Chapter Two

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"You're never going to fit all of this in here," I said as Elle started unpacking her suitcase. There was no way all of her clothes would fit in the tiny cupboard.

"She wanted to bring more," Mr Evans offered. "You should have seen her list of things to bring. Flatpack furniture. Would you believe it?"

I looked at Elle, whose forehead had crumpled into a frown.

Yeah. I'd totally believe it. She'd be the only person to think a fully furnished college dorm would need more furniture.

"Let me help," Brad said, jumping from my side and to the suitcase that lay open on the carpeted floor. He rummaged through the top layer of clothes, and soon he started pulling at a piece of red, lacy material.

Elle's eyes widened with terror.

"No! Brad, don-"

But before she could finish her sentence, Brad was staring wide-eyed at the lingerie before him, his finger tips clutching the barely-there material.  

"What is it?" He asked.

Elle's cheeks flushed bright red, and I quickly darted my eyes to the floor. There was no way I wanted to make eye contact with Mr Evans right now.

Brad twiddled his fingers, twisting the material in and out. "It kind of looks like really small pants. But like...a broken pair of really small pants."

A small laugh erupted from my mouth, and when I looked up to see that Elle was smiling too, Mr Evans looked at me disapprovingly. He shook his head very slowly. 

"Yeah, how about you put those down, buddy?" I said, hoping Mr Evans would appreciate the maturity.

"Why?" Brad's innocent eyes looked up at me. "It's just broken material - oh! I know what it is!"

"You do?" Elle asked, her blue eyes swimming with confusion.

"Yeah," Brad said happily. "Elle finally took up sewing like Mum. It's her thread! Where are your needles?"

Mr Evans cleared his throat, pulled the underwear from Brad's hands and threw it quickly onto the empty bed. "I think that's enough of that," he said.

"I can't believe you just touched that," Elle said.

"I can't believe you have that," he responded immediately.

"I just can't believe how much you're like Mum," Brad said whimsically, and then I couldn't help but crack up laughing again.

Mr Evans had finally had enough. He rolled his eyes, picked Brad up off the floor by the arm, handed him a ten dollar note and told Elle to take him outside to find something to eat. "You guys go," he said. "I want to have some words with Noah."

My heart was racing as Elle left the dorm, and I could only imagine the types of things Mr Evans was going to say to me after that just happened.

Was he going to tell me he revoked his blessing? Was he going to move Elle straight out of this dorm and into the all-girls house down the road? Was I going to get punched? 

No. Mr Evans was never violent.

But then again, those lacy underwear...

"Listen," he said, sitting down on Elle's new bed. "Sit with me, Noah."

I sat beside him, propped my elbows onto my legs and rested my chin on my hands in a leaned-over manner. I could feel the sweat pooling in my palms.

 I'd known Mr Evans my whole life, but we'd never had many sit-down conversations. The seriousness of his face reminded me that I wasn't just his family friend anymore. I wasn't just that kid from up the road. I was the guy who was dating his precious daughter.

"What is it?" I asked.

"I gave you two my blessing," he said, then took a deep breath. "But I don't want to regret that."

"You won't," I said immediately.

"I just want you to be careful," he said.

"Careful?"

He paused. "You know."

Oh no.

Was he going to give me the talk?

"Uh, Mr Evans, I don't really think we have to talk about this."

"Of course we do. Elle's just starting college, Noah. I don't want her to get distracted."

I breathed a sigh of relief. Okay, so he wasn't trying to lecture me about being safe with his daughter in the bedroom. I thanked God in that moment, grateful I wouldn't have to live through an awkward conversation.

Maybe he didn't even know Elle and I were sleeping together? Maybe he thought we were holding out until marriage or something. Maybe he thought Elle's lingerie was just something she bought for her own self confidence?

"I'll make sure she does all her work," I said, dismissing my thoughts.

"And make sure she eats healthily," he said.

"As if she's ever done that," I replied, rolling my eyes. I couldn't count the number of burgers Elle and Lee would eat in a week on two hands. It was a miracle those two were as tiny as they were.

"Just look after her, Noah," he said, looking at me. 

I returned the gaze and nodded at him. "Of course, Mr Evans. I'll take great care of her."

"Good," he said, throwing his hands onto his knees in a slap. He smiled as he stood up from the bed. 

I joined his stance, lifting my heavy body off Elle's new single bed, wondering how on Earth both of us were going to fit in that thing when we wanted to cuddle to sleep.

"Oh, and one more thing," Mr Evans said quickly.

"Yeah?"

"Don't get her pregnant."



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Author's Note

Sorry for the slow updates so far! I've been really busy with work and life lately, but I'm hoping I can get back to daily updates like I was doing with The College Room.

Anyways, I love how much you guys interact with me! It's awesome. You can follow me on instagram at @haylexia if you wanna get personal with me! I promise I post funny things sometimes.

Love Hayley


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