Merry Happy

Chapter Twenty Five

For the 7th time that morning, her cellphone vibrated on the nightstand beside her small twin-sized bed.

And for the 7th time that morning, she reached over and pressed the decline button.

Tucking her hand back under her face as she lied in bed, she stared out the dirty window that looked over a bunch of warehouses outside. The window was her favourite part of the room. Her new bedroom wasn't much, but that had been expected.

The room was homey and cozy, but the wallpaper was greatly outdated and the only other piece of furniture besides the bed and the nightstand was the old recliner in the far corner of the room. It was small and musky and she wondered if she should ask Dex if he had ever had any mildew problems in the house.

"Q?" Dex's soft voice asked through the crack in the door as he peered inside. She knew it was just after 12, and she knew she should get out of bed, but she didn't know how.

"Yeah?" She croaked, her voice still sore from last night. She couldn't imagine the kind of scare the poor people on the Tube had gotten last night, as they sat across from this sobbing girl on the train. Some people had been kind enough to ask if everything was alright, others just ignored her, but one had even given her a tissue.

She had shown up at Dex's doorstep, with nothing but tear streaks down her face and a hiccuping sob building in her throat. He had stared for her for a moment, taking it all in, before she released a strangled cry and he had dragged her into his arms.

He had stayed up with her, making her a warm cup of tea and wrapping a quilt around her shoulders as they both stared at each other across the kitchen table underneath the harsh light hanging above them.

He didn't have to ask and she didn't need to say anything for him to know. He had helped her get set up in the second bedroom, the bedroom that had been planned as being hers when her 3 months with Harry was up. Unfortunately, her move in date had now been a lot sooner.

"I was just wondering how you slept." Dex asked, cracking the door open a bit more when she didn't protest. Her back was to him, still facing out the window as she sighed.

"Good."

"I'm going to make a late breakfast, yeah? Pancakes? Banana and chocolate chips?"

Her heart hurt at the sound of concern in his voice. She didn't think she had ever heard her best friend so un-sure of himself around her.

Finally, working up the courage and rubbing under her eyes, she threw the ratty quilt off of her and stood up.

Dex was standing at the door, looking weary but concerned, with his hair in a matted mess, standing there in his white high school t-shirt and joggers.

"I'll help." She tried to smile while she stepped passed him and made her way to the bathroom.

-

Dex was assigned to the duty of chopping the bananas as she got out the pancake mix. Her whole body felt as though it was turned on to autopilot, and as much as she wanted to shrug off everything that had happened the night before, an ache settled in her bones that she was simply not enjoying.

She knew he was waiting for her to explain. She knew, just in the way Dex tip-toed around her, how she caught him studying her out of the corner of his eyes. His shoulders were just as tense as the silence in the air, and after knowing this boy for as long as she did, she knew he didn't have the guts to bring it up, in fear of upsetting her.

Huffing out a sigh, she added the water to the mix.

"He had a ring."

"He had a ring?" Dex asked, spinning around with half of a banana in his hand, eyes wide.