The Borrower and Her Bean (complete)

Part 8

Part 8

Running to find her brothers Melina's mind was a whirl, apart from being frustrated at not seeing him she was also excited. Their meal had been peaceful this time, just enjoying each other's company. It had felt so comfortable. Running down the long cavity of the wall she almost ran headlong into Greg's chest as he turned the corner. Puffing she said "Henry has invited us to see what he does for his work. If your free, in his living room in 45mins." Greg smiled at this remembering the fun they had playing his computer games "Sure let's go get Carson." Turning with her they ran up to the roof cavity as Carson was visiting with Pam and Elisha.

They reached the top and both now out of breath and only with 20mins left to get back to the living room. Greg Yelled "Carson" the young man who was happily chatting with the two girls turned answering in annoyance "What?" before Greg answered he looked at Melina. "Do you think he would mind two more? I'm sure Pam and Elisha would come too" Wondering at the wisdom of exposing more borrowers to her bean, but also knowing that the girls had already been on his chest when he was sick said. "Well you can ask the girls; I think he would be ok, but they might not be." By this time, they had walked the narrow beam in the ceiling to where the group where huddled.

Henry was nervous but he really didn't know why this morning had been unexpected. The peace he had felt just sitting next to Melina whilst eating was wonderful. Wanting to share with her the art he guessed was the logical next step in introducing her to his world. Plus, he had worked out how to show them his films. Sitting in front of him on the floor was two couches from the dolls house. He had his bean bag set up so he could watch on his stomach and there in front was his iPhone propped up ready for them to watch. Chuckling he went into the kitchen to get the popcorn he had prepared along with the small toy cups already filled with coke. It was had enough trying to fill them over the sink than trying to do it in front of his guests.

The 5 borrowers entered the living room. As they poked their heads around the bookshelf they saw it was empty. Listening as was prudent to do, they felt the floor vibrate first and heard the giant footfalls before they saw Henry walk into the room. Melina watched as Pam and Elisha silently moved towards the boys seeing comfort. It was becoming clear to her the pairing as Carson wrapped an arm around Pam and Greg took Elisha's hand in his. Together the 5 walked quietly from the bookcase to the couch chair leg. As they made their way around to the rug they stood in shock at what lay before them. There were two couches their size, they walked up to them the two couples checking them out. Carson laughed "Can you believe this Greg; they are even soft to sit on." Before Greg could remark a loud booming deep voice laughed into the room.

Each borrower froze hoping that it was Henry and that they had not just walked into a trap. Melina looked back and seeing the familiar feet first breathed a sigh as she leaned back up to see Henry. "I see you bought your girlfriends boys." A big grin on his face, "if you give me a few more minutes I'll get some extras" at that he turned and the floor bounced around them as he ran up the stairs returning in moments with a single person couch just for Melina. He then went back to the kitchen.

While they waited, she sat in the chair Henry had bought down for her. It was comfortable she could curl he feet up and snuggle into it. She watched her brothers both now comfortable on their own couches both snuggled up with their girlfriends. A feeling of jealousy crept into her heart knowing she would never be able to do that with her bean. She loved her brothers and was getting to know Pam and Elisha who were beautiful girls kind and generous. But she wanted this too. The ground began to shake again alerting them to Henry's return. He came around in front of them and laid down so he was at eye level to speak. "So, I wanted to show you what I do for work. I'm an actor which means I play characters from books in stories that writers create for me. I thought we could start with an episode from The Witcher series and if you like it we can watch them over the next few hours." Everyone nodded their heads as he picked up the phone and turned it on.

They watched as he tapped on the screen with his big fingers, Greg whispering to Carson, "I wonder if it would work with our hands?" as Henry placed it back in its holder. As the screen lit up with a Red N and the music started Melina was wide-eyed in wonder. There on the screen was her bean except for this time he was her size. In Awe she walked up to the phone standing side by side as he battled a monster, she reached out to touch him. The image stopped as her hand touched the screen, and she could hear Carson's voice whisper back to Greg "well that answers that question." Embarrassed by her actions she looked back to Henry who had settled down on his stomach next to her chair. He had a strange look on his face, his eyes soften, as she looked at him. Blushing she almost felt like running again until Henry's soft deep voice said, "Its ok Melina, just touch the triangle in the middle of the screen and it will start."

Turning back to the screen, she touched the white triangle and the image started moving again. Saying to herself "Be brave" she turned around back and walked to her chair and curled up hoping no one saw the burn in her cheeks.

After the first episode, the group were keen to keep watching. Henry passed around a popcorn kernel to each borrower and a cup of coke as they settled in for the next episode. Melina watched with interest, her bean was acting so well she forgot it was him she was watching and got lost in the world of Geralt and Yennefer. Henry couldn't help stealing sideways glances of Melina, it was fun watching her reactions so obvious on her face. He wasn't sure when it happened, but he had come to care for this little sprite. He watched as her eyes grew heavy and then closed towards the end of the 6th episode. Thankful he thought to bring one of the blankets from the dollhouse down he gently covered her. As he looked over to the others, he caught Greg's gaze as he gave Henry a small smile and nod as if to say he approved.

By the end of the 8th episode, Melina was still asleep, the sun had dipped behind the trees and the group was ready to head back to their respective families. Henry had enjoyed watching his new friends' reactions to his work and knew that they would want to do this again. As Greg came close, they shared a moment, neither saying a word but Greg's eyes held trust that he would look after Melina. Together they left leaving Henry and Melina alone.

Henry whispered her name, as quiet as he could so as not to startle her awake. He had managed to lift her in the chair to the coffee table so that when Kal came in he would not startle her. In the next few hours, he had read his manuscript, fed Kal and had dinner. Worried that maybe she was sick he decided to try and wake her up. When this did not work, he decided to be brave, using his pointer finger he ran the tip along her back whilst continuing to call her name slightly louder now. He heard her moan slightly at his touch, but she just snuggled deeper into the blanket. Knowing he needed to sleep and unwilling to leave her here alone he picked up the chair. Careful to not drop her, he and Kal walked to the bedroom.

A/N I hope you're liking the story :) Thank you for reading this far As always vote and comment if you like or if you notice anything that does not fit in the borrower life.