10. Chapter Ten
Chapter Ten
Katie
I wake up with a start. Disoriented, I look around, finding myself once more in the kitchen, my head hurting where it was lying on the table and my arm asleep due to the weird position I kept it in.
Luke strolls in, stopping when he sees me slumped over the table. I check the clock. Seems I was only asleep for half an hour, and Luke must be just about to leave for school.
“Good morning,” I mumble and sit up, stretching my arms towards the ceiling to relax my tense back, then cover a yawn with my hand.
“Good morning,” he replies and sets his bag down right at the kitchen door to the hallway, looking at me with worry in his eyes. “Did you fall asleep at the kitchen table again?”
“Of course not,” I lie and rub my itching eyes, before I remember that I never removed my makeup. I probably look like a racoon now .
“Don't lie to me. You have a tell, you know?” I cock my eyebrow at him, tilting my head.
“I do not.”
“You totally do.” I narrow my eyes at him. “Every time you lie you bite your lip.” My eyes grow wide. Holy shit, he’s right. Sheepishly, I open my teeth and let my lip go.
“Okay,” I concede. “You got me. I might have fallen asleep at the kitchen table. It happens to the best of us.”
“No, it doesn’t.” He crosses his arms in front of his chest as he’s getting ready to lecture me.
“You fell asleep at this table not even three weeks ago.” I point out, but he shakes his head, a frown forming on his forehead.
“Yeah, I did.” I open my mouth for a smartass remark, but he doesn’t let me interrupt. “Because I had an exam and pulled an all-nighter. But okay, let me correct myself. No, it doesn’t happen to the best of us twice within one week.”
I bite the inside of my lip, swallowing my instinctive answer. I’m not going to tell him that I’m glad I managed to fall asleep at all.
“You can't keep working so much you don’t even make it to your own fucking bed, Katie,” Luke scolds me and I roll my eyes.
“Of course, I can.” I wave him off. I know he’s worried for me, but that makes me feel even worse about everything. “It’s not forever. Only until I have enough for a new car. I don’t see the problem, doctors and nurses work many more hours than me, far more often.” I say defiantly and shrug.
“But you’re neither a doctor nor a nurse.” His voice rises, showing he’s growing more and more frustrated. “Just let me help out already. Take the money you need out of my college fund. I will manage somehow. You need to get a fucking life, sis.”
“Don’t swear at me, Luke.” I stand up and set the glass I poured myself before I fell asleep in the sink. Nobody likes stale lemonade.
He rolls his eyes. “Fine. But it doesn’t change the fact that I’m right. Think about it. You have no hobbies, and you rarely spend time with your friends.”
I gulp. He’s hit the nail on the head. Not that I would admit it to him. And it’s a sore topic. I’d love to spend more time with my friends, and I’d love to have more friends. But where would I even find them? At Temptation? Doubtful. Micah was the one lucky pick from the lot. There’s just not more happening in Windmeadows, and I came to accept that.
“I go to Flour Power once a week.” I point out, setting the rinsed glass aside and leaning my butt against the kitchen counter.
“Yeah, but you never do anything that’s completely away from work for you and Phoebe. And she’s just as bad of a workaholic as you.”
“Whatever.” I sigh. I’m not in the mood to argue with him today. With heavy steps I return to the table and plop down in my chair “For now it is what it is, Luke. Now, in other news, I did tell Paxton the room is his. Does that appease you?”
“A bit,” he grumbles, his eyes softening and his arms unlocking from across his chest, as he steps closer to the table. “And I’m glad you said yes. But I’m not dumb. I know his rent alone won’t buy you a car.”
"No, it won't," I agree quietly, cursing internally that he found out. "It won't even buy me an e-bike or any other means of transportation." A sad smile lifts the corners of my mouth. "But it's a start. I'll figure it out."
"I know." He sighs heavily and sits down next to me, laying his heavy head on my shoulder. "You always have."
"Damn right," I chuckle and rest my head against his, lifting my hand to ruffle his hair. "Now, enough with the pity party. Don't you need to get to school?"
"Mike's mom is picking me up in five minutes," he mumbles and stands up to get his shoes from the hallway. "So, when is Paxton moving in?"
"Today," I shout after him and hear his footsteps halt before he walks back. His head pops around the door frame and he looks at me with a frown.
"That's soon."
"That's what I told him," I say with a shrug. "But, I mean, the sooner the better.” I hide another yawn behind my hand. “Now, speaking of Pax. I did some research about narcissism. If Paxton acts entitled or manipulative or if he’s just being a general asshole, you need to tell me, okay?”
His eyes grow wide. "Okay? But I'm sure it will be fine."
"Well, I sure hope so." I sigh. “This is your house first. If he gives you a reason to, feel free to put him in his place; you’re not going to get in trouble for it. If you don’t want to do it yourself for whatever reason, you let me know immediately, and he’ll wish the media tore him a new asshole instead of me. Do we have a deal?” I hold out my pinky finger and without hesitation, he steps forward and locks it with his.
A car beeps outside and Luke hastily ties his second shoe before grabbing his bag. "See you later," I tell him and get up, ruffling his hair because I know it annoys him and I’m a menace.
He grumbles as he hurries to the front door, shouting "See you later," before it shuts behind him.
The sudden silence is deafening.
I check the time again. There are a few more hours until Paxton is set to arrive. Yawning again, but this time not bothering to hide it, I get up. My joints crack as I stretch my arms towards the ceiling and cock my head from side to side while I head to the bedroom to catch a few more hours of sleep.
Paxton knocks on the door at exactly twelve o'clock. I'm still tired, but I'm feeling a bit better now that I've had a few hours of proper sleep, which also means the nervousness is back.
My heart thunders in my chest as I head to the door, my fingers clammy and fidgeting with the hem of my t-shirt. I’m not even sure why I’m so nervous. It’s just Paxton. I repeat the words in my head over and over again. It’s just Paxton.
I take a deep breath before I push a strand of my hair that’s escaped my ponytail behind my ear and open the door. There he is. Wearing the same leather jacket as the last time I opened the door for him, his bike helmet clamped between his arm and hip as he looks at me expectantly .
Meanwhile, I look at him confused. Besides his helmet, the only thing he has with him is a worn-out duffel bag. But where are my manners?
"Come on in," I invite him in and step aside to let him walk past me. "Make yourself at home."
"Thank you," he says and shoots me a grateful smile, the baritone of his voice making the hair on my neck stand up. He steps inside and I lead the way to his room, holding out the key to the front door. The one to his room is in the lock for him to take.
"I assume you’re not intending to sleep on the ground, did you order furniture?"
He takes the key and expertly adds it to his keychain, which appears to only have the key to his bike attached to it. I frown. That's not a lot of keys to have. Oh well. Maybe he owns an apartment or house with electronic locks that work with fingerprints, or maybe one like in those spy movies where people have their eyes scanned.
"Yeah, of course,” he answers with a chuckle. “I just have to check the room measurements and then I’m sending out the order. They will arrive later today."
I nod. The perks of being rich. Where the plebs need to wait several weeks to receive their furniture, the rich are accommodated within the same day. I didn’t even know that was possible. Good for him.
"I'd love to stick around and help you assemble all of it-” I lie through my teeth and judging by the smirk playing at his lips he knows it. “-but knowing you, I assume they're doing that on delivery. I need to go for a drugstore run and then I'm off to work, so I am very sorry, but I'll have to leave you alone.” Or rather, grocery walk. The bus doesn't drive by a supermarket, so it's forty-five minutes on foot. It's annoying but I can't just waste money on a taxi if I have two functioning legs.
He nods and I gulp as he looks at me. His eyes are intense. Did I forget about that or is that a new development?
“Let me give you a quick rundown, Luke's and my room is obviously off-limits. No snooping. Also pretty obvious, but you replace what you empty in the kitchen. Or anywhere really. I’ll probably think of more, I’ll let you know when I’m back. I'll see you later." I wave at him and leave him in his new room.
Yeah, it’s a bit pathetic to flee, but I’m actually out of shampoo and I saw that the shower gel I use is on sale today. I think that's a very valid reason to take the opportunity and do my shopping today.
"See you later," he says so softly, that I barely hear it as I put on my shoes in the hallway.
I grab my backpack and several cotton bags we have lying around and hurry out the door. It's really weird not to lock it behind me, but I guess I'm going to get used to it.
"Holy shit," I groan as I heave the bags up the stairs in front of our front door. Don’t get me wrong, it’s great to have a flat that’s basically its own house, but on days like this, I’d prefer an even way from the street to our front door instead of the five steps.
Of course, this would be the week that all of the heavy goods were on sale, which meant that yes, I had to buy it. And also yes, I just lugged around fifteen kilograms of stuff for forty-five minutes, or rather sixty minutes, because I had to take some breaks and the weight slowed me down.
I stretch my arms once I set the bags down in front of the door before I fish out my key from my pocket. Before I can open the door, though, it flies open.
"Holy shit," I gasp surprised.
"What are you doing?" Pax stands in the door frame, his arms crossed and his eyes moving over all of the bags.
"Huh?” I tilt my head and scrunch my eyebrows together confused. “I told you I was going for a drugstore run. Thanks for opening the door."
I lean down and sling one bag over the backpack strap on my shoulder, then two over the other side, before I grab the last two bags to carry them in, but Paxton is still standing in the doorway, looking at me with a stern expression as I fight my way up the stairs. What's up with him?
"Can I come in?" I ask with a chuckle, raising my eyebrow at him. He quickly steps aside to make way. "Thank you."
"Wait, so you literally ran to the store?"
"Yeah," I say and want to shrug but the weight of the groceries hinders me from raising my shoulders. Why is he asking so many questions? It's not that weird to walk to a store to shop. Or is it? "I don't have a car at the moment. How else would I get there?" I ask, groaning at the weight on my shoulders.
"Ask a friend? Renting a car?" He sounds heated and I roll my eyes.
Yay, here’s another record player to play the exact same tune over and over again. The sigh I release has little to do with the heavy bags I’m carrying .
"I don't have 50 bucks a day to rent one and my friends are already driving me to work and back. I have two working legs, why would I ask them to chauffeur me around?" I take a deep breath. "Are you done with the inquisition now?" I roll my eyes and put the bags down on the kitchen table, a relieved sigh escaping me when my shoulders are finally free of the weight.
"I'm just wondering," he shrugs and grabs one of the bags, peaking at its contents. "Tell me where this stuff goes." He holds up a bunch of cleaning supplies.
"You don't need to help, Paxton, I've got it." He doesn't put down the bag though. Instead, he continues to look at me with his eyebrow raised, waiting for an answer. Finally, I concede.
"Lower cupboard, over there." I point where it goes, and he gets right to it. I grab the backpack and get all my shampoo out and bring it to my room. When I return, Pax is already starting to pack items from another bag away.
"Now that I've got you here, though, we need to set a few ground rules, Pax."
"I'm all ears," he says quietly and lets the item in his hands sink slowly. I lean against the kitchen counter and cross my arms in front of my chest.
"No alcohol or any other drugs here." It's one of the major rules I came up with during a night of tossing and turning in my bed, and the first one that popped into my head as I thought about potential rules during my walk. Alcohol is something I'm willing to be flexible on in theory, but as long as Luke lives here too, I'd rather not.
"Fine with me." He nods solemnly and my eyebrows rise slightly. No objection? No discussion? Who is that person and what did he do to Pax? "Let's hear the rest."
"Everyone cleans up after himself. You buy your own groceries." Those should be given for roommates but considering Pax never had one, as far as I know, I thought it would make sense to point these out.
"Obviously."
"And no drumming, please," I plead and look at him with wide eyes. I have no idea if drums are among the stuff being delivered today, but I sure hope not. My fingers find the hem of my shirt and begin to play with it. I know it’s a large ask, and maybe I should have mentioned that before I offered him the room. "Our neighbors hate us enough as it is."
"Why do they hate you?" He tilts his head, no discernible emotion on his face.
"Because they are pensioners who have nothing better to do than judge our front yard and decorations. No need to further piss them off." That, and I think they're convinced Luke is my actual child and I'm a teen mom. Got to love some bias. The mischievous twinkle in Paxton’s eyes, however, makes me quickly add more. “You know what? Maybe I’ll add another rule, don’t piss off our neighbors.”
“Well, that's no fun," Paxton purses his lips in a pout. "What about electronic drums?"
"Are they loud?" I've never even heard of electronic drums.
"Not any louder than setting a table. Well, depending on how hard I hit them," he thinks out loud and scratches his chin. "I guess I could put some fabric over them to try and muffle the sound. "
"We can try it out. Maybe set it up on the wall to our room? Please don't play them when any of us tries to sleep though, either way."
"Roger that. Any other rules?"
"I can't forbid you from having visitors, but it would be lovely if you wouldn't have people over." I shoot him a tight smile. "This isn’t about women’s visits or anything like that. It’s just that this flat is crowded enough as it is."
"Yeah, that's fine," he says with a shrug. "It’s not like people are lining up to hang out with me." Pain flashes across his face, but only for a split moment, and then his face is just as unreadable as before.
"Thank you," I whisper, a small weight that’s not part of my purchases at the drugstore falling off my shoulders. I pictured this talk going a lot differently. Back then, he wouldn't have taken rules lightly and he would have discussed his way out of them, telling me how unfair it was to give him any restrictions and compared it to a prison. I'm happy, yet confused, that this wasn't a fight at all.
“Can I ask something of you, too?” Pax asks gently.
“Sure,” I stiffen, unsure of what’s coming.
“I don’t know if you’re still in contact with the guys or any of their girlfriends,” he starts his voice audibly strained. “But can you please not tell anyone I’m here? I need… space.” He grimaces and subconsciously starts rubbing his chest right above his heart, his eyebrows scrunched in pain, and while he’s facing the table I can tell he’s not actually seeing it, but something in his mind. “I can’t face them yet,” he adds even more quietly.
I take a second to think about his request .
“I won’t lie to them,” I finally answer, just as quietly. “I won’t go out of my way to let them know but if they ask me straight out if you’re here, I won’t lie.”
“Okay. I’ll take it,” he whispers and looks at me. For a moment, I’m paralyzed by the pain I’m seeing in his eyes. The falling out must have been huge if the thought of meeting them lays that heavy on his mind.
We pack away the rest of the groceries in silence and I show him where I made space in the cupboards so he can put his groceries in there once he's been shopping. Before I know it, it's time for me to leave for work.