Philly Ink

(Abigail’s POV)

I figured Chad would still be sound asleep even though it was eleven in the morning so I had grabbed my key to his place before driving over. He had given me a key years ago when he had first moved into his house. Some people had found that weird, but Chad and I never thought it was odd. We were close friends. We hung out. He watched my daughter. The whole decision had been logical to us.

Opening the door as quietly as I could manage, I slipped inside and closed the door quickly. There wasn’t a single sound through the entire house. I pulled off my coat and hung it up on the coat hook before making my way towards the living room.

The sight that met my eyes made my footsteps falter.

I took a deep breath to calm myself and closed my eyes before opening them back up at the vision of my close friend and my daughter sleeping. It was a mesmerizing sight to see especially since I had never expected to see it happen. I felt the small smile come over my lips before I could stop it.

Chad was sprawled out on the couch with his face turned to the side. Claudia was curled up against his back with her hair fanned out and her thumb in her mouth. It was too darn cute and I couldn’t help but pull my cell phone out of my back pocket and snap the moment in a photo.

As my phone went back into my pocket, Chad stirred awake.

At seeing me standing there watching him sleep, he smirked at me with eyes half closed. “Hey.”

I couldn’t help but laugh. “Hey you. Sleep well?”

Chad sat up enough to look me in the eyes. He was careful not to move Claudia around enough to wake her. “Never better.” He paused to glance around the room before continuing. “What time is it?”

“Eleven.” I answered as I entered the room completely. “What time did you two fall asleep?”

He stretched and managed to move Claudia off of him and onto the couch without disturbing her. Chad stood and approached me. “I think it was somewhere between ten and eleven… I can’t remember.” He glanced over his shoulder at Claudia and a look of adoration crossed his features. “Is she always that excitable?”

“Chad- it’s you. She is crazy about you.” I told him truthfully.

A surprised expression crossed his face. “Really?”

The look he fixed on me made me slightly uncomfortable. Shrugging, I lifted Claudia’s shoes off of the floor and headed to her side. “Yeah. I am gonna get her out of here.”

Chad put a hand on my arm stopping me. “Can we talk for a minute?”

I saw the look on his face and I should have told him no, I didn’t have time. I had to be at work, but I couldn’t find it in myself to say all those things. I had been best friends with Chad for a very long time and he usually didn’t get involved in my affairs unless he had a good reason for it.

“Yeah sure.” I said instead, following him from the hallway and into the kitchen.

Once we were alone and out of earshot, he turned around and crossed his arms over his chest. “What are you going to do about Vern and Claudia?”

“What do you mean?”

“Vern hasn’t changed since you met him, Abby. I don’t know what you think letting Claudia stay with him is doing, but your plan to make him fall for you is obviously not working.”

He almost sounded hurt, but I didn’t have much of a response to the statement. “Point taken.”

Chad took a step towards me and shortened the gap between us. He had a serious look on his face. It wasn’t something I was used to seeing. “If you aren’t going to take this issue with Vern seriously, then at least keep Claudia out of it. She is going to get hurt just as much as you are. As a friend I’m begging you to stop.”

I took a shuddering breath. “I know what I’m doing, Chad.” I told him a bit defensively. “Sure, I’m still crazy about Vern, but he’s let me down enough times for me to not expect much.”

“He lets you down because you let him do it!” Chad wasn’t shouting, but he might as well been. He was pissed and he had every reason to be.

“I’m sorry Chad. I never meant to make this hard on anyone, but I won’t let you tell me what to do about Vern and my feelings for him. That is for me to figure out. Just stay out of it.” I told him angrily before brushing past him.

“Where are you going?” He asked with a roll of his eyes.

“I’m getting my daughter and leaving. I have things to do.” I snapped before going to the living room.

Chad didn’t bother trying to stop me.