Count Me the Hours

I was awoken the next morning, semi early, by the sound of Dree and Stephen arguing quietly.

"What am I supposed to do, Stephen? She's heart broken, her mother and sister are awful, and she has no where else to go," Dree hissed to him.

I had to strain my ears to hear them, and my best guess was that they were in the kitchen.

"I don't have a problem with her staying here. I just don't think Josh will be willing to give up his room for however long. I'm just being honest," Stephen said back, calmly.

"I'm sure we can bribe him somehow," Dree mummbled, obviously scheming.

The sound of their conversation was drowned out by the sound of approaching footsteps. As far as I knew, Dree and Stephen lived alone, but I had heard them mention a possible opened room for me  Confused, I opened an eye to get a peek.

Padding across the livng room was a guy around the same height as Stephen. He was in only a pair of sweatpants, his chest bare. His arms displayed several tattoos and his hair was a platinum blonde.

"Who's the chick on the couch pretending to be asleep?" he asked once he reached the kitchen.

"My cousin, Tallulah. Mila's sister. She's the one who's with Garrett," Dree explained. I could hear a lot of moving around in the kitchen and I guessed that they were making some assemblance of breakfast.

"If she's with him, why is she here?" he questioned. Dree didn't answer.

A silence followed and I figured that it would be the best time to greet the day. I stood up and stretched, my borrowed shirt riding up. I stole a glance in the mirror across the room and tried to smooth my hair.Since I'd fallen asleep while my hair was wet, it was sticking up at all sorts of odd angles. I made a face and shrugged before walking into the kitchen.

When I entered the room, all three sets of eyes turned to me, each of them with a different look in their eye. Dree's eyes displayed a worried, sympathetic look. Stephen look amused, probably because of my hair. Mystery Boy looked intruiged.

"Morning," I said awkwardly with a wave.

"Are you hungry?" Dree asked instantly, jumping into damage control mode.

I shook my head, leaning back against the countertop. I looked up and met eyes with Mystery Boy. I had to admit, her was very good looking. As soon as I thought that, a pang of guilt stabbed through my stomach.

For a moment, I had forgotten about the mess I'd created the night before. My heart sunk down the my stomach and I bit my tongue, trying to fight back tears. I pressed my lips together and left the kitchen, going back to the sofa.

I picked up my phone from the coffee table and found that I had no messages from Garrett, no calls either. Heartbroken, I let out a long breath, my shoulders drooping.

"You okay?" somebody asked, the voice coming from behind me. I whipped around to see Mystery Boy standing there, watching me.

"I'm fine," I said, turning back around. I stared absentmindedly at the coffee table in front of me. I was sitting Indian style, my phone sitting on my thigh.

"You don't look fine," he commented, walking over and sitting on the couch beside me.

"You don't even know me," I informed him, glancing over at him, feeling a bit hostile.

"I'm Josh," he said, extending a hand towards me. I looked at him skeptically, eyebrow raised.

"Lu," I responded, rolling my eyes as I shook his hand.

"Nice name," he commented. "And now we know each other." From his tone, I couldn't tell if he was being sarcastic or not. I looked over at him, not sure what to think. He smiled at me, but my face remained blank. He opened his mouth to say something else, but Dree walked in.

"You're gonna have to go get your luggage from Garrett's house. I would have done it, but I just got called into work, and Stephen has plans with his parents," she explained, running her fingers through her hair quickly. She had already changed into a black pencil skirt and a button down blouse.

"I can't go over there alone," I said quietly, looking down at my lap.

"I'll take her," Josh said, standing up.

"I don't think so," I said with a scoff.

"You are so fucking hostile," Josh told me, his voice deadpan.

"And you need to mind your own business," I spat at him. I stood up and we stared each other down. My hands clenched into fists and my lips pressed together in a fine line.

"Enough!" Dree said loudly, earning our attention. "I don't care what the hell goes down with this. Lu, you can go alone or with Josh. Josh, you can go get her bags by yourself if you want, it doesn't matter. Just figure it out and don't kill each other." She threw her phone and her wallet into her purse and grabbed her keys before walking out the door, leaving the two of us simply standing there.

I sighed and glanced over at Josh. "Will you go over there and get them for me?"

"I will, but I can't guarantee that all of your panties will be in the suitcase when I return it to you," he quipped, send a wink in my direction.

"You're disgusting," I informed him. I ran my tongue over my teeth before walking away.

Dree had laid out a pair of jeans and a t-shirt for me in the bathroom and I changed into them quickly. I ran a brush through my hair and washed my face. Using toothpaste and my finger, I managed to "brush" my teeth. In my own opinion, I looked rather disgusting. Routing through the cabinet, I was able to find a hair tie and I pulled my hair back.

I walked back into the living room to grab my phone and my keys to find Josh sitting on the sofa with his feet up on the coffee table. He had changed and was now wearing dark jeans and a plaid shirt.

"You women always take so long to do everything, whether it's getting ready or making a fucking sandwich," he informed me.

I rolled my eyes. "Can we just go?"

"Oh, so I'm allowed in your presence? This is such an honor," he said, very excitedly, clapping his hands together once.

"You're an asshole and I'm leaving," I told him, taking a step towards the door.

"I'll drive," he announced, taking long stride's to reach the door before I did. He opened the door and walked out first, holding it open for me. I gave him a look and he shrugged, smiling at me.

The fifteen minute drive to Garrett's was awkward and silent. I was leaning into the door, watching out the window, imagining in my mind the way things were going to go down once we reached our destination.

Josh parked on the street outside Garrett's house and he looked over at me. "How do you want to do this?" he asked.

I let out a quick sigh. "I'm not entirely sure," I said truthfully. My insides had already started with the nervous jitters, my stomach tying itself into thick knots.

"Want me to go in with you?" he suggested, his hand already of the door handle.

I shook my head. "I should be fine," I said reassuringly. I'm not sure if I was telling him that, or myself. Taking the plunge, I opened my door and stepped out of the car, the hot air hitting me harshly.

My heart pounding and my mouth dry, I walked up the driveway to the front door. The door was locked and feeling a bit light-headed, I knocked.

There was no answer, so I stood there awkwardly for two minutes, taking deep calming breaths. I knocked again, biting down on my lip. Once again, I raised my hand to knock and the door swung open quickly.

Garrett stood on the other side, looking very disheveled. His hair was everywhere, and he was only in a pair of sweatpants. He stared at me, his eyes full with many different emotions. I looked down at my foot, pressing my lips together.

"Can I help you?" he asked, his voice icy. My eyes darted upwards, daring to meet his.

"I need my stuff, Gare," I said, my voice barely above a whisper. Our eyes finally met and he blinked at me, opening the door further for me to enter the house. I stepped in and started up the stairs.

As I gathered my stuff, he watched over me, leaning against the door frame of his room. I'd steal glances at him every few minutes and he was still giving me the same look.

His expression was hard to define, but it hurt me to see it.

"Garrett," I started quietly.

"Save it, Tallulah," he responded with a quiet sigh. He looked away from me.

"I didn't want this to happen. I didn't want it to end up this way," I said, trying to explain my actions from the previous night.

"Well, it fucking happened," he yelled, causing me to wince strongly.

"I didn't come here to fall in love, or get laid, or whatever, okay? I didn't want to come here to begin with." already, I was blinking back tears, staring down at my suitcase.

"Well, I wish you hadn't!" he shouted.

"Garrett, I'm sorry!" I said loudly to be heard. "This was all a mistake, I didn't mean for this to happen!"

"You don't care about anyone but yourself. You can't get over John and you're ruining your relationship with Mila over it. He dumped you three years ago, get over it! Move on with your life and maybe you won't be such a frigid bitch!" he spat at me.

"I dumped him, you know that! Don't spin that around on me, you asshole!" I paused. "I'm leaving," I stated, mostly to myself as I got to my feet.

"Please do! Go back to New York, run away, I don't care, just get the fuck out of my sight," he yelled, just a Josh entered the room.

"Hey, calm down, man," Josh said calmly, holding a hand up to stop Garrett.

"Oh, you're with him already? Perfect, fucking perfect. I knew you were a bitch, but I didn't realize you were a slut too," Garrett said with a scoff.

"Don't talk to her that way," Josh said in my defense, taking a step towards him.

Grabbing my bag, tears streaming down my face, I left the room and quickly walked to the car. Josh hadn't locked it, to my relief. I put my bags in the back and slid into the passenger seat, wiping my eyes furiously.

By the time Josh walked out of the house ten minutes later, my eyes were dry, but still red.

When Josh god in the car, he looked at me. "Are you okay?" he asked, raising his eyebrows.

I nodded silently and I noticed his lip. "Holy shit, did he hit you?" I asked, covering my mouth with my hands. His lip was split and bloody. He took his lip between his teeth, hiding the evidence.

"I'm fine," he said, starting up the car.

"I cannot believe he hit you!" I said, pulling the door handle to go back into the house to hit Garrett myself.

"No," Josh said, hitting the lock and pulling away from the curb before I could do anything.

"Josh, he fucking hit you! Why are you okay with that?" I demanded, getting angry all over again.

"What happens happens," he told me calmly.

I thought about what he said and I felt a sharp stab to stomach. The words echoed through my head and it made total sense. I had fucked things up with Garrett, now I was with Josh, and who knows where the day would take us.

What happened with Garrett couldn't be changed.

I was biting on my tongue to keep from crying. The more my eyes burned, the tighter I clenched my jaw, until I tasted blood, then I lost it. I looked down and regretted putting my hair in up. No curtain fell to hide the fact that I was crying. I could feel Josh's eyes on me as he drove.

Eventually, he pulled into a parking lot and stopped the car.

"I need a smoke," he said, stepping out of the car. I was unsure whether he was saying it to himself or to me.

Once I was alone in the car, I let out a sob. Tears streamed down my face as I pressed my lips together tightly. My face felt hot and puffy and I tried to calm myself down. I didn't work very well.

Whether Josh was giving me space or was a very slow smoker, I wasn't sure. I dried my eyes enough to be presentable and stepped out of the car. I walked around to the driver's side and leaned against the metal surface beside him.

He looked down at me and gave a me a comforting smile. I blinked and another tear slid down my cheek. He wiped it away nonchalantly, putting an arm around my shoulders. He pulled me to him and I found myself pressed against his well muscled chest, my face against his collar. I took a deep breath, accidently inhaling his scent of smoke and after shave. It was rather nice, I had to admit. He held me there for a minute and I just focused on not crying.

"You good?" he asked, his arm still around me. I nodded, my nose catching on the collar of his shirt. "Are you hungry?" I shrugged. He kissed the top of my head, much to my embarassment. I realized then that we were at Denny's.

He kept his arm around my shoulders as we walked into the restaurant. We got a table and sat on opposite sides of the booth. I sat slouched down into the seat, as if trying to sink into the seat. I had propped my feet up on the seat across from me, beside Josh.

We ordered and ate in near total silence. It was very awkward, but the silence was just what I needed.

Josh paid for my food and I thanked him quietly. We drove back to Dree and Stephen's and carried my bags into the apartment. I showered and changed into a pair of basketball shorts and a tank top.

"Hey," Josh said, stopping me when I left the bathroom.

"Yeah?" I asked, still trying to towel dry my hair.

"I cleaned my room up a bit and changed the sheets if you wanted to take a nap," he told me, pointing to the door that went to his room.

"I think I'll take you up on that offer," I said with a nod. And I did.