him and stand up, and it dramatically gets worse. I start to walk into the kitchen, but I don't make it.
* * *
"Emily, wake up," somebody says, lightly tapping my face. I slowly open my eyes, and Connor's face comes into view, along with everybody else.
"Oh, thank God you're okay," Mrs. McDonough says.
"What happened?" I ask.
"You passed out. We think it was from the pain," Riley answers. I start to sit up, but Toby and Connor stop me.
"You've been out for a few minutes. We almost called for an ambulance. I'll carry you upstairs," Connor says, and he picks me up.
While he carries me up to my room, I start to feel sleepy. I close my eyes and rest my head on his chest.
"Don't fall asleep yet. Let me tuck you in first," he says.
He walks into my room and pulls the covers back before placing me on my bed. Like he said, he tucks me in and kisses my forehead before leaving.
"I hope you feel better," he says, almost a whisper.
"I do, too." He chuckles before turning off the light. I close my eyes and fall asleep.
When I wake back up, I look at the time on my alarm clock. I then look at the door before calling out, "Connor!"
I hear footsteps, and then the door opens. He pokes his head in.
"Is everything okay?" he asks.
"No," I state, sitting up.
"What a wrong?"
"I'm lonely," I answer, crossing my arms and pouting. He chuckles and steps in, walking up to my bed.
"What would you like me to do about that?" he asks. I pat the other side of the bed, and he lies down. I turn on the television and grab the Xbox controllers from my nightstand. I hand one to Connor.
"Play Call of Duty with me."
* * *
"DAMN IT!" I shout as Connor kills me. Again.
"What's going on in here?" Riley asks, walking in.
"We're playing Call of Duty, and I keep killing Emily," Connor smirks.
"Wipe that look off of your face. I'm trained like an assassin," I warn. His faces drains of blood, and he turns back to the television.
"I would ask you if I could join, but Kristen's coming over soon, so-" he's cut off by the doorbell ringing. "Or she's here now."
"Go have fun. Connor and I will stay up here and out of your way," I say with a wink as Connor kills me ONCE AGAIN.
I smack his upper arm. "Hey, I didn't even know we were playing! Don't kill me!"
"I'm sorry!" he exclaims, laughing.
"No you're not! If you were sorry, you would stop killing me!" I shove him, and he falls to the floor, bringing me with him. "Ow!"
"Don't push me, and you won't get hurt," he says. I immediately get off of him and climb back onto my bed. He does the same, and I yawn.
"Don't do that. It's contagious," he says, stifling his own. I close my eyes since the light's getting too bright.
When I open them back up, I notice that I'm not sitting up anymore, and neither is Connor. We're spooning while the game continues to play music. The door opens, and Mrs. McDonough's head pops in. She sees us and smiles.
"Mrs. McDonough, it's not-"
"Sweetie, do you like him? As in more than a friend but less than family?" she asks, cutting me off. I slightly nod, and her smile grows. "As long as you're doing your job, I don't care. You two are actually pretty cute. Well, goodnight."
She disappears, and I sigh with relief. I start to get up to go to the bathroom, but he pulls me back.
"Not yet," he mumbles into my back. I turn my head to see his eyes closed.
"Connor, I need to get up," I say.
"No you don't."
"If you want me to wet the bed, then I'll stay." He immediately lets go, and I chuckle before standing up.
After doing my thang, I crawl back into bed, and he pulls me to him again, so we're spooning.
"Who said we could cuddle?" I ask, amusement clear in my voice.
"I did, now go to sleep."
"So demanding."
"You don't know half of it."
I laugh before turning to face him. "What's your girlfriend going to think?"
"Don't you think that if I had a girlfriend, I would be doing this with her?" he asks.
"How do you brothers have girlfriends and you don't?" I ask.
He shrugs. "I'm not really looking for a relationship."
Did you hear that? That's the sound of my heart being blown up.
"But I might be soon."
The American Red Cross cleaned up the remains and helped restore it.
I kiss his cheek and turn back around. He pulls me closer, leaving no space between us. He buries his face into the back of my neck, and we both fall asleep.
