Perspicuous (J.HALE)

21

I raised an eyebrow at him. "Evening."

He looked disturbed by my attention. "Hi."

"Where've you been all day?" Meg said, turning in her seat to observe him.

Neither of us were particularly tactful.

"Walking," he said simply, a little dismissive. "I had a look around for jobs, too."

"Oh," Meg said. "Planning on staying a bit longer, then?"

He unwrapped his scarf and shrugged his shoulders. "Exploring my options. Forks isn't that bad."

I pressed my lips together. "Who were you walking with, Elliot?"

His eyes flashed to meet mine and his jaw set. Meg looked at me, confused.

"No one," he said, a little too quickly.

I grinned.

"Am I missing something?" Meg said, looking between us.

"No," Elliot said.

I smoothed out my face. "No, I'm just being annoying."

His eyes returned to my face for half a second, and he relaxed.

"I'll have to get you a proper bed, if you're staying," Meg said. "That camp bed is horrible for your back."

"Oh, no, don't worry," Elliot said, taking off his coat and hanging it on the hook on the back of the door.

"No, no," Meg dismissed. "It's fine."

"Where will we put it?" I asked, glancing over to the camp bed pushed up against the living room wall—bulky and awkward. "There's barely enough space as it is."

"Seriously, it's fine," he said as he sat down. "I'll look for my own place if I decide to stay."

Meg seemed not to hear him; brow creased in thought. "I could rearrange the furniture..."

Then I remembered Jasper's offer.

My stomach swooped just at the thought, but it did make sense. It wasn't as if my moving in with him would mean I could never come back to Meg's. I could even stay with Emily if everything went horrendously wrong. I wasn't used to having a network of support—it was taking a while to reprogram myself into remembering my resources.

"I have an idea," I said. "I could stay with the Cullens."

Meg blinked at me and Elliot's eyebrows flew up.

"At your boyfriend's?" he said.

I shot him a look. "With his entire family, yes."

"I don't know if-

"They've already offered," I said, meeting Meg's eyes. "I said no initially because I wasn't sure if it would be appropriate, since I have Ethan."

"I don't even know if I'm staying, yet," Elliot grumbled.

I arched an eyebrow at him. "Don't you?"

We stared at each other for a few moments, before Elliot scowled and dropped his gaze to his hands in his lap.

"I mean, it's an option," Meg said.