Dependent on You

Chapter 20

Chapter 20

Third Person

"Why?" Adrian whispered, her knees pulled up to her chest as she sat on the opposite side of her bed guiltily enjoying the scent of Elliot's shirt. She'd even dare say she liked it more than her father's, the smell, the soft but still rough fabric, and the dark wolf design imprinted right in the center. The wolf suited Elliot in a way she thought, maybe it was the similar scrutinizing eyes, or maybe it was the sharp teeth that bit right into her heart with every acerbic word he spoke. "Why aren't you at school?" Her voice was small but clear.

Elliot laid shirtless showing his radiant sleek skin with his long legs crossed and his arms propped lazily behind his head. Black inked words loomed the contours of his right hip, dipping under his dark jeans below the circling line of his grey boxers where Adrian couldn't see.

She wanted to know what it said but hadn't gotten close enough to read it yet considering she just noticed it. Elliot had been laying there like that for five minutes not speaking a word, eyes closed but not asleep after touching her in unusual ways, ways she didn't know she would want until his fingers did.

He was becoming a lot of her firsts for many things. No matter how uncomfortable she was at first it always seemed to dissolve like sediments carried away in the wind.

The nakedness of his exposed torso only brought blood to her cheeks, brightening them even with the space between Elliot and her. She liked his shirt off more than she cared to admit. It only made her think back to seconds ago, his skin prickling meteor showers with each stroke, leaving long-lasting, slow-burning effects that she was sure she would never forget. He was now dew on her skin, one she knew couldn't be scrubbed off and was now a part of her. He was a part of her, and there was no way to reverse it.

Whatever he did to her, telling him no wasn't an option, because a part of her didn't want him to stop, and not a small part of her either, even if it was scary.

"Because I'm here."

She sighed wondering why he was so complicated as she pulled at his cotton shirt, giving her hands something to do. "Did you umm miss me?" She blurted, not meaning too, the thought was so vivid in her mind it just came out. Her eyes fell to her pajama pants, as she sat feeling stupid. Did he miss her though? Did he want to see her? She couldn't help thinking those ridiculous thoughts.

After a moment of cruel silence, Elliot's silky rough voice graced her ears. "Did you want me to?" Her face blazed because she did. She wanted him to miss her because she always appeared to miss him when he was gone. She hoped he did, but doubt always came to mind. Was she not good enough? Why was he here then? Did he want her to answer that because she definitely didn't want to? She felt the bed shift and the springs crunch as Elliot pulled himself up out of his lying position.

She stayed silent, he never answered her questions anyway, he instead made them rhetorical. She didn't have to look up to know he was staring at her, she could feel the fire of his gaze as it warranted through her. It only made her heartache, ached to be liked by him, and ached to be missed by him. It ached because her feelings overwhelmed her, it ached because she couldn't understand, it ached because Elliot simply made it ache. She wasn't sure it was normal to have a heart that ached this much.

When Adrian didn't answer, the bed crunched some more as Elliot stood up and stalked over to her. His calloused thumb grasped her chin firmly making it so she would make eye contact. "If I told you I missed you, I'd have to run away." He said, letting the words sink in as he kept his intense midnight eyes on hers.

Almost immediately Adrian frowned, wanting to turn away from him, wanting to put some distance between them as her chest grew heavy and her emotions spiked. She had no idea what exactly that sentence meant but she didn't like the sound of it, in fact, she hated the sound of it? So if he were to ever tell her he missed her, he would run away after? Why would he have to run away? Or did he just never miss her?