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“We’ll figure it out. You’ve got time,” I tell him. He smiles at me and squeezes my knee with his hand before standing up and excusing himself to use the restroom.
I keep eating and watch a little bit of the show on TV before Julia says, “I’ve never seen him like this.”
I look at her. “He’s shared his story with me a little bit. My heart is broken for what he endured at such a young age.” Her weathered face takes on an expression of overwhelming sadness. “He speaks so highly of you though. You saved his life.” I smile at her warmly. I hope I wasn’t overstepping in saying this.
She looks at me, a little intimidatingly. No wonder that man stares so much. I feel a little warm under her gaze before she says, “No. You saved him.” I open my mouth to say something, but Elliot walks back in. We finish our meal with small talk here and there and then I help Elliot clean up.
We watch TV together for a while before Julia announces she is going to bed. Elliot helps her up and to her room. He is gone for a while, helping her get to bed I assume. When he finally comes back in, he plops himself on the couch next to me. He puts his arm around me and pulls me against his chest.
“She really likes you,” He says against my hair. He presses a kiss to my head.
“Really? How do you know?” I twist my head up to face him. He kisses my nose, I smile.
“She told me,” He responds simply.
“What did she say?” I push.
“That she really likes you,” He says with a laugh. I playfully nudge him with my elbow, and he pinches my side making me laugh.
“I really like her,” I say with a sigh as I put my head back on his chest. He holds me tightly.
“Do you want to watch TV or do you want to go to bed?” He asks while playing with the strands of my hair.
“I’m actually pretty tired,” I answer before turning around completely to face him. He nods and stands up with me.
“Let me grab our stuff from the car,” He says before leaving. I take this time to look around the living room. The walls are pretty bare and not much sits atop the surfaces in this house. There is one picture on the table next to the TV though. I walk closer and find a picture of Elliot from high school. It is his senior year baseball picture. He’s in a pose with a baseball bat. His dark eyes and serious expression are shadowed slightly by his hat. He didn’t smile, his face serious and humorless. It makes me smirk.
Elliot comes back inside with our bags and my pillow and leads me down the narrow hall to the bedroom on the right. He flicks the light on as we walk inside.
“You’re the first girl I’ve ever brought here,” He says sheepishly. I smile at him, knowing what he is trying to relay to me with those words.
“First and last?” I tease.
“Damn right,” He answers and I smile, sitting on the bed.
“Is she okay with us sharing the room? I don’t want her to think that I’m some hussy,” I mumble nervously. Elliot scoffs and looks at me incredulously.
“I promise you she would never think that,” He assures me. “The bathroom is the next door down, if you want to change and get ready for bed.”
I nod and stand up. I grab my pajamas from my bag along with my little toiletry bag. I find the bathroom easily and slip inside. On the counter is a tray full of pill bottles. They are separated by days, and I recognized the slanted handwriting that labeled the day and times in which the pills needed to be taken. I smile. He is such an incredible man.
I change quickly into a t-shirt and my blue and green striped pajama bottoms, brush my teeth, and walk back to Elliot’s room. He has changed into athletic shorts and a t-shirt. He leaves to brush his teeth and I climb into the bed, removing the pillow that is there and replacing it with my own. When he returns, he climbs in next to me and pulls me to him.
“You have no idea how many times I laid in this bed and thought about you,” He admits.
“Oh God, please don’t share any more details,” I joke and he pinches my side in response. I laugh and swat his hand away. He grabs my hand and draws the heart on my wrist before kissing it and setting my hand on his chest. “Was your grandmother ever married?”
“Yeah, to my grandfather but he died before I was born. She has been alone ever since,” He says sadly.
I play with the neckline of his shirt, he rubs his hand up and down my back. His other hand is propped behind his head.
“She is your dad’s mother?” I ask carefully.
He nods tightly. “My dad met my mom when they were in middle school. He wasn’t a good guy, even back then. My mom mentioned to me once that Julia tried to keep her away from my dad.”
I look up in surprise. “Really?”
“Yeah.” He sighs, shifting his hand from my back to stroke my face. “My grandmother told me she loved my mom like her own daughter, having known her since she was so young. She knew how destructive and troubled my dad was, and tried to break them up. He was always a troubled kid, but losing his father broke something in him. He got involved with the wrong people and it all got worse from there.”
