There wasn’t a lot of clothing and I was able to get everything in one load.
After that I straightened up the living room as much as I was able to. I looked around at all the clutter and knew I needed to do something about my hoarding. Maybe it was time to get rid of a few things.
I knewwhyI held onto everything, but that didn’t mean Ishould.
At the end of the day, they were only things. It didn’t make my life any less empty. It didn’t fill the void that only one person could fill.
I boxed up a bunch of knickknacks and put them by the front door. I had a mild panic attack as I started clearing off my windowsills and end tables, but when I was finished it looked a lot better.
As I waited for Yoss’s clothes to finish in the wash, I decided to turn on a movie. Twenty minutes into Bedknobs and Broomsticks, I was passed out on the couch.
It was dark when I woke up and I realized I was no longer alone. I sat up, wiping my eyes. Yoss was watching A Street Car Named Desire, his legs stretched out in front of him.
“How long was I asleep?” I asked groggily, turning on the lamp behind me.
“I’ve already watched The Black Cauldron, Labyrinth, and now I’m halfway through this one. So I’d say five hours or so. I guess you needed the rest.” Yoss paused the movie and put the remote on the coffee table.
“I feel totally out of it,” I grumbled, trying to smooth out my hair and running my tongue over my teeth, which were feeling fuzzy. “You should have woken me up.” I looked at the clock on my phone and saw that it was past seven. “Are you hungry? I should make dinner. I was thinking chicken and rice.”
“I’m fine. I’m not hungry at all. It’s been nice sitting here watching movies while you slept. Feels sort of normal,” he chuckled, scratching the back of his neck. “I forgot how much you snore though.”
I glared at him. “I donotsnore.”
Yoss smirked. “I’ll never tell.”
“You seem better. Are you feeling alright?” I asked him.
“Yeah, I’m fine. I told you it was just too much pizza,” he responded shortly.
“Did you take your medicine?” I was nagging him. But I wouldn’t stop worrying about him.
“You don’t need to watch over me, Imogen. I’m a big boy.” Yoss sounded slightly annoyed, but gave me a small smile.
“Crap. I need to put your clothes in the dryer.” I jumped up and hurried to the laundry room, quickly shoving Yoss’s clothes into the dryer and turning it on. When I returned to the living room, Yoss had turned on a few more lights and the television was off.
“You didn’t have to do my laundry,” he said after I sat back down.
“It was no big deal. I’m happy to do it.” I waved away his protestations.
Yoss picked at a spot on his jeans. A nervous gesture that I recognized. “What exactly is the plan here?” he asked.
I frowned. “The plan?”
“Yeah, how long am I going to stay in your guest room? This can’t be an indefinite thing, Imogen. You have a life. A job. Friends. This entire situation is weird.” Pick. Pick. Pick.
“It’s weird being here?” I asked softly, honing in on that one particular sentence.
“Isn’t it? I mean you haven’t seen me in over fifteen years, now here I am, sleeping in your spare room, watching movies on your couch as if we were old friends simply catching up. As if the last time we were together we hadn’t been making plans to be together forever. As if we hadn’t been together during the absolute worst and best time in our lives.”
I sucked in a breath and let it out slowly. “Yes. It’s strange,” I agreed.
Yoss dropped his hand from his jeans and sat up straight. “I should go—”
“You never let me finish, Yoss. You have a really bad habit of interrupting me,” I chastised and he gave me a half smile.
“Yeah, I think you’ve said that a few times before.”
“A lot of time has passed. There are a lot of unanswered questions, but I think you came back into my life just when I needed you.” I met his eyes. “When I needed to remember what it was like to care about something. Aboutsomeone. I think I’ve forgotten how.”
