Pain 2: Him (H.S)

Chapter 40

"So tell me, what did you little rebels do while we were gone?" Alan takes his seat around the table while I hand him a cup of tea in his favorite velvet mug, and I find comfort in the cushion chair across from him.

"Just hung out." I shrug. No part of me wants to bring up any of the havoc Harry and I went through, and God know's what he would do if he found out I stayed at his apartment--our apartment.

"And did what? We were gone for a week and you were left alone with no authority and all you did was hang out?" He laughs clearly knowing the mind of a reckless teenager, and sips his tea repressing his smile.

"I'm serious, we just went to the mall and watched a few movies. But what did you guys do?" I'm trying to evade this conversation because I know even against my will power, he'll somehow crack me.

"A few movies, huh? What kind of movies?" He cocks an eyebrow and I laugh at his wide blue eyes and skeptical tea sipping.

"Alan, we didn't do anything wrong. We just spent time together, that's all. Now tell me what you did."

"Well," He begins, "let's see, your mother did some baby shopping for the twins, we went to the beach a few times, and she spent almost four hundred dollars on room service." He fake smiles but it quickly transitions into a real one as if it's a result of a funny memory, "she was a trip. I hadn't seen her enjoy herself the way she did in a while, so it was nice to see."

"And you? What did you do?"

"Everything she did. I went golfing too, which was pretty fun since I hadn't done it in a few years, but I was exhausted the third day."

"Oh, no. What did she make you do?"

He leans into me and begins to whisper as if my sleeping mom is going to hear. "I had to go to every single store with her. This woman is crazy! You know she tried on the same shirt in six different colors? Six. Not one, six!" He emphasizes and it's taking everything in me not to laugh. "But overall, it was a lovely trip. Unexpected, but lovely."

"You're tanner too." I press my finger down his arm and it leaves behind a white finger print. "A deep tan, wow."

"We did a lot of walking and site seeing. She had the time of her life. Plus, it was great exercise for the babies." Every time he talks about them, his face lights up in a way I can't really explain. He has always wanted to have his own children and it's really great to see it finally happen for him. He's a great step dad to me, most of the time, so I know he'll be a great father to the twins. "How was school today? Who filled in?"

"It was great and Mr. Dynan. He's the new substitute they hired."

"Yeah? Is he better looking than me?"

"Not by a long shot." I shake my head and he snorts taking another sip, "but he's a cool sub. I liked him."

"That's very nice to hear but tomorrow we're getting back to work. I'm sure he allowed you guys to do whatever you wanted like every other useless substitute." He rolls his eyes standing. Just when I thought the cocky teacher side of him was long gone. "We haven't written in our journals in a while so we'll get back to that." Oh, great. "Prom's Friday, I believe," He sighs opening the cabinet to take out the peanut butter, "are you and him going?"

Why is everyone so worried about that?

"I don't know, probably not." Harry and I haven't talked about it yet but I have a feeling he might be interested. I just think it's too much work finding a dress, heels, and spending half my day doing my hair and makeup. I'd rather just stay home with him than go. I'm sure he feels the same way since he isn't really in to events like this.