Bedtime

I sit on the couch watching The Munsters.

"I'll be out watering the weeds dear"

I giggle and bring my knees up to my chest. This is my favorite show.
The front door opens and a familiar voice calls out.
"I'm home!"

Craning my neck I see Blake's figure retreating into the kitchen where mother is.
When the TV switches to a commercial I get up and scamper into the kitchen, wanting to give Blake a hug, like I always when he arrives home. Picking up their conversion, my body stops outsides the doorway.

"-It'll only be for a week, he's working most the time so he won't be a bother"
They're talking about Mace.

"I don't know, I'm not sure about having a teenage boy sleeping in the room next to your little sister"

"Mother! He's not like that!"

"Oh honey he might not be, but still I don't know him..."

"Please? he doesn't have anywhere else to go"

I hear a sigh from my mother and I silently beg her to not break, to tell him no.
Holding my breath I wait for her reply.

"...Fine, but if he's staying under my roof, he will obey my rules"
My jaw clenches. If only she had met him and if only Blake had noticed how strange and creepy Mace is, maybe this wouldn't be happening.

But it is.

So I must deal with it.
Like a big girl.
Like Blake would want me to.

Peeking around the corner I see Blake pull out his cell, punching in a few numbers. He presses it to his ear and waits for a reply.

"Hey dude, she said yeah...Okay....Yeah...Just come over whenever you get packed man" He claps his phone shut and turns to mother.

"Don't worry mom, he really won't be any trouble"

"Well I trust you" She ruffles his hair smiling.

Swallowing hard, I bite the inside of my cheek.

I hope it takes Mace a really long time to get packed....

*X*

7 minutes.
It took him 7 minutes.

How does anyone pack everything they need for a week and drive here in only 7 minutes?
It was if he had already known she was going to say yes and he was simply waiting to get in his car and drive here.
Something doesn't seem right as he walks through the front door, with a suspicious smile.

"Well that was fast" Laughs Blake as he and Mace walk into the living where I am seated. My eyes are fixed on TV screen, where the blake and white figures move around and the canned laughter erupts, but I am not watching.
I am listening to Blake an Mance

"Yeah, I just threw a few shirts and jeans into a bag and got the hell outta' there" He chuckles, sitting down next to me.
He turns to me.
"Hello miss Farrah"

I barely glance at him.
"Hello"
My voice is small.

"You like The Munsters, huh?"

"Yes"
Why is he talking to me?

"I do too, mind me watching with you?"

I want to say yes, but I look at Blake, he is sitting in the lounge chair a foot away smiling. He hasn't had a friend over or hung out with really anyone since he finished high school.
Mace is his friend and it makes Blake happy when he has friends.
If it makes Blake happy, then I will deal with it.

"No, I don't mind"

*X*

It's nine o'clock and Blake is showing Mace the guest room, his room for the time being.
It's right next to mine.

I lay in bed, listening to Blake explain where everything is and the house rules for after dark.
I break one of those rules by sneaking into his bed every night.
He leaves that one out.

He finishes and goes to his room, getting ready for bed.
I wait like I do every night.
For all the lights to go off.
For the sound of my fathers strange snores from down the hall.
For the house to become still.

Soon darkness, stillness and soft snores settle in the house.
Pulling the blankets away from my legs, I quietly climb out of bed. Cringing as the mattress squeaks.

Shutting my door softly behind me I hurry into Blake's room. He sits in bed, staring out the window.
I crawl up next to him and curl into his warm side.
He puts an arm around my waist.

"Farrah do you not like Mace?"
I freeze up at this question.

"Why do you want to know?"

"Because, you seem uncomfortable around him"

"I just-" I try to think of a good reply that won't make him mad at me "I just don't know him, he's just a stranger to me I-I guess"
I hate lying to him.
I want to tell him the truth.
That Mace scares me.
That something about him just doesn't seem right.

He looks down at me an unreadable expression on his face.
"That's it?"

"Yeah.." I close my eyes, acting sleepy.

"If he ever does anything that upsets, just tell me Farrah"

"Okay"
I smile, a little bit of relief washing over me.
Eyes still closed I lean up to kiss where his cheek should be, but my lips meet with something much softer.
His lips.
I don't move for a moment.
It feels nice.

He jerks away, I open my eyes to see his startled face.

"Did I do something wrong Blake?"

"N-No" He stutters "Go to sleep Farrah"

"Okay" I murmur closing my eyes once more, leaning against his chest.

Just before sleep takes me, I swear I hear the creaking of floor boards in the hall...