In Hate With You [mlm]

the ninth misadventure

The knock comes at the door at seven am on a Tuesday morning. With a sigh, I drag myself out of bed and wrap my shivering body in a dressing gown, ready to murder whoever is at my door.

I stumble through the house, crashing into the dining table, my mind hazy with sleep. The door unlocks with a soft click, as I twist the key and undo the chain.

"Hi," Dante greets me, wincing slightly at my bedraggled appearance. Ady glances up at me, frowning.

Realisation dawns on me. "I'm so sorry, I forgot! Come in, Ady, and I'll make breakfast after I've had a shower." I take a step back, leaving a gap in the doorway for Ady to slip through.

"Don't worry about it," Dante chuckles, nudging Ady forwards until she steps past me to explore the flat. "I really appreciate you doing this for me."

"No worries." I rub a hand over my face. "Do you want to come in for a cup of coffee or something?"

"I can't," Dante grimaces. "Appointment for my dad and all that."

"Oh, yeah, god I'm sorry." I pause, inwardly cursing my brain. "Is he okay?"

"I hope so." Dante runs his fingers through his hair, brushing it out of his face. His t-shirt rides up, and I avert my gaze, a flush chasing along the shell of my ears. "Thank you again, for this."

"It's the least I could do. Besides, you already promised me cookies and that's all the thanks I need," I shrug, and a laugh tweaks Dante's lips, carving dimples into his cheeks.

"I should go," Dante gestures with his thumb, stepping backwards.

"Okay. Hope it goes well," I say. He sends me a grateful smile, before turning to walk down the hallway.

After locking the door, I make sure Ady is captivated in one of the colouring books lying out on my coffee table, and jog into the bathroom for a quick shower.

When I come out, Ady is nowhere to be seen. I glance around the apartment to find Ady staring in wonder at my paintings. She turns to me when she hears the door shut, her eyes wide.

"Did you do them?" She points at them, her eyes meeting mine.

I nod, moving over to her. "Do you like them?"

"Yeah. Especially the bakery!" I follow her line of sight. "Why haven't you finished it? And why doesn't that man have a face?"

"I don't know. I thought there was something wrong with it." I lean down to whisper into her ear, and she giggles. "I'll tell you a secret; I'm not very good at painting faces."

"But you'll never know if you don't try. That's what my daddy says," Ady tells me, her eyes narrowing. I laugh, guiding her into the kitchen.

"Your daddy is a very wise man." She nods, her blue eyes bright.

I shuffle through the cupboards in the kitchen, pulling out the dust from the ends of boxes of cereal, an old bottle of milk and a blackened, bruised banana.

Behind me, I can hear her giggling away at the mess I'm making on the counter.

"I think we're going to grab some breakfast on the way, if that's okay with you?" I decide, after tipping most of the contents of my cupboards into the bin.

"Yeah!" She agrees, excitedly. "That sounds better than food poisoning."

I whirl around, "You cheeky little thing!"

She squeaks, slipping out of the kitchen, as I chase her, my arms outstretched. I stumble over the leg of the coffee table and she bursts into another fit of giggles, revealing her hiding place.

"Aha! I've got you now!" I grasp at her sides, tickling her gently until she's gasping with laughter.

"Can we," she breathes through her nose, pushing my hands away from her. "Can we go get breakfast now?"

"I guess so..." I trail off, mimicking an annoyed expression to make her laugh. "Come on then." I offer her a hand, tugging her up onto her feet.

Luckily, I am not laden with bags like every other day this week, so getting to the car is not too much of a struggle. I put the radio on, and we sing anything that comes on in silly voices (until One Direction comes on, because that has to be taken seriously).

We buy croissants at the local supermarket, and stuff our faces with them as soon as we pull into the school car park.

A knock comes at the window, and I chuckle as she jumps in shock, spewing crumbs all over the inside of my car.

"Morning, James. You're here early," Hannah comments with a laugh, her eyes trailing over Ady. "Hello, Ady!"

"Hi, Mrs Philips," Ady waves, dropping more flakes of pastry on my seats.

"Wow. You're very upbeat for this early in the morning. I wish you were in my class," Hannah comments with a laugh.

"Dante brought her up wrong, honestly. I swear they're not human." I roll my eyes, and Ady snickers. Once she is focusing on her croissant once more, Hannah turns to me.

"Doing more favours for Dante, then?" I wince, avoiding her narrowed eyes.

"Ady is in my class anyway-"

"But that's not why you're doing this," she interrupts, her voice rising slightly. Ady twitches, but she doesn't say anything. I glare at my hands.

"Ady is a lovely kid," I insist, ignoring the feeling of Hannah's gaze pricking into my skin.

"I'm not disputing that." She sighs, turning her head to watch as some more cars pull into the car park. "But you are also doing this because you think Dante is cute, no?"

"Maybe," I admit, a flush chasing along my cheeks as Hannah's expression grows smug.

"My daddy thinks you're cute, too," Ady chips in. Hannah bursts out laughing, and I curse Ady's sweet nature.

I attempt to spit something intelligible off my tongue, but the words aren't coming to me, so I glare out the window as my cheeks stain red.

Ady has joined in with Hannah's laughter, and crumbs are all over my car, but even then I can't bring myself to say I regret this morning.