We Know Better

Tension

As soon as the bell rings, my hands go into motion as they pack my backpack. I make it down to my car before Alessa does and force myself to not feel impatient as I gaze at my phone and scroll through my music, trying to decide what I am in the mood for. Just as I decide, she slides into my car and starts telling me a story. It lasts the entire car ride, and as I am pulling up to her house I realize that I had not even asked her if she wanted to go home or not. I can tell that she is a little thrown that I did not immediately bring her to my house like I usually do. She takes it good naturedly while she leans over to hug me goodbye and tells me that she loves me.

As I watch her walk into her house, I try to push down the sick feeling in my stomach telling me that I have done something wrong and that I have somehow managed to ruin our entire relationship with this one action. Gently, I do my best to reassure the anxious voice in my mind that ten years of friendship will not see its end just because of this. My voice of anxiety is a worrisome little thing.

I push my thoughts away while I walk up to Brendon's door and try the handle to see if he has left it unlocked for me. The door swings open slowly, and I can hear movement in the kitchen so that is where I head. I am pleasantly surprised to see Brendon's mother with her long brown hair tied into a knot on top of her head. Her eyes crinkle as her mouth lifts into a smile at me.

"Hello honey, how are you?"

"I'm okay, thank you for asking. What about you?" I return as I take a few steps over to the counter so that I can lean against it and use it to help me support the books in my arms.

"Oh, I'm just great, honey, Brendon's father and I are going to some friends tonight so that should be fun. What are those?" she asks, referring to the books in my arms, "studying on a Friday. My dear you must be a good influence on our Brendon."

I laugh and try to ignore the embarrassment creeping through my chest at the compliment, "thanks," is all I can say.

After a couple of more moments of trading small talk, I excuse myself and trod up the stairs to Brendon's room. His door is open and he is laying on his bed not really moving. As I get closer, I can see that he is sleeping. The gentle rise and fall of his chest and his soft, relaxed face slows my steps as I stay quiet to avoid waking him. As I put my stuff down on his desk and sit myself in his chair, I find myself biting my lip and taking him in. He just looks so precious and I want to touch the curve of his lips, the tip of his nose, brush my fingers through his hair, and so much more; but I stay planted in my seat instead, admiring him from afar. Eventually, I turn in the chair and open the assignments that I brought with me.

About a half an hour later, I hear him start to stir off to my side. I do not turn to look at him, allowing him a few moments of privacy and quiet as he wakes up and orients himself. He groans as he stretches and I have to stifle a laugh, because he sounds so cute. The bed shifts as he rolls over to face me, so I finally look over at him and all his glorious bed head. His eyes are only really half open as he looks at me and smiles, like waking up to me is the most normal thing in the world. And then it sets in and I can see it in his eyes.

"Laina, shit. I'm sorry. What time is it? How long have you been here? How long have I been asleep. I'm sorry," he starts rambling.

"Brendon, please, it's not a big deal. Besides, you're adorable when you sleep and it isn't like I haven't knocked out on you," I reassure him.

"That was different," he says. "Man, I thought that I had set an alarm, just in case."

I hide my smile behind my hand as I look at his upset face and my heart warms at how concerned he is about this.

"You should have just woken me up," he tells me as he sighs and scoots to the edge of the bed and closer to me. "What are you doing?" He asks and he sounds generally perplexed.