Eenie Meenie Minie Mo

Chapter Twenty-Three

I woke up to the unmistakable scent of apple fritters and iced coffee. Sure enough, Leander sat on the end of my bed, grinning at me like he was some kinda breakfast god. He waved a Dunkin' Donuts bag and a McDonald's iced mocha.

"What the heck?" I mumbled, trying not to smile. When I looked at my clock, I was surprised to find out it was almost eleven.

"I told you I was comin' over today," Leander stated simply. "You didn't hafta get all gussied up for me, ya know."

Knowing my luck, my orange hair was all over the place, I had pillow stains on my cheek, and I had dried up drool on my face. As it was, I was wearing the same pair of shorts and Snoopy T-shirt as I was last night, having been too lazy to get into proper pajamas.

My mouth felt like cotton balls and probably smelt like a swamp. Unfortunately, while I was graced with cute bed head, my morning breath could kill a puppy. Which reminded me......

"Um," I muttered, looking around my room. "Where's Riggins?" Usually the slightly obnoxious dog stuck his nose in my face around eight to be let out.

"Already taken care of," Leander answered, holding out the coffee and bag.

Now I did let myself grin as I took the offered goodies. "What's all this for, anyway?"

He gave me a 'duh' look. "You had a rough night. Figured a bit of unhealthy food would help a little."

Despite my swamp breath, I leaned over and kissed his cheek. "Thank you."

As I dug into the amazing doughnut, Leander asked, "So, what happened anyway? By the sounds of it, I figured y'all had started World War III."

I groaned and finished chewing before I mumbled, "More family drama."

"Fun."

"Tell me about it."

Leander smiled a little bit. "Wanna get outta here?"

I nodded eagerly. "Just give me a minute."

After getting dressed and leaving a short note on the fridge for my mom, I hopped into Leander's truck and let him take me as far away from my house as possible.

"You know," Leander said after a few minutes of silence. "I didn't think I'd be dating a girl who had family issues."

I knew he was teasing, but I still felt the need to say, "I'm really sorry about that. I honestly didn't think I really had any family issues."

Leander shrugged. "Don't worry 'bout it. We all have our Achilles heel."

You have no idea, I thought. "So," I said, wanting desperately to change the subject. "What're we gonna do?"

"What do you wanna do?"

"I'm honestly good with anything as long as I'm not in that house."

"Well, good, cause I've gotta place I think you'll like."

Not long later, I stared out at the long stretch of land from the bed of Leander's truck. Admittedly, I had expected something else entirely, but I was no less awed by what I was seeing. It was beautiful and it was amazing to think that not too long ago the entire world used to look just like this. Hues of green, brown, and yellow acreage as far as the eye could see.

I liked the fact that I couldn't see a house in sight. It was just an enormous field, Leander, and me. I leaned back against him with a contented sigh.