"Good to see you, Seth," Tyler spoke and shook hands with his friend.
"Good to be back," Seth said.
He looked around.
"She's not here yet," Tyler said.
"Does she know I'm here?" Seth asked.
"I told her a couple of days ago," Tyler said.
"Is she okay with it?" Seth asked.
"I don't know. She didn't seem to mind," Tyler asked.
He stuck his hand in his pocket, took out a key and handed it to Seth.
"You know the way," he said.
Seth made his way to the guesthouse in the back. He was surprised to see it was already unlocked but figured Tyler or his parents had probably been there to clean it for his stay and forgot to lock up. He walked inside the livingroom and saw her sitting on the couch.
"Donna?" He asked.
She jumped. He had startled her.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you," he said. "What are you doing here?"
"I've spent the night here," she answered, not turning her head to look at him.
He was still standing there, looking at the back of the couch and the back of her head.
"Why would you do that?" He asked.
"I do that from time to time. They think I'm at Hunter's, and Hunter thinks I'm home. No one thinks I'm gone so I can be alone," she answered.
"Hunter? That weird guy who used to creep you out by staring at you?" He asked as he made his way around to look at her.
"Yes, Hunter. We're together now," she answered.
He looked at her. She didn't look up to meet his eyes. He didn't like what he was seeing. Her face looked so thin. She was cuddling up under a blanket which he couldn't understand. It was Summer and way too hot for that.
"Aren't you dying from the heat?" He asked and chuckled.
"I'm cold," she answered.
"How can you be cold on a day like this?" He asked.
She sighed but didn't answer.
"Oh well, none of my business. At least come to the pool. A bunch of them are already down there having fun. I'm gonna change and go there too," he said.
He went to the bedroom to put his bag on the bed. He looked at the pillow and sighed. He came back in and looked at her.
"You're scratching again, aren't you?" He asked.
Finally she looked up at him.
"Why would you think that?" She asked.
"There's blood on the pillow," he answered.
"So? Who says it's mine?" She asked.
"If I run my fingers through your hair and touch your scalp right now, what will I find?" He asked as he crossed his arms.
"You're not doing that. You're not allowed to touch me," she said in such a fury that it surprised him.
She threw the blanket aside and got up from the couch. He was surprised she was wearing long sweatpants and an oversize longsleeved sweater. It was way too hot for clothes like that. He took a long look at her as she made her way towards the door. Even though the clothes was oversize, he could see she had lost weight. He opened his mouth to comment on it but she was out of the door before he had the chance. He sighed and went back into the bedroom to get changed.
He made his way to the pool where most people were. He noticed Hunter sitting on a chair entertaining a couple of girls. He sure had changed the year Seth had been gone. He was no longer the creepy kid everyone avoided. He was a good looking man and apparently the girls liked him now. Seth made his way over to him and sat down next to him.
"Hello Seth," Hunter said.
"Hunter," was all Seth replied.
"I don't know if you've heard, but Donna is with me now so don't go getting any bright ideas," Hunter spoke as if he needed to mark his territory.
"I've heard," Seth said and stood up again.
No way he cared to sit there with that shitty attitude from Hunter. Instead he went into the pool.
He watched her as she made her way from the main house towards the pool. She had a towel wrapped around her body but he could see her legs and arms. They looked so skinny. Once she reached the pool, she dropped the towel. He was shocked to see her ribs stick out like that. She hadn't just lost some weight. She had lost a lot. Way too much.
She went into the pool and went to a corner to stand alone. She was shivering from the cold. No one seemed to notice her, not even Hunter who was still busy with entertaining a couple of girls. Seth swam over to her. He didn't think about it, he just acted. He put his arms around her.
"Let go," she hissed.
"You're shivering. I'm just trying to warm you," he said.
"Let go!" She said more firmly.
He let go and just looked at her.
"What the hell happened to you? Are you starving yourself or something?" He asked.
"No, I just lost some weight. More healthy living and shit," she answered.
"That is not healthy. I can see your ribs," he said.
She rolled her eyes and tried to push him out of the way. There was no strength in her arms so he moved on his own free will. She used to be able to push him, even if it was just for fun. She got out of the pool, grabbed the towel and hurried back to the house.
Seth looked up at Hunter who hadn't seemed to notice at all. Either that or he didn't care. Seth felt angry. He made his way out of the pool and towards Hunter.
"What the hell happened to her?" He asked.
"What do you mean?" Hunter asked.
"Her weight," Seth said.
"Yeah, she's fat, I know. She's working on it though even though it goes so slow," Hunter said.
Seth couldn't believe his own ears. He shook his head and walked towards the house instead.
As he walked pass the windows, he saw her sitting in the kitchen. As suspected her hand was in her hair. Even though she had her back against the window, he knew how her facial expression would be one in pain right now. He could see how her nails worked. She moved her hand down and looked at it. He knew she was checking her nails for blood. His mind wandered back to when she had done that when they were together. They had gotten a pregnancy scare and during those days where they didn't know if she was pregnant or not, she had gotten so stressed and scared that she had started scratching her scalp. He wondered what was causing her to do it this time around.
He walked inside the house and made his way to the kitchen. Her hand was up in her hair again. He walked over to her and grabbed her wrist, pulling her hand away from her head. She looked at him with big eyes. He sat down next to her, holding her hand in his.
"What happened?" He asked.
"Nothing," she answered.
"You're scratching, you're starving, and you're with a douchebag of a boyfriend. What happened to get you to this point?" He asked.
"Why do you care? You left," she raised her voice.
"I told you I'd come back," he said.
"Yeah, after a whole damn year. You just expected me to sit here and wait for you for an entire year," she was shouting now.
"You're the one who chose to break it off completely," he said, trying to defend himself.
She got to her feet.
"And I'm glad I did," she sneered before quickly leaving the room.
He watched her from the window as she made her way through the big garden and towards the little creek far away from everyone who was on the property. He sighed as he thought about how many times they had been sitting down there together, just looking at the water. He knew he had been an idiot for going away for a year but he had gotten a great oppotunity to wrestle in Germany and he felt like he had to try it, even though it meant being away for an entire year. Unfortunately it had also meant losing her even though that was never his plan. That had been her choice and he couldn't say he blamed her for making it.
Now he was back and something had clearly changed. She wasn't the Donna he knew and remembered. She wasn't the Donna he loved. She was with Hunter now and everything seemed wrong with her. He shook his head, got to his feet and walked to the cabinet where her mother would stash candy and goodies. He looked through it and grabbed a mars bar. He knew it was her favourite.
He sat down next to her by the creek.
"What now? Can't you just leave me alone?" She said and sighed.
"Are you really gonna stick to your story that you're not starving yourself?" He asked.
"It's not a story," she said a little too fast.
"Fine," he said and held up the mars bar. "Then eat this."
"What?" She asked and looked at him like he was crazy.
"You used to be able to eat a whole lot of these in a row. Just eat this one and I won't bother you about your weight again," he said.
He was testing her. She knew it just as well as he did. She also knew he was too stubborn to ever let it go.
"Fine!" She sneered as she grabbed the candy.
She felt like a pig as she quickly stuffed her face with it. She needed it gone as quickly as possible to make him back off.
"Happy?" She asked once she was done.
"Not really," he answered honestly.
"Asshole!" She sneered as she got to her feet and hurried away.
He sat for a minute looking at the water before getting up himself. He made his way to the guesthouse. He had lost all interest in the party going on at the pool. He just needed to be alone. As soon as he opened the door, he could hear a sound he didn't like. As he made his way towards the bathroom, he started smelling it too. Someone was throwing up and he had a feeling he knew who it was. He pushed the door open to find her on her knees in front of the toilet.
"Are you gonna tell me you just got sick from eating too fast?" He asked sarcastically.
She looked up to see him standing with his arms crossed and a look of disappointment in his eyes. She flushed the toilet and got to her feet. She didn't answer him. She just walked towards him. He didn't move. She tried to walk pass him but he grabbed her around the waist.
"Oh no, you don't," he said.
She felt her feet lift from the floor as he carried her inside the bedroom. He put her down, closed the door and leaned up against it.
"You're not going anywhere until you start telling me the truth," he said.
"You can't keep me here. People will start to wonder," she said.
"Who? Your brother who hasn't even noticed you're back yet? Or Hunter who's busy trying to get it on with two other girls?" He asked.
"I don't have to tell you shit!" She yelled.
"Yes you do and you're not getting out till you do," he said.
"Fine, I'm going to bed then," she said.
She crawled under the duvet. She tried to pull it tight around her body but she was freezing. He looked at her, trying his best not to break down from what he was seeing, but it was hard when she was lying there like that. Of course she was cold when she was starving herself like that. It didn't take a genius to figure that out. He sighed and gave up. He walked away from the door and crawled under the duvet as well. He wrapped his arm around her waist and held her close as he tried to warm her. His other hand went through her hair. She hissed as he felt all her small wounds, trying to snatch her head forward and away from him.
"I'm sorry," he said.
He pushed the arm under her neck instead, trying to hold her as close as possible.
"What the hell happened?" He asked in a low voice.
