He looked slightly nervous then, as if he thought I'd reject his idea or something. It was strange but I really did trust Edward, even though I'd hardly known him for an hour there was just something about him that made me trust him.
"Well… I mean… You don't have to go with my plan… If you're not comfortable with it then I'll think pf something else. Honestly, just say the word and the plans out…" I wasn't getting it; in fact the only thing I was getting was impatient. Why didn't he just come out and say it? The longer he left it the bigger the butterflies became.
After what seemed like a year I finally lost my rag. "Oh, just say it will you?" I snapped, immediately feeling ashamed of myself, after all, he was being perfectly nice to me, more than nice in fact, and here I was biting his head off… "Sorry" I mumbled after a second of him not saying anything, his silence just feeding my anxiety.
He laughed at me then, I looked up at him, he didn't seem angry, just amused.
"Sorry, you're just so cute when you're angry" he laughed again and began swinging our arms between us once again.
I blushed, "Babies are cute, and puppies are cute… I am not cute." I tried to hide my embarrassment by looking at the floor. He stopped walking, lifting my face in his hand so I was looking at him straight on.
"I never said it was a bad thing, in fact I happen to like cute." He laughed. I blushed but smiled, somewhat shyly, all the same. He started walking again then, taking me along with him, steadying me every now and then when I fell…
We had nearly reached the path, pointless conversations flowing easily, when I remembered his previous, anxious self.
"So, what was so terrible about this place we're staying?" I joked, hoping to get my answer this time. "The way it made you so anxious anyone would have thought it was a slaughter house"
He smiled awkwardly at this… god; he isn't a vegetarian is he? I thought stupidly to myself. I mentally slapped my forehead at my stupidity and waited for his answer.
"It's not that it's a terrible place, I just don't know if you will be comfortable" he hedged, not looking me in the eye, I nodded, signalling for him to carry on. "I was thinking maybe would could go to my hotel room" he mumbled, as if hoping that I wouldn't hear.
I froze. Excuse me?! "What?" I demanded, blushing furiously under the mud. He seemed so nice, surely he wasn't like that? Was he?
He looked panicked then, he started talking quickly, rushing to explain himself, and it was so quick I struggled to keep up with his words.
"it's just that I can't afford another room, and unless you have enough money for a room tonight?" he didn't wait for me to answer, he carried on with his high-speed rant without giving me a chance to draw breath "And I promise I didn't mean to disrespect you, I mean I didn't want you to go with me because of that You need a place to stay, and wash up and I have one, that's all there is to it! You'll have complete privacy, I swear, and I'll sleep on the floor, you can have a bed." his voice was drenched with panic and it was plastered all over his face. I though he'd finished and I was just about to say it was okay, and that I understand, when he launched into another panic-stricken explanation. "I'm sorry if I disrespected or offended you, really I am, I'm not like that, I promise… You don't have to I'd underst-"
I put my hand over his talking mouth, effectively cutting his rant short. He looked at me questioningly,
"If you talk anymore I think I'll have to gag you" I explained jokingly, his expression softened and I felt him smile under my hand. "Okay, promise you'll talk like a civilised human being now?" he snickered and I laughed with him.
He nodded and I removed my hand, allowing him to speak again.
"Oh, and thanks." I took his hand again, squeezing it lightly as we began to walk again. He raised an eyebrow at me questioningly. "For letting me stay with you, I appreciate it."
"You don't mind?" he asked, shocked. "I thought I'd upset you" he admitted to me, smiling shyly
"Well, I was a bit shocked, but if it really is as innocent as you say then why shouldn't' I? It's not like I've got any other options" Smiling gratefully I looked up at him, and then at our surroundings, we were back by the log I had been watching the house from hours ago.
"Really?" he asked, I thought I'd heard a bit of excitement in his voice but dismissed it, reminding myself that he was only being friendly. I nodded, smiling. He smiled back before pulling me towards the main road, making sure we kept out of view of the houses.
The walk to his hotel took around half and hour, but oddly it felt like next to no time. Conversation flowed easily between the two of us and we laughed, joked and talked our way through the town.
The hotel was a small one, with hardly any people staying there. We walked through the lobby, trying to get as little attention as possible. After all, if the staff saw us they probably wouldn't be too impressed. I bet we were ruining their carpet!
His room was on one of the lower floors, and was very basic. There was a double bed pressed against the left wall and a small sofa and TV against the right. Along the back wall was a mirror and opposite that was a wardrobe.
"It's cramped, and it's not the most homely of places at the best of times, but it gets you through the nights." He smiled awkwardly, then, handing me a towel, pointed out the bathroom. I thanked him and left to shower. It wasn't until I looked in the mirror did I realise just how muddy I was. I was covered!
I groaned, slapping the towel down onto the counter, cursing my awful bad luck.
"Are you okay?" Edward knocked on the door, his voice sounding genuinely worried
"Yeah, I'm fine, I just didn't realise I looked like a mud monster" I replied, taking back my earlier curses. After all, if this hadn't had happened, would I have met Edward. He laughed and I heard him walk away and the TV turn on.
Digging through my bag I pulled out my shampoo and soap, placing them on the shelf on the inside of the shower itself. I undressed, and turned on the shower, stepping under the heavy stream of water and began to scrub at my body. I was being as quick as possible, but I wanted to make sure I was clean.
My mind began to wonder as I started to wash the mud out of my hair. I though of Edward, of how good he looked, despite the fact that he was covered in mud. I thought of his hair, of his crooked smile and found myself grinning stupidly to myself. I scolded myself for being so silly; Edward probably thought of me as a friend, and that was all… Why would he think of me as anything else? I'm just a Plain Jane.
Promising myself that I would try to keep my thoughts about Edward strictly friend-like (after all I didn't want him to think I was some silly little school girl with a stupid crush on him) I turned off the shower and started to towel myself dry.
10 minutes later, clad in a pair of pyjama bottoms and a tank top, I stepped out of the bathroom, Edward turned as I walked over to the bed, dumping my bags there and bundling my muddy clothes into a plastic bag I had found in the bathroom. I put the plastic carrier back into my backpack and turned to look at him.
He sat there; still as muddy as he was when we walked in here, staring at me, his mouth slightly agape. I blushed automatically; I looked down at myself to make sure I hadn't forgotten anything important, when I found that I was fully dressed I stood there, lost in though, trying to work out why he was staring. What was wrong with me?!
He cleared his throat after a while and mumbled an apology. He stood up and grabbed a towel from a shelf in the wardrobe and smiled awkwardly as he made his way towards the bathroom.
I sat myself down on the sofa, absentmindedly flicking through channels, racking my brains. What was wrong? Why was he looking at me like that? I looked in the mirror, nothing out of the ordinary on my face, nothing out of the ordinary with my long, plain hair, nothing out of the ordinary about my clothes. What is wrong then?
I stood, frowning at myself, in front of the mirror, so engrossed in my own cross examination that I didn't notice when the shower turned off and he walked into the room in pyjama bottoms and a form-hugging shirt.
I felt an arm slink around my waist and his breath on my neck. "don't frown; I think you look beautiful"
No hiding the blush that appeared then.
……………………
Sorry it's so short.
Tell me what you think!
Constructive criticism welcome!
XD
