Hard to Find

Chapter Thirty Three - Beginning of the End

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

c h a p t e r t h i r t y t h r e e 

{Beginning of the End}

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Skylar's POV

Jayden let me know he was heading to the bar with Dylan after his walk so I didn't freak out. I'm glad he is with a friend. Marlee offered me her company, but I wanted to spend some time alone since I haven't had the opportunity in a while.

So I pour myself an oh-so-generous amount of wine and run a bath with extra bubbles. Before I settle in the calming water, I press play on my phone, and Bon Iver echos through the dimly lit bathroom.

A smile pulls at my lips. This is exactly what I needed.

I remember the day I sat in this bathtub for the first time. Jayden and I were just getting comfortable with each other. But maybe we were a little too comfortable that night. I remember him letting me be the first to take a bath here. Then he let me borrow a tee-shirt for bed. Little did I know, I'd be borrowing many more t-shirts over the following months.

It feels like an eternity ago.

I bring the wineglass to my mouth and take a hefty sip. My mouth waters from the sweetness.

I hope Jayden is taking it easy with the alcohol tonight, but I'm preparing myself for the worst. Jayden and I are a lot alike, you never know what we could do or how we'd cope.

Speaking of coping, I still haven't reached out to my father. To be honest, I don't think working out my daddy issues right now would be beneficial for anyone. It's going to take a lot of energy to fix things, and I'm running a little dry.

The truth is, I don't know if I want to fix things. I like how my life is, mostly.

The weight of the past couple of days makes my eyes weary, and I instantly feel myself drifting. An overwhelming urge to climb into bed washes over me, so I give myself fifteen more minutes in the warm water before I get out and get ready for bed.

After rinsing off and brushing my teeth, I get cozy in my pajamas and nestle under the cool sheets. I don't want to fall asleep just yet; I want to wait for Jayden, but I don't know when he'll be back. I check my phone and see that it's ten till eleven and I still don't have any texts from him.

'He's with Dylan, he's safe, he's fine.' I reassure myself. To kill time and minimize my thoughts, I grab a book, but I barely make it twenty pages before my eyes shut completely.

I feel a hand on my torso, pulling me in and cradling me, while another brushes hair away from my face. Cool lips press against my hot neck and then a soothing voice whispers, "Hi baby."

Unable to hide my smile, I turn over and face Jayden who just got home. He doesn't hesitate to kiss my forehead. I tuck my nose into his chest, inhaling deeply. His smell completely eases all tension I had.

"Hello," I mumble back sleepily. It takes a moment for my eyes to adjust in the dark, but his features slowly come into view. He doesn't smell of alcohol, in fact, he seems sober. It sounds absurd, but I can almost feel calmness emitting from him.

"How was the bar?"

"Actually, we ended up going to a restaurant."

That catches my attention. "Oh? How was that?"

"Good actually," He goes quiet, "I'm sorry I left you earlier."

"Don't apologize for needing space, I understand."