Property

Convincing

Waking up Monday morning, Pattie was gone. I don't know whether I was relieved. I was mostly excited to sleep in my own bed again. It was awkward sleeping with Justin Sunday night, in fact, very few words were exchanged between us. He seemed to be noticing how I was feeling and let me be.

I made Justin breakfast and saw Edith for the first time in a few days. I hugged her tightly and told her I missed her which she said back quickly, hugging me tightly.

Justin came down, saying a 'hello' to Edith.

He looked at me cautiously. "Good morning, Gabriella."

I tried to meet his eyes. "Good morning, Justin."

"Skylar will be over later," he said. I nodded. I was wondering why he was telling me but I just allowed it, turning myself back towards Edith. "And make sure to eat something."

I sighed, "Okay."

"Good," he mumbled, licking his lips.

These were the most words we've exchanged since Saturday night. Once he was gone, Edith turned to me, raising a curious eyebrow.

"What's up with you two?" She asked. "What's been going on between the two of you?"

"Oh, nothing," I mumbled, hoping she'd believe me. "Things just got...messy."

"Messy how?" she asked. She turned to me, raising an eyebrow. "You two did something, didn't you."

"Well...it depends on what you mean when you say 'did something'."

"By something I mean," she gestured.

"How did you know?"

"You're both acting awkward."

"Oh," I mumbled. "But it's not like we had sex or anything," I blurted out dumbly making her eye me.

"I wasn't saying that," she said. "Did you two-"

"No!" I shouted quickly. "He's just been nicer since his mother came."

She nodded slowly. "That's good. Maybe he'll let you move in with Skylar once he starts to ease up on you."

I thought about it for a moment before blowing a raspberry. "Doubt it."

"Oh, don't be so negative." We both laughed. "What would you like for breakfast."

"I'm actually not hungry but Justin...you know," I mumbled. "Being his controlling self."

"It's not good for you to skip meals, he's just looking out for you," she told me.

I ate once she was done cooking, she made something for the both of us. It was nice having breakfast with someone. I filled up pretty quickly, standing up and washing the plates for the both of us. As she wandered around until Justin came home, I did what I usually did and went back to sleep.

Waking up, I laid there for a while without moving. Just when I was about to get up I heard the door from downstairs slam shut. I jumped then sighed, sitting up and rustling my hair. I knew he was coming back from work and would be expecting dinner in a while.

I jumped as my door slammed open, turning around to look at whoever it was. I was expecting Justin but it wasn't, it was Skylar instead.

"I'm here!" She exclaimed grandly, entering my room. "I'm sorry I'm late, somebody didn't pick me up fast enough."

I totally forgot Justin said she was coming over.

"What's in the box?" I asked nosily, eyeing it. It was a simple green gift box with a large red bow on the top. It wasn't small so that made me even more nosy to know what was inside.