A Little Hope

Chapter 11

Chapter 11

I woke up to the sound of insistent knocking on my door.

Yawning, I stretched on my bed and slowly pushed myself to my feet before almost crawling to the door. I was in the middle of a second yawn when I opened the door to find a fully dressed Gavin, with his hair messed up on top of his head and half of his button-down shirt, still left open. I momentarily forgot that I just woke up and openly stared at the man.

"Oh, hey, did I wake you?"

I blinked at the sound of his voice and lifted my gaze from his chest to his eyes.

"No, I always look like a zombie halfway through the day." I grumbled.

Leaving the door open, I turned my back on him and sat down on the bed. Checking the time, my eyes widened at the time displayed there. It was already eleven thirty, time for lunch.

"Sorry, your sister is hungry and your parents told her we would take her out for lunch. She's been nagging on us to leave for the past hour now and we weren't going to leave without you. So, here I am, fetching you so the hungry people downstairs can go eat." Gavin explained.

I felt the knots forming in my stomach just at the mere thought of leaving the house and facing the people inside the town. Was I really prepared to try and seem unaffected?

"How did you find my room?" I asked after a moment, trying to distract myself.

Gavin's face filled with colour this time and he actually looked a little sheepish.

"I saw you and your father outside this room last night."

I sighed at his confession and nodded my head. This is not the distraction I was aiming for.

"Oh..."

Silence filled the room again and Gavin looked utterly uncomfortable in my room.

"Okay, well, I will be downstairs with the rest of them when you're done with... whatever you have to do." Gavin stumbled over his words and hesitantly made his way to my door.

"It was their room." The words left my lips before I could stop them.

He tensed at the door and turned his head slightly to the side.

"I wasn't prepared to walk into the house and see that door." I admitted.

Gavin turned around to face me with pain filled eyes and leaned back against my door.

"Can I admit something to you?" Gavin asked.

I forced a smile onto my lips and nodded for him to go ahead.

"The reason I didn't talk to you or try to contact you this week is because I did not know how to really act around you. Especially not after what you told me."

I already knew this but I didn't want to interrupt him. Shifting slightly on the bed, I crossed my legs and waited for him to continue.

"I can't imagine what you went through at such a young age and then having to grow up so fast. You already had children and then you lost them as well. I really don't know how to react to all that."

His one hand settled on his other elbow and the discomfort was starting to show on his face.

"Act like I never told you any of it." I said in a soft whisper.

By the way his eyes widened, I knew he heard my words but could not believe it.

"How do you expect-"