This Cat Has Claws

9: Home Visit

Landon's POV

Grandpa liked Marley's suggestion and so we went with it. I was on Grandpa's left side and Marley was on his right. Grams walked behind us with nervousness. By the looks of it, Marley intended to invite herself to our house right now. I guess that was fine; no one else seemed opposed to it. It meant that I wouldn't have to text her later and we'd get this visit over with. But at the same time, I couldn't help feeling a little disappointed along with excited. I couldn't bring myself to think deeply about why I felt like that and instead just focused on Grandpa and getting him home safely.

"Would you like to come with us Marley?" Grams asked as we neared the car.

"I would love to, thanks," Marley replied.

I opened the passenger door to the car and let Grandpa get in before shutting the door. Grams got into the driver's seat and that left Marley and me in the backseat. It was weird having someone else in the car with us. I never had friends over often when I was young, and when I did, we always walked over from school. So not only was it a weird feeling to have Marley in the car, it was weird when she walked through our front door.

Grandpa did not like us fussing over him at all, so when we finally got home, he went straight to his office.

"Don't mind him, dear," Grams said to Marley. "He's not the most social person in the world and his hosting skills have gone down the drain."

"Oh, I don't mind at all. I can kinda see where Landon gets his attitude from," Marley chuckled.

"What do you mean 'attitude,'" I asked.

"That right there. Do you not remember when we first met?"

"I do."

It's more like how could I forget. She cursed me out after we bumped into each other. That was not at all what I was expecting. She looks so innocent at first glance, but the more you look the more you see that is not the case. I only caught a glance when we bumped into each other so I wasn't able to see that look she gets in her eyes when she talks to you. It's subtle, but something that I've noticed recently; the way she assesses a person. I see it all the time when she's talking to someone I figure she doesn't know. Maybe that has something to do with her family. If I was put in situations that gave me the scars Grams said she has, I'd look at people differently, too.

"Then you'll remember that you looked at me like I should be killed for bumping into you," Marley continued.

"That's a bit extreme," Grams chimed in.

"That was not how I looked," I defended.

"Oh yes it was. You didn't see yourself. Plus it wasn't even all my fault, but when I said sorry you just looked at me with disgust and then scoffed and walked away," Marley argued.

"Sorry," I said.

"It's fine. After I called you an asshole I felt better and didn't let it get to me. It's not the first time someone has looked at me like that."

"That's not something I'd like to hear."

"It comes with the family."

I hadn't noticed until then that Grams had left us alone. She went to go check on Grandpa and I could hear her in the kitchen making tea for him. Marley didn't seem to mind, but I knew she noticed Grams had left us alone.

"So, do you not get along with your parents at all?" Marley asked, breaking the silence.

"Uh, not really, but we've been getting better," I said vaguely.

"I can't even imagine. That's good, though."

"Yup. You said you have siblings?"

"My older sister, Emrys, travels all over the world. I have no idea where she is right now, and no one in the family ever really knows because she's somehow always too busy to answer the damn question. I also have a younger brother, Jayvion. I call him JayJay because it' way cuter, but of course he says doesn't like it."

There was another moment of silence as I tried to think of something more to say. I really was not good at small talk and I didn't enjoy it that much. But I also wanted to know more about Marley, so I'd have to just ask her the questions I had. She didn't seem to mind too much when Grandpa asked her about her family's business, so hopefully she wouldn't mind if I asked her related questions. It would be really awkward if she didn't want to answer and I didn't have any backup questions, so if she didn't want to answer then we'd just have to sit in silence.

"How many scars do you have?" I blurted out.