Comfort
Chapter 9
"No."
"What? Dad-"
"No."
"Andrew, listen to her-"
"No," he repeated, shaking his head at me. "No. You and that boy-"
"He's not just some boy, Dad. He's Owen."
He just stared at me for a second before repeating, "No."
We were standing in our kitchen, me having just planned on quickly asking my parents permission for Owen to come over while they were out at their Halloween party. I had expected such a quick yes that I hadn't even considered what I'd do if they said no. Dad says no to me so rarely that it always kind of shocks my system.
"Why not?"
"Why not, Annabel? Why not?" He shook his head at me. "I have one daughter pregnant already. You think that I'm just going to let that boy-"
"Owen. His name is Owen. And he comes over without you here all the time." I crossed my arms. "You just don't like him now because apparently you like me moping around the house better than me being happy."
He clapped his hands together. "Yes, Annabel. That's completely it."
"Dad-"
"Andrew-"
"No. He can't come over."
"Fine," I said. "Then I'll go over to-"
"You're staying here and passing out candy. You got candy when you were a kid, now it's time to give back."
"Then Owen will just come over while you're gone anyways."
"You-"
"Now stop it," Mom said, frowning at both of us. "I mean it."
We both just stood there for a second, my defiance showing just from the way I was standing. I knew I was being a brat, but it wasn't fair of him to be able to change my plans like that when any other time, it'd have been no problem for Owen to come over. God, it's times like this that I wished I just told him nothing about my life and kept it that way. Things were so much easier when I told him nothing.
"That's Owen," I said as the doorbell rang.
"You invited him without asking for?" Dad shook his head at me. "Unbelievable. You are spoiled."
"Andrew!" Mom hit him in the arm. "Gosh."
"What, Grace? You say it all the time." Dad glared at me. "He's not come in."
"Dad-"
"No."
"It's not fair," I said, crossing my arms. "You let Kirsten go to parties and Whitney go to other people's houses for Halloween. Why does it matter if I'm home alone with Owen? We could do just as much at a party as we could do here."
"Don't say things like that," Dad complained, shutting his eyes tightly. I still just stared at him though, willing myself to cry a little. I really wanted Owen to come over, after all.
"We're just going to watch movies," I told him, my voice softer now. "Please, Daddy? Just movies and pass out candy. It's not like we'll be able to do anything anyways. The doorbell'll be ringing constantly. Please?"
Just then the doorbell rang again. That was just Owen though.
"Please, Daddy?"
He just waved me off, clearly angry, but having no way of stopping me. It's a hard thing to realize, that everyone else is right, you are spoiled, but when you're getting your way at the moment anyways, who cares?
"Hey, Bella," Owen said as I opened the door. He kissed my cheek before giving me the pizza box and soda he was holding. Then he moved to take off his boots. "Took you long enough to answer the door."
"Is that a complaint?"
"No." He took the pizza back from me before heading further into the house. "It was an observation."
"A rude one."
"A true one."
Dad cleared his throat as we came into the kitchen. Owen just glanced at him.
"Hi," Owen said, nodding at both my parents as he sat the pizza and soda down.
"Hello, Owen," Mom greeted him when it was clear my father wouldn't. "Andrew, perhaps you should go put on your costume now?"
"I'm not wearing one. I told you that."
"I just thought that you should-"
"I told you, Grace, I'm not going to. You know that. I never do."
Owen glanced at me, but I just moved to get us each a plate and a glass of soda. After getting our food, he and I headed into the living room, me moving to put a horror movie in the DVD player.
"Everything alright?" Owen asked me as we both sat down on the couch, a reasonable distance away from one another. I had won, sure, but that could change at any moment.
"Fine."
He smiled at me as the movie started. "Alright then."
My parents hung around for another hour or so before leaving. Dad made sure to warn me again against any fooling around. I'm serious. In front of Owen too! Then my mother made sure to leave the bowl of candy by the door, making us swear to pass it out. It was only when we were sure that they were gone that we could finally relax.
"You comfy?"
I just snuggled into Owen, my feet up on the other end of the couch. "Mmmm."
Smiling down at me, he said, "When that doorbell starts ringing, you're answering it."
"No, you are."
"I'm the guest."
"I'm the girlfriend."
"Hmmm. Quite the predicament."
"Indeed."
"We should take turns," he suggested.
"I'm not really feeling that."
"It is your house."
"Fine," I gave in, snuggling back against him. I knew that after about getting up five times, I'd just tell Owen to take care of the rest and be off the hook. He'd always give into me. That was just a done deal.
Owen sighed as he pulled his phone out of his pocket, texting someone. I still just leaned into his side, absently reaching back to grab the cell phone, pulling it gently from his hands.
"What are you doing?"
"Who are you talking to?"
"Rolly. He went to a party."
"Mmmm." I looked up, turning my head to look back at him. "Clarke broke up with her boyfriend."
"Oh."
"James, Owen."
"Oh."
"Yeah. He was cheating on her."
"No shocker there."
"Mmmm."
When the doorbell rang, I got up to go pass out candy, Owen getting back to texting. When I returned, I sat away from him slightly, sitting up straight now, as to make it an easy for him to get up. Not that I was hinting him along or anything.
"This was a dumb idea," Owen grumbled to me thirty minutes later when we'd had to get up ten times at least. "Watching a movie while passing out candy."
"Oh, like you're really watching it." Reaching over, I stroked one of his hands as he started texting again. He hardly paid attention though, instead engrossed in what he was doing. "Bear."
"Hmmm?"
"If you wanted to be with Rolly-"
"I would be with him." He smiled. "I'm with you tonight."
"Would you be texting me all night if you chose to be with him?"
"Probably."
"Owen," I complained, moving now to mess with the screen of his phone. I navigated it back to the main screen before going to his text messages.
"What are you doing?" he asked, allowing me to do as I wanted. That's one of the things I liked about Owen; he'd show me anything.
"Rolly told me that you've been texting Clarissa," I said, opening up their set of texts.
"Yeah. So?"
"We never texted before we started dating."
"You never gave me your number."
"You never asked for it."
"Have you seen you, Annabel?"
"Excuse me?"
"No, I meant it in a good way." He looked at my face. "You were out of my league. You are out of my league. I like honesty, but setting myself up for rejection isn't my strong suit."
I was reading through their texts now, no longer paying much mind to him. Owen wasn't uncomfortable with this and even gave me the phone to continue going through as he got up to pass out candy when the doorbell rang. Their texts were so boring though. The two of them together were boring. It was all about music. Oh, and Clarissa constantly complimenting him on his musical tastes.
"I don't know if I like you texting another girl," I told him as he got back. Owen just headed into the kitchen to get more pizza. "Did you hear me?"
"Yes." He came back with more soda too. "I did."
"Then you'll stop?"
"No."
"Owen-"
"Clarissa and I are friends."
"She likes you."
"So?"
"You won't let me be friends with guys."
"You are friends with guys. A guy, really. Rolly."
"Owen-"
"The difference is, Annabel, that you like Kyle and James. That's who you're talking about, right?" When I nodded, he said, "You like them. You would have tried to date one of them if it wasn't for me."
"You-"
"I like you and only you."
"Bull."
"Fine. I like you and other girls out of my league."
"Owen-"
"Like way out of it. Like ones that would be out of yours if you swung that way."
"You-"
"So, in short, I'm going to keep texting Clarissa and you're going to stop getting so jealous."
"Oh, yeah, like out of the two of us, I'm the jealous one."
"Thank you for acknowledging that."
"Snoogie," I whined, looking at some of his other texts now.
"I'm not going to stop talking to my only fan."
"Aren't I your fan?"
"You're my girlfriend."
I just made a noise as the doorbell rang again.
"Uh, Bell? It's kinda your turn."
"I'm reading, Bear."
"I don't like you sometimes."
"Yeah, I know."
As he left to go pass out more candy, I read through some of the texts he had sent to his father. I tried my hardest not to. Really, I did. Still, I'm nosey. I can't help it sometimes.
"You are really not respecting my privacy, are you?" Owen took his seat once more when he finished at the front door, frowning. "Give me your phone."
"No."
"Now, Annabel. It's only fair."
"Fine, you big baby." I handed him my phone.
"Password?"
"I didn't ask you for-"
"Because it's the same one as all my other passwords. NES. Just in numbers, cause it's a phone."
"So?"
"Annabel-"
"Mine is one of those dot thingies," I told him, moving to show him the pattern I draw on the screen. "See?"
"Oh." He started with my photos first for some reason. This made me frown and move to look at his photos.
"I'm not gonna stumble upon any nudes, am I?"
Owen frowned, shaking his head no. "Am I? 'cause God I hope so."
"Owen." I shifted to lean against him again. His photos were all the ones I'd seen before and I quickly went back to his conversation with his father. "You're mean to your dad."
"Shut up."
"You are."
"And you're not yours?"
"My dad loves me. More than yours does you."
He shoved me off him. "Fuck off then."
"It was a j-"
"It's not funny."
"Owen-"
"Shut up."
Why had he suddenly gotten like that? Reaching over, Owen snatched his phone from me before pocketing it.
"You don't know anything."
"I really don't," I told him. "Why are you so upset?"
"My dad doesn't hate me."
"I didn't say that."
"You said-"
"God, Owen, do you really think he does?"
Shrugging, he shifted away from me. "I don't know."
"Why would you think that?"
Again, I just got a shrug.
"Owen-"
"Over the summer, when Mom got really back into drinking, she started telling me stuff. About how he didn't want-"
"That's not true."
"You didn't even hear what I said."
"It doesn't matter." Shifted so that I was facing him full on, pulling my legs under me on the couch. "I met your dad, Owen."
"Okay."
"He loves you."
"You don't-"
"He does," I insisted. "How could he not? You're freaking amazing. I love you. And I don't even know you the way he does. He's your dad, Owen."
"He let us come up here and didn't even try to fight it."
"And you know as well as I do that if you asked to go stay with him, he'd let you. I'm sure he just let you go because of your mother, that he didn't want to argue with her."
"He didn't want to fight for us."
"If you said at any point you wanted to stay in Arizona, I know he'd have fought for you. You didn't. You hated Arizona."
"I hate here too."
"Now you do," I corrected. "Before though, it was a new start. A new chance. Then you screwed it up."
"Annabel-"
"Well, you did. You got in fights and stuff."
He just glanced at me. "That's not my fault."
"It is your fault, dinky."
"Stop calling me that."
"Bear-"
"I mean it."
"Why are you so mad at me?"
"You said-"
"It was a freaking joke, Owen. And if you can't take a joke, just leave. Go to that stupid party with Rolly, get drunk, drive home, and die in a car crash."
We both sat there for a moment. Then Owen looked at me.
"That was a tad harsh."
"A tad?"
He kissed my cheek. "Just don't talk about my parents, alright?"
"You talk about my dad all the time."
"When you bring him up. I've never just told you I think your dad's a dick. Do I? Yes. But I don't tell you until you mention him."
I just glanced out the front of the house as I saw another group of kids approach. "You've just been so uptight recently. It was a small joke. Hardly a joke at all. You have no patience anymore."
"Oh, whatever," he said, getting up to pass out candy now.
"You are, Owen. I never know what sets you off anymore. You're always so up and down. It's really annoying."
"Oh and you're not?"
"Just answer the door."
While Owen was gone, I turned off the movie before moving to lay down on the couch. He was being a jerk. I was just kidding. Not everything was that serious. God.
"What happened to the movie?" Owen asked when he got back.
"It was stupid."
"Oh." He stared at me for a moment. "Where do I get to sit?"
"Figure it out."
"Bella-"
"You were being mean."
He just groaned, moving to lift my head up and slip underneath it. My head in his lap once more, I shut my eyes, sighing slightly.
"Halloween sucks."
"Tomorrow's November."
"Take you eighteen years to understand that, Bear?"
"I just meant that we're even closer to Thanksgiving break."
"Mmmm. What are you doing for it?"
"Last year we went to my grandparents house. Had dinner or whatever."
"And this year?"
"Well, Mal's sick, so I doubt we're going anywhere." He stroked my hair gently. "'sides, I was kinda planning on having dinner with my girlfriend."
"Was she planning on having dinner with you is the real question."
"Only she can answer that."
"That's true." I smiled a little bit. "Maybe he can come."
"Maybe?"
"If he stops being so uptight with me."
"He'll try."
"He'll do or else he'll be out one girlfriend."
"You drive a hard bargain."
"Yeah, well, does he accept?"
"Only he can answer that."
"That's true," I said, smiling bigger now. "So what does the dinky bear say?"
"To stop calling him dinky."
"I say it with endearment in my heart."
"I'm sure."
"Dinky. That might just replace Snoogie."
'Shut up."
"Dinky."
"I mean it."
I just closed my eyes again. "I love you, Bear."
"Love you too."
"It's, like, freezing."
"It's November, Bear."
"And?"
"Here, you want my jacket?"
"Annabel."
Giggling, I nodded back at the cafeteria. "You wanna eat inside today?"
"No. It's just cold is all."
I shifted on the wall as I took a bite of my sandwich. It was a few days later and we were having lunch as usual. He had actually shown up to school for a change, which was nice. We hadn't spent much time together since Halloween, so we hadn't had a chance to fight yet.
"Poor Bear. You're just not used to cold is all. You know, 'cause you're normally in hibernation by now."
"I think it's a little early for hibernation."
"For normal bears, sure, but you're a special bear."
"Bella, I'm touched."
"You're dinky."
He blinked before frowning at me. "You know I don't like that word."
"And anyways, I think bears go into hibernation as early as October."
"What makes you say that?"
"I might have been looking up bear facts the other day."
"For what purpose?"
I gave him a quick kiss for his semi-big word use. "To use against you."
"What other bear facts you got, babe?"
"Mmmm, there's eight species of bears."
"Only eight?"
"Only eight." I kissed him again, just for fun. "Polar bears are the best swimmers of all thee bears."
"Hmmm."
"Honestly, I think that you're a sloth bear."
"Mmmm…I think I'm a koala bear."
"That's not a real type of bear, Owen."
"What?"
"It's a marsupial."
"What is that?"
"I said I know bear facts, Bear, not marsupial facts."
"Then keep going."
"The largest species of bear is the brown bear." I poked him gently. "I almost decided you were that kinda bear, but then I figured sloth fit you better."
"Got anymore facts?"
"Bears walk flat footed as oppose to walking on their toes. That's how come they can walk up right." I went back to my lunch. "So there's some bear facts for you. I figured you should know, since that's your nickname and all."
"It is," he agreed, moving to cup the back of my neck with one hand. "Bella."
I blushed for some reason, as if this contact was so much worse than some of the other things we'd done. Still, he'd never done it and it kind of felt funny.
"I got in trouble today."
"What?" I looked at him. "When? Why didn't you mention it to me?"
"I dunno."
"Owen-"
"I just got sent to the principal's office is all. That assistant principal. The one who hates me."
Is it sad that I knew exactly who he was talking about? "Mr. Michaels."
"Yeah. Him. The prick."
"What'd you do?"
"Nothing. I just walked passed his office and he pulled me in there. Like right before fourth period."
"For what?"
"He just made me go in there and was all passive aggressive and stuff. He just made me sit there for awhile as he sat at his computer desk, looking at stuff. Then he started talking about how much school he saw I had missed and how if I kept it up, I'll get charged with truancy."
"What'd you tell him?"
"I'd just drop out if that happened."
"Owen, you can't talk to him that way."
"And why the heck not?"
"Because he's, like, your principal or whatever."
"So? That doesn't mean anything to me. If he was nice to me, I'd be nice to him. He's not though. He's always picking on me since I punched that guy in the parking lot that time. Well, he can get the heck over it."
"Bear."
"I'm serious. He can."
"I know that you're serious, Owen. I'm just telling you that you shouldn't be so rude to the man. That's all."
He snorted. "You just don't get it. You think the way they tell you to think. That you're always supposed to do what a guy like him says just 'cause he's older than you."
"That's called respect."
"And what respect has he given me?"
"It shouldn't matter."
"Yeah, it freaking matters."
"You just don't like him, Bear," I said dismissively.
"You're right, I don't."
"You're just so…stupid sometimes."
That made him frown at me. "I am not."
"Yes, you are. That's horribly disrespectful."
"Oh? And you aren't?"
"To Mr. Michaels? No."
"I meant to your father."
"Oh, whatever. I am not-"
"You told me all about how you weaseled him into letting me come over."
"He was out of line. I was just-"
"It's the same thing."
"It is not."
"Is too."
"Shut up, Owen. You should know by now that I don't like when you argue with me."
"I'm not arguing with you," he told me. "At all. I'm right and you're wrong. I'm not fighting for my point. I have no need to. I'm completely right. End of story."
"You're such a jerk."
Owen shrugged, looking down at his right hand before back up at me. "You coming over after school to wrap my cut?"
"No."
"Annabel-"
"It's almost healed anyways. You can take care of it on your own."
"What's wrong? You're mad at me now then?"
"No."
"Don't lie to me."
"Fine, Owen. Yes, I'm mad at you."
"Okay then." He went back to his Ipod, not interested otherwise.
"So what? That's just it?"
"That's it," he told me. "You're mad at me. I'm not mad at you. There's nothing to discuss."
"Oh, whatever."
Shrugging, he just turned up his music, completely ignoring me now. I hate when he did that. When we'd be in the middle of an argument, he'd sometimes just completely tune me out. Like my argument wasn't important; he'd already won. It was one of the most annoying things about him, I swear.
That and his obsession with music. That was pretty annoying too.
"I hate it here."
"Owen."
"I do. It's cold, now it's raining. I might as well be living in an icy hell. That's what this place is. Hell. I swear to God it is."
Leaning against the car door, I sighed loudly as I stared at the window. "It is coming down hard, I'll give you that."
"I just need to stop at the station," Owen told me. "Then I'm free for the day. Was there anything you need to drop off?"
"My shows are done for the week," I reminded him. "So no."
"'kay. You wanna go back to your place or mine?"
"I don't care, really. I just want to do something."
"Videogames it is."
"Owen."
"What? That's something to do. Something great to do."
I just moaned. "I have a headache."
"Poor Bella." He moved to turn his stereo up slightly. "Besides, when Dad came down last time, he brought my Xbox with him."
"I remember."
"You haven't even seen my Halo skills yet."
"I haven't. I don't even know what that is."
"Exactly why we should play it."
"Why can't you just work today?"
"Not nice," he said with what I was sure was accompanied with a glare, but I still had my eyes closed so there's no way to know for certain.
"Bear, I just wanna nap."
"Is that why you have a headache? You need to sleep?"
"I think so."
"Great. You can nap while I play videogames."
"Owen-"
"What else would I do?"
"Sleep with me."
"Bell, I've been trying to do that for months now."
That got me up, though it was only to hit his arm.
"Hey! I'm driving."
"Then don't say things like that when you're driving and you won't get hit. Simple."
"You get on my nerves sometimes."
"The feeling's mutual, babe."
"I'm not your babe," Owen said, frowning. "That's demeaning."
"Oh?"
"Yeah."
"What is it then when you call me babe?"
"Uh, try loving?"
"Shut up, Owen."
"See, sometimes, your tone kills the hell out of the mood."
"What kind of mood is this then?"
"Right now? Not a good one."
"You're an idiot."
"Stop calling me names."
"See?" I shook my head. "We shouldn't hangout today."
"We're just playing around, Annabel." He glanced at me. "Or at least I was. Weren't you?"
Shrugging, I moved to lean against the door once more. "Just never mind, Owen."
"Well, aren't you in a good mood?"
"A great one, actually, before I got in this car."
"What is up with you today? God, it's like I can do nothing right."
"I didn't say that."
"You've been acting that way since lunch. And then during last period you-"
"Stop copying off my homework and then I won't snap at you when you lose it."
"You're making over a ninety in there. I told you I'll bring it tomorrow."
"That's not the point. You-"
"I'm sorry, okay? God, are you really just mad about that?"
"No."
"Then what?"
"…You said that I'm mean to my father when you're, like, way worse to yours."
"Am not."
"Are too."
"How?"
"You freaking act like he's bothering you by wanting you to spend time with him. And then you're constantly yelling at him-"
"I might be rude to my father, fine, but you're the one acting like a spoiled brat to yours."
"For the last time, Owen, stop calling me spoiled."
"What? I can't tell the truth?"
"You want truth now? You want real truth?"
"Yes, I want-"
"I don't like being with you half the time we're together. I don't like fighting. I really don't. Yet you always fight with me."
"You-"
"You're just an overemotional, insecure, loser that just hits things instead of cries. You're freaking eighteen, Owen, and you hit a mirror when you got angry? Wow. Amazing. Grow up."
"Me grow up? You grow up. If it wasn't for me, you'd still be a little nothing with no friends. I'm the loser? Really now, Annabel? I'm the loser? You can hardly even speak to another person without hyperventilating. And forget disagreeing with someone. If I'm insecure, then you're apparently unable of living because- Are you crying?"
"No." I sniffled. "You big jerk."
Groaning as he turned into the radio station, he said, "Bella, I didn't mean it. Calm down."
"I hate you." I moved away when he tried to touch my knee. "How could you say that?"
"You were attacking me first!"
"And? You were a lot meaner."
"Was not. Stop crying." After parking, he unbuckled his seat belt before moving to wipe my eyes. I batted at his hands, but it was useless. Owen just smiled at me.
"These have got to be the fakest tears I have ever seen. And I have a younger sister."
"Stop it."
He just kissed my nose, trying to get me to laugh. "That's not even the worse thing I've ever said to you, Annabel."
"You called me a loser."
"You called me one first!"
"And?"
"Oh, Bell." He pulled back to stare at me now. "Are you really mad at me?"
"Yes."
We just stared into one another's eyes for a moment before he moved away, getting out of the car now.
"Well, I'll be back. When I get back, try to lose the fake tears, huh?"
"They're not fake. I don't like you right now."
"I'm sure."
He took so long in there though, that I was asleep when he got back. At least that's what I realized when he woke me up once we got to his house.
"You coming in?"
I just stared at him bleary eyed for a moment. "Huh?"
"Come on, Bella." He was getting out of the Land Cruiser at that point. "I'll make you a snack."
I just sat there for a moment before moving to get out of the car as well. It was still raining and Owen had come around the Land Cruiser, holding his jacket over my head as he'd done when we walked out of school earlier.
"You have got to start bringing a jacket," he told me as we rushed up to the house. "You know that, Bella?"
"You could just let me get wet. You know, since I'm such a loser."
"Damn. Thought you'd think that was a dream."
"Nope."
"Well then."
When we got into the house, Owen immediately went to his bedroom to change clothes. He'd gotten wet, protecting me. Usually that'd make me ecstatic, but currently it was just annoying me.
"I think we're alone, Bell," Owen told me when he came out again, now in some basketball shorts and a t-shirt. I just sat there on the couch, watching as he carried in some blankets and pillows.
"For you," he told me, setting them on the ground. "While I play Xbox. I get real into, you know, when I'm online or whatever, so I figured you'd just wanna lay down here with me."
I wasn't sure how those two things connected, but did go ahead and oblige by getting on the floor. Owen just smiled as I cuddled under one of the blankets before going out of the room, more than likely in search of food. It's all he seemed to think about other than music anyways.
"Okay, Bell," he said as he came back into the room bearing sandwiches and soda. "Now mind you that this lunchmeat I had to buy with my own money, so you're lucky I'm giving you some. You know Mom and her vegan spiel."
Since the woman's been doing it for years now, I had my doubts on it being just some spiel, but considering I wasn't talking to him at the moment, I remained silent on the topic. Then again, Owen wasn't some wordsmith. There was a good chance he had no idea what spiel even meant.
"Not hungry?" he asked when I didn't even move to take one of the sandwiches. He just picked one up and began to eat, not caring much as he flipped on the television and grabbed his game controller. I was now second in the world. Well, really a lot further down, but I was grouping all the boy stuff like videogames and eating together into one group.
It wasn't hard to fall asleep next to Owen, all snuggled up in blankets and lying with my head on a pillow. He just sat next to me with his back against the couch, eating and playing videogames. That's the life, right?
When I woke up, Owen was mumbling something about scopes while staring intently at the screen. I just snuggled closer to him, closing my eyes once more.
"Bear?"
"Not now."
"I think I'm sick."
"Why do you think that? Just 'cause you're tired?"
"No." I sniffled. "My throat's sore. I-"
"Bella, if you're sick, you gotta go."
"What?"
"I mean, I'll go over to your place with you or whatever, but my sister can't be around sick people."
"Mmmm."
He sighed, glancing down at me. "Do you have a fever?"
"I dunno."
"Let me finish this, huh? Then we can go."
I just leaned my head against his thigh again, closing my eyes. I was freezing now that I had woken up and my headache had only gotten worse.
"Bella."
"Mmmm?"
"Come on. Get up again."
"I don't feel good, Bear."
It was ten minutes later and apparently Owen had finished with his game.
"I know. Let's get you home, huh? Then you can get in bed, go to sleep."
"I wanna be with you."
"Thought you were mad at me?"
"I'm always mad at you."
"You are."
"I love you."
"Poor Bella. She's so sick, she's d- Where are you going?"
I just jumped up, rushing out of the room and into the bathroom where I vomited up everything I'd eaten that day. I swear.
"Bella."
The last thing I ever wanted Owen to see was me getting sick. I'm sure I look horrible when I'm throwing up. Then again, I doubt there's someone who looks hot doing it."
"Uh…here." Owen came into the bathroom too as I flushed the toilet, moving to get me a wet washcloth. "You are sick."
"I'm sorry, Bear."
"No, no. You made it to the toilet. No clean up. That's perfect." He ran the washcloth across my face and I tried to turn away. It was cold as ice or at least felt that way. Owen just kissed my head, sighing slightly.
"This is, like, the worse day ever."
"Let's just get you home, huh? Let me get you one of my hoodies to wear. It'll warm you up some."
"I just want to go home."
"Of course." Owen glance sideways at me again. "You're not going to, uh, do that again, are you? Throw up? 'cause I'd really like to keep that out of my Land Cruiser. Not that I'd be mad at you or-"
"I think I'm fine, Bear."
"I'll bring a bag, just in case."
"Whatever. Can we just go?"
He left the bathroom to go get me a jacket and I went ahead and washed my mouth out. I'd thrown up in front of Owen before, of course, but this had to be the worst kind. All the others were nervous pukes. That's bad, but not this bad. This was real vomit. The nitty-gritty kind.
"There you go," Owen said once we got into the car, his heat turned on full blast. I just sat there miserably, his hoodie way too big on me to keep me warm. It also sort of smelled and was making me nauseous.
"I'm sorry, Bear."
"No problem. Hope you don't mind me bringing my Xbox over though. I just wanna play-"
"It's fine. You don't even really have to stay if you don't want."
"I want to. I just want to play my Xbox too."
Of course.
I was able to stay awake long enough for us to get to my house. Neither of my parents were home though, so I just sent out a text telling them I was there with my boyfriend before calling it a day.
"You wanna go up to your room?"
"Thought you wanted to play that game thing?" I collapsed on the couch with a groan the second we made it to the living room. I slipped Owen's now rain soaked hoodie off before pulling the blanket off the back of the couch and wrapping up in it.
"I do. I just thought you'd-"
"Play it then," I told Owen as he dropped the bag with it inside on the ground. "Go up to my room first though and bring me my pillow and another blanket, please."
I was nearly asleep when he got back. He was carrying with him a little teddy bear he bought me once when we first got together along with the things I asked for.
"You remember this?"
"Of course," I mumbled as Owen put the pillow under my head before throwing the blanket over me. "You got it for me last year when I got the flu."
"Mmmhmm. 'cause I love you."
I smiled weakly as he gave me the bear too. "It's kinda funny now."
"What is?"
"That you're Bear now."
"I am."
"And you got me a bear."
"Teddy bears are pretty common, Bella."
"Let me have this."
"Okay." He bent down and gave me a kiss on the head before covering me over better. Then, of course, he got to work hooking up his game system.
"Can you get me some water?" I asked. "Before you start playing that?"
"Of course."
That was probably the last thing I said to Owen for a few hours. When I woke up, it was to complete darkness. When my eyes settled, I realized that there was a candle burning somewhere nearby. From the shadows I figured it was from the kitchen.
"Owen?" I sat up slowly as thunder shook the house again. Sighing, I got off the couch before heading into the kitchen. I found my father at the table, reading a book by the light of candles, my mother across from him, reading a magazine.
"What are you guys doing?"
"Oh." Dad's head shot up. "You woke up."
"Yeah. Where's Owen? Is the power out?"
"Storm knocked it out, honey," Mom told me, not looking up from her magazine. "I got home before it got real bad. Your boyfriend was here still, playing videogames. I sent him home though, knowing the storm was getting worse. I didn't want him driving home in it at all, really, but knew he couldn't stay here and wasn't sure how long it'd last."
"He mentioned you were sick," Dad said. "Or so your mother said."
"I don't feel good."
"I don't think there'll be school tomorrow anyways," Mom told me. "Powers out all over town after all. Don't think it's coming back on tonight. Did you take any medicine before you went to bed?"
"No."
"Here." She stood before going over to the cabinet and pulling some pill bottles out. "Take these and go to bed, honey. He said you threw up."
"Yeah. Just once."
"Well, take some crackers upstairs with you to snack on if you get hungry. Unless you want to sleep down here on the couch. That's fine too." She handed me some pills. "Your boyfriend was worried about you."
Dad snorted while I just said, "Really?"
"Yes." Mom smiled at me in the darkness. "He really wanted to stay. He kept explaining to me that he thought that you some kind of bacterial infection or something because he looked it up on Google or something. It was very cute."
"Cute, right," Dad grumbled, shaking his head.
"I think I'm going back to bed," I told my mother, figuring it was best to ignore my father.
"Well, we won't wake you up in the morning," she said after feeling my forehead to check for fever. "You just rest, okay? And if you need us, just call for us."
Nodding, I went back to the living room to gather up my stuff before heading upstairs. The storm was still coming down outside, making it a black night. There was no light anywhere, it seemed.
When I made it to my bedroom, I just slipped out of my jeans before getting into bed, making sure to get my cell out of the pocket. Luckily I had enough service to text Owen. I had, like twenty messages from him and three missed calls.
I'm alive, if you're up and want to talk.
It didn't take him long to call me.
"I didn't want to leave you, but when your mom insisted, I didn't want to wake you up. You'd slept so good." Owen didn't even give me a chance to say hello after answering. "Then again, after you woke up the first time you puked, so you know."
"I'm not going to school tomorrow," I told him. "So don't pick me up."
"I won't."
"Do you guys have power?"
"No. Mom and Mallory got stuck over at Cam's."
"You're home alone?"
"Yeah. Just me and my Ipod."
"Poor Bear."
"Poor me."
I cuddled his teddy bear to me before snuggling under the covers. "I forgot about this, you know."
"What?"
"This teddy bear. Where did you find him?"
"He was just sitting up on your dresser. He used to sleep on your bed with you."
"Yeah, I remember."
"Poor Teddy."
"Very poor Teddy. Getting demoted."
"Mmmm."
"I wish you were here to snuggle," I told Owen then. "Don't you?"
"I guess so."
"Bear."
"I don't want to get sick too."
"Mom said that you were worried."
"Of course I was. My girlfriend just got sick out of nowhere."
"Not nowhere."
"Yes out of nowhere. It just sprung up on me. I wasn't expecting it at all. That's out of nowhere."
I sighed slightly. "I love you, Owen."
"Yeah, I know. Feel better, okay?"
"Are you going to be okay over there all alone?"
"I think so, yeah."
"Well, I'd say call me if you needed something, but I'm about to go into a deep sleep."
"Figured as much."
"So I love you, okay?"
"I know. I love you too. And I will be up more than likely if you want to call, alright?"
"'kay."
"Just get better, Annabel. If we don't have school tomorrow 'cause of power being out or whatever, I'll come over. If we do though, I'll come over after. Or before, if you call and tell me you're up. I just don't want to bother you. Or better yet, maybe I'll-"
"Bear, I'm about to pass out here."
"Oh right." He laughed slightly. "Sorry. I'm just-"
"Worried, I know."
"So I'll see you tomorrow, okay?"
"'kay."
After hanging up, I immediately fell back into a dreamless sleep. I think my mother's sleeping pills were drowsy or something. I didn't wake up again until eight the next morning. And even then, it was just to throw up. I didn't even think I had something in my system.
"You up?"
I was in the bathroom, still over the toilet when my father walked by. I just moaned in response.
"You need something, Annabel?" He stood in the doorway. "Do you need more medicine? Are you okay?"
"I think so."
"Go back to bed, huh? I should bring you a bucket from the garage, in case you can't make it to the bathroom."
"I think I'm fine now."
"Better safe than sor-" He stopped as the doorbell rang. Frowning, he headed out of the bathroom, calling over to me that he'd go answer the door before coming to check on me again.
When I made it back to my bedroom, I wasn't shocked to find the car outside was the Land Cruiser. I didn't think about it much before I realized I was still in the same shirt as the day before and also in my underwear. Still, I was already in bed at that point and really didn't care. Owen had seen me in less.
"Bella? You up?" He came into my bedroom, knocking on the open door. "Your dad said you were and that I could come up. Guess he's in a good mood today."
I just peaked out from him from under the covers I'd thrown over my head. "I'm sick."
"I know."
"I just threw up."
He frowned. "Glad we're so open with each other."
"Bear-"
"There's no power. Like anywhere in town. School got cancelled." He came forward, holding out a teddy bear. It was brown as opposed to my other white on that he'd given me before. It was also slightly bigger. Oh, and it was old and ratty and nasty and stained. Yeah, there was that. "I kept waiting to come over and I was so bored. So I got you this guy."
"Kinda dirty."
"Bella, it was mine."
"Well obviously." I threw the covers down a little so I could sit up. I took the bear from him, looking at it. "Was it your favorite stuffed animal?"
"One of them."
"One?"
"I had, like, two the I took everywhere with me. He was just the one I found."
"How'd it make it here?"
"Huh?"
"From Arizona?" I looked up at him. "Safety blanket?"
"You could say that."
"That's cute, Bear." I smiled up at him weakly, moving to lay down again, both the stuffed animals with me now. "Thank you."
"Of course. I just want you to feel better, Bella."
I smiled at him. "I don't feel so tired right now."
"That's good."
"You can stay if you wanna."
"Are you just going to sleep?"
"I don't think so. I'm not tired."
"I don't have anything better to do," Owen said, still standing there, staring down at me. "With the power out and all."
"At least it's Friday," I told him. "So we don't have to worry about school tomorrow."
"The way you feel, you wouldn't have to worry about it any-" He frowned as his phone rang. "That's Rolly, probably."
"Answer it."
"Nah. He'll just want to hangout." Owen silenced his phone before moving to sit in front of my bed. "I want to take care of my girl today."
Smiling, I rolled onto my side, the teddy bears under my arm. "Good. I wanna be taken care of today."
