Page 98 of Love Collided

“I didn’t really do much.”

“You fed me and got into bed next to me. That’s all I needed.”

I ran my hands over her. We were both still naked, but somehow it didn’t feel sexual, it just felt normal.

“I needed you tonight, and you were there. Thank you.”

“What are friends for?” she joked.

“I have never been jealous of your guy friends before, but if you are cuddling naked with them, we need to talk.”

“Eww, gross.”

“Then I am glad we are more than friends to be doing this.”

“Yes, friends with benefits.”

I didn’t even want to respond. This may be her first time attempting a friends with benefits situation, but it wasn’t mine, and I already knew we had moved way past the line of only being friends with benefits. For some reason, the moment I went to say that, though, I couldn’t.

Instead, I ignored the aching in my chest and kissed her head instead. “I like these benefits. Are you really wanting me to stay the rest of the week here? I can manage fine at home.”

“Yeah, I really do.”

I shifted to pull her further on top of me, somehow needing her closer, even though that wasn’t possible. “I have a dinner on Sunday I can’t miss. It’s going to be pretty funny showing up looking like this.”

“Is your dad going to be pissed?”

“Oh, he already is. The hospital called him as a next of kin type thing. They knew who I was. He already called to bitch at me for a solid thirty minutes for hanging around dangerous people and getting myself in trouble.”

“Dangerous people,” she said with a small laugh. “Did they come to the hospital?”

“No, they are out of town. A relief for them, I’m sure.”

“I doubt that.”

I closed my eyes, taking a deep, shaky breath from the pain. Physical and mental. There was something weird about admitting to someone that no one cared about you, even the people that were biologically supposed to. Could anyone really see past someone’s flaws if their own family couldn’t?

I ran a hand up her arm to her face and then through her long hair, comforted by the fact that even though we had lived two completely different lives, she was one person who could understand that exact thing about me.

She propped herself up on an elbow, searching my face, but I wasn’t sure what for.

“What are you doing, Hellcat?” I asked, my voice a tight whisper.

“Looking at you.”

“Why?”

“Because I like what I am looking at.”

“Hours of you being so sweet to me is absolutely breaking me. I never thought I would have you like this.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, I knew I was getting the friends with benefits thing, I didn’t know I would be getting treated like king of the fucking world. I don’t know if you ever treated your ex-boyfriends like this, but I have no clue why any man would choose anything other than being in this bed with you every night if you gave him the option. I know I’m a little fucked up on pain pills, but you’re fucking amazing, Scout.”

She was quiet for a second, still looking at me until her face pinched. The room was almost too dark to see them, but I felt every tear drip onto my chest.

I wasn’t really sure how she held it together this long. The day had almost broken me and I was pretty sure my chest was hollow. Hers somehow held a thousand hearts but she waited until now to fall apart.

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