Gone Country

Chapter 20 (Their Place)

On the plus side, I was just about to pull into the driveway of my house. Forgetting tonight was my main priority right now, it had been that bad for me. My dad was going to kill me when he saw the gas hand on his truck. I didn't have any cash on me coming home, I couldn't stop and get any gas without money.

I really needed some sleep and my pain medication because my side was aching in a sore kind of way. I stopped the truck in the driveway and shut it off. For some reason I thought if I closed my eyes, reopen them, this whole thing would be a terrible nightmare. Unfortunately, everything that had happened was real.

Somehow, I managed to get out of the truck and make my way into the house. I had expected it to be dark, quiet, and motionless, but there was a little movement going on in the dimly lit kitchen. In case it was a robber, I decided to go check it out for myself and be a hero for my family.

I walked past the living room, pulling my boots off along the way not caring if they were out of place on the floor. My mother could yell at me later, I was too tired to pick them up. All I wanted to do was go to sleep right after I checked to see who was up so late in the kitchen.

I popped my head in through the doorway, everything about my bad night turning around with just one glance at her. She must not have heard me come in or she would've greeted me, probably even would have asked how the date went despite how she felt about it.

I decided to surprise her.

Quietly, I crept into the kitchen, chuckling in my mind when I saw her making some kind of ice cream sundae. She shook up a can of whip cream, then layered it on pretty thick which meant she was upset. She studied it, then added a little more chocolate syrup and another layer of whip cream.

"Can't sleep?" I whispered in her ear when I pulled her back into my chest. She shook her head, staying silent. It made me smile that she didn't flinch in alarm, she knew my embrace that well. "Want some company?"

She grabbed two spoons and the sundae before she turned around to face me. I couldn't tell what she was thinking, only that her gentle expression told me that everything was okay. "Company sounds nice," she replied when she leaned a spoon towards me. I took the eating utensil, then leaned in and kissed her forehead. She smiled sincerely at me, it confirming that she was better than earlier today.

We took a seat at the dinning room table next to each other. I wasn't satisfied with that and made her sit on my lap so that I could hold her close. "How was the date?" she asked, confirming my thoughts of her putting Darcy before herself. I watched her stab her spoon into the ice cream, forcing a large bite into her mouth. She didn't really want to know.

"It was terrible," I didn't mind telling her. "You're so cute when your jealous," I teased when I turned her sideways on my lap.

"Shut up," she grinned. "Why was it terrible?"

I took a bite of some sundae, resting my head on her chest with a sigh through my nose. "I didn't want to dance with her," I explained. "Do we really have to talk about it?"

"No." She placed a kiss on my forehead, making that automatic smile appear on my face. She never fails to make me smile when I need it most.

"Are you okay?" I had been waiting all night to ask her that simple question. I've worried my butt off, tried to rush through this night to return to her, and I deserved an answer after everything I have been through tonight.

"Yeah," she breathed. She inhaled another large bite of sundae. "I missed you." It was almost like she was embarrassed by it with the way she hid her face from me and poked at a scoop of ice cream in the amusing cow like bowl she had picked out. It was painted to look like a spotted cow, but had utters to help the bowl stand. It use to be my favorite bowl growing up.