Give Me Love

I stumbled backward through the doorway, turned around and scurried down the porch steps and braced myself against the hood of Rachel’s car. I could hear an uproar of voices come from inside of the house but my mind was fuzzy. Why had I come to this place? I searched my mind. It had something to do with Collin, I knew that.

The sound of the screen door opening broke through my thoughts and the crunch of someone’s feet came closer. “Hey, are you okay? You can come in for a glass of water or something if you need it..” I turned and saw the kind face of Seth looking worriedly back at me.

I pushed the stray strands of hair that seemed to always frame my face back. “I-I’m okay, really.”

He didn’t look so sure, “Let me at least take you home. You don't look so good.”

“I didn’t drive, Rachel did. I’ll just walk home, it’s not that far from here.” I held my head with one hand, it was still spinning a bit. I turned and started to walk away from him.

“Then I’ll walk with you,” he said cheerfully and fell into step with me. “I’m Seth.”

I smiled, “I know.” Suddenly a rush of realization hit me and I stopped mid step at the end of Sam’s dirt driveway. “Collin. Jake.” I turned an accusing eye on Seth himself, “I need to talk to them. What’s happened to my brother?”

A flash of sorrow crossed Seth’s eyes, “I don’t understand.”

I crossed my arms and motioned to him, his shirtless self. “Collin does that too, hardly wears clothes anymore. It’s nearly wintertime and you and him and Jake all walk around like it’s July.”

Seth shuffled his feet, “It’s really complicated, Kara.”

I felt my heart skip a beat as he said my name but I ignored it. “I’m sure I’m smart enough to follow.” I turned my eyes to look at Sam’s rustic house. I could see bodies in the windows, they were almost all huge bodies, except a few of the girls.

Seth shook his head and took my elbow, leading me away from the house. “Let me just walk you home, okay? Let’s talk about something else.”

I gasped at the heat of his touch and without thinking I placed the back of my hand on his forehead then moved it down to his cheek. He had to have a fever of at least one hundred and four, as I rested my hand a beat longer on his cheek I felt him lean into it a bit. “Are you okay? You’re burning up.”

This seemed to snap him out of it a bit and he shook his head, though his cheek didn’t leave my hand. “I’m fine.”

I took my hand away from his cheekand surveyed his face. His wide, deep chocolate colored eyes surveyed me as I touched his shoulders and neck, the heat was everywhere. “This isn’t normal, you need to see a doctor, like right now.”

He chuckled and took my hands off of him, “This is normal for me, it’s something I was born with.” I raised a brow, he did seem healthy enough. We began walking again though a bit of a silence hung between us. “Why are you walking me?”

This seemed to catch him off guard, “You seemed shaky in there... I just want to make sure you get home okay.”

“But Collin didn’t rush out and he’s my brother,” I said incredulously. “You did. I don’t even know you.”

He sighed, “Okay fine, ask me questions and then you’ll know me.”

I laughed at his childish answer, “Okay, how old are you?”

He looked worried as he answered, “Nearly seventeen."

“What?” I opened my eyes in shock at him. He was nearly six feet tall with a built body, he couldn’t only sixteen. “You look like you could at least pass for someone nineteen.”

“How old are you?” When I answered with eighteen he shrugged with a smile. “That’s hardly a year.”

My face held a confused expression, “What do you mean hardly a year?” He blushed and just stayed silent.

I hummed as I tried to think of another question to ask him, instead I got distracted by watching the way he walked. His eyes constantly darted around, but they seemed to do it slowly. It was like he was watching everything, seeing everything but still stayed focused. Seth’s shoulders were tense, the muscles were hard with tension and that tension traveled down into his chest and back. He walked a bit in front of me but still managed to sneak glances at me. His arms hung by his side, his hand was only a bit higher than my own. I could easily reach for and hold it if I wanted to.

I pictured what it would be like to hold his bear paw of a hand, it looked soft...“Do you have a girlfriend?”

We both blushed at my outburst, “N-no, I don’t.”

I bit my lip, why did I just ask him that?I inwardly scolded myself as my cheeks burned with embarrassment. “How do you know Sam?”

Seth made a clicking noise with his mouth, “Complicated.”

I huffed and rolled my eyes at him. “I’m not stupid.”

“I know, but it’s just hard to explain.” I nodded and we let a comfortable silence rise again. We didn’t talk again until we reached my driveway, twenty minutes later. “We should hang out sometime.”

I raised my brows, though the idea was severely tempting, I still didn’t know if he or any of those other monsters, including Collin, back at Sam’s house were doing drugs. “Tell me what’s going on with my brother, cousin and you and we can.”

Seth smiled, “I will, eventually.” He put his number in my phone, gave me a hug, that was super warm, and headed back to Sam’s.

I stepped inside, saw my dad in the kitchen, called out that I was home and rushed upstairs to my bedroom. My thoughts raced, a thousand miles an hour. All of them somehow had something to do with Seth. His tanned skin, his dark but kind eyes, his cropped hair, his white teeth and how his left canine was the slightest bit crooked. How I remembered the little details was beyond me. All I had planned to do was grab Jake and Collin and interrogate them, instead I found myself laid out on my bed with a racing heart from any single thought of this new boy, Seth.