The next morning Wes jolted awake, the alarm clock read in big box red numbers 8:30. He climbed out of bed and shuffled his way to his bedroom door. He made his way to the bathroom and shut the door behind him. He turned on the light and the shower water in one long movement.
After he got out of the shower and back into his sweat pants he wobbled out of the steamy bathroom into the kitchen where he smelled something delicious. He was still running a towel that was hanging on his shoulders through his hair when he froze.
Sarah flipped a pancake with precision on Wes's stove without the use of utensils. She was unaware of his presence, he could even hear the song she was listening to on her ipod. She moved to the beat, Wes was awestruck. His jaw dropped a few centimeters every time she rocked with the backbeat of the song.
Sarah was wearing the same night shorts and spaghetti strap shirt she wore the night before but in the light of the sun Wes noticed her shorts were somewhat see through and her shirt was silk that didn't cover her breasts completely.
Sarah was listening to a slow classic rock song called Sweet November Rain by the band Guns N' Roses. She had seen Wendy still beyond passed out on the living room floor when she started cook a few minutes before and this alienation from people gave her some freedom to listen to her music without interruption, then she caught something out of the corner of her eye.
A statue she hadn't noticed before? No, it was Wes standing in his dining room, his mouth hanging slightly and his eyes glued to the scene before him. Sarah paused and began to turn to the frozen figure that was still in her peripheral vision.
She yanked on the string connected to her ears expertly and one of her earphones popped out of place. She smiled at the shock on Wes's face but didn't stop moving to the song playing in her head. Wes forced his mouth closed when they made eye contact.
"Good morning, Wes." Sarah said softly. He gulped and nodded quickly moving to the refrigerator.
"Good morning." He replied quickly as he grabbed the carton of milk and maneuvered the top open. He took a gulp from the jug and Sarah winced in disgust. She made it look real, Wes couldn't disgust her if he was bathing in milk. He stopped quickly once he saw the look on her face and moved over to the stove to reach for a cup.
Sarah didn't move to make it easier for him to reach above the stove to the cups, she made him stretch his freshly washed body, still damp, over her. She watched him as he did, she saw him trying not to look at her. Sarah buried a giggle she wanted to let out in her chest.
Wes poured his cup of milk and replaced the carton back in the fridge. He sat at the dining room table, flung his damp towel that was over his shoulder onto his chair and looked over at Sarah as she slid a pancake out of the pan and onto a plate that already contained two warm pancakes.
"Do you like blueberry?" She asked, still swaying to the music on her ipod. Wes nodded but didn't realize she was pouring pancake mix in the pan and couldn't see his response. After a moment she looked over to him. "Blueberry?" She asked again quietly.
Wes smiled and nodded again. "Yeah, I like ..." He cleared his throat. " blueberry." He rolled his eyes at his response when she turned back around. She smiled and walked him over a stack of blueberry pancakes and his bottle of maple syrup.
"Good, they're my specialty." She put the plate in front of him and felt his eyes follow her when she turned around and back to the stove. A few minutes later Sarah dumped one last pancake on a third plate and put the plate in the microwave. She took her plate and went to sit by Wes where his food was barely touched. Sarah knew why Wes hadn't eaten much, he was distracted, she loved that he was distracted.
They ate in silence. A silence Sarah loved and Wes hated, he couldn't think of a single joke the entire time they sat there and Sarah just smirked every time he grunted instead of speaking. Wendy grumbled in the living room after a few minutes and after her awakening from zombie land she lifted herself up and trudged to the bathroom, slamming the door behind her. Wes thought about his daughter and laughed.
"I swear she's been doing that since she could walk." He said, it was the first sentence he'd been able to say all morning. Sarah smiled.
"Yep, it's not a pretty sight." She joked. She ate another bite of her pancake. "She's got the day planned for us. I guess there's shopping to be done here and then tonight there's a party she can't shut up about."
"Oh yeah," Wes replied. "She's been talking about this kid Jeremy's party all month. I think they're a thing, she won't tell me though." Wes shrugged. "He's a good boy, he's scared to death of me."
Sarah giggled, she'd never heard Wes talk like a father before, it was adorable.
"So you're cool with it then." Sarah stated, nodding and he just took a too-large bite of blueberry pancakes and nodded back. "Well, I guess that's where we'll be." Sarah noticed Wes take a few bites of food within the time of their conversation and once she was satisfied that he liked the pancakes she dismissed herself to get ready for the day.
Wes was gone by the time Wendy and Sarah were ready to leave for the mall. Sarah saw a light turn off that had been above her since she arrived in Washington but she did her best to hide it until the right moment. She immediately started talking about stores and items to buy and she tried on every piece of clothing she could carry in the store and modeled to herself and of course to Wendy.
She bought a few thing's but mostly just tried to distract herself from everything on her mind. Wendy and Sarah started their walk to the bus and Sarah knew it was time. Her fake smile faded and her real displeasure with her situation surfaced. She crossed her arms over her ribcage and winced. Wendy dramatically gasped and leaned down some to Sarah's new level.