The car slowed in front of my house, and I pointed, suddenly embarrassed.
"That’s my place," I said, nodding toward the faded, cracked building.
He looked, then glanced at . "Yeah?"
"It’s not as... you know. Fancy and big as yours," I added, trying to laugh it off.
Dominic turned off the engine and unbuckled his seatbelt. "Ash. I literally do not care."
I looked at him, but he wasn’t teasing. His voice was calm and serious.
"I don’t care about any of that, babe," he said. "You know that, right?"
I looked away, feeling heat crawl up my neck. "Yeah. I guess."
"Seriously. You could live in a treehouse and I’d still pull up."
A small smile tugged at my lips. "You’d pull up with snacks."
"Damn right I would."
We sat there for a second before he opened the door and I got out. The night air was cool.
As soon as i stepped out, I noticed the curtains shifting in windows in the unit across from ours.
"Great," I muttered. "The neighborhood spy network is already clocked in."
A middle-aged woman stepped out, holding a cigarette squinting at the car like it had personally offended her. A man walking his dog slowed down just to stare. One of the neighbor’s kids riding a bicycle with a friend, pointed.
"Nice car," he whispered to his friend.
A woman from two doors down gave a little wave. "Evening, Ash!"
"Evening ma’am." She’d never spoken to in her life.
Dominic circled the car and popped the back door open. He reached in and gently lifted Alia up.
"She’s heavier than she looks," he muttered, lifting her like it was nothing and slinging her as her head rested over his shoulder.
We walked towards the door. Heads turned.
The middle aged lady didn’t even try to hide the way she stared now, her eyes kept flicking from Alia to to Dom’s car, as she blew out the cigar smoke.
As we started walking toward the house, I noticed it: a few people stepping out onto their porches. Not to say Hi. Just to look.
Two teenage girls from down the block were whispering and pointing at Dominic’s car.
"Is that a rcedes?" one asked.
"Who’s that?" soone else called out in a low voice.
"That’s the boy with the sick mom," another voice replied, not bothering to lower their tone.
Dominic turned his head slightly. "Hmmm, what an odd thing to say."
I gave a tired laugh. "That’s not even the anest thing anyone’s said to ."
Dom didn’t say anything at first. He just shifted Alia slightly in his arms and narrowed his eyes at the group watching us like we were a scene from a show.
Another voice said, "The tall guy is so hot. And handso too."
Dominic caught that one too and smirked. "Too hot, huh?"
I groaned. "Please don’t let that go to your head."
"No promises."
I paused mid-step.
"I don’t get people," he muttered. "They just stare."
"People only see what they want," I said.
One of the older won from the apartnt next to ours waved. I hadn’t spoken to her more than twice since we moved in.
"Evening, Ash," she called out. "Your car?"
I blinked. "Uh, no. It’s his."
She raised an eyebrow, clearly impressed. "Nice. He’s a handso man."
I laughed and gave her a quick nod.
We reached the steps. I pulled out my keys, trying to ignore the dozen invisible eyes behind curtains and barely-cracked windows.
"Do they always stare like that?" Dom asked quietly.
"Only when sothing interesting happens. Otherwise, I’m never noticed."
I unlocked the door and pushed it open. It creaked, like it always did.
The apartnt was clean, thank Goodness. I always made sure of that.
"Just put her on the couch," I said softly. "I’ll get a blanket."
Dom followed in, carrying Alia down the narrow hallway to the living room and gently lowering her onto the couch.
I grabbed one of the folded blankets from the chair and covered her. She shifted slightly, then settled again.
"She’s safe," Dominic said without looking at . "You’re safe too."
I swallowed hard.
For the first ti all day, I actually felt it.
"Thanks," I whispered.
Dominic looked around the space..... how small it was, how not like his house. The lights flickered sotis. The couch had a rip in the side we covered with a throw pillow.
"I just hate that they might look at and that’s all they’ll see. The poor kid. The one with problems. The one who’s always caught in sothing."
"You know what I see?" he asked softly.
I glanced at him, unsure of what he was going to say.
He stepped forward, closing the gap between us. "I see soone who keeps surviving. Soone who still gives a cares about everyone. Soone who noticed a tattoo when no one else was paying attention. Soone who’s scared...but still doing the right thing."
His voice lowered. "They don’t get to define you, Ash. You do."
Sothing twisted in my throat again. I looked down.
"I don’t feel strong," I whispered.
He nodded. "That’s ’cause strong people don’t usually feel strong. They’re too busy holding everyone else up."
He stepped closer, hesitated for just a second, then rested my forehead lightly on his chest.
"I ant what I said earlier," he whispered, raising my head. "I’m not letting anything happen to you. Not while I’m breathing."
My chest ached. Not from fear this ti. But from how badly I wanted to believe him.
He pulled back slightly. "Let’s just... be here tonight. No hospitals. No threats. Just quiet."
I nodded. "Yeah. Okay."
"Thanks again," I whispered.
Dom turned to , his eyes was softer than usual. "You don’t have to keep thanking for doing what I’d do anyway."
I nodded, suddenly too tired to speak.
He looked around. "You got food here?"
"Yeah. Sort of. Cereal. A few cans. The refrigerator is faulty."
He walked to the kitchen. "Then we’re ordering sothing."
"Okay."
"So we have two rooms," I said, kicking off my shoes by the doorway. "My mom and Alia sleep in one. I sleep in the other. Let’s drop Alia on the bed."
Dominic nodded. "Alright, lead the way."
I pushed open their room door. It was dim and quiet, the blankets were neatly folded on mom’s bed.
There were two beds there, one had pink sheets, a tangle of stuffed animals in the corner.
Dom walked over and gently laid Alia down on her bed. She shifted once, murmured sothing and chewed her mouth:
He stood there for a second, adjusting the blanket around her, tucking it under her chin.
"She’ll be okay," he said softly.
Yeah," I said. "She just... needs rest."
We stepped out and I led him to my room.
It wasn’t anything special, just a single bed pushed against the wall, a desk stacked with school books, and a few movie posters I’d been too lazy to take down.
Dominic looked around, hands in his pockets, eyebrows raised slightly.
"Nice," he said.
He paused when his eyes landed on one of the posters by my desk. "Wait, isn’t that Zendaya?"
I smirked. "Yeah. From Euphoria."
He stepped closer, squinting. "Oh, right. I’ve seen the movie. Or, like... half an episode."
"Let guess," I said, flopping onto the bed. "You got distracted."
He glanced at , grinning. "I was seventeen, Ash. There were drugs, glitter, people making out and Zendaya in crop tops. I barely made it past the pilot episode."
I laughed. "Sounds about right."
He flopped onto the edge of the bed and glanced at the clock. "Damn. It’s already 7?"
"Yeah." I sat up. "Ti’s been acting weird lately."
"Right?" He tapped a few things on his screen. "Okay, I’m ordering pizza now. You’re eating even if I have to feed you myself."
I rolled my eyes. "I’d love that."
He looked up at slowly. "You know too well."
He hit order and tossed his phone on the bed. Then he sat beside , letting out a soft groan as he leaned back on his hands.
"I missed practice today," he muttered, almost like he’d just rembered. "Coach’s gonna be pissed."
"You’ll make it tomorrow?"
"Yeah," he said. "Can’t skip too often. Otherwise, I won’t be allowed to play the ga next weekend."
"You’ll co cheer up, right?"
"Of course," I smiled.
He let himself fall back fully onto the mattress with a sigh. Stretched his arms behind his head, shirt riding up slightly. "Right now I’m emotionally exhausted. Physically drained. Sexually starved. Mind if I nap right here?"
The way he said it, the lazy stretch of his shirt up his stomach.....he was so beautiful, it hurt.
"Be my guest."
He peeked one eye open at . "You sure? You’re not afraid of what I might do in my sleep?"
I raised an eyebrow. "Should I be?"
"I don’t know," he said, giving that lazy grin. "I sleep-cuddle. And moan."
I snorted.
He rolled over to face . "But seriously... I needed this."
"What, my room?"
He nodded slowly. "You. No drama. Just you being here, beside ."
The air shifted a little.
He was already looking at with those eyes again.
And for a second, neither of us said anything.
Just... breathing in the sa silence.
Then he ruined it....like he always does.
"You’re gonna make it real hard for to control myself. You know... every ti you do that nervous lip-bite thing, I always think about kissing you."
I swallowed. "You’re such a flirt."
"Only with you."
Reviews
All reviews (0)