Billboards and Benches

Chapter 8

Though he's grateful for everything she's done for him he knows he'll never be able to give her anything in return. Rather than staying and pretending he's okay with that knowledge he plans to slip away in the night and hope she won't come looking. He just doesn't want to sit there and be the one who couldn't afford a gift for her. She deserves the world for taking him in but he doesn't want it. He wants to leave peacefully without her knowing especially today of all days. It's Christmas and he doesn't want to be the reason her day is ruined. "Hey, what's going on?" His door creaks open. He looks over at the beautiful woman he's starting to like a lot. She wears what seems to be only a silk robe and her undergarments she such an old soul. She listens to strictly eighties music and she walks around like a grandma all of the time.

"I-I'm sorry did I wake you up? Go back to bed. I-I'll take you back to bed." He mumbles grabbing her arm while she walks towards her bedroom. He hates that he's sneaking around her after she just spent so long being so kind with him. No one has ever spoken to him in the same gentile tone. No one has ever given him the same soft look before now, no one treats him the same and he wishes desperately that someone else had. He feels horrible but he can't just twiddle his thumbs while he's living with the richest person he's ever looked at. She is so much more than he could ever dream of being and he's going to ruin that for her.

"Hey," she rubs his shoulders gently while sitting him on the bed. He lay back and she sits next to him. "If you sneak out I'll notice, my security might hurt you, and I'll go and find you. I'm not letting you leave here without me okay?" She puts his head on her legs. She brushes her fingers through his long hair. His hair is almost the same length as hers. He needs a haircut. She lay herself next to him and he moves himself slowly closer. She plays with his fingers while they sit there staring at the ceiling together.

"You don't need to try and keep me. I'm not trying to be a pet, I don't want to sit here and be nothing but a waste of space. I don't have a job I can't pay rent I don't know what to do to help you out Dylan." He begs and she smiles. She leans her head on his shoulder continuing to play with his fingers. She can't help smiling at him. His hands are so much bigger than hers and it's comical in her eyes. The way that he holds his hand limp so that she can play with his large fingers to amuse herself while he tries to maintain a serious conversation. She can't help but smile at him. He is simply the most kind person she's ever met. He sat with her through her breakup, he tries every night to sneak out at three in the morning so that she won't be awake to see him go. He makes his bed every morning and he walks into her room to make hers while she's in the shower. He's gotten into the habit of putting on a pot of coffee and cleaning the kitchen before she gets downstairs.

"I don't want you to pay rent. I want to help you get a job and until then I want you to have a home. A safe place for you to stay so that eventually you can  leave if you want. But I want you to know that this is a safe space and that it's always here for you." She touches their noses together and he smiles softly. She moves her head back down to his shoulder and smiles. "You wanna know what I got you?" She looks at the time and smiles. "Come here." She takes his hands in hers and she leads him down the stairs to her Christmas tree that he helped her decorate. "Open it." She smiles sitting on the couch. She wraps herself in a blanket and he sits next to her.

"It's a list?" He looks over and she smiles.

"This list has three hundred and seventy jobs on it. Three hundred and seventy jobs and I can get you anyone you want by two o'clock this afternoon so look them all over and take your pick. You still need to make a resume but I'll help you with that. You'll still need to do an interview but I have an old suit laying around. I won't let you go through this alone. I told you I was here for you and I meant it."

...

He sits in the kitchen while she sits in the living room with her parents. He has a bad track record with parents so he stayed away and she respected his decision. "I'm sorry Dylan but you brought in a stray and he needs to be returned." Her dad gives a stern nod. She rolls her eyes putting her tea to the side. She knows her parents hate this idea. She knows more than that that her parents are only worried about her. She knows that the second she hung up Gerald called her mom to let her know that they'd split and she knows that her mom has been biting her tongue but she doesn't think it's fair that her parents have become a part of this. "Dylan we mean it!" He growls and she chuckles bitterly. She can barely look her father in the eyes and every time he turns to her she wants to cry.

"He is my friend. We are friends and he has no one else." She spits softly trying to protect his feeling. She looks at the glass door to the kitchen and watches him March back and forth. What in the hell could he be doing?

"He's using you for money Dylan put him back where you got him he isn't worth it." Her mother nods and she huffs. She wants to protect him from all of these terrible words but she doesn't know how. She knows that he is the one she's meant to be with. He's going to be the person she spends the rest of her life with even if she has to spend the next ten years convincing him.

"He is worth so much more than you would know! I am letting him stay here and I'm going to help this poor man because people like you make it difficult for him to live alone in this world." She spits sipping her tea. She watches his silhouette continue to come and go from one side of the kitchen to another. She thinks it's sweet how much more comfortable he's become though she understands that he is still constantly anxious and stressed out around her.

"You don't know what you're doing to yourself Dylan." Her sad shakes his head as if he's disappointed. He seems so completely revolted that the child he raised might take a homeless person in during a time of need. It is risky by all means but she's spoken to him before, she'd seen him before. They were developing a relationship before she brought him home and when she did all was well. No matter how many times he has and will continue to try and leave she's going to keep him inside so he's safe. She'll give him a few months to adapt because it's all big and new but she's hoping by the end of the few months she won't have to babysit him anymore. She hopes that maybe they could have a real relationship. No matter how much she loves having him as her friend she's sick of spending her nights alone when she has a perfectly capable candidate down the hall. She hates that she doesn't get to kiss him anymore. She hates that they aren't going to have sex again. She hates how distant he seems all of the time because he's constantly so nervous. She just wants to lay in bed and for once she wants to know that he's laying soundly in his without the intention of leaving. She wants to lay in her bed and have him right behind her holding her tight. She wants to see him walk into the bedroom that one day they will share and she wants him to be excited to see her. He misses the excitement she used to have. The joy isn't there anymore she misses the joy too.

"I am fully aware of what I'm doing and I never asked for your input on gym situation." She shrugs standing and walking towards the kitchen. She knows her parents are going to leave without saying another word. She'll gain an awfully passive aggressive text message from her mother about how terrible she was and how hard it's going to be for her. "Hey," she smiles looking at him. He has the tablet that she leaves in the kitchen open and he's been pacing between the fridge and the stove.

"Hi, i-i thought i would do something while you and your parents talked so I started cooking the things you had set aside. I hope that was okay?" He looks nervous and she smiles. She loves that he's been doing little things like this but she doesn't like hearing him apologize. She's sick of him asking her if he can use the shower or if he's allowed to take a water bottle from her fridge.

"Don't ask me. If you want to do it do it. I have no objections you can cook freely." She leans her head on his shoulder. "I think it's just you and me again tonight." She sighs and he nods. He squeezes her petite shoulder close. He looks nervous as he is while she tries to keep a brave face for him. He's not good at family he seems to think it's normal that her parents just up and left. He knows it isn't but that's how his life worked for the longest time he doesn't understand that they were supposed to stay. They're supposed to be here to comfort her over her loss. She lost two people in the last month or so and she didn't need to lose anymore.

"You wanna talk about it?" He hums shutting off the stove. There isn't really anything that requires his immediate attention. He just holds her to his hip and rests his head above hers. He's certain that's the best way to calm her down. He doesn't truly know what else to do but he'll keep her calm and close while she needs it. He's here because she needs him to be. Though his escape today while she was with her parents would've been perfect. Her security is off today and she was distracted which would have made it easy but he was listening to her parents attacking her and he was not about to leave her to face that on her own. He knows that even when she's smothering him she means well and he wants her to know he appreciates it.

"No," she sighs wrapping her arms around his waist. "But I like this, can we stay like this?" She mumbles taking in his scent. It's soft and familiar. She likes knowing that there's something familiar surrounding her. It's safe in her eyes.

"For as long as you'd like."