The World Behind My Wall

Chapter Twenty: Bill's Surprise

Bill and I woke up to Sam and Cody giggling outside our door and pretended to still be sleeping when they entered, Julian scowling behind them.

"Let's jump on the bed and wake them up!" Cody whispered loudly to Julian.

"No. I don't wanna. You and Sam can." Julian said and I'm pretty sure he wanted to join his brothers, no matter how much he pretended otherwise. So Cody and Sam crawled on our bed, helping each other up (because with the mattress, the bed is a good three and a half feet off the ground) and start jumping.

"Wake up!" Cody laughed, jumping on top of me.

"We want food!" Sam giggled and jumped on top of Bill. He was the first to open his eyes.

"Are you jumpin' on my bed?" He grinned and I opened my eyes a crack to see him tickling them.

"Noooooo!" They shrieked, and he resumed tickled them once more.

"Look, Elena's still asleep. What should we do?" Bill pointed out.

"Let's tickle her!" Cody said and the next thing I knew they were on me.

"Ok! I'm awake!" I laughed and tried to sit up but couldn't because they had piled on top of me. "Julian, save me from the tickle monsters!"

Julian grunted and left the room. I would have to talk to him, as soon as I escaped, and see what was bothering him.

"You're stuckded forever!" Giggled Cody and I started tickling his stomach. It didn't take long for me to have Sam and Cody on my side, and we chased Bill around the room. He waved his hands in the air, screaming for mercy when we jumped on him and tickled him all over. Cody ran out of the room when he heard Elliot and the twins, quickly followed by his brother.

"I win." I whispered in Bill's ear, grinning as I got up to pee. But before I could reach the bathroom door, I was pinned to the wall by none other than Bill.

"Nope, I win." He grinned huskily, eyes smouldering, as his face grew closer and his lips were on mine.

/-/

Cody and Sam finished their pancakes and Bill took them upstairs to get dressed for the day while I sat outside with Tommy, watching Julian play with Rebel by the swingset. I still hadn't talked to him yet and wasn't exactly sure what I was going to say, either. I wanted him to know that I wasn't going to give up on him so easily, that I wanted to stay in his life for as long as I possibly could. He seemed happy during breakfast (waffles with M&Ms he collected last night), although he absolutely refused to look me in the eyes.

"I'm gonna go talk to him." I tell Tommy and leave my coffee mug on the lawn chair I'd been sitting on. The moment Julian saw me walk over he turned his back towards me and sat cross legged on the grass. Rebel licked my heels and ran around the yard, chasing the other dogs. "Is everything alright? You seemed to be having a great time last night."

"I'm fine." He says, voice cracking through clenched teeth.

"Are you sure about that? I don't think you are, not really." I reach a hand out to pat him on the back but he shrugs me off. "I'm gonna sit here 'till you're ready to tell me what it is that's bothering you. Just so you know."

"Hmph." Julian grunted and when I didn't leave after ten minutes, he sighed and looked at me out of the corner of his eye. "I'm mad."

"Do you wanna tell me why?" I ask and he rolls his eyes. This kid rolls his eyes almost as much as Carolyn, I swear.

"Because you and Bill are so nice to us, and Cody and Sam like you guys a lot. But you're just gonna make a bunch of promises you can't keep and change your minds like everyone else and I'll be the one there when they cry every night 'cause they miss you."