Chapter 5: Something Changed

It has been two weeks since Blake’s barbeque party.

I don’t know how to explain this but something changed that night. I’m not sure if it’s me, or Blaze.

One thing is for a certain, Chelsea and Sheldon have started dating since that weekend.

Blake's been at his parents' house since the party. We've been texting, which I find very weird as we don't usually text each other often.

Mom's making me do all sorts of things in the house. - B

You're such a momma's boy - M

Am not! - B

Then why are you still there tho? - M

Just admit that you miss me already. ONLY THEN will I come back - B

I caught myself giggling at his text. Why do I find this so cute? Snap out it, Maddy!

I really want to tell him that I miss his stupid ass but I don't want to seem weird or clingy. Instead, I decided to distract myself by running on the treadmill I have here in my apartment. I put on my gym bra and very tight shorts, turn on the music to a high, and hopped on the treadmill machine. It feels so good to exercise.

After one hour of stationary running, I turned the machine off. I grabbed my towel and wiped the sweat off of me. Moments later, the doorbell rang. Who could it be? I wasn't expecting anyone to come over. Especially when it's already nine in the evening.

I opened the door to see a heavily breathing Blake Garette. "Blake? What are you doing here?"

"You stopped answering my texts. I called as well but you wouldn't pick up. So I thought something might have happened," he explained in between breaths. He came in and went directly to my fridge looking for something to quench his thirst.

"Did you run coming here?" Feeling so dumbfounded as to why he was out of breath and full of sweat.

"From downstairs to here, I did. Did you work out?" He shouted with his head still peeking inside my fridge. "There's some Gatorade in there if you don't want water," I said. He took the bottle of Gatorade and drank all of it to the drop.

"Yeah, I worked out. What's up, Blake?" I'm so confused at the moment. I thought he was at home with his parents, which is a one-hour drive.

"I got worried," That's all he said. He took off his shirt and crashed on my sofa. Meanwhile, I'm staring at him, still feeling confused at his sudden intrusion. "What?" he finally noticed my perplexed state.

"What the hell, Blake?" I raised my voice.

"I can't explain it as well, okay? I just got worried that you didn't answer my texts and calls. So I came here as fast as I can," he tried to explain. Getting an answer from this guy is like waiting for rain in summer. "Whatever, I'm taking a shower," I walked out of the living room.

"Can I join?" He shouted.

"NO!"

"I'm coming in!" That stubborn little... grrr!

"Try and you'll never see me naked ever again!" I threatened.

"Sir, yes, sir!" He replied.

I laughed at our little exchange. This guy really is something. Minutes later, I come out of my bathroom with nothing but a towel wrapped around my body and catch a shirtless Blake on my bed, his face buried on one of my pillows.

"Blake, are you asleep? take off your pants, please."

He turned around, smirking at me. "My oh my, our little Madison is getting aggressive by the day. I knew you missed me," he laughed.

"Ha, ha, ha! You make me laugh. I meant your pants are dirty. Take it off my bed right now, Blake. I mean it."

"Fine," he finally concedes.

I take some clothes from the cabinet and went back to the bathroom to change. I couldn't help but notice the change in the atmosphere between Blake and me. What is this?

"Hey, you want to watch something on Netflix?" he shouted from my bed. "Nah, I want to read a book tonight. Are you staying the night?

"Can I? I'm too tired to drive back to my place," he whines. What is up with this guy? He's never like this. He's acting all needy. The weird part is I kind of like it.

"Okay, but you have to be quiet. I really like to read my book in peace, "I told him, picking up a book on my bedside table. He looked at me for a minute or two before he asked, "Is it that time of the month already? Is that why you're a bit grumpy?"

I was already sitting beside him on the bed when he asked me the question. Instead of getting upset, I found myself laughing at his curiosity. "Why are you laughing?" he looked so dumbfounded. He's now laying on his front, hugging a pillow.

I suppressed the rest of my laughter and tried to answered his question. "No, it's not that time of the month yet, silly. I just find you different tonight." What he said and did next gave me the chills. He came closer to me and buried his face on my stomach, wrapping his arms around my waist, and said, "I know, right? Maybe I'm the one who's having that time of the month."

What does he mean by that? Does it mean that he noticed the atmosphere change between us too? Maybe Chelsea was right, going to the barbeque party might have been a bad idea after all.

I tried to subtly read him but he has closed his eyes and dozed off—or pretended to do so. I shook off whatever it is that's making me curious and turned back to reading my book. Before diving into the fictional story from another world, I cleared my thoughts first. "Stop reading into this, Maddy," I scold myself. 

Did something really change between us? Should I be scared?