The next morning, I drove Colt over to Toby's house and then returned. I tidied up and showered before Seth came over. When he arrived, he walked in, a little surprised, and sat down on the sofa while I got him something to drink. We settled together on the sofa and I put on an old movie that I liked. Seth and I sat side-by-side quietly through half of the movie before he tentatively wrapped an arm around me.
I surprised Seth when I snuggled under his arm and into his side. His arm tightened around me, and I smirked despite myself as the movie played on. By the end of the movie, Seth's arm was wound around my waist, and I was leaning against his side. I got up to change the disc to another movie and replenish the popcorn supply. When I returned, I went back under Seth's arm. The movie was a romantic drama, and at the halfway point, I looked up at Seth, bit my lip, and looked at his lips. He seemed to understand the gesture, and leaned in to kiss me.
I lost track of time after that. The movie ended, and I was beneath Seth on the sofa, still kissing him. The DVD menu repeated, annoying, in the background, but we ignored it. When I made a noise of complaint, Seth agilely clicked a button on the remote and turned everything off.
When we heard the front door open, Seth and I jumped apart just as Colton walked in.
"Hey, Sum, what's for-," Colton stopped and stared at Seth. "Who is this?" he asked. I could see the protective side of him coming out quickly, and smiled at Colton reassuringly. His face showed me that he wasn't convinced.
"This is Seth," I stated simply, not wanting to mention where and how and why I had met him. "He's a good friend. He came over to watch movies today," I explained.
Colton looked at the TV, which was off, the empty popcorn bowl, the rumpled couch, and my messy hair and nodded dramatically.
"Riiight," he stated sarcastically. I gave him a pointed look, warning him against being rude. He rolled his eyes, leaned forward, and shook Seth's hand. "Nice to meet you, Seth. I'm Summer's brother Colton."
"Nice to meet you, Colton," Seth said with a smile. He had a distinct blush in his cheeks, and I smirked but covered it with my hand.
"Are you staying for dinner?" Colton asked Seth. Seth looked at me and I nodded. Seth looked back at Colton with a tentative, apologetic grin.
"I guess I am," he said. Colton nodded and looked at me. I sighed, stood, and went to the kitchen to put the chicken parmesan in the oven. While I worked on dinner in the kitchen, I heard Colton mention sports and turn the TV on. He and Seth debated NFL football teams while I worked in the kitchen. When I served dinner, they walked in and sat at the table. We joined hands and Colton said the blessing.
"Lord, we thank you for this wonderful food and for letting us enjoy it with our new friend Seth," Colton said quietly. I smirked as Seth blushed again.
"Amen," Seth and I chorused with Colt.
We dug in, and Colton and Seth assured me it was delicious and thanked me for cooking.
"So, are your parents going to be home soon?" Seth asked. "I don't want to intrude," he explained.
Colton looked at me, and we exchanged a glance. We both debated with our eyes, contemplating the consequences of telling Seth. Colton finally looked away, giving in as he signaled me to speak. Seth caught the silent exchange and I sighed as I sat up straighter in my seat and looked into Seth's eyes directly.
"Our parents are dead. Bread?" I asked as I offered him the bread bowl. The three small loaves were warm and soft, but Seth was too shocked to say anything. I replaced the bread bowl on the table and looked at Colton nervously. He rolled his eyes as he saved my sorry butt.
"What she meant to explain to you was that our parents are dead to us. We're emancipated-technically," Colt explained to Seth. He hesitated. "Dad died in Iraq. We don't know where Mom is right now. We don't talk about them." Colton's voice offered no room for interjections, questions, or comments. Seth was silent at the new piece of information.
And just like that, dinner got extremely awkward. Seth and Colton returned to a safe topic: sports, while I sat and picked at my food silently, brooding. I had meant to explain the situation to Seth eventually, gracefully, but he seemed to know just when to ask me questions to catch me unawares and without an adequate response. I felt like an idiot. When we had all finished eating, Colton cleared the table and I fixed us all bowls of ice cream.
The three of us sat in silence in the living room eating ice cream as we stared at some weird television show on the anatomy of centipedes. As soon as the last of his ice cream was gone, Colton said he had homework, which I knew was a lie, and left the room quickly. I cleaned the dishes, and Seth offered to help, but I told him to just sit at the table. I didn't want him to help me clean; I wanted to do it myself. After the kitchen was spotless, Seth and I went back to the living room and sat on the sofa together to watch bad TV shows. Even though we were watching a comedy, neither of us was laughing. Finally, I turned and looked up at Seth.
"I'm sorry. But we don't like talking about it," I explained quietly. I hesitated. "It brings up…really bad memories for Colton and me, and I'm sorry if I hurt your feelings by not telling you."
"That's okay," he said, pulling me under his arm. I looked up at his face; I could tell something was still bothering him. He looked down at me, noticing that I was waiting for him to explain. "My dad died a few months ago. He had a heart attack," Seth told me.
Awkward-majorly awkward.
"Well," I said softly. Seth just shook his head.
"You don't have to tell me anything. I've been told everything that you've been told, I'm sure. Let's just not talk about it." Seth's face darkened as he stared holes into my television, and I sat beside him silently, with my knees pulled up to my chest. My bare feet were cold in the drafty living room but I didn't dare move to grab the blanket behind Seth's shoulders. After a good ten minutes of him staring blankly at some blonde woman on ABC Family, he pulled me under his arm and kissed the top of my head.
As we continued watching the comedy shows, Seth brightened a little. Colton walked in after a while, texting madly on his phone. He looked up at the two of us, bit back a grin, and looked back down at his phone.
"Toby's mom is picking me up. I'm spending the night at his house-if that's okay?" he said, directing the question at me. I nodded and smiled. My stomach did a nervous flip-flop as he asked. Seth and I would have the house to ourselves. For the whole night. Just the two of us. Alone.
"Yeah," I agreed automatically to Colton's asking permission. I hardly ever denied him, if ever.
"We're going to a movie in Port Angeles tomorrow. Can I have some money?" he asked.
"Yeah," I agreed again. I moved to get up and go to my wallet from my purse in my bedroom, but Colton only chucked it at me with a grin.
"Here," he said as it landed in my lap. "You look comfortable," he said of me being practically in Seth's lap. He was smiling though, so I knew he meant it in a good way. I rolled my eyes down as I went through my wallet and plucked a twenty to hand to Colton. He leaned over and looped his arm around my head and pulled it to his chest in an awkward sort of hug before shaking Seth's hand and hurrying out the door to the sound of a honking horn. I smoothed my messed hair down with a smile.
"Well," I said as I looked over at Seth. "Do you need to be anywhere tonight?" I asked him. I did my best to make my voice sound sultry and not as nervous as my stomach was. Seth thought for a second and shook his head.
"Nope," he admitted. I smiled, and leaned in resume our earlier activities. Seth responded eagerly.
When I woke up the next morning, I already had a smile on my face. Seth's arms were wrapped around me, and his strong torso was pressed against my back, giving off an immense amount of heat that had even my cold feet pleasantly warm. Seth's arms constricted in his sleep, and he pulled me closer to him unconsciously. There was a distant howling, and I felt Seth's body tense as he woke up suddenly. He sat up abruptly in the bed.
"What time is it?" he asked urgently. I looked over at my alarm clock to the glowing red numbers and turned over to look at him.
"It's not even seven o'clock," I told him quietly. He looked down at me and smiled. I sat up gingerly and leaned over to kiss him softly on the lips. Another howl went through the morning air, still distant, but definitely calling. Seth groaned and pulled away from the kiss. "You have to go," I stated intuitively, sighing as I sunk back beneath the covers.
"Yeah," Seth whispered. I pouted, and he groaned. "I'm sorry, Summer."
"That's okay," I told him softly, smiling lightly. I could tell that he felt bad already about leaving me.
"I'll see if I can come back later," he told me as he kissed my forehead and then rolled over to get out of the bed. He pulled his shorts on and then pulled on a t-shirt quickly. I smiled seductively when he looked back over at me.
"Promise?" I asked him petulantly. He walked over to me, cupped my face in his hands, and kissed me on the lips very softly and slowly.
"Promise," he whispered against my lips. One last, haunting howl could be heard from outside, and it was definitely closer. Seth groaned dramatically and ran out of my room. I heard the front door shut behind him and I sighed as I leaned back into my pillows.