The Arrangement | Completed | Wattys2020

56

I toss and turn on the couch, trying to focus on falling asleep but failing miserably. I sit up and glance down at my phone. The screen reads that it's almost midnight. I have been on this couch for hours. The rest of the house is silent. Everyone must have already fallen asleep. Lucky them.

I scroll through my Instagram feed and see nothing new. Of course I wouldn't see anything new. Everyone is already asleep. Just as I should be, but am not. I hear footsteps down the hall and quickly turn around, seeing if it's Matty. To my disappointment, it isn't. It's Garret. He is wiping his eyes and on his way to the kitchen I'm assuming when he sees me.

"Oh, fuck." He says, jumping when he notices me sitting on the couch. "Sorry, you scared me. What are you doing out here? It's pretty late." He laughs at his own surprise.

"Oh, I'm just..." I trail off, trying to find the words.

"It's okay." He says, holding a hand up to silence me. I'm thankful that he isn't going to make me explain. Instead, he changes the subject. "Well, I couldn't fall asleep. So, I was going to make some popcorn and watch a movie or something but it seems as though the couch is already occupied." He teases.

"Oh, you can take the living room. I can go back to our room." I stutter, quickly gathering my blanket.

"Hey, it's fine. I'm only teasing. I don't mind." He laughs, holding his hands up in surrender. He probably thinks I'm a complete nutcase with the way I am stuttering. Well, that or emotionally unstable.

"No, really. I should probably go ahead and go back to bed anyways. Matty's probably..."

"Or, you can just stay out here. Because, if there's a reason you're out here instead of in the room with him, I sure don't want to be the reason you have to face it again. Well, face it before you're ready to on your own, that is." He tells me, offering me a small smile.

"Thanks.." I mutter, now feeling awkward.

"Well, I'm still going to make popcorn. Actually, I might just have some of the leftovers from dinner. I'm starving." He laughs. "But, instead of watching a movie I might just head out back and hangout by the ocean. You're more than welcomed to join me." He says, offering me his company.

That's a bad idea. A really bad idea.

But why? I mean, I know Matty has some unknown resentment against most of his family, but I don't really understand why. I don't know why because he never really cares to mention it to me. Daneisha and Garret seem nice. I mean, they've been nothing but nice to me lately. I don't know why he has to huff and puff while he's around them. They are both clearly trying to maintain a relationship with him, and he isn't doing anything to try and help them. Instead, he pushes them away.

"Yeah, that would be nice. I can't sleep either." I tell him.

I wait for him to reheat the leftover food and then we step outside. I don't have any shoes on and the pavement is cool against my feet. We walk down towards the shore in silence. I wrap my arms around myself, trying to keep warm. Matty wasn't kidding when he said it would get cooler at night. I wish I would have known I was doing this earlier, I would have brought a jacket. It's too late for that now.

"Here, take this." Garret says, taking his jacket off and slipping it over my shoulders.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, if I start to freeze, I can just go inside and get another one." He tells me with a laugh.

We walk down and finally pick a spot where the sand it dry and untouched by the tidal waves.

"Do you live in New York, too?" I ask, breaking the silence.

"Yeah, I do. We all live out there. It's kind of...I don't really know. I don't really like it out there." He tells me.