Abused Foster

Four

"Shit! I'm so sorry-" I say, cowering back into the bathroom, the light still being on.

"Huh? Why are you sorry?" He asks, furrowing his eyebrows slightly.

"I-I.." I raise my eyes just barely to see if I can squeeze past him to my open door.

He cocks his head a bit, and I glance up at him.
Oh- it's Jace.
      "Are you hungry?" He asks, pointing a thumb over his shoulder.

      "Um.." I almost say no, until my stomach lets out a loud growl.
I put my hands over it quickly, as if that would shut it up.

      "Hahah," Jace laughs, throwing his head back so slightly.
      "I'll take that as a yes, c'mon." He says, waving for me to follow him as he descends into the dark hallway.

      I reluctantly step out of the bathroom, shutting the light off in the process and follow him, my eyes not quite adjusted to the darkness.

     "Now be careful the stairs are right here," he says over his shoulder.
     "I would hold onto the railing."

     I extend my arm, trying to find the railing until I step, and there's no floor.
     "Wha-!" I nearly fall, but Jace quickly steadies me, placing his hands on my waist.

      My face heats up quickly and I back up onto the top floor, his hands dropping back to his sides.

      "I said careful." He says, somewhat sternly before he sighs.
      "Come on, I'll be right in front of you."

     I swallow, before grabbing the hand rail and starting my way down the steps behind him, my heart racing.

      "So what sounds good?" He asks as he flicks on the kitchen light upon entering.

      "Um.. do you guys have eggs?" I ask softly, keeping my gaze lowered so he doesn't see my puffy eyes.

     "Of course," he says as he opens the refrigerator.

     I peer in, curious to see what they've got.
Lots of beer.

      My heart lurches but I ignore it.
It's a house full of men. What do you expect?

      "You go sit down," he says as he pulls out the eggs.
      "I'll cook these for you. You must not have eaten all day," he says as he begins grabbing the pan and everything.

     My stomach growls again, answering his question before I could say anything.

"Hey dude," Karl says as he walks into the kitchen and goes to the fridge.
"That screaming wake you up too?" He asks, seeming to not have noticed me.

Jace glances up at me, then looks at him before looking back down at the eggs he's scrambling.

"No, I was awake." He says, in a slightly irritated tone it seemed, which made me shrink in my chair slightly.
"She had a nightmare." He says, not taking his eyes off the pan.

"Sounded like a fuckin' banshee, man." He chuckles before walking out of the kitchen, his phone and a beer in his hand.

I bow my head slightly and look down at my hands in my lap.

"Don't worry about him. He doesn't care about others feelings all that much." He says, rolling his eyes.

I nod slightly, beginning to pick at my nails.
"It's alright," I say, pausing with a sigh.
"I'm sure he meant it as a joke. And didn't realize I was here.." I say, pretending it didn't bother me.

He looks at me for a couple moments before sighing and continuing the eggs.
Soon enough, they're done and steaming on a plate in front of me.

"Oh- thank you!" I say, smiling lightly up at him.
We made eye contact for a moment before I look back down quickly.

      "Don't look me in the eye! You know that's a sign of disrespect!"

      I blink a few times to ignore the memory.

      "Your eyes are red and puffy, were you crying earlier?" He asks, sitting across from me with his own plate of eggs, which is a bit smaller than mine.

      No shit.

     "Oh.. uh, well.." I can't tell him about it.
"Just a nightmare." I say shortly, before eating a forkful of egg.

     "You know you can talk to us?" He says, collecting some egg on his fork.

     I sigh and nod slightly.
"I know," I start as I eat another forkful of egg.
     "It's just stuff about my past, stuff you wouldn't wanna talk about." I say, trying to pass the topic.

     "Just putting it out there," he says, flashing a quick smile.

     Ugh. Even his smile is- stop! He's not gonna be your heartthrob.

     I smile lightly and continue eating my eggs, as we continue to chat amongst each other.
Quietly, of course since the others are going to bed.

     "Here, I'll put your dishes up." He says as he stands up.

     "Oh," I hadn't even realized I had eaten all my eggs.
"Thank you," I say, handing him my plate, my stomach satisfied.
      At least for now.

      "Mhm," he hums as he brings the dishes over to the sink.

      "I'm gonna go to bed," I say as I stand up and start towards the kitchen door.
"Have a good rest of your night, and sleep well." I say, smiling as I wave and walk towards the stairs.

     God why does he have to be so hot.
His hair is wet so he must have just showered. It's all shaggy and- his body.

     I step into my room and quickly shut the door behind me and mentally slap myself.

     Don't tell me I have the hots for him.

    I sigh and walk over to my bed, running my fingers through my hair as I do so.

      Tomorrow's just another day. Let's see what it brings.