Travelers

Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Benedict-
  I saw Merry stumbled but quickly recover. I was such an idiot! I left her knowing she hadn't eaten with that guy... and all because I was jealous. I had seen how she had laughed with him all evening before I finally got out up and walked over. I mentally kicked myself. I ran up to Merry. I said,"are you okay?" She said,"yeah. I'm fine." I said,"I'm not going to act like I didn't see you stumble. You need something to eat?" She shrugged and said,"I forgot to put new granola bars in my back pack. I'll be fine till we get to the room." I said,"here." I grabbed my backpack opened it. "What do you want? Granola bars, cookies, or peanut butter?" She glanced in the bag before looking up at me. She was scowling. Did I do something wrong? She flung her backpack over her shoulder, turned and walked away. I asked,"Merry?" She didn't respond. What did I do?  When we got to the hotel I said,"come on Merry! Talk to me." She turned to me with tears running down her face before saying,"you got those food for me right? Cause you didn't carry the backpack before. I'm right,  aren't I?!" I said,"maybe... yeah you are. Why is that making you upset?" She stopped her foot and said," I'm not some fragile little girl that needs to be looked after!" I stepped forward making sure I didn't scare her and say,"I know that, I know you don't need anyone to take care of you. For goodness sakes, you took down two guys in Atlanta and would have taken the third down if I wasn't there. I just wanted to make sure that if you got sick I could help. I'm sorry if I made you feel bad." She whipped her face, sighed, and said,"no. I'm sorry. I'm a mess. You go and do something really sweet and I explode. Gosh, I'm so stupid." She plopped down on the couch. I went to her and rapped my arms around her shoulders. She leaned into me and I said,"it's fine. And don't talk bad about my friend like that or else? I mean my friend is amazing, strong, independent, and did I say amazing?? " A little smile came to her lips. She rapped her arms around my waist and said,"your amazing." I said,"yep us British people are the best." She pulled back and swatted my arm. I laughed. I grabbed my backpack and handed it to her. I said,"what's mine is yours. Do you need the bathroom before I take a shower?" She nodded and then went into the bathroom. When she came back out her hair was pulled back. She sat down on the couch and looked through my backpack.

Merry-
I ate the cookies in Benedict's bag while he took a shower. Then I went to changed into a maxi dress with spaghetti straps. The more I think about it the more I realize Benedict was being sweet. Gosh, I'm an emotional mess. I turned on the tv. There was an ice cream commercial. I said out loud," I'm craving ice cream." Benedict said,"okay, we'll get ice cream after dinner." I didn't realize he had come out of the bathroom. I pumped my arm and said,"yes!" He said,"where do you want to go for dinner?" I shrugged my shoulders and put all my stuff from my backpack to my purse, including new granola bars. Benedict grabbed his backpack had we walked down to the car. Benedict said,"how about this beach side restaurant I found on google. It's called HammerHead Fred's." I said,"sounds good. I'll drive if you give me the directions." He tossed me the keys and within twenty minutes we were there. From the outside I could hear the loud music playing when we walked in I saw that the place was completely crowded. Everyone was shoulder to shoulder, at least in here where everyone was waiting for tables. I turn to ask Benedict if he wanted to stay or go but I saw him walking back outside. I quickly followed. When I got outside I saw he was sitting on the becnh by the door with his elbows on his knees and his head in his hands. I said,"Benedict. Are you okay." I looked and me. He looked pale. I sat down and realized he was breathing quickly. I said,"deep breaths. In,out. How about we play a game? How many red cars do you." He turned to look. His breathing was stil fast but it was slowing since he was distracted. He said,"twenty-three." I said,"and blue?" He turned, looked, and said,"twelve." By now his breathing was back to normal. I asked,"wanna talk about it?" He said,"in the car." I pulled the keys out of my pocket and we walked to the car.
  Once we were both in the car I waited patiently. He asked,"you know how I said my brother killed someone?" I nodded before he continued,"Me and a friend were at a concert. He came there to kill me. He didn't only kill one person, but he killed thirteen. Including my best friend, Tom. Ever since then when I get into really packed crowds,usually when there's loud music playing, I tend to have an anxiety attack. I'm sorry I ditched you in there." I said,"hey, no problem. I was right behind you, following you out. " he hesitated before saying,"thanks for helping me back there." I said,"no problem. You definitely have helped me a lot, so I think it's only fair I help you out a little bit." He smiled and I cranked the car. "How about Olive Garden down the road? I saw it on the way here." He agreed.

Benedict-
  I can't believe i had an anxiety attack right in front of Merry! She probably thinks I'm a freak. No... I know Merry well enough to know she doesn't think of  me as a freak. She's not like that. Once we got to Olive Garden we ate. After Olive Garden I drove us to pier park. I found a place to park. I said,"we can get ice cream and window shop here, Mer." The nickname Mer just roamed off my tongue easily. I glanced at her to see her reaction. She had a little smile on her face. We started walking down the street, looking at all the shops. When we got to an ice cream shop we both got some ice cream. We continued to walk down the street. When we got to a souvenir store Merry squealed. She said," come on! I need to get a t shirt here!!" I followed her in. She bought a t shirt that said,"Panama City, Florida.1909." I said,"let's go ride one of the rides." She said,"okay. But I am not riding one of those really tall ones!" I laughed and said,"they only have fast ones here. Not tall ones." She said," okay." We walked down the street to the rides. Merry said," lets go on the zip line!" I laughed and followed her. When the man was helping her put on her harness I watched very closely, making sure his hands didn't wander. If they did I'd probably end up punching him. Then Merry would probably kill him. I chuckled at the thought.
  
Merry-
After we had ridden on the rides we drove back to the hotel. When we got back it was well after midnight. We had stopped for ice cream again on the way back.
  In the morning I got up at 6. I was tired, but I really wanted to go for a run on the beach. Once I had gotten dressed I ate then I tapped on Benedict's door lightly. I said,"Benedict?" He said,"one second." After a minute he opened the door. He straightened his shirt and wrinkled his forehead. He asked,"Mer? Is something wrong?" I said,"no, sorry to wake you. Just wanted to let you know I was going to run." He said,"okay... you ate right?" I laughed and said,"yes, Benedict. I did. I'm also taking granola bars and a water bottle. I'll be back in an hour or two." He said,"call me if you need me." I nodded and he closed his door again. I walked out onto the beach. I began to jog.
   After returning from my jog it was eight. Benedict was still asleep so I took my time showering. After I got out Benedict was spread  out on the couch, half asleep. I said,"let me sit down." He sat up but as soon as i sat down where his head was he laid his head down in my lap. It startled me. He yawned and closed his eyes. After  a little while his breathing became even. He had fallen asleep.

Benedict-
  When I woke up I opened my eyes and looked up. Merry was watching tv. My head was in her lap. I sat up and said,"when did that happen?" She laughed and said,"when I came in. I asked you to let me sit down. You sat up, let me sit down, and layed your head down. Then you fell sleep on me." I had come into the living room to wake myself up but I ended up falling asleep. I said," sorry, I must have been out of it." She said," nah don't worry about it." I said,"what time is it?" She looked on her phone and said,"10:30." I said," I can't believe I slept so late. What should we do today?" She said," why'll you were asleep I looked up stuff to do. Would you mind if we went horseback riding on the beach?" I said," sounds good.  Now I'm going to go shower and then we can decide on lunch then go horseback riding." She nodded.