Dance In The Rain

~2~ Scary Stays Away

"Where are you going to go?" I ask as I try to keep my tone steady, masking the terror I feel bubbling.

"I don't know...But I'm not staying here," he shrugs as he takes a drink of his water and wipes his mouth with his cloth napkin.

"But what about me?"

He scoffs as he picks his fork back up and cuts another piece of chicken, sticking it in his mouth.

"What about you?!?! I swear you always find a reason to be miserable! Get out and do something once in a while. You mope around here all damn day, expecting me to feel sorry for you! I don't!"

"How do I expect you to feel sorry for me?"

"The pathetic looks you give me all the time at school? Find your own friends and quit expecting me to hold your hand all of the time!"

"I have no interest in being friends with you and your druggie morons! It would just be nice if you acknowledged me once in a while!"

He rolls his eyes as he pushes his plate away. "You're pathetic, Jules! You insult me and my friends and then expect us to have sympathy for you? Quit acting like you're better than the rest of us!"

"Who's acting?" I mumble as I scoot the chicken around on my plate.

He chuckles darkly and points his finger at me. "This is what I'm talking about...You embarrass me! Start acting like a human and people won't be so repulsed by you!"

He gets up from the table and walks towards the winding staircase, and I hang my head and close my eyes.

I don't know what I do wrong

A gentle hand gets placed on my shoulder, and I look up to see Cook with his soft smile and chocolate eyes.

"He's crankier than a two-pecker'd Billy Goat, Miss Julianne. Why don't I make you a hot fudge sundae to help sweeten up the sour he just spewed."

"Thanks Cook," I grin at him. As the heavy-set old man walks back into the kitchen, I stare at Tate's half-eaten plate of food.

Wonder what I'll do all night tonight now that he's mad at me...

~*~

As I'm getting ready for bed, I decide to knock on his door. He's all I have in this life and I won't be able to sleep tonight if he's mad at me.

When I knock, a gentle "come in" floats through the cracks and immediately lightens my mood. At least he's allowing me near him

When I go in, he's dressed in only shorts as he lays on his stomach and scrolls through his phone. He doesn't look up as I sit on the edge of his bed, and when he finally glances at me I give him a sad smile.

"Sorry...."

He closes out of his app and sits up, throwing his phone on the bed as he blows out a big breath.

"You apologize too much...That shows weakness," he grumbles as he pulls me down so both of our heads hit his pillow, and I snuggle up against him.

As we lay there for a while in silence, I wish I could read his mind. "You still doing drugs?" I finally ask.

I feel his body tense as he sits up, knocking my head off of him roughly and turning to charge his phone. When he lays back down and shuts his lamp off, the dark stuns me for a minute.

"Don't ask me that again, Julianne," he breathes as he covers me up and flips over on his side, his back facing me.

He doesn't usually even let me in his room, and he never lets me lay with him.