"He's asleep" I whisper to myself as I looked down on Cody on my lap. I stroked his hair and felt well that he was finally relaxed; I hated it when he drank. Alcohol did nothing but hurt people. I understood that he liked it but that didn't make it okay…
After I was sure Cody was deep in sleep I went back to texting Niall. It was late now and I was a little surprised he was still awake. Cody mumbled and rolled over a few times but stayed asleep. I had a knot in my stomach as I thought about both of them. I was sure I loved them both but that shouldn't be possible. They were so alike yet so different... My brain started to hurt
I had gotten distracted again and stopped texting Niall. It wasn't fair to him that I kept doing that. But before I could feel too bad my phone started to play Lego House. I brought it up to my ear to answer before Cody woke up.
"Hello?"
"So do you want to have dinner then?" was first thing Niall said. I smiled
"I don't know. I just don't want to leave Cody alone…" I whispered
"Leave him with Lexi; I'm sure she won't mind." He said it so calmly but I knew he was a little upset that I was basing my decision on Cody. I laughed at his comment anyway
"Yeah I guess. Where would we go, though?"
"Why not at your place? We could cook something together like the good old days." The idea of spending time together like we used to made me feel giddy. Giddy enough to use the word giddy. Or think it at least
"You mean have you eat everything I make before it even gets to the table?" I laughed and he laughed too. "I do want to but I just don't want to leave him alone…"
"He'll be fine" he said annoyed. He paused when he noticed tone and tried again. "I mean he will have time to look around the city. Maybe find a flat while he's at it"
"What if he gets lost?" I knew it sounded dumb considering it was Cody but still I worried for him.
"That's what smartphones are for. Please?" he begged and I couldn't help but give in
"I'll talk to him about it. If he says it's okay then we will, okay?" He agreed and after a little more talking we hung up.
I looked down on Cody and continued to stoke his hair. He was so cute. His forehead was creased as if in deep thought. I know people always said others look younger when sleeping but I always thought the opposite with Cody. I was unsure of what his dreams were about but they always made him frown, making him look like he had wrinkles. He was still really cute though.
I sighed and started nudging Cody awake. I was feeling bad about it but I had to wake him up. Cody grumbled and moved away from my hands but after a minute he got up. He rubbed his hands against his face and rolled over so that he could look up at me. Besides that he just stayed on my lap
"What?" he whined. His voice was deep and groggy, full of sleep
"You have to go to bed"
"I was" he grumbled but gave me a sleepy smile and sat up. "Were you talking to yourself?"
"Um, no… Niall called" I said carefully and watched his smile fade.
"What did he want?" he asked, his tone even but his eyes weren't happy
"He… wanted to talk about dinner"
"So where are you going?"
"Actually he wanted to come here" I said, suddenly finding my feet very interesting
"Did he" Cody said through gritted teeth. I looked up to see an irritated smile on his face. "Well I hope you two have fun"
"Cody…"
"No, I mean it. Who am I to stop you two? Go, have fun. Or actually stay would probably be a better word." He got up and started to walk away
"Wait" I called standing up too. From the speed I accidently knocked against something on the table and it fell. I heard a crash. Cody turned back around immediately
"Stop!" Cody yelled at me. I stood motionless. He never yelled at me
"Cody –"
"No, I'm serious! Do not get another step closer!" I was now hurt. Was he really that mad that I was having dinner with Niall? "Sit on the couch and put your feet up."
"What?" My hurt was replaced with confusion. Cody walked away and into the kitchen. I looked down. The crash I heard had been the bottle Cody had put on the table breaking. Oh. I did as he had said and sat down with my feet up on the cushions. He came back in with a broom and dustpan. Cody kneeled down in front of glass and began sweeping. "Sorry"
"For what? I was the one who put it there" he smiled a small smile. Once all the glass was in the dustpan he stood up. "Stay there"
I nodded at his command. Cody left to throw the glass out. I looked down at my feet and frowned. If I had brought some shoes and worn them like Cody I could've helped. Or at least some slippers or something. Now that I thought about it I actually really wanted some slippers. I should go get some slippers. I nodded and smiled to myself at the decision
"What?" Cody laughed. I jumped a little at the sound of his voice. He had made no noise coming back. He was crouching, looking to see if he there was any more glass he might've missed. I shook head at his question and we smiled. He pushed against his knees and stood up. "I think that's good"
"Okay." I was about to put my feet down when Cody grabbed my legs. He frowned at me and set them back up on the couch
"What are you doing?"
"Standing up?" I asked wondering what else he could've thought I was doing
"Put your arm around me" he ordered and leaned in.
"Why?" He sighed and put an arm on either side of me. I couldn't have moved even if I wanted to. Not that I really wanted to
"There might still be glass around" he insisted and gestured for me to grab onto his neck. I didn't
"You said it was good" I whined
"You can never be too sure." Before I could protest more Cody put one of his arms around my waist and the other under the back of my knees. He pulled me up and I grabbed onto him on reflex. He chuckled as he carried me past the living room and up the stairs. I reminded myself to breathe evenly as he pushed his way into my room and lay me down on the bed
"I could've walked up here myself" I grumbled to distract myself. Cody had started taking off shirt
"Yeah well too late for that" he smirked and came to sit next to me
"You're not mad at me are you?" I asked hopeful. Before the broken glass thing he was acting very bothered. I mentally thanked my clumsiness for distracting him. He sighed and shook his head
"No, not at you…" he said. "You know how I feel about Niall and, well, you telling me that you'd rather kick me out and spend time with him isn't my idea of good news."
"I'm not kicking you out" I protested. He rolled his eyes
"So you wanted me to join you two?" he scoffed
"No but I wasn't going to do it if you weren't okay with it…"
"What do you mean?" he frowned not understanding
"I told you, I'm not kicking you out. If you would've said no to me I would've said no to Niall"
"Did you tell him that too?" he mocked not looking at me
"Yes." He heard my voice was serious and looked back to me. He raised his eyebrows when he saw I really was serious. A smile spread though his lips
"Well I guess one day on my own won't be so bad" he said in a soft voice.
"Are you sure? And you wouldn't have to be alone, Lexi could show you around."
"No, it's fine. I can look for a place while I'm at it. You know some go for rent before the space is even free"
"Well you can stay here as long as you want. You know that right?" Cody smiled wider and nodded at my words. Out of nowhere, he stood up. His action was so sudden that the movement of the bed almost made me fall back. "Where are you going?"
"I'm going to clean downstairs. I should run a rag over floor or something just in case there are little glass shards still there"
"You already swept, it's fine! I'm not going to hurt myself" I complained and crossed my arms. I knew he was doing this for me. He chuckled at me still standing in front of me
"Yeah, well, knowing you you'd find the one piece of glass that I missed." I rolled my eyes and made a face at him. He countered by leaning down and planting a kiss on my forehead. "Goodnight"
Cody left the room before either of us could say another word. I stayed on the bed and listened to the sound of him working downstairs. After a few more minutes of waiting I got up and went into my mum's room. I sent Niall text a quick text confirming the dinner before settling into bed. I cuddled in it and made myself comfortable. The sheets were soft, I liked these sheets. My phone beeped at Niall's reply. He mentioned we should have it tomorrow. Or tonight actually; it was passed midnight. I put the phone back where it was, thinking about Cody and Niall. I tossed and turned in bed for a while before sleep finally overcame me. Why did life with those two have to be so hard?