Lost in Silence (The Lost Series Book 1)(35)

Rules! Yes, that’s what I need. I could do rules, without them the world would be in chaos, right?

Rule No. 1: No more dinners. That’s a good one. An important one. If every meal she cooked turned into something like this, there’s no way I could leave. At least not without a crane to lift me out.

Rule No. 2: No more cuddling, consoling or understanding. Her being here, in this house, means she is safe. I don’t have to coddle her or console her anymore. I should be able to keep my promise and my distance, right?

Wait, she’s getting up. Where’s she going?

She walks to the sink and scrapes her food into the disposal. What the fuck is she doing? There’s no way she can be full already.

“What are you doing?” I ask, swallowing my food. She shoots me a guarded look and walks over to the stove. She lifts the pan with tomorrow’s lunch and dumps it into the sink as well. She flicks the disposal on, running the water before turning and stomping out of the room. Thoroughly confused, I stand up forgetting about my food and follow her. “What the fuck is going on?”

She whirls on me, her eyes are wide a frown burrows along her brow. Shaking her head, she crosses her arms against her chest. Oh no, I wasn’t going to play this game with her. I agree with King, we need to get to her talking and now seems like a good enough time to start the process. I cross my arms. If she can wait then I can wait.

“You want to talk princess, then talk.”

Her nostrils flare but she says nothing. She stares me down. I don’t waver. She isn’t going to win this one. I don’t care what it costs me. She grunts and pushes past me, into the kitchen. Picking up my plate from the table, she crosses the room and scrapes the pasta into the sink like she did to hers.

What the fuck! I wasn’t done with that!

I reach for the plate but I’m too late. It’s all gone down the drain.

“Damn it Alice, I wasn’t done with that,” I exclaim, my voice deep and gravelly. Her face morphs and she stills. Her eyes fill with tears and she slumps, defeated. I reach for her but she flinches out of my grasp. The words are silent on her lips but I make out their point.

Rule number two, no consoling.

She spins on her heels and walks out of the room, leaving me standing like a jackass. My thoughts are reeling. I must’ve said my thoughts out loud while eating. I hang my head and I can’t help feeling like I’ve let her down somehow. Or maybe I’ve let myself down. I can’t decide which but it doesn’t matter because I need to get out of here and now I could.

Fuck this.

I stomp towards the door and slam it behind me.





Chapter 11


Alice

I walk, unsure of my destination. It doesn’t matter though. I just need to get out of the house and away from Hudson. I heard him leave but I knew I didn’t want to be there when he got back. I didn’t ask for this, to be led here and kept under his protection. He offered it and now it was beginning to feel like he didn’t want me here anymore. Something must have happened today to cause him this change in him. I wish I knew what it was, maybe I could fix it.

The fresh night air did wonders for my head and it isn’t long before I look up to see Missy’s house in front of me. I know she’s still up still because the light in her front room is on. I want to talk to her but I don’t know how to. The door to her home opens and she steps out onto the porch.

“Alice? Are you alright?” She calls out, wrapping a large gray sweater around her. I shuffle up the walkway toward her and nod.

Yes, I’m alright.

“Is Hudson alright?” She asks concern in her voice. Her long hair is down, framing her pale face perfectly in the moonlight. She looks beautiful and for a moment I wish I could be that at ease with myself.

I nod again. Yes, he is fine.

She relaxes, pulling her sweater in tighter around her. I shiver as the cold finally penetrates my brain, making me wish I had grabbed something for warmth. I’m not used to the weather here, even though it was unseasonably warm from what I’ve been told.

“Do you want to come in?” She asks her eyes on my bare arms. I nod and follow her in. Her home is warm and quiet. I notice a book flipped open, the pages waiting for her to return, a romance novel by Sophie Samuels. “Would you like some tea? I was going to make some when I saw you standing on the street.”

I nod. Yes, I’d like a cup.

She leads the way to the kitchen and I sit on a stool tucked under the island bar. She puts a kettle of water on to boil and turns to me. We stare at each other for a few beats before she lifts her eyebrows.

“I can’t read your mind Alice. I understand you have your reasons for this whole silent thing but if you want to talk, we need to find a better way to communicate,” she places both hands onto the counter and leans forward. She’s right, of course, but words aren’t easy for me, at least vocally they aren’t. I motion for pen and paper and she smiles. Opening a drawer she pulls out both and slaps them down onto the counter. “What’s up buttercup?”