I did as I was told. I did all of my work, and earned a kiss on the cheek from Laurie. I held my hand there as he tidied away all of my school things, before taking his place in front of me. He cocked his head to the side, as though he was deep in thought. I chewed my bottom lip, still holding my cheek as he stood there in front of me, teasing me with the sheer fact that he was right in front of me. He sat down in his chair opposite me, staring into my eyes.

We sat there for a while, just gazing into each other's eyes. We didn't speak, we didn't make a sound; the room was filled with silence. I blew my hair out of my eyes, letting out a sigh. "What was the sigh for?" He asked, his voice deeper than usual.

"I'm bored, Laurie." I said, resting my head on the desk, looking up at him with hopeful eyes.

"I suppose that we can do something fun. You have done as you were told." He said in a low voice, I smiled excitedly. He chuckled, his hands tucked underneath his chin. "What do you have in mind?" He asked, his head cocked to the side, his bottom lip between his teeth. I frowned. I didn't know what I wanted to do. In all honesty, I would've done anything, as long as it involved him kissing me. "We could go and get something to eat?" He suggested. I nodded enthusiastically.

"I'll go get changed." I said, jumping out of my chair, jogging out of the room. I tucked my hands into my pockets as I went, scaling the stairs.

I didn't really own any clothes that were suitable enough for the weather, unless I went outside without my shirt off – and I certainly wasn't comfortable enough to do that yet. I stood in the doorway of my bedroom, my eyes scanning the room for something mildly weather appropriate. I sighed, pulling my clothes off, leaving them on the end of the bed. I planned on ignoring them until I intended to wear them again. I stood in the centre of my room, hopelessly spinning around, until I clocked a pair of jeans. After pulling them on, I pulled on an old shirt, a sigh escaping from behind my lips as I went back downstairs. Laurie was stood by the door, a pair of Lennon-esque sunglasses on, messing with the cuffs of his shirt. He smiled, flashing his straight white teeth at me. I held out my arms like a child, wanting him to hold me. He rolled his eyes sarcastically, opening his arms as I shuffled towards him. His cologne filled my head, sending me dizzy for a few moments, his hands gripping me tightly. He rocked me from side to side for a moment, before holding me at arm's length.

"Where do you want to go?" He asked quietly, chewing his bottom lip for a moment. I cocked my head to the side, pouting at him. As long as I was out of the house for a while, I didn't really care.

"Can we get coffee?" I asked, he shrugged, raising his eyebrows. He nodded, ruffling my hair and squeezing my cheek. I shuddered as he touched me, he lifted my chin, pressing his lips to mine for a moment.

"Of course we can baby. Only if you promise to behave yourself?" He said in a low tone, his mouth next to my ear. I nodded quickly, desperate to show him how obedient I was to him. "Say it properly." He whispered, turning my head so that I was facing him.

"I promise." I said quietly, earning another sweet smile from him. He opened the front door for me, closing it behind us. The sun warmed my body as I stood in the pathway, Laurie walked ahead to his overly-expensive car. He held the key in the air, clicking the button that unlocked it. I stood there in the driveway, my eyes closed for a moment, basking like some teenage reptile in the summer sun. Laurie coughed at me, snapping me from my little daydream. I hurried to the car, stopping momentarily to notice that Theo was standing in his window, looking out at us. I lifted my hand to wave at him, smiling weakly as he stared at Laurie and I. His expression remained blank, as Laurie wound down the window.

"I think you should get in the car, my love. Your boyfriend isn't biting." He said sarcastically. My hands dropped to my sides as I pulled a face at Laurie. He chuckled as I slammed the door, crossing my arms.

He smiled as he drove along the street, Theo's figure quickly leaving my vision. I had no idea what his problem was, but I supposed that I could've asked him at his mother's barbecue that weekend.

"He's not my boyfriend." I said stubbornly with a frown, he sniggered at me. I stared at him, squinting my eyes.

"Are you sure? He seemed a little upset that you were getting into my car. If that scream jealousy, William dear, then I don't know what does. Clealry he has an issue with you hanging around with your dad." He said slyly, I turned away from him. I didn't care if Theo was jealous of me, I didn't care at all. We weren't dating, we were barely even friends. I rolled my eyes, letting out a sigh.

"You're not my real dad." I huffed, watching his hands grip onto the steering wheel even tighter, turning to face me when we stopped at a set of old traffic lights.

"I would lose the attitude William. Don't give me a reason to stop this car at the side of the road and bend you over my knee. I'm not gentle, William, I promise you that I'm not. So, I suggest that you learn to behave yourself. Am I clear?" He said in a low tone. I stared out of the window, ignoring him, still annoyed with the fact that he was teasing me. "I said, am I clear?" He growled, turning my head to face him. I was still frowning. "Do I have to repeat myself?" He said.

"No." I said bitterly, he squeezed my cheeks, my eye twitching. He pressed his forehead against mine, our lips locking. I closed my eyes. Even a kiss from him was enough to cure my hatred towards him.

We pulled up into the parking lot of our local Starbucks, it was standing there in all of it green glory. He pulled down the small mirror in the car, adjusting his hair. He was so attractive that it was unreal, and I had already pretty much forgotten our little lovers brawl moments earlier. He turned to me, cocking his head to the side. "Can I get whatever I want?" I asked with an eager smile, he raised an eyebrow at me. He shrugged, adding 'as long as it's not too much coffee' before opening his door.

I followed suit. He stretched his long arms, letting out a sift grunt, before tucking his hands and keys into his pocket. I followed after him like a little puppy, he held the door open for me.

We sat together in the corner of the room, away from everybody else. We knew nobody in this room, nobody at all, but we didn't want to be around them. I couldn't help but think that people were watching, like people knew what we were. I shook my head, drinking my coffee, staring back at Laurie. He had taken off his glasses, and was staring out of the window. I smiled at him, leaning back, my hand curled around the little white cup. "Tell me about England." I said with a sigh, crossing my legs.

"England? Well, sometimes it rains, sometimes its sunny. Sometimes I miss being there." He said with a smile, knowing that he was annoying me already. "It's English?" He said with a laugh, smiling as he sipped through his straw. I shot him a dirty look, he swallowed. "I haven't been back home for a number of years, but from what I can remember of it is that it's amazing. It's different to America, I believe that we have more manners. But, that's just from my experience. I miss the pubs as well, there's a charm about them that you just don't get here. Especially in LA." He said with a sigh, stretching back, cracking his knuckles.

"So are you saying that America isn't that great?" I asked sarcastically, sipping my coffee with attitude.

"Ah, but the country is fine. You've got some excellent scenery. It's the people. The people need to re-evaluate." He pulled a face at me, setting his drink down on the table. I kicked him under the table, he chuckled, coughing on his drink.

Despite the fact that the man had insulted me, and the rest of the American people, I still loved him somehow. We stared at each other, both smiling at each other. His dark eyes smiled as well; I had to force myself not to pick up his hand. Although we were far away from home, nowhere near our small gated community, that place had eyes everywhere. I didn't want to think about what would happen if somebody caught Laurie and I looking at each other the way that we were. I looked away, down at the ground, quietly sipping my drink.————————————————————————
Day Nine: A song that makes you happy - The Sun and the Rain by Madness

A.N
Hello my little cinnamon swirls, I feel like I'm updating this story a lot more frequently and I'd like to keep it that way 👌🏻 I'm also working on a new story, and it's kind of Frankenstein-esque, and it's kind of a love story. It's sad in parts but where would one of my stories be without that eh??

Lemme know what you think 🖤