Misery Loves Company

Track 55: The Hardest Part

Misery Loves Company

By: theinkslingerr

Track 55: The Hardest Part

The next morning, I woke up in bed alone (unless you counted Mr. Fluffbutt).

Rocco's side was cold, so he'd been up for a while.

The blinds were still down, but for some reason the room seemed very bright. And cold. Shivering, I looked around. I hadn't been able to see much last night, because it was dark and I was half asleep, but now I could see that the bed took up most of the small room. There was just enough space to squeeze in a nightstand and a dresser. The door to the ensuite bathroom was partly open, and an acoustic guitar rested on a stand in the corner.

I tilted my head at it. Why would Rocco bring a guitar when he couldn't play because of his arm? I hoped he wasn't ignoring doctor's orders. I glanced at Mr. Fluffbutt, our little undercover voyeur. Maybe simply having it in the RV comforted Rocco just like Mr. Fluffbutt.

Deciding not to overthink things, as Rocco would say, I stretched and tried to figure out where I'd left my phone last night. To my surprise, I found it on the nightstand, partially obscured by the lamp, but plugged in and at a hundred percent. Rocco must've done that, because I didn't remember grabbing it before bed.

I smiled and picked it up. He thought of everything.

I had a bunch of missed texts and calls, so I reviewed them instead of wandering into the kitchen like my stomach wanted me to.

Some of them were from Sienna. She apologized for not being available yesterday. As I suspected, her mom's salon had been swamped to the point where the receptionist was trying to do hair and answer the phone at the same time. Her phone had died too, and she hadn't been able to charge it until later that night. After seeing my missed calls, she'd called me then Ji-Hyun, who'd filled her in on everything that was going on.

I chuckled as I read her texts. She sounded so enthusiastic about my meet-up with Rocco. I couldn't wait to talk to her in person, but for now a quick response would have to do.

Next up was...Dom.

I rubbed my eyes and read the text again to make sure I wasn't seeing things.

Dom: Shouldn't have snapped at you yesterday, but we were all freaked about Rocco. And to be fair, you can be really slow sometimes.

Was this supposed to be an apology? I rolled my eyes. Between him and Jae, I couldn't pick who was worse at them.

I wondered if Ji-Hyun had put him up to it. Judging from how they were bickering when he'd called looking for Rocco, the stress of the last two weeks was getting to everyone. I just hoped it wouldn't affect their reconciliation too much.

The last two texts were from my mom and Josh. She'd spent the night at her parents, because she was too tired to drive home, and he'd been towed back safely.

I barely resisted pumping my fist in the air.

My mom would not have been happy to know I'd spent the night in the woods with Rocco, and I was glad Julian wouldn't find out about me and Josh borrowing his car.

After crafting careful replies to both of them, I let out a big yawn and squinted at the blinds.

Why was it so bright? It wasn't even noon yet.

Curious, I got out of bed and made my way over to the window. I peeked out and gasped.

A white blanket of untouched snow stretched as far as the eye could see. The sun almost made it blinding; reflecting off of it and the icicle-laden trees with the intensity of a thousand flood lights. It looked like a postcard. I was surprised since the weather app hadn't said anything about snow. I stood there admiring the wintry landscape until I felt someone behind me. Lips coated with chapstick landed on my cheek at the same time an arm holding a steaming mug slid in front of my face.