Since You Came

Ch. 30

Thanksgiving dinner is a breeze, with it being full of family and friends and a lot of food. Dan's family. My family. Mae's family comes as well.

It's now Saturday morning, and Dan's sister had to leave this morning for a flight back out to her job. Dan's dad is working, and my parents wanted to go golfing. Jo and Aubrey are at a friend's house.

"What do you want to do today?" I ask Dan. We sit in the basement of my house beside each other on the couch. A bag of Lays chips rests between us. The Netflix show Friends plays on the television in front of us.

"I have an assignment to get done for one of my classes," he says, frowning. His arm draped across my shoulders, he pulls me towards him. "I'll have to go out for the rest of the morning; we can do stuff later this afternoon, though."

"Can I come with you?" I ask, looking up at him. His eyes lock onto mine. I'll never get tired of staring into those icy blue diamonds of his.

He smirks. "Not this time." I pout and lean my head against his shoulder. I hear him chuckle slightly, the sound as deep as his voice. After a while he sighs. "Well, I better head out now. I won't have much time to get my project done."

"Alright," I agree reluctantly. I wrap my arms around him in an awkward side-hug, still sitting on the couch. He squeezes me back.

"I love you, see you later," he says.

I nod. "See you. Love you!" I call after him, watching him stand and head back upstairs. I sigh and return my eyes to the television. I'm going to be extremely bored for the next couple hours.

No sooner has the next episode of Friends start does my phone go off, my ringtone filling my ears. "Hello?"

"Are you busy today?" Mae's voice comes from the phone.

"Not anymore. Why?"

"Wanna come over and hang for a few hours?" she asks.

"I'm not doing anything else. Sure."

"Awesome. Be here in 20?" I can almost here the smile in her voice.

I nod, then realize she can't see me. "Okay. See you soon."

She hangs up and the line goes dead. I close the bag of chips beside me and head upstairs to my bedroom, where I throw open my closet door. I have no decent clothes to wear. I rummage through my options, tossing articles of clothing onto my bed that I think I might wear today.

I look at the mess on my bed. I have a gray shirt from a soccer tournament, maroon tank top, navy blue t-shirt, hoodie, and jeans. I sigh and grab the jeans and the gray shirt. It's just Mae's house, after all.

I glance at myself in the mirror and sigh. The jeans. I hate the jeans. I turn slightly, so my butt so was better view at an angle. Why do the jeans have to make my butt look so big?

I close my eyes and let out a slow breathe. Dan loves me for who I am. He loves me no matter what size my butt is inside these jeans. Then, out of the corner of my eye, I see his hoodie. I grab it off its hook on my wall and I put it against my nose, inhaling deeply. I do this every time I pick up his clothes. They all reek of his refreshing smell. I pull the hoodie on, grab my keys, and head out the door.

• • •

"What do you wanna do?" I ask her.

She shrugs and reaches her hand into the bag of Chex Mix on the counter in front of her. "I have a couple of ideas. What about you?"

"I'm cool with whatever," I say, stuffing my mouth with the food.

"Awesome. Then let's have a makeover."