Chapter 24: Quiet

***WARNING: MOOD SWINGS***

I wake up the next morning in a giant bed.

He does have several rooms, all with very large beds with plenty of pillows. He took me around to all of them and let me choose which one I wanted. Darla made sure I actually wanted to stay the night before she let him officially assign me to a room, but once I knew I wasn't going to be sleeping in the same room as him (that would be very, very, very awkward. I wouldn't be able to sleep a wink) it was much easier to go along with it. I justify this to myself through the commands of the doctor (or maybe nurse- some kind of medical practitioner that he essentially has on call). I was told that my hands would be fine as long as they didn't get infected, which is basically what I already knew. He seemed a lot more relaxed once he heard that, though, which alerted me to the fact that he was actually worried.

He also tried to use the doctor's words against me, though (similarly to how I'm using the 'try to avoid doing things that are too strenuous' order to justify staying over at his house). He said that homework and studying are strenuous and that we should just play video games for the rest of the weekend. I said that I'll have enough explaining to do with just the fact that my hands are scraped, and I don't need to add a lack of studying to my list of things to explain to my parents. We eventually agreed that I'll do my homework while he has his tutoring sessions.

I hear voices outside the door and freeze (even though I wasn't moving, and I wasn't doing anything bad, so my sudden anxiety is completely unfounded).

"... and where are you going?" That's Darla's voice- the only female voice in the house right now (I assume).

"To wake up Todd for breakfast." There's no mistaking that one.

"How about you go help your father, and I'll wake Todd up? That way, your eggs will be the way you like them. Plus, you can claim some credit when Todd comes down."

"I want to see him."

"You will. I'll send him right down."

A moment of silence, and I'm kind of confused. Why is this the topic of an argument? Should I get up and open the door to let both know that I'm already awake? Even though Darla's tone is light and gentle, I'm pretty sure she's not budging on this one. But he can probably be just as stubborn.

"Fine," he grumbles, and I hear receding footsteps. A moment later, there's a gentle knock on the door.

"Come in," I quietly call, and Darla pokes her head in.

"Good morning, Todd." She closes the door and comes over, looking tense. "Would you like me to drive you home, now?"

I blink. Does she want me to leave, for some reason? She sees my expression and presses her lips together.

"The reason I ask is because he's... not in the best mood today. Usually when he's like this, we'll keep him from school."

Oh, so his full-day absences aren't actually his choice? Interesting. "Oh. Well..." I don't really want to leave without even seeing him, because he said he wanted to see me. And if he's already not in a good mood, I don't want to make it worse. But if they keep him home from school, then maybe seeing people makes it worse? "Do you think I should leave, so I don't make it worse?"

"Oh, I don't think you'd make it worse. He'll be fine. I'm more worried about you."

"Why? What's... what's he like?"

"Well, I don't have too much knowledge on how he'd react to you, but he can have a range of reactions to people. Distant, or angry, or melancholy... it's hard to tell what he needs. Sometimes he wants space, and sometimes he'll want affection and validation. And he'll switch back and forth between any of these things without much warning. So if you'd like to go home, I will take you right now. And he'll understand. I really think he cares about you- in fact, his mood might even be brought on by your fall, yesterday."

Wait- "He's upset that I fell?"

"He's probably blaming himself for it. But you don't need to worry about that. Just let me know what you'd like."

Honestly? I don't want to leave. I don't want to just disappear on him, even if Darla says he'll understand. He said he wanted to see me. And... I'm still expecting him to drop me pretty soon, which would essentially be the end of our friendship. Even though last night he said that I was welcome at his house anytime, during dinner, he knew that I don't have my license, or any means of getting here on my own. So I still have no guarantee of anything, and, as weird as it is, I don't actually want him out of my life, now. If I just disappeared, he might consider that enough reason to drop me. And even if he didn't look at it that way... I have no guarantees of anything after this weekend, so...

"I'd like to stay, if that's alright," I murmur, and she nods.

"Just let me know if anything changes, at any time."

"Okay. Is there... are there more rules, specifically for this?"

She smiles a little. "We've never had this exact situation before, but... well, expect his mood to be changeable. Try to be honest, because he can spot a lie a hundred miles away and he'll have no tolerance for it right now. You can still tell him no at any time, don't do whatever he wants if you don't want to. Him being quiet is generally a good thing. And let me or his father know if anything that seems particularly bad happens."

I nod. "Alright. Thank you. And, for letting me stay."

"Of course, Todd. Now, I'll give you some privacy."

She leaves, and I get out of bed, getting dressed from the piles of clothes he moved to this room after I selected it, then make the bed and leave the room as well, closing the door. I follow the hallway to the stairs, then go down into the kitchen. He turns immediately, giving me a faint smile, coming over to me. "Morning, Todd."

"Morning. Name?"

He considers that for a moment as he pulls out a stool and sits. I do the same. "Hm... Tom."

"Can I call you Tommy?"

One corner of his mouth quirks up. "Tommy?"

"Yeah."

"Why?"

I shrug. I really have no idea why- it was just the first thing that came to mind.

"Sure. You can call me Tommy." He turns to his parents. "You guys still have to call me Tom."

"Alright. Will you two have breakfast here or at the table?" his dad asks.

"Here."

His dad turns and slides two plates across the counter, both loaded with waffles, eggs, and bacon. "Dietary restrictions, Todd?"

I shake my head. "It looks amazing, thank you."

"Why, thank you, Todd. You're very welcome." He turns back to the stove.

"How are your hands?" Tommy asks me quietly.

I look at them. "Fine, actually. I forgot until now."

He gives me another faint smile and starts on his breakfast. I remember what Darla said about how him not talking is a good thing and smile to myself as I take a bite of waffle. It's delicious.

After breakfast, he shows me yet another part of the enormous house: the basement. The door is underneath the stairs to the top floor, which is kind of cool. Usually basements are cold, but this one doesn't seem to be. It's finished, which isn't a surprise. It's also huge, which is also not a surprise. It's pretty open though, a contrast to the top floor. There aren't many doors: it's just kind of a giant, wide open space with various areas. He leads me towards a huge TV (one of several) immediately.

"More Mario Kart?" I ask when I see the controllers. He smiles a bit and nods, sinking into a plushy bean bag and grabbing the nearby remote. I take the closest one and do the same. A moment later, the TV turns on and makes a loud engine noise- with a different loading screen, though. I notice him turning down the sound, before setting the remote down beside him.

We silently go through the selection stages, before starting a race. I consider letting him win, but I firstly don't think he'd like that and secondly don't actually need to. He wins with a huge lead. He's playing more conservatively, less recklessly, and it's proving how good he actually is when he's not showing off.

After a few rounds, he lets me win. I can tell because he parks at the finish line until I cross it.

What did you think of the chapter? The millionaire's mood? How about Darla's explanation? And Todd deciding to stay? Any predictions for the next chapters? Tell me all your thoughts in the comments!

If you enjoyed this chapter, please consider letting me know by voting! Thank you so much for reading!