Hunted

Chapter Three: Someday

After dinner, my parents got ready to go for the party. Just after they left, I heard a knock on the door. I opened it, to find Ben standing out in the rain, soaked to the skin.

"It's raining." he stated with a lopsided smile.

"Then you should come in." I laughed, pulling the door open so that he could step past me into the entryway.

I closed the door, and he leaned forward and gave me a quick peck on the lips, before pulling off his wet jacket and hanging it up.

"My books got sort of wet..." He said, holding up his backpack, which was dripping wet.

I laughed. "Believe it or not, I forgot mine at school." I admitted.

He laughed, and dropped his backpack "I guess I'll just head home then." He huffed.

"What makes you think I don't just want to spend time with you?" I asked.

He smiled. "Alright, I'll stay." he said, smiling widely. "I just didn't really want to invite myself to stay."

"Mom made some cookies when she heard that you were coming." I told him as he took off his shoes and hun up his jacket.

"Oh, your mom's cookies are the best!" he exclaimed, running to the kitchen.

He grabbed a stack of cookies off of the cooking rack, and sat down at the table.

As I poured him a glass of milk, I watched him as he sat at the table nibbling a cookie and flipping through the newspaper.

He was attractive- blue eyes, wavy brown hair, a sweet smile. Of course I had feelings for him. I just felt bad that I knew that he loved me more than I could return. Almost as if I was leading him on.

Milk splashed over the counter, andI realized I had been so busy staring at Ben that I had let the glass overflow.

Ben got up, and pulled a cloth of it's hook in one swift movement. "Need a little help, love?" he asked.

"Thanks..." I whispered, reaching for the cloth. "I'll clean it up."

He smiled and shook his head. "I've got it." He replied, kneeling to wipe the spilled milk off of the floor while I grabbed another cloth and wiped the counter.

I wiped off the bottom of his glass and handed it to him as he stood up.

Smiling, he looked at me. "We make a pretty good team." he pointed out, his face inches from mine.

Suddenly, he kissed me, and I found myself kissing him back with more passion than I normally did when I kissed him.

His arms wrapped around my waist and pulled me against him as our lips moved in synchronization, and I put my hands on either side of his face, my fingertips tangled in his wet hair.

He picked me up and placed me so that I was sitting on the counter, still kissing me. He pulled his lips away from mine and gently began kissing my neck. It was then that I pulled away from him.

"Ben..." I huffed.

He took a step back, blushing a little bit and staring at the floor. "I'm sorry. I took that a little bit far didn't I?" He whispered.

"No, don't apologize. I'm just not in the mood for making out tonight." I said.

"I understand. I know that you're thinking about Sam." He replied.

I flinched at his name, and looked away from Ben. "I'm sorry." I said quietly.

"You loved him, didn't you?" Ben asked, his voice quiet.

I didn't know how to reply. "Sam was my best friend, Ben..." I whispered.

"But you did love him?" Ben huffed.

"No, Ben... I loved him like a brother, and I cared about him a lot. You have to understand that just because I'm still grieving it doesn't mean I was in love with him." I whispered, my eyes filling with tears.

Ben couldn't meet my eyes. He put his face in his hands and sighed. "Olivia, I love you, and I don't understand why I can't make you happy." He said, his voice sounding pained.

I felt a twinge of guilt. I knew how hard Ben had been trying to make me happy again once we started dating.

"Ben, I saw my best friend get murdered, and now..." I trailed off. I couldn't tell him about the text. That would make him think I was crazy. Everyone knew that the police had pronounced him dead before the body had gone missing. "Now it's been a year and I still don't have closure." I finished.

He looked up at me. "If you aren't happy with me I don't want you to pretend to love me." He whispered, his voice barely audible.

I didn't know what to say. I may not have loved Ben, but I liked him way too much to let him go so easily.

Before he could say anything else, I slid off the counter into his arms and kissed him, my hands on the back of his neck.

He hesitated, then started kissing me back. When the kiss ended, he smiled, caressing the side of my face with his hand.

"I'm glad you haven't given up on me yet." He said, tucking my hair behind my ear. "I don't care how long it takes. Someday I'll make you happy."

I smiled. "Let's watch a movie until my parents get home. Mom said you can stay late." I offered.

He laughed. "Man, you're mom's cool. Alright, what should we watch?" He asked.

"Romantic comedy?" I replied.

"Sure!" he replied, and lifted me up. He carried me to the living room and set me on the couch.

We flipped through the Netflix menu until we found something we both wanted to see, and selected it.

I curled up and tucked my legs under me, leaning against Ben and letting my head rest on his shoulder. He wrapped his arm around me, and the movie started playing.

Ben seemed to be interested in the movie, but all I could think about were the texts from the anonymous number. If Sam really was alive, who was it that had stabbed him, and why had he pretended to be dead for so long? And who was this person texting me? Could it be Sam?

"Olivia, you okay?" Ben asked, looking over at me.

"Yeah, I'm fine." I replied. "Just really tired, that's all."

"Well, if you fall asleep, I don't mind. I'll stay with you until your parents get home anyway." He said, kissing my forehead.

"Thank you." I replied, yawning.

A few minutes later, my eyelids started to feel heavy and my eyes slowly closed, sending me into a deep sleep.