First Kiss - A Lawson FanFic

Chapter 8 - Surprise at Night

Mum and I finished dinner and after helping her clear up, I went back to my room. Out of habit I checked my phone, and found that I had a text from Dad:

Hi Ellie. Haven't spoken in a while. Maybe we can catch up soon. Hope you and your mum are well. Dad x

I groaned in annoyance. How dare he ask if he can see me? As if I would want to spend time with him after what he did to us. The way he put 'your mum', implying he has no connection whatsoever with her angered me so much. And as if he really cares about whether me and mum are well. We are, no thanks to you.

I exhaled to try and calm myself town, flung myself down on my bed, and closed my eyes.

Tap!

I opened my eyes; I must have fallen asleep. I glanced at my digital clock; it read 9.26.

Tap! Tap!

What the hell was that? It sounded like it was coming from the window. I made my way over and opened it up fully. And sure enough, standing on the grass below my window and a pile of stones in his hand, stood Joel.

"What the hell are you doing?" I hissed.
"I needed to see you," he whispered back, looking up at me. In the moonlight, the whites of his teeth were so visible; they almost glinted. I swivelled my head around to see if Mum had heard and come upstairs to see what was going on. She wasn't there; phew. She would freak if she knew.

I looked back down at Joel, who was still standing patiently. He was wearing the same shirt as earlier, but this time converses instead of boots, and a jean jacket. It really suited him, I think because it brought out the blue in his eyes.

"Come up then," I said, trying to sound suductive and wrapping my hair round my finger.
"Can't you let me through the front door?" Joel asked, bemused by my actions. I let my hand drop, and felt my cheeks burn.
"We can't let my Mum find out," I said.
"But how...?"
"Claim up a drainpipe or something," I said, "like they do in movies." He hesitated. "Go on, you're a boy."

My reference to his 'masculinity' clearly changed his mind, and he walked over to the base of the drainpipe and put his foot on the corner. Using his hands, he hoisted himself up so that his legs wrapped round the pipe. I giggled.
"What?" He asked, his face straining with the effort.
"You look like a monkey."
"I'd like to see you try," he responded, and continued to climb. I suddenly thought to tidy my room before he came in, and turned back to survey what needed to be done.

I picked clothes and books up from the floor, and smoothed my duvet. I debated whether to hide Mr Bear who usually sat proudly on top of my pillow. I didn't know whether boys were bothered about that sort of thing. Eventually I decided to stuff him in my sock drawer; at least he would be comfortable.

I walked back over to my window, and saw that Joel was almost at the top. Now was the tricky bit to try and get him into by bedroom. I concluded that it would have to be face-first.
"Um, if I just-" I tried to grab under his arms, but my hand slipped so it was directly under his armpit.
"Oh, sorry," I said. I pulled one arm, and he used the other to pull up from the window ledge.
"Yeah, keep pulling," Joel said, gritting his teeth.
Finally his head was through the window, so he could use his hands more easily to pull himself up. Not realising he didn't need my help anymore, I continued to pull him through. The combined effort resulted in Joel shooting through the window, and pulling me with him. I landed with my back on the floor, and Joel on top of me.

"Ow," I said, because I didn't know what else to say.
"Ow," he agreed, looking down at me. His eyes seemed bluer than ever.
"Um, sorry, should I-" I motioned to try and get out from under him. Being that close to Joel made me dizzy.
"Yeah, sure, sorry-" We disentangled ourselves so that we were sitting on the floor facing each other. I brought my knees up to my chest and hugged them, suddenly very shy.
"Sorry to interrupt your evening," Joel started. I shrugged, to indicate that it was no big deal. He looked around him.
"I like your room," he said. I smiled.
"That's the exact thing I said when I first saw your room," I said.
"Yeah," Joel said, and looked away. I knew we were both thinking about the exact same thing.
"Look, I'm sorry again about what happened, I-"
"It's okay, really. I don't want to talk about that." He nodded.
"So what do you want to talk about?" He asked.
"You tell me. You came here." He scratched the back of his neck, thinking. His face was twisted into a frown, and at that moment I so insanely wanted to kiss him that it was all I could do to stay where I was.
"I dunno. I guess I didn't come here to talk." He said, making eye contact with me. I shivered.
"Then what did you come here to do?" I whispered. I suddenly felt like the whole world was listening.