Chapter 20

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I twisted the door handle, watching as the brightness from outside shined on the inside. It was dark, and my father wasn't in the living room. I slowly walked inside, shutting the door behind me as I made my way to the kitchen. With my luck, he was probably upstairs, sleeping in his bed for once.

I sighed, turning around to make my way upstairs. With one large gasp coming from my mouth, I jumped. My dad stood in front of me, a lazy grin plastered on his face.

"Well, I haven't seen you in weeks," He slurred, setting his beer bottle down on the table. His breath smelled like alcohol. "Could have sworn that you were my kid." He made his way behind me, opening the fridge as he started to look for something to eat.

I looked down to the floor. "You're drunk," I muttered. "Again."

"What was that?" He turned around quickly but clumsily, his eyes slit.

"You drank too much again," I told him, carefully choosing my words.

"You're right," He admitted, putting his elbows on the counter as he quietly muttered, "Why don't you go to your room. It's getting past your bedtime anyway."

I looked at the clock placed above the couch. As much as I hated to admit it, he was right for once. We had spent at least four hours at the hospital, and it was almost 8 o'clock.

I sighed quietly, turning around as I started walking towards the stairs. Just when I thought I was let off the hook, I heard my father's voice behind me.

"And uh," I turned around, watching him as he grabbed his beer bottle off of the table. With one motion, he dropped it with a loud crash. The glass fell to the floor and broke into pieces. "Clean that up, why don't you." He snickered, making his way towards the small hallway. I watched him as he made his way to his room, slamming the door after him.

I felt tears come to my eyes. I don't know why I was starting to cry. Maybe it was because I had noticed how much my father had changed throughout the years. He was always a jerk, but it got worse over time.

I slowly walked to the shattered glass, bending down as I started to gather the pieces in my hand. As I got the large edges of the glass, I heard a shuffle behind me.

"What happened?" Penny's voice rang through the kitchen.

I gasped, standing up quickly. I turned around, accidentally squeezing the chips in my hand. I hissed at the pain. Looking up, I saw Penny staring down at me with a frightened expression on his face.

"What the hell happened?" Penny asked me, moving forward to grab my hand. It was bleeding to the point where I ran down my arm.

"He just—" I paused, shaking my head as I tried not to stutter. "He dropped his beer bottle, and I wanted to pick it up."

Penny shook his head. "You know that's not what happened."

I looked down to the ground. I couldn't have him against my dad; more than he already was. "But it is." I felt my voice began to shake.

"Ariana," He leaned in closer. "When we leave, he won't be able to come near you. Ever again." His eyes looked focused on mine.

The thought of never seeing my own father again made me feel weak. But the thought of never coming home again, to my friends, made the feeling of depression even worse.

My eyes started to water once again. Penny gripped my face with his hands, rubbing my skin. His hands were warm. don't want to leave them." I choked out. "I can't even tell them! How the hell am I supposed to tell them?" I asked him, Penny pushing me towards him. He held me into a long hug. "What do I tell them?"

"We'll figure it out." Penny assured me. "In the meantime, find some time to rest. It's been chaotic for you in the past two days." Penny caressed my hair with his thumb. It automatically calmed me down.
"We'll let you sleep for a while."

"How the hell is she supposed to sleep?" Xander walked into the room. "Once we get her panties together, it's go-time."

Penny glared at him. "How the hell is she supposed to sleep with your loudmouth rambling all the time?" He snapped.

Xander rolled his eyes, sitting down on the couch as he grabbed the remote. He turned on the television, kicking his feet up on the coffee table.

I subtly ignored him, grabbing Penny's arm to move him farther away from where Xander sat. Ignoring the grip I had against him, Penny softly grabbed my hand. I hurt myself once again. I was an idiot, once again.

  

I sat still on the bathroom counter, Penny gently wiping the remaining blood off my hand. There wasn't enough blood or glass shards to need stitches, fortunately.

"I think we better keep you away from glass objects from now on." Penny slightly chuckled, bringing the washcloth up to my face to wipe the remaining tears.

I grabbed onto his wrist, his hand still making contact with my cheek. I looked into his eyes. If I didn't know why better, I'd think he would make an amazing doctor.

He took off his hand, slowly putting it on my leg, his other hand grabbing the washcloth to put it on the sink.

Penny had previously taken off his jacket, and all that was left was a white, long-sleeved shirt that fit him just right; it showed off his muscles.

I think I should stop staring.

But I'm not going to.

Penny raised an eyebrow, a small smirk forming on his face. I noticed his expression, quickly looking away. I felt my face burning up. He caught you staring, nice going.

He leaned down to reach where my eyes were looking. I made eye contact with him, seeing that same smirk displayed on his lips.

"My eyes are right here." He whispered, his index finger moving my chin up to look at him. I nodded my head slowly, earning a laugh from him. "Just wanted to let you know."

"Sorry," I said quietly, my face still glowing pink. He shook his head with a smile, putting both of his hands on the lower part of my waist. I gasped slightly at his movement; he looked a little surprised he did that as well. He looked down at his hands and back up at me.

I've never been this close to someone in my entire life, and I've gotten the privilege to be sitting right in front of the most beautiful thing in the world.

"I'm sorry, I don't want to—" He started, his hands lifting off me. To my surprise, I grabbed onto them, putting them back on my waist. My hands remained on top of his. My eyes wandered down to his chest, afraid of looking at his facial expressions.

As I sat there, a few moments had passed before I felt my eyes meeting his. He was already looking at me, his eyebrows furrowed.

He started to lean in. I didn't know what my mind was focused on at the moment; his hands on my waist or the fact that he's between me and I have no idea what to do.

Before I knew it, I was leaning in too. I couldn't help it, and some part of me wanted him so badly to the point where I couldn't take it.

He took a hand off of my waist to put it on the counter as if he were steadying himself. He looked down at my lips, and that gave me the motivation to look at his. They were full of color, while the rest of his face seemed offaly pale. He was beautiful.

My breathing started to get heavier. I wanted to kiss him. His face reached down to my neck. I felt the heat burn off of him. I moved my head up to give him permission. Within a few moments, I felt his lips kiss the skin underneath my ear.

I heard his breath shaking. He slowly moved his face back up to mine, grabbing my cheek with his hand that was once on the counter.

"You have no idea what you do to me."

He leaned in to kiss me once more; his movements were so slow. What was I supposed to do? I sat there completely frozen.

With another brief moment, a loud banging noise was heard coming from the door. Xander banged on the wood, one time after another. Both Penny and I looked at the door with wide eyes.

"In case you two haven't noticed, we have less than 24 hours to leave this garbage of a town, so I would like to get a head start. So if you don't mind," Xander told us. "Hurry up!"

Penny looked at me with a blank expression. I looked at him with a straight face; that was until a smile formed its way in both of our faces.

He backed up away from me, putting both of his hands on my waist to help me off the counter. I put my hands on his arms, jumping off the marbled surface as my feet hit the ground. He looked down at me and smiled with his perfect teeth.

"Are you ready?" He asked, his hands still on my waist.  I sighed, giving him a weak smile. I felt emotionally drained on the inside.

I nodded my head. "I should probably go pack a few more things." I chuckled.

Penny shook his head while laughing under his breath. I felt his chest rise, making my stomach do cartwheels. "Xander and I took care of that."

I frowned with confusion, but before I could ask, Penny grabbed my hand with a smirk to lead me downstairs. His hand felt warm, which was odd; whenever I touched him at any other given time, he had always felt cold. I shook it off, walking behind him down the stairs.

Xander stood by the door, a large and purple suitcase standing beside him. I looked at both Penny and his brother with an astonished facial expression, their smirks lightening up the room.

"No way," I looked at the suitcase. "How much did you guys pack?"

"All of it." Xander gave a cheeky smile.

"The provided essentials." Penny looked down at me with a grin.

I glanced at the suitcase once again. And then it hit me.

"Wait a second," I paused, crossing my arms. "What about you two? Don't you guys have anything to bring?"

Xander snickered. "Oh please, Penny, here, has been wearing the same black clothes since he's existed. Haven't you, Penny?"

Penny scoffed. "How long has it been since you've taken a shower?"

Xander rolled his eyes. "How long has it been since you've owned a shower?"

I stepped out in front of them. "Okay, this is just getting disgusting." I closed my eyes, trying to think of something else. " I have a shower if either of you need to use it."

"It'll take Xander years to get rid of that horrid, awful smell." Penny scrunched his nose.

Before Xander could say any remark, I spoke up. "How about we stay here overnight? Just to give us more time to get ready."

Penny looked at me with an alarmed expression. I grabbed into his hand to calm down his tactic. "Just for tonight," I assured him.

"Ha!" Xander exclaimed, throwing his hands in the air. "Free food and beds! This is like a hotel."

Penny let out a breath.

A night at my house with Penny and his obnoxious, loud brother.

What could go wrong?


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Wow. So it's been forever since I last updated. But thank gosh, I'm back! If you've been waiting for this chapter, I love you!                                                                    


Quote of the Day:
"Dean, do you play any sports?"
"I run away from my feelings."
-Dean Winchester


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