16 Chapter 16: Surprises

-Liz-

I took one long puff and held my breath before exhaling. I took another long puff and exhaled as I pulled the cigarette away from my mouth to examine. The taste wasn't pleasant but the act of doing something I thought I'd never do made me want to do it some more. I took another puff and another after that, before I knew it, I was already halfway through my very first cigarette. "What are you doing?", Micah asked. What is he doing here?! At the sound of his voice, I put out my smoke in the sink. "Uh, nothing. I didn't hear you. What are you doing here?", I asked as I discretely exhaled the remaining smoke from my breath. "I came by to check on you", he answered. "You don't have to come over anymore. I'm doing fine", I waved him away. I walked over to the couch and picked up my book. Micah's eyes followed me from the living room to the patio. I sat myself down and started reading. Micah came out to the patio with the first aid kit. "Looks like you didn't change your band aid from yesterday. Let me do it for you", he calmly spoke. There he goes again with his gentleness. What is it with this man? "It's fine, really. I can do it myself", I argued. He turned my head to face him and began to slowly peel my band aid off completely ignoring what I said before. My eyes focused on his face while his eyes focused on my wound. His eyes were filled with care and worry. Was he worried about me? "I didn't know you smoke", he suddenly said. "Well, I don't. It was my first time", I mumbled. "Hm", was the only reply he had. I searched his face for judgement but there was nothing of that sort. He either had a really good poker face or he really didn't have any judgements towards my action at all. "Why did you start?", he asked curiously. "Well, I…I thought it would help relieve my stress and anxiety. Zee smokes whenever she feels really anxious or stressed out", I nervously replied. A few moments of silence loomed over us as he finished dressing my wound. "Not that you're asking but…I think a healthier way to dealing with your stress and anxiety is to confront the source", he advised. His words caught me off guard. I was not expecting him to give me such straight forward advice. He rubbed his thumb over my bandaged wound and gave me a half-grinned expression causing me to blush. Was that an act of care? Did, he just smile at me? Today is just full of surprises.

An hour later, I relentlessly dismissed Micah because it was becoming very awkward for me to be around him. He seems unbothered hanging around me, almost like he's used to it but it was weird for me to lounge around with a man I knew nothing about. I closed the door behind me and walked into the kitchen to pour myself the rest of the juice in the fridge. I walked over to the garbage to toss the carton, there I noticed the box of cigarettes. The box was emptied out and all the cigarettes were broken in half. Micah…