Until I Met You

Sleeping on the bed together (27)

Grace

"So, what happened?" Jake asked. I looked at him in shock and disbelief. Stuffing his hands in his pockets, he looked away.

"You've been quiet. Much quieter than usual. Not to mention, your face gives you away. Plus, if it wasn't enough, your sadness is radiating through you like heat. So tell me what happened?" He asked. I was embarrassed that he found out. But on the other note, I wanted him to find out. I wanted to vent. His question gave me that chance.

"Angela left college." I said. He whipped his head to me.

"Angela, your friend, who was crushing on me?" He asked. I made an annoying sound in the back of my throat at the way he described her.

"Seriously Jake. Yes, she did like you. Far earlier than me." I said, whispering the last line. He looked at me and raised a brow.

"What happened to her?" He questioned. I was about to blurt out to him but I hesitated.

"I don't know. She was attending college regularly, but then she suddenly stopped appearing in classes. She stopped picking up my phone and even did not answer any of my texts to her." I explained, exasperated. Then I sighed. I stared off in the distance.

"Today I got a note from her, in my locker. She left the college permanently. Without saying goodbye in person. And she's not coming back." I explained. My voice cracked from choking on the sadness I was feeling. I bowed my head, not wanting him to witness another episode of my emotional breakdown.

Suddenly, a warm and soft hand grabbed mine and saw Jake pulling me to walk on the side of the lake.

"When did you find the note?" His voice was gentler than usual. I didn't want to admit but it melted my heart a little. We started walking on the shore of the lake. "Today. Just now when you were coming outside to pick me up." I answered.

"Hmm" He acknowledged my answer.

"I wish that you could have found it out earlier. Maybe you could have got a chance to meet. Did you call her after you found this note?" He asked. I swallowed a little. "No." I replied. Feeling ashamed, I took out my phone and dialed her number.

'The number you're trying to reach is no longer in service.' A crappie robotic voice rang through my phone. I heaved out a heavy sigh. I shook my head at Jake. He nodded his head in understanding. He slung his one hand on my shoulder and nudged me to his side. We started walking again.

"That's alright I guess. Looks like she really wants to be left alone. Don't worry about it. There is nothing you could do about it anyway, now. Let it go." He told me in a low voice. He was right. There is nothing I could do about it. But it didn't make me feel better.

We walked for a while in silence. Then suddenly I heard Jake's name being called from behind us. We turned and saw Mason and Ethan coming our way. I was shocked to see them here for a second. What were they doing here? I thought this place would be my secret place when I wanted to escape... but I guess not. Both of them meet us halfway.

"What are you two doing here?" I asked them as soon as we met. They both smirked simultaneously at me. I became self-conscious.

"So this is where our friend had been spending his time? With his 'girlfriend'." Mason said mockingly. I straightened at his words. I think Jake felt my discomfort at Mason's words because he warned Mason, in a serious but at the same time not so serious tone.

"What? I was just stating the facts." Mason said. I knew, Mason didn't really like me, but he was smart enough to not show any clear dislike towards me. An awkward silence descended on us. Ethan cleared his throat.

"I wanna talk to you." Mason spoke to Jake.

"Please excuse us for a few minutes." With that he and Jake wandered away without Ethan and I.

"So..." I started speaking. Ethan, like always, looked mildly interested in the way I spoke.

"What were you two doing here?" I asked.

"Nothing. Just messing around." He replied and looked behind me. I did the same. Jake and Mason were walking like two hulks. Not that I mind. Looking back at Ethan, I shrugged.

"Want to walk for a bit?" I nodded, and we started walking at an awful slow pace.

"I came here much before you did, you know." He said. I raised my brows at his admittance. A bit struck by his words.

"Really?" I asked him. He nodded his head.

"I love this place. The lake, fresh air and the secluded area. It's a plus that nobody really knows about this place. I wish I could buy it one day." He replied. Yeah. Maybe he will one day. Though, I never really thought that someone might want to buy a whole damn lake. "Can one buy this place? Including lake?" I asked him.

"Yeah. Money can buy anything but this lake here and this place is actually up for sale. I mean, for builders, you know like for creating new buildings here." Ethan explained. Then he shook his head in disapprovingly.

"I don't understand how one could destroy such beauty." He murmured more to himself than to me. I glanced at the surrounding beauty. I wondered too. How could someone destroy such a beauty?

"Maybe, I will buy it one day. Everything here would be worth the money. Keep it a secret though." I said. Ethan dropped his arm on my shoulder.

"I will. Maybe one day, you will." He said.

"What will you do one day?" A voice came from behind me. We both spun and saw Jake scrunching his nose in confusion. Ethan removed his arm from me as I moved towards Jake. I looked at Ethan. "Maybe one day, you will leave the habit of getting angry easily." I said, jokingly. Jake furrowed his brows.

"I'm not angry." He said, defensively.

"Ah uh." I said.

"I'm really not angry." He said, rolling his eyes. Like I was dumb.

"We should get going." He said to me. I agreed. It was one in the morning. Also, I did not realize that attending every single class today had worn me out. I felt like my body weigh, double my actual weight. So we both bid our goodbyes and got into the car.

"How much time would it take us to reach my house?" I asked him as he started driving. He checked his rearview mirror and then glanced at me.

"About forty-five minutes. Why?" He asked.

"Nothing. I am a bit too tired. I'm feeling like I would die if I didn't sleep. My body is hurting too. I guess I have to sleep in your car for some time." I explained. Then I slumped more into the seat than I was before. Completely relaxing. Finally, I closed my eyes.

After a bit of time, I felt like my body was moving. I moaned in protest. I opened my eyes and saw Jake carrying me into his arms. It was then, I realized that it was not my own home. Startled at the realization, I struggle in his arms to get out. He hushed me but kept on walking. At last, he entered a room and put me down on my feet. I frantically looked at the place which was dark but lit enough by the moonlight to see him.

"You brought me to your house?" I asked him. Emphasizing on your. "Yes. Any problem?" He asked casually. Like we were discussing colors. "Yes. You can't bring me here without..." He cut me off with his raised hand.

"We can fight about it tomorrow. Why don't we just sleep? You can sleep on the bed and I'll sleep on the sofa." He said. My protest forgotten, I looked at him incredulously.

"Seriously? You slept with me, in my own damn bed without asking permission, the time when I was sick." I said.

"You needed warmth. You were freezing to death. You don't need to do math to realize that human body heat can provide warmth much faster. Also, it is proven that your health improves significantly much faster if you have a company to take care of you." He said and took out a quilt from a wardrobe.

"Now that I know you want me to sleep with you then I'm sleeping with you. On the same bed." With that he jumped and fell over bed. I wanted to deny his accusation, but he just waved me off.

"I'm not going to change my mind, so don't even try to change it." He said. He reached out and took off his t-shirt and threw it on the ground. Then he reached for his pants which made me turn away.

"Come on now. You can't possibly feel shy seeing me naked." He asked with a throaty chuckle.

"Grab one of my t-shirts and put it on. You can't possibly be thinking about sleeping in those jeans. They look uncomfortable." I agree. I can't sleep with my jeans on. So I grabbed one of his t-shirts and changed into it, in the bathroom. When I came back, I saw Jake leaning on his elbow. His eyes scanned me thoroughly from head to toe. Then he looked me back in my eyes.

"My t-shirt looks much better on you than it ever did on me." He said. His eyes praised me without holding back. He petted the bed beside him. I got in his bed and felt weirdly comfortable. He tucked the quilt up to my shoulder. I sighed, lightly, at the warmth. I turned my head to look at him and at the same time he did too. We both stared at each other for a while. Finally, I whispered. "Good night, Jake."

"Good night, Grace." He replied. And I closed my eyes.