Bianca hesitated outside his house.
"You can stay here tonight, just as long as my parents don't find out. Or Drew." Bianca cringed, picturing it. "Yeah, they'll be pissed. And I'm guessing, you don't want people to find out about this, so.." Adam trailed off and didn't wait for her to object. He walked up to the front door and opened it slowly, both of them cringing as the door creaked.
He held the door open for her. Bianca's thoughts still lingered on his words. Someone would find out about this, she was sure of it. And they would most definitely get the wrong idea about what was going on. She argued with herself silently, knowing she didn't have many other options at the moment.
"Come on," Adam grumbled when she didn't move. He grabbed her wrist, surprising her, and he lead her toward the stairs as quietly as possible. Noises stopped him in his tracks and both their eyes went wide.
"Go, go, go!" Adam whispered frantically. "First door on the right, quick!"
He shooed her up the stairs and then turned in the direction of the kitchen where his parents were now appearing.
"Adam Torres, where the hell have you been?" Mrs. Torres shouted as soon as her tired eyes caught sight of him. He let go of the railing and stepped towards them grudgingly. "We have been worried sick! Do you know what time it is?"
"Um..late?" he answered innocently and Bianca laughed, hidden around the corner at the top of the stairs. She clapped a hand over her mouth and continued on her way. She slid inside the room he'd told her without turning on the light. She left the door open a bit, and listened.
Downstairs, Adam was now getting a rather serious lecture.. Most of which he payed attention to; his eyes kept flickering up the staircase and he only hoped his parents didn't read too much into that.
"-grades have dropped, storming out, and now you're staying out past curfew!" Mrs. Torres was saying, sounding exasperated. "I don't know what to do with you."
Adam hesitated, biting his tongue. Did he really want to get in more trouble?
"And not to mention that boy you're hanging around with. He's such a bad influence, and I honestly don't think you should be spending so much ti-" his mother continued.
Now that was going too far. "You can't keep treating me like a kid!" he shouted back suddenly. "What about Drew? Or haven't you noticed that he's not home yet? If it was me, you'd have called the cops by now!"
"I'm just," Mrs. Torres said, "worried about you. What you're going through isn't easy and I just-"
"I'm not a kid," he repeated even more loudly. "And I'm not going throughanything. Face it, you're dissapointed because I'm not the 'perfect daughter' you wanted, right? This has nothing to do with my safety and you know it."
Mr. Torres spoke up now. "Adam, you know that's not fair. Your mother and I have a right to worry about you. Maybe we.. over-stepped it a bit tonight. But after what happened before at that school dance, and even before that, with your Grandmother coming to visit.." he said reasonably, trying to mediate the situation.
Adam crossed his arms, refusing to comment on that subject.
Mrs. Torres was silent for once too. She looked back at her husband, as if it were difficult to look at her son. She breathed in unsteadily, still looking away, and Adam shook his head. His mother would never get over this.
"I'm going to bed." he stated tonelessly. Mr. Torres called his name but he ignored it, taking the stairs two steps at a time. He turned the corner and opened his bedroom door to see Bianca, lounging on his bed and not bothering to hide herself in case it wasn't him. He couldn't resist slamming the door behind him just to piss off his mother.
"Geez," Bianca commented when he flicked on the light, "What happened to you?" Adam gave her a look. She didn't hesitate to throw one back at him. They glared at each other for a moment before breaking into equally reluctant smiles.
"Okay, fine. You win." Adam muttered, leaning back against the door and staring at the floor.
"I'm guessing you heard all that?" he asked after a moment.
Bianca shrugged. "Wasn't exactly trying to, but.." she replied, staring at the comforter rather than him.
"Yeah, sorry about that. I knew they'd be mad, but ever since Vegas Night they've been ..." Adam shook his head. "I just, don't want to be treated differently.. That's it. I didn't used to think that was so much to ask." Bianca looked away again and they lasped into silence.
She blinked now, and it took a moment for her to re-open her eyes. Tonight's events were really taking a toll on her...
"You're probably tired. You can take the bed if you want, I'll sleep on the couch." Adam said now, suddenly eager to get out of her way. Bianca watched him as he gathered blankets and such, refusing to start thinking about everything until she was well away from Adam.
His back was turned, rifling through his closet for a moment and Bianca's mouth seemed to be glued shut. She parted her lips and took a small breath; This was harder than she thought.
"Thank you," came a soft, quiet and sincere voice that was so unlike her own it surprised them both.
He looked back at her for a moment, kind of stunned and she felt like rolling her eyes again.
They stared at each other from across the room, and for a moment Bianca thought he was going to kiss her again. But after a few agonizing seconds, he merely shrugged.
In the distance, she heard a door close and knew that the other Torres brother was finally home. Adam went to the door and listened for the sounds that meant his brother had snuck up the stairs and into his bedroom. When all was quiet, he nodded to Bianca, looking satisfied that they hadn't been caught. Bianca stood to prepare for bed as well.
"Try anything and you're dead," she warned him and he rolled his eyes. She let his jacket drop to the floor and started to pull of her t-shirt, revealing the thin tank top that was underneath. His eyes lingered on her for a second, then muttered a quick, "Goodnight." and left the room quickly.
Bianca stood there for a moment, staring at the door where he'd just dissapeared with a hesitant smile threatening. This wasn't so bad, being with Adam. Even if they were just friends. (Friends that couldn't afford to be seen in public together, the voice in her head corrected, but she ignored that for now...)
She sat on the edge of his bed, letting herself be happy for a moment. Because for sure she would spend tonight, awake and terrified that she would wake up to the sound of heavy footsteps creeping closer to her bed like all those years ago. But for a while, she allowed herself to smile and hold on to any shred of peace she had left.
Bianca ran her fingers along the sheets and dug her nails into the dark fabric, clinging to it. She felt safe here. It was disconcerting to think how huge a difference Adam's presence made...
But vivid memories were coming on strong and she couldn't supress them much longer. Her mom was probably worried by now; it was late. Was Donny gone already? It wouldn't surprise her if he'd stormed out immediately after she'd left.
She unclenched her fingers from the sheets and got beneath the covers, pulling them tight around her shoulders. Bianca shivered and squeezed her eyes shut. Unfortunately, that made the tears she hadn't noticed before roll down her cheeks.
Bianca tried her hardest to keep her thoughts safely in this room but it was quickly becoming unbearable. She opened her eyes and pulled in a shaky breath. She couldn't help but feel relieved that she wasn't home right now.
Why did he have to come back? More importantly, why was her mother so blind that she couldn't see what a monster he was. And Bianca would have to go home soon... Relive the days of her childhood she'd only just begun to block from her memory, because of a certain beanie-wearing tenth-grader. She didn't know if she could handle it...
Bianca eventually grew tired and it was suddenly difficult to keep her eyes open. She welcomed the break from reality sleep provided but realized too late that she wouldn't be enjoying sweet dreams anytime soon.
