The Silent Brute

Chapter 20: After Hours

Miriam

Cassius was very patient with me .

We parked in a local fast food chain for a moment as I cried in the parking lot. He sat next to me silently and patted my back a few times. When I had finally finished, he passed me a few tissues from my glove department.

"You're really nice." My throat felt a bit dry and I coughed up a bit.

"Don't tell anyone." He fake glared at me before going back to his stoic nature, checking his phone passively . "My family  has been bugging me to ask you over for dinner. It's like they're obsessed with you."

"Is that your way of asking me over? We just became official friends," I laughed at his tone.

"Are you coming or what?" He rolled his eyes in his typical Cassius fashion. I could tell he was being playful.

I looked at my reflection and frowned. My makeup was a mess. The bruises peaked from under my makeup. Mascara bled a bit and my perfectly executed Smokey eye looked like a black eye at that point."I will but under the condition that I am allowed to fix my makeup at my house before going over to yours."

"I think we can make that work." Cassius also asked my favorite food and I told him any seafood. He sent a text out to his mom as backed out of the parking lot.

The car ride to my house was silent. My mother, who had become a mother hawk after my short disappearance, had turned back into her normal workaholic mode. She wasn't home yet when

Cassius squeezed out of my tiny car and followed me inside. He'd never outwardly complained about my car but it made me laugh internally anytime I watched him crawl out.

He didn't waste anytime making himself comfortable on the couch. I tossed him the remote and proceeded to the bathroom.

I started my task of redoing my makeup and  silently agonizing over crying in front of Cassius. My brain hyper focused on it and I felt so embarrassed that I couldn't mentally avoid that fact that Cassius saw through me enough that it made me cry.

Being seen and understood felt nice but afterward, I felt terrified. Cassius felt like he was becoming dangerously close to me and we only had official became friends that day.

"Should I do another Smokey eye or go basic?" I peaked my head out of the bathroom with a fresh layer of foundation.

There was no response.

I leaned out the doorway to get a good look at him and like the old grumpy man he portrayed, he was asleep on the couch to some random show on the TV.

By the time I finished my makeup Cassius was awake. We walked down the block to his house.

Dinner went smoothly. His mother made shrimp scampi and even had a fancy cheese grater like Olive Garden. I laughed as his father refused to allow anyone grate their own cheese.  The clumsy man got it all over the table but no one minded. Sal made of of his brothers most of the dinner and it was a nice feeling.

Everyone was nice and I quietly wished my family spent more time together. We'd always been together but separate. My father was always gone for work and my mother never made an effort to make us eat dinner together. MaryAnne and I had eaten most of our meals together but since she died, everything became strikingly lonesome.

After gorging myself, Percy and I played tea party briefly in her bright pink room before I went to say my goodbyes.

"So you're following me home now?" I grinned at Cassius as he followed me out of the door. I said goodbye to him first in his room before the others.

"Just trying to make sure you don't disappear again." He states matter-of-factly.

Touché.

I just stuck out my tongue at him.