Beautiful Mess (Book II)

Chapter seven

"I can't promise to fix all your problems, but I can promise you won't have to face them alone."

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•Rae•

I rub the sleep out of my tired eyes as I drag myself out of bed. I glance back at Kyle to see him roll over and sleep on his stomach, a habit of his when he's about to wake up. I glance at my watch and sigh.

To say that I absolutely hate Monday mornings would be an understatement, but it's been a while since I went to the hospital where I volunteered, and I really miss some of the nurses and patients. I'm looking forward to that part of my day, but I'll have to go to the nursing school first.

I slowly walk into the bathroom and start to lazily brush my teeth as I think about last night.

I was relieved that Kyle had finally gave in to his emotions despite all the efforts he made to hide from them. I couldn't stop my own tears from falling down my cheeks the moment he buried his face into my neck and started crying. The man was still his dad, after all. So it was natural for his death to affect him the way it did.

I hop in the shower, my mind still occupied by the situation. I offered to stay home with him in case he didn't feel like going to work for a few days, wanting to do the same thing he did for me when I got that call from the police regarding my parents death. But Kyle being his usual responsible and caring self, refused my offer and told me I shouldn't miss any more classes and that he shouldn't push his luck with Mrs Anderson, the owner of the grocery store he works at. It's a miracle that woman even allowed him to be absent all week with the excuse that his girlfriend was sick and needed him to stay by her side.

As I step out of the shower, I hear Kyle's phone chime and walk back into our bedroom to see that he's up just like I predicted. Sitting on the edge of the bed, he stares down at his phone's screen. A deep frown forms on his sleepy face and he blinks at his phone a few times before carelessly tossing it to the bed.

I stare at him until he looks up and notices me. "What's up?" I ask him, pointing at his phone with my chin as I walk towards the closet.

"You look tired, didn't you get enough sleep?" he asks, completely ignoring my question. "I'll go wash up now. And look at the time, already seven thirty. We're gonna be late."

Despite the calm look on his face, I know Kyle well enough to be able to tell when he's trying to hide something from me. Since he isn't a nervous liar, it's not obvious on his face. But there are certain habits of his that I picked up on from the few times I've witnessed him lie. And the way he just asked me a question and then jumped into a whole other topic without waiting for a reply, happens to be one of those habits.

As he hurries into the bathroom thinking he did a great job in avoiding my question, I shake my head in amusement and proceed to dry off with my towel. I pull on a pair of blue jeans and a sweater before brushing my hair. And then I walk to the bed and pick up his phone, but it's suddenly pulled out of my hand. I look up at Kyle, startled by his sudden appearance.

"What're you doing? Let's go, we're gonna be late." He pulls me out of the bedroom, but the panicked look on his face is beyond suspicious.

I narrow my eyes at his back as I follow him to the kitchen, and he quickly starts preparing our breakfast while I sit on one of the stools watching him.

"So..." I say casually as he cracks open an egg. "Is everything okay?"

"Hmm?" He glances at me for a brief second. "Of course it is. Why wouldn't it be?"

I frown and pull my lower lip into my mouth as I wonder who in the world texted him that early and why he's hiding it from me.

All throughout breakfast, I try to get him to tell me what's going on but he keeps trying to change the conversation. But after he gets dressed and is ready to walk out the door, I decide to ask him directly since I know I would end up stressing about it all day.