The Gift

Chapter Eighteen-Awkward

Trusting Eli wasn't a regret. When we had finally gotten out of town, and found a motel to stay at, he wasn't as bad as Cole. He was actually gentle, and nice. To everyone. 

He had checked out two rooms, and then we got the keys and then headed to Wendy's, which was right across the street. We ordered, and sat down in a corner, away from everyone else. Everyone stared at Blizzard, and I knew he wanted to speak to make them stop, but he held himself back. Smart.

"So, who's sharing rooms?" Eli asked, as we all ate our food. Blizzard said quietly, 

"I don't care where I sleep, as long as someone is willing to share a bed with me." And then he kept eating. 

"I'll share with Chase." Emma said.

"One of the rooms only has one bed, the other has two. Any of you have a problem with sharing?" Eli looked around at us. I didn't really. As long as the bed was bigger than a twinsize, we could both just stay on our sides.

"I can share with Emma," Chase said, before I could. Emma nodded absently, still devouring her food. Jeremy looked at Blizzard.

"We could share, right dude?" He asked Blizzard, but he made it look like he wasn't talking to Blizzard. 

"Sure. I just need a bed." Blizzard said. And that left me with...

Eli. Awesome. I should have spoken when I had the chance.

"You guys are good with sharing, right?" Emma looked at me, pretty much directing the question towards me, because we both knew Eli wouldn't mind as long as we could all just work it out. I nodded, looking down at my feet. 

"Yeah, I am fine with it." I muttered. Eli nodded, and then bit into his chicken sandwich. 

                                                                     *          *          *

When we had finally gotten back to the motel, of course Emma  wanted the room with two beds, and so did Blizzard, and so they all went inside. Again, leaving me with Eli. Not that I was scared, but I had no experience in sharing beds...especially with guys. I took up pretty much my entire bed, unless of course, I shared with Blizzard.

When we got in the room, I finally stretched, yawning and thankful to be able to see a bed. It had been a long day, and seeing the bed just made me more tired.

"I can sleep on the floor," Eli said. I looked at him. As much as that would make things a lot less awkward, I wouldn't make him sleep on a motel floor. 

"No, it'll be fine." I shook my head quickly, and then smiled slightly. He half smiled, and then stretched his arms above his head.

"Okay." He said. 

"Um, I'm gonna take a shower real quick..." I muttered, and then I walked off quickly. I closed and locked the door behind me, and quickly put the water on. I undressed, and took my hair out from my ponytail, and then stepped inside. I never thought the feeling of the shower would ever feel so amazing. 

When I was done, I dried my hair and wrapped my towel around my body. It was short, and I forgot to get extra clothes. I walked out and stopped dead. I saw Eli, dressed still, reading something. And I looked around. My bag wasn't up here. I forgot it downstairs in the car.

"Um..." I looked back into the bathroom and my dirty pile of clothes. Shit. I'm an idiot. 

"Need something?" He asked, still reading. 

"I forgot my bag downstairs." I sighed. He looked up from his book, eyebrows raised. Damn, I'm still getting used to him looking like Cole.

"Okay." He said. "You can borrow a shirt?" 

I could have died of embarassment. Of course this had to happen to me. It's not like he's saying he's gonna strip and give you his clothes..you can just borrow one of his. 

"That...would probably be the best thing to do." I sighed. Or he could go get my bag. But I wasn't going to ask. He shouldn't go down there alone, as much as he looked intimidating and mean, he wasn't. And plus, it'd be rude to ask.

He grabbed me a shirt and then tossed it to me. Me being stupid, I let go of my towel and went to catch it. My towel went loose and dropped to the floor, and I squeaed and dropped to the ground, grabbing it and wrapping it around myself quickly. It all happened too quick for Eli to look away, so he just looked down and pretended nothing happened. Thank God, had he said anything I might have just dropped down dead. 

I grabbed the shirt, muttered "Thanks," and rushed back into the bathroom. My cheeks were burning as I pulled on his shirt. It was long enough to cover my butt, thank God. I wasn't about to put on dirty underwear, and I didn't wear anything to bed but a T-shirt anyway. Although I should have put something on, since it wasn't my shirt, I was absolutely disgusted of dirty clothes. Even if they were mine.

I grabbed them and then opened the door, and walked out. I looked around for a place to put my clothes. Eli looked up.

"You okay now?" He asked. "Now that we have some clothes on..."

I blushed, and looked away. My underwear fell from my pile, and fell at my feet. He raised an eyebrow at them, and I groaned and quickly picked them up. They were black lace, with a bow on them. I'm just batting 100 tonight, aren't I? I thought bitterly, as I dropped my clothes at the wall finally. 

"Sorry...for...all of that," I muttered, scratching my head. "I can put them on...I just..." I broke off, looking down. He smirked.

"It's fine." He told me. "We'll get your bag tomorrow. You need to go to sleep." He said. I nodded, and walked over to the bed. He was already on his side, so I climbed on and got under the covers. He turned off the light, and so only the moon illuminated the room. 

He got out of bed, and I secretly turned around to see if he was getting on the floor, but instead he was taking his shirt off, and then he dropped it on the floor. My stomach twisted, but at the same time there were butterflies flying around in it. Him and Cole just gave off the sexy "make out with me" look, and it always made me have to look away. But right now I couldn't, because he was staring right at me, smirking.

"Enjoying the view?" He asked. My eyes widened and I covered my eyes with my hands childishly, even more embarrassed. I didn't understand how he was still sane. I'm so stupid. I feel like he thinks I'm doing all these things on purpose.

"Sorry..." I said, and then I rolled over.

"Never said I didn't want you to," he told me. My cheaks heated and I buried my face in my pillow. Why couldn't this all just be over right now?

He got back in the bed and said nothing more. I relaxed a little, closing my eyes and falling asleep almost instantly.

                                                                      ***********************

Maybe I should bring Cole in again? Or should I leave Eli with no competition? ;) Looks like both of them sort of grew on her, but Cole is just guarded...and he's kind of a blank canvas. No one knows anything about him really. Hope you enjoyed! Which boy do you like best, Eli or Cole? :)