Mint [H.S.]

4

"C'mon Harry, get up! You've been in this bed for so long! It really stinks in here too..." her voice trails off. Her little hands pinching her small nose. "Did a dog die in here? Our neighbor's dog Sweetie ran away. I think Sweetie died under your bed. Would explain the smell..." 

Snarky little thing. Always saying shit to try and get under my skin. Too damn clever for an eight year old.  

"You caught me. I smuggled Sweetie and suffocated her with my dirty socks." 

"It's a boy," she chuckles as she shakes her head. Her brown curls were tied up into a high pony tail and smacking me in the face. 

I bite my tongue holding back the string of curses that fight to escape me. If I knew that I'd be spending every damn afternoon with an eight year old, I would have never came here in the first place.

"Where's Dylan?" I ask her, shutting her up from the high pitched giggles that erupted from inside of her. 

"Dad went to go buy dinner. Do you like burgers? He said we're having burgers tonight. I don't really like burgers unless they put cheese in it. That's the only way it tastes good," she rambles on. That was one thing I had noticed about Maddie... she was a consistent rambler. 

"Great." 

There's a silent pause that falls over us. I don't say anything to her and she doesn't say anything to me. I sit up in bed, unraveling myself from my cocoon of blankets. A layer of goosebumps cover my bare chest. "Fuck, it's freezing," I mutter. "Why is it so cold in here?" 

I look over at Maddie who has a sheepish smile on her lips. 

"What did you do?" 

She shakes her head. Her lips fighting to smile. Her cheeks turn a soft pink, her hazel eyes dancing in sheer amusement. 

"I turned off your heater," she giggles. 

"Why would you-" 

"You need to get out of this bedroom Harry. Please!" She pleas, her lips dropping into her attempt at a puppy dog look. Damn her for being really good at it. "You haven't even explored Toronto yet!"

Ignoring her, I wrap myself back up in my blankets. She doesn't take my silence as a no. Instead of getting up and leaving like I hoped she would, she pulls the blankets with as much might as she could muster up. She heaves her small body across the bed. Once she realizes that was of no use, she stands up.

"Don't..." I give her a warning glare. She ignores me and continues on with her plan. 

Maddie jumps on top of me earning a loud oomph. "Bloody hell!" I shout, pushing her small body gently off of me. This only riles her up more causing her to jump on me once again this time continuously. 

"Get up! Get up!" She shouts, her little hands smothering my face. "Get up!" 

"I-carnt-brrth," I shout but fail miserably. Her hands covering my mouth, blocking the words to form properly. This only encouragers her even more. My hands move from it's tight confines of the heavy blanket and wrap around her tiny wrists. I pull her hands off of my face, allowing the air to easily flow through my breathing passages. "Damn it, Maddie!" 

"Language Harry! Daddy says those words are bad," she scolds. Her pointer finger shaking at me. I roll my eyes, pushing the tiny girl off of me. 

"I thought you wanted to be punk rock. Punk rockers swear." 

She only shrugs, "I'll be a non-swearing punk rocker." 

I snort, biting back my amused chuckle. She glances back at me. Her small legs criss crossed in front of her as she sits back down on the bed. Her arms folded in her lap. She watches me. Her stare not once wavering away. Curiosity is written over her features, "So?"