Breathing

Chapter 29:

JD's flight landed in two hours and Aiden volunteered to go to the airport to pick him, Anna, and baby Kurt up. Ezra reassured Aiden that he would keep an eye on the Davis girls while he was gone. Aiden didn't even protest to Ezra staying here with us while he was gone.

Before Aiden left, my Mom went upstairs and locked herself in her room. I asked her if she wanted company, she said she needed to be alone for a while. She cried for a long time before she fell asleep. Jessa fell asleep in my arms not long after and I placed her in my bed for the night. I was surprised Ezra still decided to stay even though Jessa and my Mom were both sleeping. 

The house was too quiet again.

Ezra and I barely spoke since the kiss in the kitchen. There was a heavy thickness between us and neither of us could seem to find any words. I grabbed a pillow and some blankets for Ezra in case he wanted to sleep on the couch.  When I handed them to him, his fingertips lingered on mine and I almost ran out of the room crying.

"I'm going to bed.  Goodnight, Ezra."  I called out as I ran off in a hurry to my room. 

I locked the door behind me and wiped my eyes. Pulling out a tank top and some sleep shorts, I quickly changed and I tried to lay in bed with Jessa.  I tossed and turned, unable to fall asleep and finally gave up. My eyes wouldn't even close, even though my body was exhausted. I kissed Jessa's forehead and quietly climbed out of bed to go get a glass of water from the kitchen.

Ezra must have had the same idea because he was walking into the kitchen and stopped when he saw me standing at the top of the stairs. He studied me silently as I began to walk back down towards him.

"Can't sleep?"  He asked softly.

I shook my head no and walked past him towards the kitchen.  He followed me in and sat down at the island while I was grabbing a glass out of the cupboard.  I filled the cup at the water dispenser on the fridge and pressed the cup to my lips.  He sat there in silence and twiddled his thumbs without looking up. The silence was deafening and awkward.  I didn't know what to say to him, I was thankful he was here, but it was still a little confusing.

"Do you want to talk?" He asked.

"Not really."  I said honestly.  The last thing I needed was to be reminded that my Dad was gone.  

"Want to watch some tv?" He suggested.

"Uh, sure."  I said awkwardly.

I walked past him to go into the living room, and he got up to follow me. I sat down on one side of the couch, and he sat on the other, making sure to keep the distance between us. The remote was near his leg and I reached over to grab it. His body stiffened when I leaned over towards him and my hand accidentally brushed against his leg.

"I'm sorry." I said, sitting back up quickly.

"It's ok." He said, clearing his throat and repositioning himself.

I laid back against the couch cushion and started flipping through the channels. It was so late that we were pretty much left with nothing but infomercials. I found one about food and sat the remote down on my lap. I looked down and Ezra's long fingers had inched close to my thigh. My body ached for it to brush against me. I needed the human contact.

A few more minutes passed and I felt him shift again.  When I looked over, he had leaned his long torso more towards the middle of the couch. He was getting more comfortable; that was all that was. 

"I can't watch this anymore."  He grumbled.

He slid over again and grabbed the remote off my lap and brushed his fingers between my legs. I closed my eyes when his hand lingered a little too long on my skin.  I had to fight back the moan that was on the tip of my tongue.