leather and cigarettes (j.d)

6

"Thanks for a fun night," Annabelle thanked James. "I'll see you tomorrow."

James nodded and waited for her to get into the house, safely.

Once she was in, he drove off.

"Who was that?" Annabelle heard a deep voice come from beside her.

"Oh, my friend dropped me off."

"I thought I told you never to come home past 7:00pm on a school night? For God's sake, it's past 9:00, Annabelle!"

"I know... I'm sorry. I forgot."

"Yeah, that's what you always say," he said. "I'm going on a business trip tomorrow for two weeks. You have to pick Tommy up after school at 3:00 tomorrow. Now, get to bed. I don't want to hear you up."

Annabelle didn't say anything, but only obliged to her fathers command.

^example of how her room would look like, but only picture it with 1950s furniture.

After taking a warm shower, she tied her white silk robe on and put the toothpaste on her pink toothbrush, and brushed her teeth.

While brushing her teeth, she hummed to Elvis Presley, trying to get the song out of her head from when she listened to it in James' car.

Hearing whistling come from her bedroom window, she looked over. Her eyes widened and she gasped, immediately spitting the toothpaste into the sink and wiping her mouth.

She ran over to the window and kneeled in front of it. "What are you doing here?!" She whisper-shouted.

"Chill out, Cherry. You forgot your bag in my car." James lifted her bag into view.

"Annabelle!" Her father called from outside the door. He opened the door. "Are you almost ready for bed?"

James ducked his head and Annabelle put her arm on top of his fingers, where he held onto the window.

"Yes, father."

"Why are you at the window?" He squinted his eyes.

"Oh... uh, I saw a cat."

"A cat?"

"Um... in the tree over there," She pointed to the tree outside her window. "Yeah, but I think the neighbor got it out, safely."

"Well... okay," he trailed off. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight, father." Annabelle did an unusual wave as he closed the door.

James lifted his head. "I have got to teach you how to lie... successfully."

She helped him into her bedroom. "Why couldn't you of knocked on the front door?"

"It's more fun going through a window than a door, silly." He smirked.

She rolled her eyes. "Jimmy," she whined in distress. "I'm gonna get caught, can't you see?"

"Not if I teach you how to lie properly."

"I'm being serious."

"And I'm being serious."

She sighed and collapsed onto her bed, causing it to bounce with her. She grabbed the opened book that was beside her and closed it, fixing the wrinkled pages.

She sat up and put it on her nightstand.

"Wanna go to the carnival tomorrow night?" James sat on the floor, watching as she hovered above him.

"I have to watch my brother."

"We could take him."

"Annabelle!"

As the door swung open, Annabelle pushed James' head down, behind the bed, so her father couldn't see a thing.

"I thought, I told you to go to bed?"

"I was just about to turn off the lights."

"Better hurry now. You've got school tomorrow." He closed the bedroom door and went to check on Annabelle's brother.

Annabelle removed her hand from James' soft and fluffy hair and turned the lamp off, leaving the other on.

"Jimmy," she said. "I really need you to leave. It's late."

"I can't."

"Why?"

"Because I'm insomniac," he said. "I can't ever fall asleep, and when I was at the beach with you, I actually felt tired in a very long time; not tired of you, but our adventures we had made tonight."

"Jimmy," she said, softly. She looked closely at his face, only to see a helpless and lost boy.

A boy, not a man.

"Stay here tonight and get some rest. Do you want the bed or floor?"

"I'm fine with the floor."

"Are you sure?"

He nodded and laid back from where he was on the floor.

Annabelle reached across her bed and grabbed a pillow and gave it to him. After, she walked into her closet and got a throw blanket, also giving that to him.

"Make sure you aren't seen by my father."

-

The morning came by fast and James had finally fully slept through the night in years.

Annabelle was still asleep when he woke up.

'She looks like a peaceful angel when she sleeps'. He thought, sighing dreamily.

Not wanting to wake her up, he left a note using the paper from on her desk.

Cherry—
I didn't want to wake you up, so I'm going home to get ready for school.
I'll pick you up around 8:00am.

—Jimmy

He hoped out of the window and sped off in his red corvette.

-

Annabelle woke up, shortly after James left.

Sitting up, she looked at the foot of the bed and saw the blanket he had used folded neatly, with the pillow placed on it.

She reached for it and hugged it to her chest, only smelling the scent of leather and cigarettes.

And for the rest of the day, that was the only thing that she could smell.

-
thanks for reading!
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—m