*Cody's POV*
After I called for the pizza I went back to the couch to wait for it to arrive. It was late but neither of us was tired. I asked Kitty several times but she insisted that she was awake. I doubted that considering her shirt was still backwards. She spaced out every now and then too but then again that's how she always was. I tried to focus on the TV and not on the fact that she kept texting Niall. She hadn't mentioned who the texts were from but I knew it was him
Her phone beeped as she got another message. I got up from the couch and walked towards kitchen a bit annoyed. Alright, a lot annoyed. She looked down at the phone and smiled again. It pissed me off that he could get her to smile so easily. He always had, that pest
"Who keeps texting you?" I called trying to sound uninterested. I looked in fridge, trying to remember where I put what I was looking for
"…Niall" she answered carefully, confirming suspicions. I hated him. Why couldn't he just leave us alone? Every time I tried to be alone with Kitty he'd be there, one way or another. It was never just her and me, he always had to show up and ruin everything.
"What does that bloke want?" I asked unable to hide how annoyed I was. Once I found what I had been looking for I pulled the drink from the back of the fridge and walked back to the living room.
"Don't call him that…" she said in a sweet tone. That was only thing that ever stopped me from punching his face in… she cared about him and would've been mad. She never liked it when I got into fights. "He… just wanted to see if I wanted to… have dinner with him this week…" she added quietly. That pissed me off even more
"Are you going?" I asked as I tipped bottle to take drink.
"I don't know… I –" she stopped when she saw what in my hand. "Is that beer?!"
"Yup" I grinned as I flopped down on the seat next to her. She continued to stare
"Since when do I have beer?" I laughed at her comment. That would be her first question
"I bought a case this morning before you got up" I replied, taking another drink from it. It made me happy to see she had completely forgotten about him. I could see the half written message on her phone screen. She hadn't even sent it.
"Why are you drinking?" she asked sounding a little worried. I rolled my eyes at her but she kept her face serious, making me answer
"Because if I don't I'll die of thirst. You see, our bodies, while solid, are made up of 90 percent water –"
"You know that's not what I mean" she said and hit my shoulder playfully. I love it when she does that. "And besides, they're only 60 to 70 percent water"
"Well aren't you the little brainiac" I teased and put my arm around her. I took another sip. "I just felt like one is all"
"Just don't drink too many okay?" she answered in a little voice and looked down at her hands. She was worried about me. I wasn't exactly a perfect child and had started drinking much younger than I should have. Ever since then she had told me to stop and while I didn't she did get me to drink less. I always had anger issues and while I normally masked it with sarcasm or snide comments alcohol was one of the few things that would help me unwind. The other was Kitty.
I squeezed her shoulder so she would look up at me. Her amber eyes stared up at me and I forgot what I was going to say. I remember when I first met her, back when I still believed in cooties; I had convinced myself she was an alien. No human could have such beautiful eyes. I had spent hours thinking about them and the way they would shine. In the shadows they looked almost green but would turn gold when light hit them. A lot of people thought they were hazel but they weren't. Hers were nowhere near as dull or boring as mine. They, like the rest of her, were pure perfection…
"Are you drunk?" she surprised me by asking and I laughed.
"No, course not! I'm not even done with – oh" The bottle in my hand was now completely empty. I burst into laughter again and stopped suddenly. Weird, it usually took a few more before I felt the effect of it. Must be her presence; adding to the effects of the alcohol. Usually she alone was enough to get me drunk
"Cody" she sighed and I smiled a huge smile. She looked a little surprised and I realized I usually didn't show her how much I loved it when she said my name. Figuring I could just blame the alcohol for it later I rested my head on her shoulder and reached my arm to meet the other at her shoulder, hugging her.
"Kitty" I sighed in reply and closed my eyes. I couldn't see her but I could tell she was smiling. I smiled too. I felt her move as she put her phone back in her pocket. Wondered if she texted Niall back. It wouldn't matter if she had. He was miles away and I was here, right next to her. My smile widened
"You okay?" I heard a slight laugh in her voice
"Never better" I looked up and gave her a goofy grin. She laughed. Niall wasn't the only one who could get her to do that. I grinned smugly. The doorbell rang and I let go of her so she could get the pizza. I went back to the kitchen for another beer and heard her as she thanked the guy and paid him. Well technically I had paid him. I made sure to give her more than enough money for the pizza. I would not let her pay for anything while I was around.
"Come on or I'm eating the pizza without you!" she yelled from living room and I laughed. I hurried back pretending to be scared by the news but she frowned when she saw my hand. "Another one?"
"Relax it's just two," I tried to reassure her but failed. "This will be my last one… tonight anyway" I promised and she nodded reaching for a slice of pizza. She worried too much about me. She was too good.
"I don't know how you can even drink that" she said and wrinkled her nose. I shrugged finding her too adorable to be able to speak. I took a mouthful of it and she made another face. "Seriously, doesn't the taste bother you?"
"At first it did, yeah. Jeremy had to practically shove my first one down my throat. After a while though, you get used to it." I took a bite of my own slice taking almost half in my mouth. I swallowed and took another swig from the bottle when I realized Kitty was staring at me. "What?"
"You're saying that you were forced by someone to do something until you eventually started liking it?" Her tone made me feel uncertain but I nodded
"I guess, yeah…" I answered curious as to where she was going with this
"…Isn't that like Stockholm Syndrome?" she asked completely serious and I burst out in laughter. I wasn't sure if it would've been that funny without the alcohol but I couldn't stop myself. I almost spilled the drink but she didn't complain. When I finally stopped I was left with shallow breathing and shook my head. "Well it is…"
"You," I said and pinched her cheek, "are adorable."
"Don't call me that…" she mumbled in a finishing tone but I answered anyway
"Why not? You are a very adorable little girl" I teased reaching for her cheek again but she slapped my hand away.
"I am not little" she said defiantly crossing her arms and I laughed. Both at the gesture and at the comment. She was sweet and innocent as if she were little but she definitely did not look it. She had developed quite nicely over the years and to be honest I had to constantly remind myself not to stare. In fact a lot of the fights I had in school were because others didn't hold the same courtesy I did. I knew she wasn't my girlfriend but that didn't mean I was going to let them get away with that
I laughed a little to myself and rested my head on her lap, putting my beer on the edge of the coffee table as I did. She stiffened a little but made no attempt to kick me off. I closed my eyes and nuzzled myself against the soft fabric of her sweats. I bet Niall had never done this with her. He was too much of a coward to try anything. I was scared too but unlike him I had a good reason. If I were to lose her I would be left completely alone
While Niall was off being annoyingly social I never had many friends. I had people I hung out with sure but no one who actually cared about me. I was the screw up. I hung around with other screw ups. On top of that I had anger issues which caused me to beat up a lot of kids. Most were scared of me before they even met me. And unlike all of them, Kitty never was. More of a reason why I thought she was an alien. She was too sweet to me, too perfect… I didn't deserve her then and I didn't think I deserved her now. But that didn't mean I wouldn't keep on trying