"So," Denis said, swinging his legs against the washer. "Is your mom letting you home for Christmas?"
The cheap laundromat was nearly empty, save for a man waiting for his dryer to finish up on the other end of the building. Josephine pulled her clothes out of a trash bag and waited for him to lift his legs up so she could shove the bundle into the washer.
She shook her head and added some detergent. Counted out quarters in her hand. One...two...three...
"Why not?" He didn't sound as upset as he possibly should have. She pressed the quarters into the washer and started it. Denis made room for her on top of the washer.
"They're having some of the little cousins over. She says that I might be a bad influence." She ducked her head, feeling strange telling him this. That her own family didn't want her home.
And I don't know if I'll make it home again...
"That's stupid! How could you ever be a bad influence?" He ruffled her hair. She drew her knees up to her chest. The cold was sinking in again. Since she could only afford to wash the clothes that she needed, she was stuck wearing a white t-shirt and a pair of shorts.
"I dunno."
"Well, anyway, if you still want to come and hang out with us on Christmas, the invitation's still there."
She turned her head to look at him. "Really?"
He laughed, making her face turn red. "Of course! It wouldn't be the same without you, Josie."
Josephine smiled at him, her breath catching in her chest. "Okay." She leaned her head on his shoulder and they sat there together on the top of a washer in the quiet laundromat.
The whirring sound beneath them. Denis's shoulder beneath her head. Shivers in her arms and spine. Soft intakes of breath. In. Out. In. Out. In.
YOU ARE READING
Bring Me Home
FanfictionJosephine knew that in her heart that she would end up living in her car. It was just part of being a novelist. Sadly, it was only now dawning on her that maybe it had been a bad career choice. Now living out of her car in an unfamiliar town with n...
