𝘼𝙡𝙡𝙞𝙨𝙤𝙣'𝙨 𝙋𝙊𝙑
I roll over in bed and my arm falls onto the empty space next to me, causing me to pry my eyes open. I sleepily pull myself up and look around the room for my boyfriend who was here when I fell asleep last night.
The bathroom door opens to reveal him fully dressed, his face stuck in his phone.
"Good morning" I smile softly.
"Morning" Rafe mumbles distractedly.
"Do you have anything exciting planned for today?" I ask curiously and he finally looks up at me.
"No. Just gonna hang with Topper and Kelce" He shrugs in response.
"Oh, okay" I nod "Tell them that I say hi"
"Yeah. Will do" He replies bluntly, heading to the door.
"Rafe?" I speak up and he turns his head "I love you"
"You too" He says before exiting the room.
I ignore the way my heart sinks to my stomach, pulling my knees up to my chest and letting out a tired sigh. After taking a couple deep breathes and counting to ten, I pull myself out of bed.
I pad out of the room and make my way into my best friend's room, finding the girl still asleep in bed.
With a small smile on my face, I crawl under the covers next to her and she almost immediately feels my presence, wrapping her arms around me tightly. I reciprocate the hug, wrapping my arms around her too and lay my head on her shoulder.
"Good morning, sleeping beauty" I smile in amusement at her messy bed head and lazy grin.
"Good morning, tinker bell" She hums sleepily "How you feeling?"
"I'm okay" I lie.
"Mmhm, okay. Now tell me the truth" She retorts.
"Can we just cuddle? I don't wanna talk" I answer, not wanting to let myself fall apart over nothing.
"That's okay" She assures me "I like to cuddle"
We lay in a comfortable silence for a little while, just listening to each other's breathing and holding the other together.
Eventually, the door opens and I lift my head slightly to see Wheezie at the door.
"Breakfast is ready" She informs us.
"We'll be down in a minute, Wheeze" I tell her and she nods, leaving.
Sarah and I climb out of bed and the girl slips on a pair of sliders before turning to me.
"Cute outfit" She grins in amusement.
"Thanks" I chirp, doing a little spin to show off my baby blue dinosaur pyjama shorts with the matching cropped tank top "I like yours too"
She does a little spin of her own, letting me admire the yellow and white striped shorts with the matching button up shirt that she's wearing.
"Sarah! Allison! Rafe!" I hear Rose holler loudly.
Sarah and I head down to the kitchen before sitting down at the table with Rose, Wheezie and Ward.
"Where is Rafe?" Ward asks and everyone looks at me.
"He left earlier. Said he was meeting friends" I tell them.
They all accept the answer, tucking into their breakfast and I pick up my fork, gently poking at one of the pancakes on my plate.
"Is everything okay with the food, Allison?" Ward asks me and I paste on a happy smile.
"Of course. I was just day dreaming" I blurt out an excuse that he eats up.
"Always day dreaming, you are" He chuckles and I let out a small giggle, nodding.
I cut up the pancake and put a small piece in my mouth, making eye contact with Sarah who smiles at me with what looks like pride.
That look alone encourages me to eat the full pancake in front of me and I try to eat the other one but an overwhelming sick feeling stops me.
"I am stuffed" Sarah says exaggeratedly, pushing her empty plate away from her "Alli and I are gonna go get dressed"
Before anyone can reply, Sarah jumps up and pulls me out the room. We enter her room and I flop onto her bed while she rakes through her closet.
"You're eating a lot better recently" Sarah comments.
"Yeah. I had to buy bigger jeans too" I reply negatively.
"That's great, Alli. I bet they look hot as fuck on you" She says encouragingly and I smile softly.
"They do look nice" I shrug.
"I knew it" She grins, throwing some clothes onto the bed.
"But Rafe doesn't like them" I frown sadly "He likes the smaller ones"
"Fuck Rafe. I like them" She spits.
"You haven't even seen them" I reply, a smile creeping back onto my face.
"I don't have to. You look great in everything you wear" She declares.
"Thanks, Sar" I say gratefully.
"Don't thank me, silly. Just get dressed" She laughs, throwing some clothes at me.
I catch them and inspect the outfit she has chosen, a light grey tie up bikini and a pair of white cotton shorts. After changing into the clothes and pulling on a pair of white jordans, Sarah and I head out into the yard.
We find a flock of birds trying to catch the mice that had been flooded out of their homes during last night's storm and decide to help the little animals out. Sarah grabs a couple tennis rackets from the house and hands me one of them.
Sarah and I swat at the birds, running around like mad women and jumping into the air to try and stop the birds from hurting the poor mice.
"No, no, no, no, no!" Sarah cries as a bird swoops down to the grass.
"Sarah! Allison!" I hear Ward yell but we continue waving the rackets at the birds.
"We're busy!" Sarah shouts.
"What are you doing?!" He asks in confusion.
"The burrows filled with water from the surge!" She answers.
"The birds are having a field day!" I add worriedly.
"The birds have to eat too, girls!" Ward tells us.
"No, it's a mouse genocide out here!" She protests.
"No!" I shriek, swinging the racket at a bird trying to swoop in on a baby mouse.
"The cycle of life is what it is, sweetheart. Now, come on" Ward huffs.
"I can't be a part of it! First they came for the mice, daddy" She tells him as she pulls me towards him and an upset looking Lana Grubbs.
"Well, I have an actual human being here that you might help" Ward replies, gesturing to Lana.
"Oh, my God" Sarah breathes out as we reach the adults.
"Hi" Lana greets us, shaking each of our hands.
"I'm Sarah and this is Allison. I'm so sorry" Sarah tells the woman.
"This is Lana, Scooter's wife" Ward tells us.
"You were storm prepping with him, right?" He adds.
"Yeah. He helped me latch the cabin on the Druthers" Sarah nods.
"Last night?" Ward asks.
"Yeah" Sarah says.
"And did he go out after that?" Ward then asks.
"From here?" I ask in surprise.
"Yeah" Ward nods.
"No. Are you crazy? There was a hurricane" Sarah retorts.
"Well, did he say where he was going? Get a phone call or mention anything?" Lana asks desperately.
"He didn't say anything to me" Sarah answers and the trio looks to me.
"I'm sorry, Mrs Grubbs. I didn't speak with him" I tell her.
"I'm so sorry. Is he okay?" Sarah asks in concern.
"He's absolutely okay" Ward assures us all.
"I hope so" Lana adds.
"He's hunkered down somewhere, all right? We're gonna find him" Ward tells Lana, guiding her away from us.
"We're sorry" I apologise.
"Thank you" She replies before walking away with Ward.
Sarah and I share a mutual look of concern before heading back to the mice need of our help.