Caramel Popcorn

Chapter 5: Distractions, improvising and showers

Drew opened the door. Distracted. But his eyes found my face soon enough. His demeanor changed. His body stiffened. He drew his lips into a tight line. His eyes scanned my whole body, pausing at my fidgeting hands only momentarily.

"Jesus." He murmured before letting me into his room. "Was it Flynn?" He asked, rubbing the back of his neck.

I shook my head, silently. Letting another few tears slide down my cheeks.

"I--I need help."

"Anything I can do?"

"I don't--I don't know."

"Drew?" I whispered, taking a step towards him and placing a hand on his chest. "I don't want to be weak."

"Hey, it's going to be okay." He said, pulling me into a hug.

"Are you okay?" He asked.

I shook my head against his chest.

"It's so humiliating--to--to not be able to do anything--to just have to take it--" I broke down into another set of desperate sobs.

"Hey, hey, don't worry, you're safe now."

"Can I stay with you?" He didn't feel like a threat. No matter how had I tried to convince myself that I couldn't trust him, I came back to the fact that I felt like I could.

"Absolutely."

"And you'll not feel like I'm taking advantage of the kindness you've offered me?"

"What? No. No, don't worry about it. I'd love it if you stayed. I meant it when I said we were best friends now. Drunkenness notwithstanding."

I smiled, unable to hold it back. How could I not?

He pulled away from me and placed me on the corner of his bed. He pulled out a sweatshirt and handed it to me. "Here, you look like you could use a change of clothes." He tried to give me a gentle smile.

"Thanks."

He turned around and allowed me to change into it.

"Alright, I'm done." Drew was bigger than I was. I sank into the sweatshirt. The fabric hanging loose on my bones. I missed the extra pounds I had lost over the course of my most recent employment.

"Do you need something to clean your face?"

"Uh--you wouldn't happen to have make-up remover on you, would you?"

"Wet wipes is the best I can do."

"I'll take it." I nodded. He stalked to the other side of the room and reached into Flynn's backpack. After a few minutes of examination, he pulled out a packet of wet wipes.

"Thanks." I said, as he handed it to me."

For the most part, he said close to nothing, barring the occasional murmurs of apologies.

I managed to get most of the smudged make up off my face, making the swollen patch stand out against my pale skin.

Drew's brown eyes lingered on it just a little longer than they should have, just as my own eyes stayed on him just a little longer than they had any right to. Admiring him. He had clear brown skin, stretching over his angular jaw. His hair was a dark mop of cropped curls, which I now knew were unbearably soft.

He was in no way as muscular as Flynn. But he looked more than capable of beating the crap out of someone if he really wanted to, he just didn't strike me as the type of guy who'd beat someone up. It hadn't occurred to me that he was gorgeous. I knew they were both attractive but I hadn't factored in just how attractive he was.