reticent

61

• AMALIA •

The night goes perfectly. I feel like I'm in a fever dream, and I hope that I wish up and everything is back to normal and that Archer will stay with me.

     I don't. Instead, he drops me off at my house at half twelve at night. I turn to him as I sit in the passenger seat, eyes flooding with tears.

     He smiles at me, though. Then he leans over the console and presses his lips against mine. My hand travels up to his cheek as I kiss him back, pulling away after a few moments.

     "Thank you," I whisper. "Tonight was amazing."

     His smile widens. "I'm glad you liked it."

     "I loved it." I reply.

     I glance out the window, finding two of the blinds in the living room window slightly parted. Mason peers through them, and I sigh.

     "I have to go in now." I say.

     "I'll see you tomorrow?" He questions.

     I nod.

     "Okay. Bye. I love you."

     I smile. "I love you too."

     I climb out of the car, wishing I didn't have to. Archer waits until I'm in the door before pulling out of the driveway with a wave goodbye. I wave back.

     I hear Mason shout my name as I close the door behind me, however I ignore it and continue upstairs. I lock my door, take my makeup off, get out of my dress and change. I'm about to get into bed when Mason yells my name again, this time from outside my door and accompanied by a knock.

     "What?" I shout.

     "Let me in." He says.

     "I'm going to sleep."

     "You're not supposed to lock your door when you're sleeping, Lia, you know that."

     I heave a sigh and stand, then open my door. My older brother stands there, a smile on his face.

     "Come on." He says, ushering me out.

"Mason." I whine.

He doesn't reply, leading me down the stairs and into the living room. He sits me on the couch beside a tired looking Grayson, who smiles and wraps his arm around my shoulder.

     "I'm tired."

     "We wanna watch a movie." Mason says, sitting on my other side and squashing me between them. As he looks through movies on Netflix, he adds: "did you have fun?"

     I nod. "I just wanna go to bed."

     "Yeah?" Grayson whispers.

     I nod again.

     "That's too bad." He says, planting a kiss in my hair. Mason smirks as he lands on a movie.

•

I fall asleep within minutes of watching the movie. But I feel myself being gently lifted up into strong arms and carried up the stairs, then tucked into bed.

     When I wake up the next morning, it's to the sound of my phone ringing. I yawn and grab it off my bedside table before putting it to my ear. "Hello?"

     "Hey, Amalia." Mia says softly. "You okay?"

I nod as I reply, even though she can't see me. "Yeah. You?"