Chasing After You | 18+ | ✓

20: henry

The car ride has been awkward to say the least. Bailey has been silently brooding in the backseat and Hunter and Kaitlyn are whispering quietly. Mirabelle has spent most of the drive staring out the window. Her blonde hair is twisted up into an updo on the top of her head and the large sunglasses that are too big for her face hide any glimpse of what she is thinking from me.

It's been an interesting morning already.

I wake up with a heavy weight on my chest. The scent of roses tickles my nose and the early morning light peeks through the blinds covering my window. I lift my hand to rub my eyes to clear any bleariness still lingering from my deep sleep.

I look down, noting that the heavy weight on me is Mirabelle clinging to me like a monkey. Her head is nestled into my chest with her fingers curled tightly into my shirt. My legs are tangled with hers, but Mira is laying on top of me, having completely crossed the pillow barrier that she had put up.

She had already fallen asleep when I finally gave up on sleeping on the floor and climbed into my bed. Mira was curled into a tiny ball, hugging one of the pillows to her chest as the steady rhythm of short puffs escaped her mouth.

Mirabelle looks so...peaceful. It's much different from her attitude towards me lately. It felt like we had a small break through outside the police station last night, but then I fucked up making a joke. I understand why it upset her. I really do. It could be interpreted as playful flirting which maybe it was; I still don't fucking know.

I still think we made a good amount of progress though based on the fact she actually said I could sleep in the bed next to her. I don't love fighting with her, but I get why Mirabelle is upset.

She told me she liked me and then I didn't fucking say anything. I'm such an idiot. There were a million things I could have said, but in the moment, all I could say was I don't know.

Is it so bad to want things to go back to how they used to be? Before this whole shit show with my career and Mirabelle having to fake date me so I don't get traded for having a shitty PR record?

But can things go back to normal? I've started getting used to having Mirabelle around. I know she'll eventually move back into her family's house once the remodel is done with after the fire, but is it safe? Would she even want to? And more than that...I can't get her out of my head. She's there all the time and the last week has been hell with Mirabelle avoiding me.

Thinking about having her pressed up against me at the club and the way her lips feel against mine is driving me crazy.

But can I honestly go for it with Mirabelle knowing that Quinn has feelings for her? Like fucking legitimate feelings?

And I know that she said she likes me, but it might just be too complicated for me.

Mirabelle pulls me out of my thoughts when she nuzzles her head further into my chest, "Sorry...Henry," She mumbles, her grip tightening on my shirt.

I freeze as I wait for her to open her eyes and realize she's on top of me. Instead, Mirabelle's steady breathing continues. I brush a piece of hair out of her face and this time her eyes blink open slowly. Mira's lips quirk upwards into a smile and she reaches up to brush a knuckle over my cheek and then my lips. I stay very, very still as a look of confusion washes over her. "Henry?" Mirabelle asks, her voice scratchy from sleep.

"Yes?"

And then she bolts off of me quickly, her knee accidentally driving straight into my groin. I hear a strangled cry and fucking stars dance across my vision. Oh my fucking god. I think I'm going to be sick.