Off the Rails

Chapter Thirteen

Dakota
That Monday started out as a very shitty one. I totally avoided Liam, but I could feel him shooting glances (or glares) at me all day. It felt so uncomfortable. A part of me was afraid I'd never be enough for him, that we never would make up.

Around lunch time, it started pouring outside. The end of November was approaching, so it was just cold and dreary rain.

Drake acted totally normal around me, which was nice. I saw him and Liam talking privately at lunch. Maybe that meant they made up. I hoped so.

I sat with Emma, from history class, at lunch, and a few other nice girls. Emma had apologized for what happened at the bon fire weeks ago for Megan calling me a slut. Apparently, they were no longer talking. But whatever, I was over it. It was just nice to have some girls to spend time with.

I drove home with Drake, like we had talked about. As he pulled out of the school lot, he asked, "So, should I be worried about what you think we have to talk about?"

"I don't think so," I replied. "Let's just get settled at my house before we get into it. It's cold and I wanna sit by the fire with hot chocolate."

Drake smiled and chuckled softly.

"What?" I asked innocently.

"Nothing," he answered.

"Fine," I said. "I saw you and Liam talking earlier. Are you two okay?"

"Yes. We're fine. Always are. Brooks, we come from totally different lives, so sometimes we're gonna clash a bit. But nothing's gonna ruin our friendship. Trust me." He answered.

"You should know, I do trust you," I replied.

Drake raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Really?"

"Why wouldn't I?"

"No reason," he said with a smirk.

I just nodded, and we drove back in a comfortable silence. Drake focused on the road because of the heavy rain, and he had an adorable look of concentration on his face. That day, he was wearing jeans and a blue long sleeve shirt. His hair was messy by the end of the day, but somehow he even made that look good.

We pulled into my driveway a few minutes later. Since Blackden Ridge was such a small town, everything was always so close. It was one perk.

"Is you mom home?" He asked, turning the car off.

"No. She usually gets home around five." I said. It was only three.

Drake nodded and we got out of the car. We jogged to the front porch, laughing a bit, but we still got soaked. Like even-my-underwear-is-wet soaked.

I unlocked the front door and we headed inside.

"You want me to start a fire?" He asked, gesturing to the fireplace in my living room. "It's kinda getting cold out there."

"I can do it," I offered.

"Don't worry about it," he said. "Your clothes are soaked from the rain. You should go change."

"Well, your clothes are soaked, too. I feel bad."

"It's all good," he smiled, walking over to the fire pit.

"I'll be right back," I said, heading upstairs. I changed into a pair of black leggings and a New York Islanders hockey sweatshirt. I put my wet hair in a messy bun.

I walked back downstairs a few moments later, with a few extra items in my arms.

"So, I know this might be weird, but I have this huge sweatshirt that'll probably fit you if you wanna get dry. And I always buy men's sweatpants because they're so much comfier. This pair's too big, and I've been meaning to return them, but maybe they'll fit." I said, approaching him and finding that he already had a nice, warm fire going. Great, he had another talent.