Getting a Clue | ✓

Chapter 12

I woke up early on the day Jethro was coming over and cleaned my room. Not that it was super messy, but if I was going to be so far beneath his level when it came to aesthetics I might as well be clean about it.

I even made my bed, which I hadn't done... maybe ever? I didn't really see the point. I was only going to mess it up again the next time I slept in it, and I was usually the only person who went into my room.

I couldn't even remember if Jethro's bed had been made, which only further highlighted the fact that it didn't fucking matter. But I did it anyway. I did it for him.

And then I gave Pippi a bath and brushed her fur and cut her nails, because she did matter. She was my perfect baby and I wanted her to be at her best when she met my boyfriend.

Unfortunately, it was still not time for Jethro to arrive yet. I hated just sitting around and waiting for things. Anticipation, even for good things, was really just another form of anxiety.

I messed with my hair, brushed my teeth again, and then I messed with my hair some more.

The buzz of the doorbell startled me and I glanced at the clock on my wall. He was four minutes early. I'd been so focused on the countdown that I'd forgotten being anything but precisely on time was even an option.

Pippi dashed out ahead of me when I opened my bedroom door. By the time I was within view of the front door, Jethro was already sitting on the floor with Pippi jumping on his chest and trying to lick his face. I'd known they'd get along.

My mum, who had answered the door, was smiling down at him. "She really likes you. Maybe she's smelled you on Cas before."

"Probably," Jethro agreed, then looked up and gave me a smile. "Hey, Cas!"

"Hey..." I said back, though it came out less enthusiastic than I felt because I was distracted by my mum mouthing something that I was pretty sure was 'he's cute'.

She gave me a beaming smile. I gave her a scowl.

But she wasn't wrong. He was cute. Especially right now, cuddling my dog on the floor.

"Come on, Jethro," I told him. "Let's go to my room."

My mum managed not to embarrass me in the few seconds more they were in contact, and then I had Jethro and Pippi in my bedroom and my door shut. Perfect.

Jethro flopped down on my bed with Pippi and she pressed herself against him and wriggled around on her back. She settled as he started rubbing her belly. I lay down next to Jethro and stroked her too and she let out a contented sigh.

"This isn't too much, is it?" Jethro asked, and for a moment I thought he was talking about, like... life, and present events, and I genuinely had to ponder the question. But then I noticed he was plucking at the purple tights he was wearing and I realised he was just talking about his outfit.

"No?" I said. He was wearing purple tights, black shorts, and a long sleeved black and purple striped shirt. He looked good, as always, but it was hardly more extravagant than what he wore any other day.

"I was wondering if maybe I should tone it down to make a good impression on your mum, but you know..." He shrugged. "What's the point, right? If she only likes a version of me that isn't me, where does that get me?"

It was weird to me that he even cared, though I wasn't sure why. I cared what his parents thought of me.

"How could anyone not like you?"

He shot me a smile. "It happens. Shocking, I know."

My hand found its way to his thigh and stroked over the stretchy material of his tights. "I like these."