Treat You Better

Chapter Forty-nine: The Truth and More.

He gave me a dismissive wave "I'm fine, fine. Really." Angelo said and a wide smile graced his features.

Yeah he was not fine.

"Oh no, Angelo, are you high again? I thought-"

"I'm not high." He said but then he looked confused about that statement. "I drove here."

"Yes, at midnight and we even have school!" I whispered, doing my best to hold him up when he seemed like he was swaying. Not like I could actually catch him if he fell over. "What's so important, Angie? You came all this way..."

"Yes, because we found something huge! The answer to everything after weeks of pining for it..." Angelo explained while my eyes zoned in on the dark circles under his eyes, prominent ones that I immediately hated to see on him. "...this discovery Tio and I made...it changes everything and I just thought...I should let you know."

I stared at him for the longest time and I was still trying to understand what was going on when suddenly he did a 180° turn.

"That's what I wanted to say, bye!" He waved, heading straight for the steps. "I'll see you to-"

"Whoa there! Where do you think you're going?" I went around to his front, stopping him by pushing gently at his chest and he looked down at me nonplussed.

"To bed?" He blinked. Heavily. "Though I'd have to drive there first but that's..."

"Angelo when's the last time you slept?" I asked, just as it clicked in my mind that he most likely wasn't drunk, just might be deliriously sleepy.

He had to count on his fingers to answer my question and it was taking a while. "Got it" He said, eventually and proudly proclaimed the answer, "Five!"

"Shh!" I whispered, grateful we were still outside because Dad was a light sleeper only when it was really inconvenient for me. "Five?!" For his sake, I hope he meant five hours ago.

He blinked again, shaking his head. "No no, I took a nap. Yesterday."

I took a deep breath for my mental health.

"Okay, you're obviously out of your mind if you think I'm letting you go back like this." I said, grabbing his arm and turning him to face the door. "Come on."

"I'm not tired, I promise-" His words were interrupted by a loud growl that sent Moo scrambling into the house and I was going to check if there was a wolf around or something before I realized it was from his stomach.

"Oh, you poor baby!" I cried before basically dragging him all the way to my kitchen and making him sit at the island.

It only took me a couple minutes to get a bowl of soup and some warm bread ready and I looked for other stuff while he ate that.

"There's leftover rice... Ooh and chicken wings, should I put the wings in the microwave?" I asked, from behind the open fridge door. "I'd bring out the fro-yo but I'm trying to keep you warm. Oh, hot water's ready, tea or cocoa?"

"Thank you, Letty, but you don't have to wait on me." Angelo said and I looked over to him from the sink where I was pouring from the kettle into a mug.

Eating something seemed to have woken him up some because he was watching me with clearer eyes, his hand supporting his chin as he rest his elbow on the table. He still looked rather stressed though.

"I want to." I said with a little shrug. "You look like you could use some TLC. Plus... I haven't exactly been the best girlfriend out there lately."

"No." He agreed in a soft voice. "You're... avoiding me."