Hey guys!!!! I'm soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo sorry that I haven't posted in forever! I hope that you can forgive me! The last few weeks of school were stressful and then my summer so far hasn't been very relaxing either. Then, when I did have time, my computer crashed. But oh well! All is well now!
So I hope that you like this chapter! It isn't very interesting, but for all of you who are a hopeless romantic like me, it's great:)
PLEASSSSSSSSSSSSSSSEEEEEEEEEEEEEE comment with constructive criticism or suggestions! I REALLY wanna know how you guys feel about the book so that the next one can be even better! Yay:)
Thank you all for sticking with me and believing in me through all of this! I love you all SOOOOOOOO much!
Stay Sane and Beautiful<3
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Chapter Sixteen
Claire’s POV-
The next few weeks were pretty normal. They actually began to feel like they were repeating themselves. I would get up and Cody would complain because I had to get ready for work. He was able to sleep an extra thirty minutes because his job didn’t require him to be there until mid-morning. After I got ready, Cody and I would have breakfast, usually a pop-tart and coffee. After that, Cody would give me one of his world famous hugs and kiss me on the head, telling me to have a good day at work.
I would then walk to work, usually pondering the depths of my mind. Lately, I had been a lot better with my depression. I’m not saying that it was all butterflies and rainbows. I still had terrible thoughts about myself and bad dreams that usually ended with me in not-so-great shape, but they were a lot easier to ignore now. Cody filled the holes in my life.
Once at work, I would walk in and put my name tag on. Luckily, my manager got the kind that you just hang around your neck, since the other ones were such a pain in the you-know-what to put on. I would be greeted by Sam and we usually talked about lighter things like the news on town or what happened on the X-Factor the night before. She would sometimes ask me how Cody was doing and if we had gotten any more serious. Then, after I answered her she would ask me to tell her about our dates. Since they usually consisted of a movie night with Cokes and popcorn, there wasn’t much else to tell.
In between our conversations, we would help customers or organize CDs. The usual customers weren’t that much trouble. They knew what they wanted when they walked in the store or they were just there to browse. But then there would be that customer that had tons of repetitive questions. It was quite annoying.
After leaving my job around 5 o’clock, I would walk home to my apartment. When I would walk in, the aroma of Chinese, pizza, or macaroni and cheese would enter my nose. Then, I would be greeted by that irresistible grin and a huge hug, along with the question ‘how was your day?’. Then we would tell each other about the day’s events over our dinner.
Evenings usually consisted of TV, movies, or card games. Cody usually beat me. Then, when I would get tired, I would get a shower and climb under the covers, usually being accompanied by Cody.
I thought about these past few weeks as I walked to work. I hadn’t even noticed that as I was in such deep thought, I had gotten my name tag and was currently standing next to Sam, who was snapping her fingers in front of my face. “Helllllo?” She said, partly laughing.
I giggled. “Sorry.”
“I just wanted to know what you were in such deep thought about.” She said as she prepared the counter for the day ahead of us.
“Oh, just the past couple of weeks. They just seem like they’ve flown by, ya know?” I said.
A mischievous smile spread across her face. “Probably because of a certain person by the name of Cody.” She said.
I’m pretty sure I blushed a deep red. “Maybe.” I mumbled.
She laughed.
The rest of the day went by normally. My boss came in and told Sam and I to go home early because of a severe weather warning. So we left and went our separate ways. But instead of going back to my apartment and waiting for Cody to get home, I walked to the gym he worked at. It was only a couple blocks away. As I plodded along the sidewalk, the late October breeze made me shiver. I guess the boss was right about that severe thunderstorm warning. I didn’t mind storms. They weren’t my favorite, but I wasn’t deathly afraid of them.
As I walked into the gym, I noticed that most people had probably gone home because of the weather as well. But there was a single person there. He was listening to Skrillex. I could see how that was good workout music.
Since Cody hadn’t noticed that I had come in, I took the opportunity to observe him as he lifted weights. I watched as his muscles flexed and became taught. The boy was built that was for sure. And of course he had to go and not have a shirt on, causing not so appropriate thoughts to enter my head. I swatted them away, however.
After watching him for a few minutes, I went around various equipment and machines and walked up behind him. I’m surprised he didn’t hear me come up behind him because of my clumsiness. But then again, the music was pretty loud. I watched as he put the weight on the ground and flexed his arms. Then, I admired the prominent muscles in his back. Damn, did he enjoy torturing me?
As he was about to get his bottle of water from a bench beside him, I took a step forward and put my arms around him from behind. I was stunned at my action, he was too. I had never really been this bold before. Usually he was the one that initiated any kind of physical interaction.
After realizing who it was, however, he relaxed. “Damn Claire. You scared me to death.” He said as he turned around.
I admired his smile. I then returned it.
“How long have you been here?” He asked as he gave me a hug.
“About fifteen minutes.” I replied.
“I thought you had to work today?” I asked.
“My boss sent me home early. He said something about a severe thunderstorm warning. I thought I would surprise you.” I said, smiling slightly.
“Well mission accomplished.” He said, winking.
I laughed.
“Oh, by the way,” He said as he gathered his things and turned the music off. Up until that point, we had been half way screaming at each other over the sounds of Skrillex. “I was wondering if maybe you wanted to spend the night at my place tonight.” He messed with the bottle of water as he asked me this. It was the second time I’d seen him embarrassed since I’d met him. He was usually pretty comfortable in situations, but when it came to asking about stuff like this, he would blush fifty shades of red. I thought it was adorable.
“I would like that.” I halfway mumbled.
He smiled. “What was that?” He asked with a mischievous smile.
Then, in a split second, he had picked me up and slung me over his shoulder.
“Cody!” I screamed, laughing as he tickled my sides with his free hand.
He laughed too, spinning me around in circles. “I’m not letting you down until you tell me what you said.”
“Well I’m not telling you what I said until you put my down.” He had quit tickling me. So we were just standing there. Well, he was just standing there; I was dangling from his shoulder. My height and size didn’t give me an advantage when it came to these situations.
Reluctantly, he gently sat me down on the ground. I jokingly scowled up at him. He laughed. It lit up the room. “You’re adorable when you’re mad.” He said as he stroked a piece of my hair and tucked it behind my ear. I blushed.
“I said that I would like that.” I said quietly still recovering from his touch.
Then he grinned, making my heart melt as usual.
“But I need some clothes and stuff.” I said quickly.
As I said this, a crack of lightning lit up the clouded sky outside.
“I don’t know, Claire. Your apartment is all the way across town. My place is just down the street. I’ve got some clothes you can wear.” He said as he packed his things into his gym bag.
I couldn’t argue with that. The weather was getting worse each minute and my apartment was pretty far away. “Okay.” I said quietly.
“Good. Now let me go get changed and then we can go.” He said as he pecked me on the cheek.
I blushed yet again. I really needed to start controlling my emotions better.
He smiled. “I love it when you blush.” He whispered.
I’m not sure if I was meant to hear it, but I did, making me blush more.
As Cody went to change, I walked around the gym, examining the different pictures and plaques for various achievements. Many were just candid snap shots of various men and women with Cody beside them. He looked genuinely happy in all of them. His smile made the picture worth looking at. Just as I was thinking of him, two strong arms circled around me from behind. I gasped, then relaxed realizing who it was.
“I really need to quit doing that.” I muttered.
“It’s okay.” Cody said. “In fact I think that it’s kinda cute.”
“No, it’s stupid. A normal girl doesn’t get scared when the person they like hugs them from behind. I’m just a freak.” I said, exasperated with myself. Why couldn’t I just be normal? I wished so bad to be one of those perfect, outgoing girls that were never caught getting scared because someone hugs them. Instead, they would turn around and hug that person back. But not me, I have to go all twilight zone and almost scream. But each time something even startles me a little, images of my angry father flashed through my mind. I was always scared that he would one day find me and hurt me, like he did to my mother. I never believed that he loved her. I always thought that she was just being forced to stay with him.
My emotions must have been evident on my face, because Cody now had his huge arms around me, rocking us back and forth gently. Tears began to stream down my face. “I’m sorry.” I whispered.
He leaned back and looked deep into my tear filled eyes. “Don’t apologize for something that wasn’t your fault.” He said in a serious voice.
At this point, I was trembling slightly. He hugged me again. “Besides,” He whispered into my ear, “I think that you’re perfect.” I smiled up at him.
After that, without a word, we left the gym. Cody locked the place up then ran out to his SUV, leaving me under the safety of the roof of the gym. He then pulled the car up and I ran and got in. The rest of the way home we sat in a comfortable silence. Cody reached for my hand. I didn’t jump that time. We drove through the sheets of rain to his apartment, was I nervous? Yes, very. But I trusted Cody, he would take care of me.