I woke up hastily at the sound of the coffeemaker buzzing.

I had this vague thought that a giant tractor was almost about to crash into our house, and perhaps that was why I almost fell from the couch I was sleeping on.

Believe me, it was a horrible sound to wake up to.

I sat up groggily and rubbed my eyes, pulling my hair away from my face simultaneously.

"Dad?" I asked tiredly.

Watching my dad making a cup of coffee for himself the first thing after waking up was something I wished to wake up to every day. It felt nice and refreshing to see my parents in the mornings especially, something that rarely happened.

I wished for such normal sometimes.

Letting out a loud yawn, I noticed that he was dressed up in a black suit--his work clothes. Which either meant he had just changed and was leaving, or he just came back here. In this case, it was definitely the latter.

Dad glanced at me from over his shoulder and gave me a wide smile. "Oh, you're awake. Why were you even sleeping on the couch?"

I returned his smile and looked around the lounge in confusion. The exact instant, Chicken jumped up on the couch and over me, between the rumpled up blanket around my feet. I pulled up the blanket from the floor and got a peek at a familiar leather jacket at one end of the couch.

Oh shit.

My eyes widened in horror as I frantically hid the jacket under the blanket once again and looked back at Dad. He was busy making coffee so he hadn't actually noticed my little panic-moment there.

Caden was here. Caden was sleeping in my freaking room!

I looked around once again, trying to ascertain if they had already found out about Caden, or was I out of the radar.

"Dad, where is Mom?" I asked him slowly.

If she had gone up to my room, nothing was going to end up good. There was a half-naked man on my bed, for fuck's sake! My life would be ended for good. I'd probably be grounded for the rest of my life. And my parents would make me stay with Grandma the next time they leave, which would obviously be very soon.

"I think she went up to your room." He murmured, still too into his coffee to look at me.

My breath halted in my lungs. Well, it was an amazing life while it lasted.

"Mom?" I shouted. "Mom!"

I was expecting her to burst out of my room in absolute fury, but instead, she just came out of her own room.

"Why are you shouting, Skylar? You just woke up, for goodness sake." She rose her hands in the air exasperatedly.

I slumped down on the couch in relief, glad that I was spared this once. The fear was real.

"We heard some things that went down at your homecoming last night, kiddo," Dad spoke up, totally unbothered by my sudden shouting. He turned towards me and leaned back against the kitchen counter, with one hand curled around the steaming mug of coffee. "Were you there?"

I slowly stroked Chicken's head, my gaze directed at him and Mom. "Of course, not. Do I look like I went to homecoming last night?"

I was in my pyjamas, my hoodie was thrown somewhere across the lounge, there were remains of popcorn scattered on the rug (maybe even on the coffee table). All that was enough proof.

"So, what things were you talking about? Things that went down last night?" I asked Dad, leaning down casually and gripping Caden's jacket under the blanket before pulling it towards me. I could most definitely feel the familiar bulge of a gun inside.

How could I have even slept with that thing lying around me?

Mom shook her head and sat down on one of the dining chairs. "Some stupid teenagers vandalized the school grounds." Judging by the way she looked at Dad, I think she knew more than she was letting on. But then again, I really didn't need to know when I was already there last night.

"Oh." Was all I said, and Chicken let out a small meow.

"Why were you sleeping on the couch?" Mom asked me. Just like Dad had.

I forced myself not to dodge her gaze, clearing my throat. "Um, my room was a mess."

She didn't look convinced at all. What would've actually happened if she had gone inside my room?

A disaster.

"I was working late on this Biology presentation," I told her. "Things were scattered around everywhere...and I was so exhausted. So I slept here."

Before she could've asked me anything else, which I might've ended up being caught with, I placed Chicken down on the ground and stood up from the couch. Then I picked up my blanket and my pillow, making sure to stuff Caden's jacket inside it without anyone noticing.

"I'll go change now." And then I literally ran upstairs, trying my best not to stumble over my own feet.

Once I was out of their sight and standing in front of my bedroom door, I inhaled deeply and puffed out my cheeks. I had no idea my parents would be coming back so soon. Their business trips usually lasted longer than this. If I had known they'd be coming so early today, I would've at least prepared myself to wake up sooner.

I could hear them murmuring something to each other downstairs. The moment I placed my hand on the doorknob, I heard Mom's voice once again. "Skylar?"

Right then, the door started opening from the inside and I jerked my hand away from the knob. I looked up and saw Caden, who seemed briefly surprised when he saw me standing right there. I was aware of Mom's footsteps growing closer as she came upstairs. Before she could've seen us though, I quickly shoved Caden inside and slammed the door shut behind the both of us.

"What the he--" He started but I stopped the rest of the words by covering his mouth with my hand.

"Shh!" I hissed at him, the bundle of my blanket and Caden's jacket falling from my other hand, making a heap on the floor.

And to my surprise, he didn't say anything more. His eyes widened just a little, the green in them so bright, but he didn't push me away either.

"Skylar, what is going on with you?" I heard Mom's voice.

The shock of it all--my mom standing right on the other side of the door--made me jump forward and right into him. Caden stumbled back in surprise and I barely managed to grip his shirt. Out of instinct, his hands grabbed my waist just as we both slammed down on the floor.

It didn't hurt since I was basically on top of him. But I couldn't say the same for him though. God only knew how badly his injured arm must've been paining right then.

With my hands splayed on his chest, I tried to get up. But he was right there, and there was this glint in his eyes, and his hands were on me. Soon enough, my arms wobbled with the effort and gave away from beneath me, making me fall face-first onto his chest once again. An oof sound escaped him and my face reddened.

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry!" I whispered hastily, my eyes wide as I tried getting up once again. Way to go, Skylar. "Are you all right? Did I hurt you? Of course, I fucking did! I didn't mean to--"

"Skylar, you're worrying me now." That was Mom once again and I fell incredibly silent, my eyes blown wide as I stared into Caden's own amused ones.

"I'm fine, Mom. I just tripped on the mat."

Caden wasn't pulling his hands away from my waist, and I wasn't rolling off of him either.

"Why are you not opening the door then?" She asked, sounding a little suspicious now.

I didn't think my face could've heated any more than it was doing at that moment. But when Caden's hands softly brushed a little lower down my waist, it wasn't just my face. My whole existence heated up. I gritted my teeth.

"I'm freaking naked mom! What else do you want me to do?" I shouted.

That was the only way she would've not barged inside. Embarrassing, I know. I didn't even know how I ended up in such situations.

I heard her mutter something inaudible before retreating downstairs.

"Oh God," I murmured, finally managing to push myself away from Caden and his hands and his mere touch. I didn't stop pulling away until there was a safe amount of distance between us.

"She makes me say the worst things." I blurted out.

"Naked?" He asked.

I hung my head low and let my tangled hair frame my face from either side. "Shut up. You have no right to embarrass me when I just saved your life."

And when I did look up at him--at his face--for the first few seconds, all I could think was oh shit.

He wasn't scowling or frowning or even smirking. There was a small, a real smile tugging on his lips. It made his eyes appear greener than usual and I couldn't help but notice the dimple on his right cheek. It made him look beautiful.

Oh God.

And when I realized where my thoughts were drifting off to, my face and my neck heated up all over again.

This couldn't be fucking healthy, I thought.

He breathed out a small laugh, probably amused by my flustered state.

"Shut up, Caden," I repeated, frowned, then got up.

I could hear a soft mewling sound from the other end of the door. When I opened it, Chicken came inside and looked up at me with her big brown eyes.

"You paint." I heard Caden behind me, and when I turned around to face him, he was standing too now. What, however, made my heart race was the fact that he had one of my painted canvases in his hands. The paintings I kept hidden beneath my bed at all costs.

"Uh yeah," I said, glanced down at Chicken and picked her up. I didn't know what to do with my hands. "That's uh probably why my room's messed up. You know, the paint on the shelves. And the curtains too. And--"

"The bathroom walls." He finished it for me, and I saw the smirk on his lips as he stared at the painting in his hands. Still in his hands. It was one of my worst paintings. Broken pieces of glass. "I thought you killed someone in there."

I watched as he slid it back beneath my bed, but didn't ask me why I kept it there. He could've, but he didn't. What would I have said anyway? That I think my mom hates them--my paintings? That I think my parents would rather wish I paid more mind to my studies than those paintings under my bed if I ever show it to them?

"I wouldn't keep them hidden under a bed if I were you." He shrugged.

I stared at him, surprised. Had he just indirectly complimented me? No, that couldn't be right at all.

"How's your arm?" I blurted out the question when the silence stretched out.

He followed my gaze to his arm and shrugged again. "It's fine."

I was pretty sure it was nowhere near fine, but I didn't press onto it. He was clearly one of those stubborn people who you could give up your life trying to figure out.

Chicken hopped out of my arms and circled my door, before curling right there. I went ahead and sat down cross-legged beside her.

"So." I looked back at Caden, stroking Chicken behind her ears. "Are you going to tell me what exactly happened last night?"

I knew he would prefer not to tell me. Whatever this was, it was something dark and dangerous. Still, I couldn't help but get a bit impatient and curious. I had been that all night last night.

Caden leaned back against one wall and crossed his arms. "Do I have to?"

It kind of made me think he didn't trust me at all, which in turn made me ask myself the same question, did I trust him? I didn't think of an answer though. Not at that moment.

"Well, you should," I told him, trying not to frown. "I was there last night. I saw half of the things happening right in front of me. And this." I pointed at his discarded leather jacket on the ground. "There must be a reason for this."

He and I both knew I wasn't talking about his jacket, but the thing that was inside it.

"There are a hell lot of things you won't understand, Anderson." He muttered, raking a hand through his hair.

I frowned at that. "I'm not that dumb. I'm sure if you'll explain, I'll understand pretty well." I said, then narrowed my eyes at him. "Was that blond boy really your--"

"I'll show you then." He cut me off, straightening up from his leaning position. I closed my mouth shut and continued frowning at him. "I'll show you what this all is really about."

I perked up a little at that. "Right now?"

It was him who frowned at me this time. A typical Caden frown that I was so getting used to--totally different from that small, rare smile. "Not right now. I'll text you when the time comes."

When the time comes? I was about to ask him what exactly did he mean by that, but shut my mouth close the next instant.

Wait, he had my phone number?

I looked back at him to see him already standing by the window, opening it up and peeking outside.

"You're leaving?" I stood up with Chicken in my hands.

He looked back at me with an obvious look. "You want me to stay?"

I really thought he would tell me like, right now. Or show me, for that matter.

"You might hurt your arm even more jumping from up here." My voice came out quiet.

He gave me a last glance and it was pretty much an eye roll, almost as if he couldn't believe I had the nerve to even say that. "Don't act like you haven't done it before, Anderson."

Without waiting for any response from me, he pulled his legs over the window and jumped down in one swift movement.

I blinked and looked over at my windowsill, where he had been just seconds ago. Saying that I was surprised would surely be an understatement. I was highly taken aback.

How in the actual hell did he know that?

I frowned and walked over towards the opened window, looking outside. But he wasn't there. Almost like he wasn't even here in the first place.

______

Crystal 🌿