Alleyway BxB

XI (Throw Blanket)

WEDNESDAY, 3 OCTOBER
NATHAN COVINGTON

I had already seen the house on the Lockhearts' Instagram pages. Cameron's too—since he was one of the only guys in the group who hadn't blocked me. It was surreal to see it up close, though. I always thought Dallon and Mikey's house was beautiful, but this took it to a whole new level. This was the type of house you would expect any major celebrity to live in. Especially the Lockhearts.

"You want to be on your best behavior." Marcello told me as he readjusted his hold on Matt who was still fast asleep. "Leave your shoes by the door and I'll go through what's going to happen tonight."

I hated people who bossed me around, but I wasn't in my territory anymore. Almost everyone in the house didn't like me. Dallon hated me. So, I did exactly what I was told to do. I slipped off my shoes and stuck close behind Marcello despite the beauty of the inside. It was the only thing I could look at because the stares of the group, Dallon's especially, were horrifying.

Suddenly, Zach whizzed past me to sit by Matthew and he seemed way more useful than I could have ever been. Back at home, our house didn't have any ice packs. Instead, we had bags of months-old freezer-burnt meat in the freezer. Before I knew it, a hand grabbed my wrist. It was Marcello who beckoned me to follow him to the back door. I let him drag me out. Silence with him felt better than the judgemental stares from the rest of the house.

"Comfortable?" The lounge dipped and he dropped a blanket onto my lap.

I moved my arms in an attempt to throw it over myself, but a newfound ache coursed through me. I dropped it instead and rubbed my forearms. They were red, felt more tender than the chicken I ate last week.

"I guess not." He scooted closer and finished the task left undone; but instead of throwing the blanket over just me, he included himself in the warmth. "So-"

I interrupted him, already knew what he was going to ask. "I don't want to talk about what happened."

He was probably sitting on the couch again, drowning himself in more bottles of beer, hadn't realized what we did not too long ago. Who knows? Maybe he threw some whiskey in there just to add some variation into his poor life.

He pursed his lips together, looked out to the pool instead. "It's okay. I won't force you into saying anything you're not ready to."

My cheeks flushed red in immediate embarrassment. I didn't mean to sound rude. It was a bad habit. In his own house too. "I'm sorry."

He assured me with nod of his head and stayed under the throw blanket. He didn't look offended. "I know we're not close." In fact, he made himself more comfortable, pulled his legs up onto the couch, and turned his body around to look directly at me. "I don't know much about your issue with these guys, but we've managed to get along so far. I'm not against you. I actually want to get to know you better."

I eyed him warily, but as gently as I could, I turned my body to face him too. "You're serious?" I had been nothing but rude the entire time we've known each other, yet he wanted to be friends. Mind blowing, really.

There it was. The first lighthearted smirk and quirk of the brow. "And you're interested? Can't spread a blanket but you can spin yourself around to look at me?" he teased.

"I have my priorities straight." Well, I wished I did but I liked to pretend it was my reality.

"I'm sorry I missed your game last night... Hope you didn't miss me too much," he chuckled.

I couldn't help but roll my eyes but I played along. "You better be. I was looking in the crowd all over for you."

I wasn't sure what I expected, but Marcello shook his head. A little upturn of the lip was turning into a full-blown smile. School was such a busy environment for me mentally, I never took the time to notice how wonderfully dorky he was in real life. "Did we win?"