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Chapter 18

I smiled, as I sat up, in my bed. For a second, I was confused. Why was I smiling? I stared straight ahead for a few seconds, before blinking. I turned in my bed, ready to swing off my covers, and jump out of bed, when I was stopped. Beside me, he laid. Brandon was drooling on the pillow I lent him. I giggled a little. I climbed over him and hopped off my bed.

We hadn't spoke after he sat down next to me. Instead, we simply basked in the darkness, the TV illuminating light, casting shadows on the walls. I turned to face the wall and stared at the shadow, of the two strangers sharing the close quarters of my bed. I spent awhile listening to the voices floating from the TV, trying to put pictures to the voices. I also listened to the faint sound of cars driving by my building.

Every once in a while, he would mumble in his sleep. The close proximity of him, woke me up time and time again. Most of the time I couldn't make out what he was saying. Other times, I swore I heard him mumble, Mollie.

During our round of questions, he never once mentioned a thing about Mollie. She had been such a big part of his life, by the sounds of it, so why wouldn't he mention her? Their breakup – as awful as it sounded – didn't sound as awful as some could be. They also didn't have a situation like Brett and myself....or did they?

I shook my head. No. There's no way he could have had a relationship like that. Brando is actually smart, unlike myself. He would of left her sooner rather than later, if he had been in that situation.

I re-centered my thoughts. I was staring at Brandon, unsure whether to wake him up or not. He was leaving today and they were leaving early. I had no clue what time it was. I walked to my nightstand and grabbed my phone. I unplugged it from my charger and hit the power button, waking up the screen. It was six-thirty. I sighed and figured I better wake him up.

He woke up with a protest at first, mistaking me for Mark, but after awhile he sat up and shuffled to the bathroom. I got dressed and headed to Natalie's room. She was sliding on a shirt when I walked in. Mark wasn't there. Talie turned around, once she finished with her shirt. She smiled a little.

“Where's Mark?” I asked as I shut her door carefully behind me. I found my eyes trailing toward the floor, there was no piece of evidence, that showed Mark had ever slept on that floor. All of his stuff was gone. I gulped as an image of Brandon's stuff being gone, flashed through my head. I blinked it away. Talie walked over to me.

“Ronnie and Mark went to get breakfast. They're treating us.” She yawned. I nodded slowly.

“How sweet.”

She ignored my remark. “Is sleeping beauty awake yet?” I nodded.

“How about the other?” I questioned, she shrugged.

“I haven't gone out there yet.” She cut past me, toward the door. “Excited?” I scoffed.

“Excited isn't the word.” I responded, feeling that hole in my chest, get patched up once more. After today, last night and nights before no longer mattered. He would go back to his life and I would go back to mine. There was no need to tell Natalie, or at least not right now anyway.

We made our way to the kitchen. We both turned our heads toward the kitchen. Dave was passed out in his usual spot.

“No amount of sleep, can fix that,” I joked. Talie hit me and stared at him. I shook my head and sat at our kitchen table. Talie sat down across from me, setting her phone on the table. I did the same, keeping my eye on my phone, in case it vibrated.

It became silent, except for the occasional grunts and snores, that came from Dave across the room. My mind began to race, thinking of tomorrow and the days to come. What would happen when the boys left? Would our lives go back to normal or would there be some part missing?