Confined ⇶ Uberhaxornova AU

[13]

  "W-what're you talking about James...?" Ever asked with a confused look on her face.

   "I talked to Stefani and she told me some things," I said with my hands still on her shoulders.

  Ever closed her eyes as she seemed to come to realization.
  "That girl has a big mouth sometimes..." she whispered.

   "Ever..." I said as I slid my hands down her arms and squeezed them.
   "Why'd you tell me you didn't want to see me anymore? I want the truth."

   As I tried to look her in the eye, she looked away.   
  "Does it matter?" She asked.

I nodded and she let out a sigh.
   "...It seemed like fate that you a Stef met up again. I thought maybe with her, you'd open up more naturally. I thought maybe you'd start getting out again and stuff..."

  "...So, you weren't jealous...?"

   She didn't answer but I could tell she was embarrassed when she tried to escape my grasp.
  "Stop being stupid and let me go."

   I chuckled as I squeezed her arm again.
  "Just to let you know, if the roles were reversed, I would've been pretty jealous too. We're pretty close now and... I wouldn't want to lose you either."

   She looked at me skeptically; her eyebrow raised and her head tilted to the side.
   "You sure are being open. It's not like you," she said.

  "I'm telling you these things because when I didn't tell you what was really on my mind when you said you didn't want to see me, I almost lost you. So... t-that's why I'm saying these things..."
    I suddenly realized just how passionate I was being. I had really let the feeling of the moment get to me which was completely opposite of myself. I felt every bit of blood in my body rise to my face.
   "I-I-I... just wanted you back..."
I covered my face with my hand out of sheer embarrassment.

Ever burst out into laughter as she saw the seen.
  "Look at you getting all shy all of a sudden!"

  "S-shut up..."

  I looked at her to see that she was finally grinning.
  "Thank you, James... I really appreciate everything you've said but... I really think we shouldn't see each other for a little while longer," she said, her grin a bit sadder than it was before.

  "But why?" I asked.

  She went quiet as she looked me in the eyes.
  "I... don't have a good answer to be honest... It's just... seeing you..."
  He sentence trailed off into silence before she sighed and ran her fingers through her hair.
   "Come in for a bit. We can't just talk out here."

   "O-oh, alright."

    She turned away from me as she entered her home and I quickly
followed after her.

  When I shut the door behind me, I was surprised by what I saw. Her home was practically empty. In the living room was only a couch and TV. She had no dining table, no decorations. No nothing. It was completely opposite of what I thought I'd see.
   "Don't you have a dog?"

She nodded as she walked ahead of me.
   "He's in the backyard. He's not very fond of strangers if you know what I mean."

   "I see..."

   I followed her into her kitchen where I was met with a unusual surprise.
  "What's all this?"
Her kitchen was filled with different types of dishes of food. There was literally no counter top or table that wasn't taken up by multiple plates of food. She sighed as she leaned against her stove.
   "This is what I've been doing these past two weeks... drowning myself in finding menu items for the restaurant."