TROUBLED || thirteen reasons why

035.

Tristan peels her eyes open the next morning, and she rapidly blinks to try to clear away the confusion. Where is she?

Then she remembers. Zach.

She turns her head and sighs when she sees the handsome boy asleep next to her. His arm is draped around her and has her pulled close to his bare chest. She looks down at herself and realizes she is only in her bra and underwear, immediately she pulls the sheets tightly around her.

The girl sits up and looks around the room as the sunlight shines through his windows. She carefully tucks a lock of black hair behind Zach's ear as she leans over and kisses his cheek. Zach lets out a groan in his sleep and his arm reaches out to where Tristan slept, trying to grab ahold of something that isn't there.

Tristan watches him for a moment, noticing how his hair is disheveled and his mouth slightly agape, but she still feels a smile form on her lips. She stands up and begins to get dressed, trying her best not to wake the boy up in the process. She feels terrible for last night, and she can't help but think that Zach will be mad at her when he wakes up.

She slips her shoes on and takes one last glance at Zach's sleeping form before quietly opening the door. She tiptoes downstairs and makes it to the front door when she hears someone behind her.

"Tristan?" The girl freezes and curses to herself. Tristan looks over her shoulder to find May Dempsey sitting at the kitchen table, looking very confused that Tristan is in her house.

"Oh," Tristan replies, her face becoming hot, "Hi, May... I didn't realize- I was just leaving."

"So you and Zach? Are you guys back together?" May's innocent voice makes Tristan want to shrivel up and die for what she is doing to the girl's brother.

Tristan turns around and opens the front door, "I don't know."

The walk back to the Jensens' house is excruciatingly long, and Tristan can't seem to stop thinking about last night. Would she have gone all the way with Zach if she had not stopped? Could she even do that with everything that has happened to her? Her mind is racing so much as she enters the Jensens' home that she has to stop and take deep breaths to calm herself down.

"Tristan is that you?" A voice calls from the kitchen. Tristan slowly walks into the kitchen and sees Mr. Jensen drinking coffee and reading the news paper. He eyes her from his reading glasses and his expression is something that Tristan has never seen before. "How about you take a seat with me, Tristan?"

His collected voice frightens Tristan for some reason and she cautiously sits next to him at the table. Matt continues to read his newspaper as the girl's stomach starts to tie in knots, "So, where have you been?"

Tristan's face heats up and she tries to think of something to say, "I was, um, sleeping over at a friend's house."

Matt puts his paper down and looks at Tristan with a frown, "Tristan, I'm not trying to be strict, I'm trying to make sure you're safe. If you're going to stay in this house, you need to tell us where you're going. You're brother was worried sick about you last night."

Tristan looks down at her hands in shame. She didn't mean to make them worry. Hell, she didn't expect them to worry. Her mother never cared, so why would they? "I'm sorry, I didn't mean-"

"I know," Matt smiles as places a hand on her shoulder, "Now, you want some breakfast? I have some toast cooking."

Tristan smiles to herself as she watches the man get up and fix her breakfast. He sets the buttered toast in front of her, and she is relieved he didn't punish her for running out last night. Matt goes back to his newspaper as Tristan begins to eat and neither have to say anything else, just enjoying each other's company.