Chubby ✔️

Ah Ha!

"Now I roll the dice again?" A voice asks and a chuckle follows from another person.

"No, now you move your player five times." The second voice gently reminds the first.

"But," a slight pause. "It's going to stand on the snake if I move it."

"Yeah, which means it will go down to about," a slight movement is made. "Here."

"Aw. I don't like this game."

"Why?"

"Because I always lose."

A chuckle echoes in the room and after a few seconds a shriek of a child is heard as it screams, "No! Don't! Theo! Please don't tickle me!" Loud laughter.

I want to open my eyes. It seems as if I've forgotten how to perform this simple task.
I try again and my whole body twitches with the effort.

The laughter immediately ceases. "Is she awake?" The first voice whispers and I realize that it's a voice of a little boy.

The haze won't clear and it's making it hard to think.

"I don't know, Champ," mumbles the other voice. "Why don't you ask her?"

"Okay," the first voice exclaimed excitedly. "Aunt Lilo? Are you awake?"

I muster up all the strength I can and open my eyes.
It's all blurry but I can make out a faint outline of a body leaning way too close to my face.

Casper.

I hear a gasp, "Theo! She's awake! Look, she opened her eyes."

I close my eyes again and open them, blinking twice.
Things are much clear now.

I look at Casper and smile. He smiles back.
"How are you?" He asks me.
I show him a thumbs up in response and he grins broadly at my gesture.

"Hey," Theodore starts softly. "Why don't you go and see if your kitten is awake?"
Casper pouts at him, "His name is buzz."
Theodore nods his head, "Of course, why don't you go and check if Buzz is awake?" He says, this time with a little more emphasis on Buzz's name.
Casper is obsessed with Toy Story and since his favorite is Buzz in the movie, he decided to name his kitten Buzz.
Casper nods his head, satisfied when Theodore uses the given name and struts out of the room as he yells, "To infinity and beyond!"

As Casper leaves, Theodore sits on the floor next to the couch and we're face to face. I send a small smile his way but he doesn't return the gesture.
"Willow," he says as he fiddles with his fingers but his eyes stay focused on me. "What happened?"

I was sick of this. Every time I get beat up, he's there. And then he asks me what happened.
"Isn't it obvious?" I ask in a broken whisper. "I got beat up again."

He's obviously shocked when he realizes that I'm being honest. He inhales a sharp breath of air and asks me, "I see that. What I want to know is who is doing this. You're tolerating this and I don't know why, but I can't. Okay?" He looks at me in despair. "I can't see you get hurt over and over again. I know we barely know each other but I kinda care for you and I don't like it when you're sad."

I sigh and feel the guilt rush in like waves. He's just trying to help me.
"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have been so rude. Thank you for helping me."

He smiles warmly at me and hesitantly reaches out and grabs my hand, holding it between both of his.
This feels nice. I like this.

"There's this blonde girl," I start to say and feel his intense gaze on my face as he focuses on every words that spills from my mouth. "You can't tell Natalie and Joe, promise?" I ask him and he nods his head but his face shows a sign of sadness.

"So, she bullies me, and I don't know why. It started the first day and well, you know the rest." I look at him and he nods his head, his fingers starting to rub soothing circles on my knuckles.
"This isn't the first time this has happened, is it?" He asks with a knowing look in his eyes; and one I can't decipher. So, I reluctantly nod my head and he sighs deeply and runs a hand through his left hand as his right still holds mine. "God, Willow. You've either got to be the strongest person I know. Or the stupidest."
I feel my ears turn hot at his comment.
He thinks I'm stupid.
I think I'm stupid.

"Let's go out."

I look at him with wide eyes and wonder if he's in his right state of mind. As I stare at him like he's grown an extra nose, he finally realizes his mistake and he chuckles.
"I meant, let's go out and get some coffee. Or whatever you want. You know, if you want to."

I smile at him as I see him fidget with his t-shirt a little and nod my head, "I'd like that."
He smiles wide in response, all nervousness coming to a halt.
"Great. Whenever you're ready."

I get up slightly to stand up but he immediately stops me, "uh uh! You're not going to walk."
I frown at him and he smiles, "I'm going to carry you."
I can feel the warmth starting to spread from my ears and now to my cheeks as he says that and he softly chuckles.
"May I?"He asks me gently and I shyly nod my head, not making eye contact with him and instead, looking at the floor.
I feel warm, strong arms slowly wrapping themselves under my knees and going around my back and I'm lifted off of the comfortable couch.

I feel awkward as I realize I might be too heavy. I tug on my sweater and my body stiffens on its own as thoughts zoom through my head on what he's probably thinking.

She's so heavy.
What a hippo.

"You're really light, have you been eating enough?" He asks in a reprimanding and concerned tone of voice and I look at him shyly but don't say anything.
He notices the obvious blush coating my cheeks and doesn't say anything.

As we enter my room, he slowly and carefully sets my down on the bed and looks at me. "Well?" He asks as he stands at the end of the bed and tucks his hands in his pockets while he looks at me in question.
"Well what?" I ask him, confused as heck myself.
He sighs and dramatically throws his hands up in the air, "And here I thought you had to change to go out so i brought you up here so you can get changed."
"Oh." Comes my stupid response.
"So, What will it be?" He asks as he carefully moves each hanger to the side. Examining each item of clothing. He looks at me and I shrug my shoulders. His smile widens and he goes back to choosing something, "Alright then! I get to choose what you wear!"

I swear, he sounds like a little kid.

"Ah-ha!" He exclaims and pulls out a black hoodie. I don't say anything and decide to just go with it.
He walks over to me and orders, "Arms up, please."
I get scared and look at him in fear. He notices my expression and his eyes widen in concern, "Hey, it's okay. Trust me, alright?"
I slowly nod my head and lift my arms.
He grips my beige, knitted sweater and start slowly lifting it up and over my head. My hair is ruffled as the material messes it up and leaves me in a full sleeved, plain white t-shirt. He puts the sweater to the side, not breaking eye contact with me and slowly fixes my hair, caressing it and easing it back into place. He smiles at me and I smile back, trying as best as I can with the painful bruise on my face.
He takes the hoodie and tells me to lift my arms up once again and slowly brings the hoodie over my body. He fixes the shoulders and the sleeves, all while I admire him like an idiot.

After he's done, he steps back and looks at me as he thinks about something. I open my mouth to ask what it is when he runs down the stairs and comes back, panting as he holds a pair of my black Vans.
He puts the socks on my feet and then the shoes.

After he's done he claps his hands and tells me excitedly, "Look! We match!"

It's then, that I realize why he'd been so excited when he found the black hoodie. Both of us are now twinning as we both wear all black with black Vans.

I laugh as he nudges his Vans clad foot against mine.
"Ready to go?" He asks and I nod my head. He picks me up again and we make our way down the stairs.

"Where are you two off to?" Natalie smiles as we enter the kitchen. Theodore smiles and lets her know.
She laughs when I tell her he chose my outfit and after that, we're out the door.

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I had fun writing this chapter. Hoped you liked it.
Thanks for reading,
Teddy🐾