“Leah, baby are you okay?” Chase asks me in a low soothing voice.
“I don’t….I um….I don’t know how to…..” I can’t manage to form a single thought as I feel the tears filling my eyes. But I can’t let them spill out, not in front of Caleb. He doesn’t need that drama in his life. And now I guess that’s all gone for good.
Chase jumps out of his seat as he tugs me across the drivers side and wraps me in a hug. I breathe in the reassuring scent of Chase-soap mixed with a subtle spice of cologne. “Shhh its okay. The detective told me everything, you don’t need to explain, let’s just get you two inside.” And with that I remember the only important person here, Caleb. If I’m going to break down it won’t be in front of him.
He sets Caleb down in the hallway and I begin to aimlessly search through my purse for my keys with blurred vision from my tears. “No Leah. I’m not letting you stay alone, your coming to my place.” He lifts a finger to my lips, trying to stop the oncoming argument that he knows I’ll put up. But I don’t have the energy to fight, I just let him lead me into his apartment. He makes up the extra bed he has in his spare bedroom and tucks Caleb into bed, who was almost asleep on his feet. Apparently he can sleep anywhere too, he didn’t even bat an eyelash about being in a strange bed.
I’ve never been in Chases apartment before but with the shock I don’t even look around. He sits down on the leather couch in his living room and pulls me onto his lap covering me with a blanket that was sprawled across the back.
I mindlessly wipe away the tears and notice I’ve soaked the front of his sweater. “I’m sorry,” I sniffle out as I try to wipe at his chest. “Leah you don’t have anything to be sorry about. You just found out some pretty bad news, I don’t mind having a damp sweater.”
“I know Chase but obviously me and my mom were never close. I didn’t expect to feel that kind of emotion. I’m a mess.” I mumble out, trying to wipe at my face which I’m sure is covered with running mascara.
“Leah I know the situation. But she’s still your mom, you have the right to cry,” he pauses and looks down at me, running his fingers through my hair. “And you’re not a mess, you look beautiful. I hate to say it but you make crying look sexy,” he says as he wipes a stray tear from my cheek.
I snort out a laugh as I try to stop the tears, “Thanks Chase that really makes me feel better.”
“You need some sleep,” he says. “I’m gonna go make my bed since I’m sure it’s a mess and you can borrow one of my shirts to sleep in.”
“That’s okay Chase I can take the couch,” I insist. I feel bad enough as it is invading his apartment.
“No way Leah, you need a good nights worth of sleep. I’ll be right back.”
I look around his apartment after he heads down the hallway to his bedroom. Surprisingly the whole place seems to be well organized. I figured Chase would have the ultimate bachelor pad, being a single male college student. There’s framed pictures placed on shelves and end tables of Chase and his sisters and a few of him and his band mates.
“Here,” he says as he walks back into the room and tosses a faded black shirt at me. “Pretty sure you know where the bathroom is right?”
Our apartments are exactly identical to each other just flip flopped so I head down the hall. I pull off my clothes and slide the shirt on that reaches all the way past my knees with Chases height compared to mine. I look in the mirror over the sink and note my puffy, bloodshot eyes. Sexy, not so much. I splash some water on my face and walk out to meet Chase in the hall way.
“Kay you sleep in here, I’ll take the couch.”
I walk into the room and am instantly swept up by the scent of Chase. Like the rest of his apartment, its tidy and I notice the feminine touches I’m sure his mom or sisters added to the apartment with pictures scattered around and little mementos from Chases childhood. I wish my relationship with my mom had been different, I wish we could have had the gift of what Chase has. I wipe a stray tear away as I stand next to the bed.