Burn Me Away

Seeing them approach on the sidewalk, he backed away from the doorway to give the three of them room to come inside. He noticed that the blonde headed young woman seemed overly nervous as she insisted on walking closely with Craig as she held her pint-sized little daughter in arms.

"Okay, so, I guess I should introduce you guys." He started. "This is Courtnee and this her daughter, Maddie. Guys, this is my friend Corey."

"It's nice to meet you." He said politely offering her his hand.

"You too." She tried her best to smile as the sleeping little girl in her arms began to move around restlessly. "I'd shake your hand but I think she has other ideas."

"Well, if you want, there's a couple extra bedrooms at the top of the steps on the left. You could go lay her down."

She glanced at Craig who nodded that it would be all right.

"Court, I'm gonna head out." He waved to her before she ascended the steps to the bedrooms. "You guys will be okay here."

She bit her lip cautiously and nodded. "I hope so."

"So, up the stairs on the left?" She asked again to be sure. The last thing she wanted was to be wondering around this guy's house like some kind of crazy person.

With his hands crammed in the front pockets of his blue jeans and he shook his head up and down. "Yeah, I can show you."

She followed him up the stairs still holding the toddler in her arms and glancing around at the various items that hung on the walls. Some band posters, concert adverts, and various other items decorated the cream colored walls. She wondered if he'd arranged everything. It all looked so neat and organized.

"So, here's those two extra bedrooms. Nothing special just a bed, couple dressers, and a t.v. There's a bathroom right across the hall. My room's at the opposite end." He stretched his hand out to point towards his room. "And i have a bathroom in there so you can have this one to yourself." Out of the corner of his eye he could see the child fidget again and even swore he heard her mumble something in her sleep. This made him smile to himself. "Go ahead and lay her down. Then if you want, I'll show you where everything else is in the house."

"I think she's going to be out for a while." She whispered as she closed the door softly.

"I think she was out before you came in the door." He joked then changed the subject awkwardly. "Yeah, so like I said....my room's down there, there's the bathroom." He was in the midst of trying to show her around when she suddenly interrupted him.

"How much did Craig tell you?"

"Huh? About?" He tried to play dumb.

"Maddie and me...."

"Oh," he cleared his throat anxiously. "Not a lot. Just that you needed some place to stay."

"Ah, okay."

"And I won't ask. So you don't have to tell me if you don't want to." She could tell by the sincerity in his eyes that she could trust him and couldn't help but think that maybe she and Maddie would be okay there after all.