I throw the dress over the desk chair, not wanting it to get ruined from spending the night crumpled on the floor. After all, it’s highly likely that Tully will wake up in the middle of the night and hurl chunks over the side of her bed.
After pulling the blanket up over her and making sure she has a bucket, water, and pain-killers, I take a step back, once again wondering where the hell her boyfriend is and why he isn’t around to take care of her.
I go to walk out of her room when the voice of an angel pulls me right back in. “Don’t go,” Tully murmurs.
I look back to find her peering at me through slitted, sleepy eyes.
I walk back towards her and bend down, pressing a kiss to her cheek and wishing I could do so much more. “I’d do anything to be able to stay right here, but I can’t,” I tell her. “I have to go.”
“Just stay tonight,” she murmurs. “Please. I don’t want you to go.”
“I have to, Tullz. You might want this now, but come morning you won’t and I don’t want you hating me more than you already do.”
“Please,” she whispers.
Unable to keep myself away, I lay down on her bed beside her, instantly pulling her into my arms while remaining on top of the blanket, knowing that if I slide under the sheets with her, I won’t be able to resist. “I’ll stay until you sleep.”
Tully nods and snuggles into my side, the same way she used to and I hold her a little tighter. She instantly falls back asleep but I find myself laying here much longer than necessary. It’s not until I hear Eddison and Violet’s murmured conversation in the living room that I decide it time to go.
I get up and make sure she’s alright before walking out of her room and making sure to leave the door wide open. I find her parents, both giving me sad smiles from the living room. “How is she?” Violet questions, taking off her heels and rubbing her sore feet.
“She’ll be alright,” I tell them. “She drank a bit though so maybe keep her door open through the night. You know…just in case.”
Violet nods and gets up off the couch before walking forward and placing a hand on my shoulder. “Thank you,” she says. “Do you want to stay? You can use Noah’s old bed.”
“No, thanks,” I tell her, shaking my head. “I think I’ll head home. I haven’t been there in a while and I guess I could use the walk to clear my head.”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” Eddison says, reaching into the bowl by the front door and pulling out a set of keys. “Take my car and bring it back tomorrow. I don’t want you walking in the middle of the night. You don’t know what kind of people are out there in the middle of the night.”
I thank him and take the keys while finding it amusing that it wasn’t that long ago that I was the person out in the middle of the night that good parents like Violet and Eddison would have been wary of.
I get out of the house before it all becomes too much and take myself home. By the time I pull up in my drive, I’m staring up at the house in wonder.
“What the fuck is this?” I grumble, taking in all the changes. There are blinds up on the uncracked windows, fresh paint on the door, a new mailbox, and flowers in a garden.
Did someone move into my fucking house?
I was coming home and expecting to find it ransacked. Maybe kids had been using the abandoned house as somewhere to fuck around. I was expecting a broken window, boarded up door, hell maybe even some police tape. But to find it looking better than when mom was the one looking after it was something I wouldn’t have expected in a million years.
I get out of the car and as I walk forward, sensor lights spring to life, showcasing the house just that bit more. I notice a blue tarpaulin covering something in the carport and decide to check it out later, for now, I need to make sure no one is living in my home.
I go up to the front door, a little annoyed that I can no longer peek in through the window. My key slides straight into the lock and my brows furrow in confusion. If I was going to squat in someone’s house, I’d sure as hell change the locks.
The door creaks open with the same familiar sound and I switch on a light. The place looks fucking good. There are new carpets, new furniture, even a vase in the middle of the dining table with fresh flowers.