As Chad easily navigated the car through town, I pulled the visor down to attempt to fix the makeup smudges my tears had caused. I sighed, giving up halfway through, and pushed the visor back up to the roof of the car. Looking out the window, I noticed that Chad was driving in the direction of my house. Although I'd asked him to go home, I really didn't want to go back to mine tonight. Between the pressing questions my mother would undoubtedly fire at me, and the fact that Dylan could easily come around, completely turned me off the idea of going back to my house. "Hey Chad?" I asked as he drove nearer and nearer to my stop.
"Yeah?" He replied, taking his eyes off the road briefly, but flicking them back to the pavement quickly after.
"Um, C-Can you not take me to my house?" I asked, suddenly embarrased about what I was going to ask of him.
"Sure, where did you want me to take you?" He asked me, slowing down.
"Well, I...would it be okay if I stayed with you for tonight?" I said quietly, not making eye contact, insteady fumbling with the hem of my shirt.
"Yeah, of course that's alright." Chad answered easily, skipping the turn onto my street.
The rest of the drive was spent in the quiet, I was grateful Chad wasn't pressuring me to talk further about what I now referred to as The Date From Hell, but I wasn't in the mood to be left with my own thoughts at the moment. In what felt like no time at all, we were infront of Chad's house and he killed the engine. I quickly unbuckled my seatbelt and followed him around the house, just like I had the first night I'd stayed here. We made it to his window and he slid it open, helping me through. "Alright," He whispered once I was inside, "don't turn on the light yet. You can sit on my bed or whatever, until I get in there. Just be as quiet as possible. I'm going to go through the front door and I'll be there as soon as I can, okay?" He told me softly.
I nodded and waited at the window until he was out of my sight, before stumbling toward the bed and plopping down. As promised, within a few minutes Chad was inside, flicking the light on as he came. Just like before he went to the dresser and recovered a pair of boxers and a t-shirt for me to sleep in. "I don't want to go out there again and make them suspicious, but I promise not to look." He told me, locking in my gaze. I knew he meant it, so I nodded and waited for him to turn around before quickly stripping off and trading my clothes for his boxers and worn t-shirt.
"I'm done." I told him after I'd pulled the material over my head. He turned back around and I swore I could see a hint of a smile on his lips, but I was gone as quickly as it had come.
"Alright, you're turn to turn around." He instructed before slipping his shirt over his head. I didn't have time to do as I was told before he'd taken it off, and I couldn't help but stare at his toned stomach and the deep v-lines that led straight into his dark skinny jeans. Before I could stare for long, Chad cleared his throat, a smug grin on his face. "No peeking, Arabella." He chastised me, shaking his finger at me. I rolled my eyes and turned around, leaving him to finish changing.
"You can look now."
I turned as Chad was chucking his clothes into what I assumed was a dirty clothes basket. He then began to take pillows and blankets like before, preparing his makeshift bed, but I stopped him. "You don't have to do that." I said, grabbing one of the pillows from him. Chad's eyebrows knitted together and he stared at me with confusion, so I continued, "I mean..if you want..I don't mind if you sleep on the bed. With me." I said, awkwardly.
"If you're sure, you're okay with that." I could tell his eyes were searching mine for any doubt or discomfort, but there wasn't any.
"I am." I assured him, taking another pillow and placing it back on the bed.
