Conspicuous Secrets

Chapter Forty-Two

         

It had been well over an hour since the phone call with Gavin, but Kason still hadn't come back down the stairs. "I'm going to check on him," Daniel said, standing from the table. Nodding, I watched him leave the room and disappear up the stairs. A long minute later, he entered the room again, without his son. "He fell asleep in the recliner in Lucy's room," he informed me.

I grinned softly. "Let him sleep. He's had a rough evening." He nodded, agreeing. "I'll tell him everything tomorrow."

He yawned. "There's a blow up mattress in the attic, I can get for you to sleep on."

I waved away his offer. "I'll sleep on the couch," I told him.

"Are you sure?"

I nodded. "Yes."

"I'll go get you a pillow and a thick blanket then." He disappeared back up the stairs and I made my way into the living room and sat down on the couch. A long moment later, he walked in with a pillow, a thick blanket, and what looked like clothes in his arms. He laid out the pillow and blanket, then handed me two pieces of folded clothing. "I got you some sweatpants and a hoodie of Kason's for you to sleep in."

I accepted them. "Thank you. For letting me stay over here and everything."

He nodded and slipped me a kind smile. "You're welcome. If you need anything else, you're free to it."

After nodding, he turned and walked down the hall, into his room. I took Kason's clothes into the bathroom and changed into them. Leaving my clothes folded up and on the bathroom counter.

I climbed into my makeshift bed on the couch and got comfortable. For what felt like hours, I tossed and turned, but couldn't get comfortable. After letting the paranoia get the best of me, I got up and made sure the front and back door were locked, along with all the living room and kitchen windows. They were.

Just as I had laid back down, footsteps sounded on the stairs and a tired looking Kason emerged from upstairs. He didn't notice me awake at first and continued walking to the front door, a thick coat in his hands. "Where are you going?" I asked him before he reached the exit.

Stopping, he turned around and looked at me as I stood up. "I have a fight tonight," he admitted honestly.

I walked up to him and crossed my arms, shivering from my bare feet on the cold, wooden floors. "Kason, you don't need the money anymore," I reminded him, sadly. "You can stop fighting."

He nodded and pushed a piece of my short black hair behind my ear. "I know, but I've already sworn to fight tonight. I can't back out," he told me softly.

I sighed. "Will you stop after this?" Nodding, he pulled me into his arms and held me tightly. "Promise?"

His lips pressed against the top of my head. "I promise." We pulled away and he looked at his baggy clothes on my body. "You look good in my clothes."

Blushing I rolled my eyes and playfully shoved him toward the front door. "Be careful."

He grinned. "I will." He turned and left, closing the door behind him. After I locked it, I returned to my place back on the couch and fell asleep.

#

"Lydia, wake up," a deep voice spoke, combing my hair out of my face with their fingers. I opened my eyes and spotted Kason kneeling on the floor beside me. "Time for school," he said.

I groaned and closed my eyes, pushing my face further into the feather pillow. "I don't want to go to school."

His chuckled filled my ears. "It's the last day before winter break," he told me. "And it's only a half day," he added after a short moment.