❝So look at me in the eye, is anyone there at all?
'Cause I'm not leaving...❞
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
A knock sounded off her door.
It was already nighttime, the house quiet except for the sounds from the TV. Her grandparents had already gone to bed, but El found it harder to sleep nowadays. She'd been watching a Netflix movie, dividing her attention between the screen and her phone. Always checking for texts or messages, anything from Travis. Why hadn't he comforted her yet?
What have we become to?
The thought was still on her mind as she straightened up from the couch, frowning at the door. It couldn't be Travis, could it? She was waiting for a response, but it couldn't be another midnight visit. Not when it ended with her alone in bed.
She opened the front door.
Theo was standing there, head hung low. He looked up, his blue eyes capturing her in a daze, and for a while she couldn't move. Neither of them could. She didn't know when things started to change between them, but ever since, she felt like she was walking on eggshells. One wrong move, one wrong step —and she would crack.
Everything would.
"Hey," he said quietly, a slow smile on his lips.
She smiled back, but it was shy this time, not her usual confident grins. "Hi." She fumbled with her words. "How did it, uh, go with Chase and everything? Did he get home safely?"
Apart from her racing heartbeat, her heart still felt heavy over the boy's departure. But she also noticed that Theo looked... tired. Emotionally tired. Like he'd just went through a battle and won, but not without returning unscathed.
"It's a long story, but yeah, everything's good with him."
She bit her lip. "And you stayed."
She wanted him to stay all along, but it also made her incredibly nervous. Tense. As if the stars were aligning but she was too afraid to look.
Theo never took his eyes off of her. "Yeah, I did." He cleared his throat. "Look, I'm sorry if I came here unannounced —this was stupid, I should've called you first, I'll leave if you want me to —"
