Another Chance

Chapter 11

"My neighbour made it for me," Anna said, opening up her oven and turning the knob, throwing the pie in and slamming the door shut, causing me to furrow my brows at her.

"Sorry, I have to slam the door or it doesn't close. The bolts are loose."

I chuckled, peering around the room again, focusing on the small television located in the corner of the room, the left side of it cracked.

Anna noticed my staring, shuffling over to me and sighing.

"Did you want to turn it on?" Anna asked, and I shook my head at her.

I didn't want her to think I was bored here. I most definitely wasn't.

"No, no. I was just looking," I assured her, swallowing harshly as I balled up my fists, feeling upset and angry that my mate was living in these conditions, the crumbling ceiling also catching my attention. It looked as if it was going to cave in any day now.

It was dangerous here.

She couldn't stay here any longer.

"I can put it on for some background noise," Anna told me, grabbing the remote from the side table and flicking on the television, the news channel coming on.

Anna looked at me sheepishly, shrugging. "I don't have many channels."

I shook my head at her, letting her know that it didn't bother me. I wasn't a big TV watcher anyway, and I would much rather focus on her.

Widening my eyes, I noticed Anna had a small picture frame propped up next to the TV, the photo showing a younger version of herself smiling with an older woman. The dark haired woman had her arms wrapped around Anna and was laughing into the top of her head.

I smiled at the photo, moving over to it and picking it up, causing Anna to visibly stiffen next to me.

"Who's this?" I questioned, putting the photo back down, Anna humming.

"Um, my Mother," she said, picking the frame up off the table and holding it behind her. "I thought I had put that away."

I didn't understand why she was so nervous, but it concerned me. I didn't want to pry, but Anna's reaction was worrying.

"No, I shouldn't have asked, sorry."

Anna scowled, looking frustrated. "You should be able to ask, Jared. We're friends."

My heart sunk at the use of 'friends', and my mouth became dry at the thought of Anna only seeing me platonically.

I couldn't help but shake, pushing the thoughts away.

What else did I expect Anna to refer to me as? We weren't dating.

But maybe I needed to make it a little clearer that I was interested in being more than friends.

Anna cleared her throat as she made her way over to the oven, peering through the grey looking window of it and cursing, shaking her head.

"This stupid thing," she growled to herself, opening up the oven door and taking a look at the pie, slamming the door shut again. "My oven is crap and sometimes just stops working. I think the pie will have to wait."

I waved away her concern, offering her a smile. "That's no problem, let's go out to eat."

Anna widened her eyes at me, cocking her head before chewing on her bottom lip, causing me to chuckle.

"Your choice," I told her, moving to make my way over to the front door, Anna scrambling along after me.

"Jared, wait," she said quietly. "Are you sure? I don't really have the money to spend on dining out."