Chapter 3

Stood in the kitchen I buttered some bread to make a sandwich, forcing myself not to repeat my question. I had already asked Tate twice if he wanted anything but he refused, yet I still felt bad eating when he wasn't. He hadn't ate all day but claimed he wasn't hungry. "I will eat when I go home, I promise." he said, trying to make me feel better.

Tate was currently sat on the counter, again, as I worked on making myself a ham sandwich. Just as I finished slicing it into two triangles my phone started ringing. Quickly snatching it off the counter I pressed it to my ear after checking who was calling.

"Hey mom." I answered, looking towards Tate and mouthing an apology. He simply waved his hand.

"Hi sweetie. How are you getting on at the house on your own? Are you okay?" she sounded worried but then, she had never really left me on my own before now. I told her everything was fine but for some reason couldn't bring myself to tell her about my new friend. "Well that's good, I was just calling to check up on you. Oh, and to let you know we will be arriving not tomorrow but the morning after that so you will only be on your own for one more day."

"Okay, that's fine." I replied distractedly. Tate was pulling funny faces at me trying to get me to laugh. 'Stop it!' I mouthed. "Is everything packed?"

"Nearly, that's why we need one more day." mother replied. I could hear Violet shouting something in the background but couldn't tell what. My mother sighed. "Well I better go, Violet is kicking off."

"What for?"

"Oh I don't know... I think Ben, I mean your dad went into her room to help pack." I cringed. I even felt sorry for Ben as it was not a good idea to touch Violets things.

"Right well I will see you soon... I love you."

"Love you too sweetie. Stay safe." And she was gone. I put the phone back down before jumping up next to Tate, taking a bite of my sandwich.

"So they're coming back soon?" Tate said, breaking the silence. I simply nodded my head as I was still chewing. "When?" I frowned. I couldn't understand the way he had said it but it didn't sound like he was simply curious - there was something else to it.

"In two days. Kind of. Not tomorrow but the morning after that." The curly haired boy next to me simply hummed in reply. With nothing else to do or say I carried on eating. The silence wasn't broken until I had finished one slice of my sandwich.

"So what do you want to do tonight?" Tate asked me, his usual happy self was back I noted. I shrugged, I was never good at thinking of ideas. "Um, how about we go exploring?" I looked at him with my head tilted. I had checked all the rooms upstairs including the attic, but not all the rooms downstairs.

"Well the only place I really need to look at is the basement." I noted his eyes widened slight but brushed it off. He cleared his throat before smiling but to me, it looked forced.

"You don't want to look upstairs?"

"I have checked all the rooms upstairs." I jumped off the counter placing my empty plate in the sink. "Come on, let's check the basement." I didn't wait for a reply - I was already off. I jumped as Tate grabbed my arm as I hadn't even heard the sound of him running towards me.

"What's the point?" he asked me, a slight desperate tone entering his voice. "It's just a dirty old basement. I've checked it. Remember I came here all the time - there isn't anything down there."

"Nothing? Nothing at all?" He shook his head. "Huh... nothing interesting? Nothing-"

"Ruby!" he cut me off, his voice raised slightly causing me to stop. "I promise you there isn't anything down there, It's boring." He had grabbed both my arms and was staring me dead in the eyes. I was starting to feel slightly awkward causing me to shrug my arms out of his hold: he let me.

"Okay, I believe you."

Silence. The boy opposite me shuffled on his feet and put his hands into his pocket. Yes, that was definitely something he did when he was nervous I noted. Struggling to find something to say I blurted out the first thing that came to mind. "Have you seen the rubber suit in the attic?" Oh why did it have to be that!

He gave me an amused grin before slowly nodding his head. So, we both then agreed to head to the attic. I had Tate pull the stairs down since he was taller but he had me go up first. Once both of us were in I walked over to the suit.Tate come up and stood behind me. "Do you think they actually wore it?"

"Well if they did all I can hope for is they cleaned it afterwards." I replied, causing him to laugh. "When my mom sees this she will want it out the house. If it ain't clean I feel sorry for whoever has to touch it to get rid of it."

"Well it looks clean." Tate shrugged, walking away. I turned around, placing my hand on my hip.

"Yeah the outside." I scoffed. I was not going to look inside the thing. What if it actually was dirty. I scrunched up my nose as I turned away. Tate was now sat on the floor on an old mattress that I hadn't noticed before. How hadn't I noticed that?! He patted it, signalling for me to come sit next to him "Is that thing hygienic?"

He rolled his eyes, leaning up to grab my hand and then promptly pulled me down. A little bit of dust floated up as I bounced down onto the mattress causing me to cough. Leaning up against the wall I looked around the attic not knowing what to do. Tate moved back so he was sat next to me, our shoulders pressed up next to each other. I bit my lip at our closeness. I was so sad.

"How long have you lived around here?" I asked after I couldn't take the silence anymore.

"Well... probably all my life."

"Probably?" I questioned, turning so I could see him more.

"Yeah I mean, I'm pretty sure we didn't live round here when I was younger but I can't remember where we lived. Too young you know. I actually can't even remember how old I was when we did move down here." I could understand that. "So let me ask you something... Do you have a boyfriend?"

My eyes widened as I blushed. I profusely shook my head causing him to laugh - great. "No I don't." I stammered.

"Have you ever had a boyfriend?"

"Once about a year ago but it only lasted three months."

"What was his name?"

"Ryan." I looked back up at Tate and noted how genuinely curious he looked. He asked me why we broke up. "I don't know. I guess there wasn't anything really there you know? I liked him don't get me wrong but I was bored. It wasn't fun or exciting. I don't want a boring relationship. I want to be with someone who can make me laugh constantly, someone whose smile makes me smile, someone who knows me and is genuinely interested in getting to know me, someone who doesn't judge me. I want to be with someone that doesn't care if we like different things. I want some who looks at me and-" I broke off as I glanced at him. His entire body was facing me now and as the light shone in through the small window it hit his face causing his dark eyes to shine brightly. It was the look of pure fascination plastered over his boyish face that got to me. "I'm sorry."

"For what?" His voice was low, deep and unnerving.

"Rambling on like that." I started to play with my hair due to my nerves. His lips twitched upwards.

"That's okay." He rubbed his chin before continuing to speak. "So knowing all that how was your relationship with him during those three months?" I gulped. I didn't know why I felt so nervous all of a sudden. It was that feeling when you're being pursued - and not in a good way. Say for example, you're walking home in the dark and you feel like someone is following you. Something like that.

"It was comfortable let's put it like that." I said, bringing my knees up to my chest.

"That's it?"

"Yup." I returned, popping the P. "It was more the familiarity of a best friend then a boyfriend. No spark or anything."

"Well you need a spark." I turned to look at the boy next to me. He had one elbow on his knee and was leaning his cheek into his open palm. He gave me a cheeky smile and that sinking feeling I felt a few minutes ago suddenly left my body. I stood up. "Where are you going?"

"Out the attic. I don't want to sit in here anymore." I didn't wait for a reply as I quickly descended the steps. Tate was right behind me in a flash. I went downstairs and he followed. "Maybe you should go home now. Your mother will be worried and you still need to eat." He looked saddened at this but I really wanted some time on my own. He eventually nodded his head.

"Can I give you a hug before I go?" I took a deep breath before nodding my head. I wrapped my arms around his waist with my cheek pressed against his chest. I bit my lip. The hug felt nice. I was surprised to find myself relaxing into the hug. I felt protected with his arms around me but that scared me. He kissed the top of my head before letting go. "I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Sure." He looked happy again knowing I was letting him come back tomorrow. I shut the door behind him before leaning my back against it. I closed my eyes taking a deep breath.

What the hell was going on with me?

I apologize for this chapter being so short.