Dove Sport

Chapter Eighteen: Arsonist

Tuesday morning dawned and Arsen found himself in a bed in an unfamiliar room. Looking around, he tried to make sense of where he was before remembering that this was Grace's room in Blair's house. It all came back to him now- Blair finding out about his sleeping situation and how she'd offered for him to stay with her until his dad got his shit sorted out. Arsen winced as he also recalled his conversation with his dad the previous day and how he'd flat out refused to have anything to do with the Wallis family.

Arsen swung his legs out from beneath Grace's blue comforter and his bare feet landed on the plush carpet. He checked his phone and saw he had half an hour or so before he and Blair were supposed to leave for school. It was a novelty to not wake up hours before the first bells rang in order to not get caught sleeping in the school. Arsen shimmied into a clean pair of jeans and a sweatshirt before exiting the room. He stepped into the hallway only to find that Blair's bedroom door was open and her room was seemingly empty. He headed downstairs to check for her and found her sitting at her kitchen counter and sipping what looked like a smoothie.

"Can I have one?" Arsen asked, seemingly startling her a little. Today her hair was pulled half-up and she wore a black turtleneck with overalls and her usual tennis shoes. Blair nodded enthusiastically all the same, her lip gloss catching the kitchen lights. Arsen was reminded suddenly of their kiss. It had been overshadowed in his mind by them discovering Blair's sister hiding out in the attic and he'd forgotten about it until just now. He still wasn't sure how to feel about it and he hoped Blair wouldn't bring it up. Luckily, she didn't.

"My parents already left for the day so I grabbed it from the Hook," Blair told him, "Feel free to do the same." The Hook wasn't accessible from the Wallis house, but it was nestled up beside it. Arsen slipped on his shoes and Blair trailed after him as they entered the small diner. Arsen began making his way to the counter when he stopped dead in his tracks and Blair bumped into him from behind with an oof sound.

Standing behind the counter was not Mr. Wallis, as Arsen had been expecting, but his own father. Arsen dad wore the standard apron over a pair of jeans and a clean shirt. He waved when he saw his son.

"Dad?" Arsen asked incredulously, "What the hell?"

"What can I get you kids?" Arsen's dad asked, still smiling. Arsen felt something warm expanding in his chest. He recognized it as pride. It was happening, his father had finally decided to get his act together.

"Arsen and I came in to get him a smoothie," Blair piped up from behind Arsen, she gave a little wave and said, "It's nice to see you, Mr. Payne." Arsen's dad made him his smoothie and Arsen and Blair returned to the Wallis house to grab their backpacks and bikes before heading to school.

***

Arsen and Blair decided to get a late lunch at the Hook when they returned from school that afternoon. That day hadn't been bad at all, in fact, Arsen had actually enjoyed all his classes for the first time in a long time, particularly English. Either he was coming down with something, or having a real bed to sleep in was benefiting him. He and Blair dropped their bikes off at her house before entering the hook. This time, it was Blair who stopped abruptly and Arsen who nearly crashed into her. Peering around her, Arsen saw the reason she'd stopped. Mrs. Wallis was leaning against the counter and talking to his father.

"Mom?" Blair asked, interrupting whatever conversation their parents were having. "Aren't you supposed to be at work?" Mrs. Wallis and Arsen's dad both abruptly stopped their conversation, and turned their combined gazes to their children.

"I came home early; there's not much news to investigate right now." Mrs. Wallis told them. "I was just congratulating Arsen's father on his new job before I ran to go do some errands." She straightened up as she spoke and smoothed out a few creases in her shirt.