I slept in the garage.
I promise it's not as bad as it sounds. Of course, it wasn't comfortable, but it was better than the second option.
When I came home from work yesterday evening, exhausted and barely on my feet, there were still two cars in the driveway that indicated Dad was still playing poker. And since I have met his friends many times, I know that I could not pass by them without being stopped.
The last time I got involved with them, I ended up hearing some disgusting comments from old men. No, thanks.
So I found myself sleeping in the garage. Again, not comfortable, but better than engaging in conversation with those guys.
Dad didn't say a word when I came through the front door in the morning and went into the room without a word. I slept almost half a day in my own bed, which has not happened in a long time.
Finn texted me asking if I would stop by today, but it was too late and I had to go back to work, so I just quickly wrote back that I couldn't.
I also missed Jeremy's phone call, but he left a voicemail saying that yesterday they had agreed on the next weekend and listed who was going. Adrian is taking Destiny, Jeremy Ellie, Lincoln mentioned a woman named Penny, Stefan decided to go alone, and of course, Luca is taking Zack. He also said that we will meet again sometime to work out the details.
I only wrote him a short message for all that, saying that I have a lot to do now, but they should stop at the bistro sometime.
I flew out of the house, afraid that I would miss the bus. On the way to the bus stop, I was putting my hair in a high braid, hoping that it would somehow look good.
Apparently, today was not my day because I missed it anyway. And since I had to walk, I arrived late. And to top it off, people must have gone crazy because the bistro was completely full.
It was a chaotic evening. I barely had time to breathe.
Since we were all exhausted, they took pity and helped me clean up so I wouldn't have to do it alone. I thanked them about every five minutes.
And just when I thought that today would not be more difficult, the last bus passed before my eyes and I had to walk home again.
My legs could barely carry me home. I swear I could fall asleep on my feet. I knew that when I got home I would not take a shower and go straight to bed because I really had no energy left.
I was only a street from my house and I was so looking forward to my bed that I sped up, which I thought was impossible without energy.
When I was already approaching my house, I wanted to lie down in the middle of the road and let myself be hit by a car.
There were two cars in our driveway again that were there yesterday.
I didn't know if I wanted to cry or scream to the whole world.
As I contemplated going in, despite them being there, a loud laugh rang out from inside, bringing back unpleasant memories. At that moment, I knew that I wouldn't go in there even for money.
I looked at the garage where I had already spent one night and my face looked like I ate a lemon. I don't want to sleep there again.
The only solution I could think of was to sleep over at someone's place, so I called Jeremy. I knew he might be asleep so I would wake him up, but I really wanted to at least sleep on a couch.
It rang five times before he declined my call. Not that he didn't pick up, but he declined.
Maybe he is asleep and automatically canceled the call without looking to see who is calling him. I thought to myself.
I dialed another person in my contacts, which was Luca. He didn't decline the call, but he didn't pick up either. I waited and waited, but finally, the call was canceled automatically.
The last person I called was Stefan. When he picked up, a small stone fell from my heart.
"Lexi?" He spoke, but it was barely audible due to the background noise.
"Stefan? Where are you?"
"I'm helping Adrian with work because they lost the bartender, why? Is everything okay?" He shouted over the noise.
"Um, yeah, I just..." I sighed. "Could I sleep over at your place tonight?"
"Yeah, I'll go get the bottles, give me a second." He spoke up. "I'm sorry Lexi, what were you saying? I can't hear you."
I opened my mouth to repeat what I said but gave up. "It doesn't matter."
"I'm sorry, but I really have to go. But we'll call tomorrow, okay? Yes, I'm going, Adrian! Sorry, Lexi, good night."
"Good ni..." I didn't finish because he hung up.
Now I know I don't want to scream, I want to cry. I'm so exhausted I don't even know what to do.
Anytime Lexi. I'm serious. You can take the bed next time, I'm not sleeping in it anyway. I suddenly remembered what Finn told me. At the time when he said that I said to myself that I wouldn't accept the offer because I didn't want to throw him out of his own bed, but right now it's his bed or the garage.
I quickly found his name in my contacts and thought for a few seconds whether to call him or not. I finally decided to give it a try.
He might not even pick up. I thought to myself.
He picked up after a few seconds. "Lexi? Everything okay?" His voice came from the other end of the call.
"I'm sorry if I woke you up, but..." Come on, Lexi, get over it.
"I wasn't sleeping. What's going on? Don't tell me you're just finishing work now."
"No, I'm home now, but...uhm...could I sleep over at your place tonight?" I wished he would say yes. I really don't want to spend another night in the garage, I won't feel my back in the morning.
"Of course you can, but..." He didn't finish the sentence, but I knew what he meant. ...but why? "It's late, I'll come get you."
"No, you don't have to, you're still in pain and..."
"Stay where you are." He cut me off. "I'm leaving the apartment, I'll be there in a few."
I wanted to argue that I would walk, but the only thing that came out of my mouth was, "Thank you."
"I'll be right there. See you, Lexi."
"See you." I said quietly and I was the one who ended the call.
I walked further from the house in case they decided to leave, although I would have said no because of all the noise. I sat down on the sidewalk in front of the house and waited for Finn.
It didn't take long and a car stopped a few feet from me, from which Finn got out. I stood up and walked over to him. He was standing by his car looking at my house and the cars in the driveway.
"Are you okay?" He asked when I was next to him.
"Yeah, it's just..." I shook my head. "It doesn't matter. Thanks for coming."
"Anytime. Come on." He nodded to his car, and when I thought he was going to sit down, he went to open the passenger door. "What?" He asked after I looked at him for a long time.
"Nothing, sorry. I'm just tired." I walked past him and sat down. Finn closed the door behind me and went to the other side of the car.
He doesn't even realize how glad I am he's here. He doesn't know what all this means to me.
It is obvious that Lexi is tired. She can barely keep her eyes open.
When her name flashed on the screen of my phone, I immediately picked up, and when she asked if she could sleep over, that's when I got off the couch and went to get my car keys without any hesitation.
I found her sitting on the sidewalk in front of her house. I noticed two cars in the driveway and noise coming from her house. It was mostly male laughter.
I wanted to ask her about it, but she looked so exhausted that I let it go for now. She fought not to fall asleep the whole way to my apartment. She kept rubbing her eyes and even asked if she could open the window.
I saw her relax when we entered my apartment.
I closed the door behind us and found Lexi standing still. "Lexi?" I walked in front of her and immediately noticed tears in her eyes. "Hey, hey, hey, what is it?" I asked, worried that I had done something wrong.
"I'm just exhausted and emotional. I'm sorry you had to come get me. It was so stupid." She shook her head. "I just should've gone in and..." She cupped her face in her hands.
"Lexi." I said warningly. She apologizes to me one more time and I'll really explode. "I'm glad you called. I already told you that you can sleep here anytime and it wasn't a problem for me to come get you. I don't know what happened and you don't have to tell me, but if you didn't feel comfortable at your house, I have no problem with you staying here." I grabbed her hands and removed them from her face. "Why don't you go take a shower while I find you some things to sleep in? Are you hungry or do you want some tea? Do you want something? Anything." I skipped looking between her teary eyes.
"Hug?" She said timidly.
I laughed, knowing she would be okay. "Yes, even a hug." I took a step towards her and wrapped my arms around her, resting my head on hers while she rested her head on my chest.
"Dad is playing poker with some of his friends and I didn't want to go there. They're surely drunk and..." She let out a shaky breath. "I called Jeremy and Luca but they didn't pick up. Stefan was helping Adrian with work and I didn't want to...I didn't want to sleep in the garage again."
Of course, she called them first, I knew they meant a lot to her, but that doesn't make it hurt any less.
But that's not what I stopped at.
"When did you sleep in the garage?" I frowned and Lexi obviously froze. "Lexi?" I pulled away from her.
She mumbled something under her breath, but I couldn't understand her.
"Louder."
"Yesterday." She said a little louder, avoiding eye contact.
"Goddamnit, Lexi." I shook my head with disappointment. "Why didn't you call?"
"I didn't want to burden you." She said quietly.
"Okay, let's clear something up." I lowered my head to her so I could look her straight in the eyes. "You need a place to sleep, you call me. You need a ride, you call me. You need a stupid tea from the store, you call me. Anything you need, you call me. And one more time I'll hear from you an apology or that you didn't want to burden me and..." I didn't have time to finish because she wrapped her arms around me and nearly took my breath away as she hugged me. She held me as if her life depended on it.
"Thank you." She murmured into my shirt.
"And that's another thing. You don't have to thank me for everything." I put my hands on her back and hugged her back, tighter than before. "Not you, Lexi. I'd do whatever you want." I buried my head in her hair, breathing in her vanilla scent that soothed me.
"I just need someone to hold me."
"And when you need someone to hold you, you call me. Got it?" I pulled away from her and lifted her head.
"Yes." She smiled.
"That's my sunshine," I said with a smile on my face. "Now go take a shower and then go to bed."
"I can sleep on the..." She stopped the moment she noticed my look. "The bed sounds good." She nodded quickly.
"Exactly." I nodded my head behind me to the bathroom.
While Lexi showered, I took out one of my t-shirts and left it folded on the bed. I was already sitting on the couch when she got out of the shower.
Before long she came around the corner wearing my t-shirt and I immediately regretted not giving her some sweatpants. How can she look so good in something as simple as my T-shirt? If she were my girlfriend, she wouldn't be able to walk around the apartment in anything else.
Girlfriend? What the hell am I saying? Lexi is a friend, that's where it ends.
Someone should tell that to my dick.
Before she could notice, I threw a blanket over me and cleared my throat.
"Thanks for the shirt." She smiled.
"Of course," I said with a narrow smile. "You should go to bed, it's late and you're tired."
"I know, but..." She bit her lip as if she didn't know whether to say something or not. "You said if I needed anything..."
"Yes of course, what do you need?" I almost jumped to my feet. Damn it Finn, get it together.
"Could you hold me for the night? It's just because when you hold me it makes me feel safe and...of course you don't have to, I just...it was stupid, forget it. Night." She turned on the spot and disappeared around the corner.
Before I could recover from the first part of her sentence, she already changed her mind that it was stupid and went to sleep. What just happened?
She invited you to bed, that's what happened. Now get your ass up and move.
And for the first time, I listened to the voice in my head and followed her. I turned the TV off and the lights as well, and stopped by the bed for a while.
Lexi lay on the left side with her back to me while I looked at her. What if she changed her mind? What if...
"Are you going to lie down or stand there all night?" She spoke and I couldn't help but smile.
I slowly slipped under the covers and moved closer to her. I put my arm around her and she immediately intertwined her fingers with mine. I could feel her warmth and worse, I could smell my shampoo on her. Not a chance I'll ever trade it for another one.
But we're friends, right? This is what friends do, right? She needs me, so I'm here for her.
Fuck, this night is gonna kill me.