Milo & Judah

Chapter 15 - What Feels Right

Milo was suddenly awakened when someone jumped on top of him. He yelped as his eyes flew open. The bright sunlight filling the room momentarily blinded him.

Ellie's face appeared, hovering over him. "Good morning, beautiful!"

Milo groaned. "What time is it?" he croaked.

"Almost ten. Did someone have a late night?" Ellie sat on the edge of the bed. Judging by her sweater and jeans, it must be cold outside—or as cold as it got in Southern California.

Milo wiped the sleep from his eyes as he sat up. "Me and Judah were out till like midnight. He took me to Villa Italiano for our five-day anniversary."

"Your what?" She sounded amused.

"Never mind." He yawned and looked around the room. "Where is Judah?"

"I haven't seen him. Maggie let me in, and I came straight up to find you, my darling." She poked his cheek.

"What's up?" he asked.

"I've missed you. We haven't gotten to hang out much this week. You've been so busy with that gorgeous boy, you've been ignoring me." She patted his arm. "Anyway, I'm here to rectify that since tomorrow is Christmas Eve, and I highly doubt we'll see each other for the next few days."

"You've also been busy, you know. Every time I call you, you're out doing something."

"What can I say? I'm in high demand." She primped the puff on top of her head.

Milo chuckled as he got up. He went to the bathroom and fixed his toothbrush. He returned to see her stretched out on his bed. "What did you want to do?" he mumbled, brushing his teeth.

Ellie flipped her hand out to the side. "I don't care. I just wanted to spend time with you."

They both looked over as the door gently crept open. Judah entered slowly at first, until he spotted Milo standing by the bathroom door. "Good. You're awake."

Milo held up a finger to take a moment to spit out the toothpaste and rinse his mouth.

"Oh, hey!" Judah said in the other room. "I didn't even see you there."

"Hi," Ellie said.

"How are you?" Judah asked.

"I can't complain."

"I've been wanting to thank you, actually." Judah said, lowering his voice. Although Milo could still hear him.

"What for?"

"Milo told me that you convinced him to be direct with me at that party. I don't know if I would've had the courage to kiss him that night if he hadn't."

"You're very welcome." Ellie said. "Although, it's Milo, so I'll bet he found the most indirect way of getting to the truth."

"Yeah. He was really beating around the bush about it."

Ellie laughed. Judah joined in.

Milo spit out his mouthwash and wiped his face on a towel. He wanted to get back before they started trading stories.

"Did you want something?" Milo asked Judah.

Judah came over to hold him. "I'm going down to the park with Mercer to play basketball. I was going to see if you want to come?"

"To play basketball?"

"You don't have to play." Judah leaned in conspiratorially. "You can watch me humiliate your brother."

"I was going to hang out with Ellie today, actually."

"Hanging out doesn't restrict us to this room." Ellie said. "If we get bored, there's other stuff to do at the park."