More NaNoWriMo? Did you even have to ask?
When we came out of the bathroom, Grant was leaning up against the wall waiting for us. “Let’s go,” he smiled.
“You don’t have to come with us,” Hannah shook her head. “I can get her back home, no problem.”
Grant smiled again, “I’m not letting you two walk back by yourselves. I already told everyone else we were going anyway.”
I think Hannah wanted to argue with him, but then she stopped and thought better of it, because she didn’t say anything else. She made sure I was wearing my cardigan and the three of us started the walk back to The Hill.
It was cold. It wasn’t a long walk by any means, but it was later than when we had first made it on our way here, so I definitely shivered a bit. Also, on the way back, most of the walk is at a slight incline. I started off walking slower than Grant would have liked, so he was pushing me along every couple of blocks.
At one point, he and Hannah started talking about something again. This part was kind of hazy for me, so I honestly don’t remember. I know it wasn’t about me, though. It was probably about her plane trip tomorrow again. That seemed to be the default topic of the evening.
While they were talking, I managed to slow down to a snail’s pace again. Hannah turned and noticed that I was several feet behind the two of them, just dragging my feet along. She stopped to wait.
Grant grew impatient, I think, and made his way back toward where I was walking. He got behind me and put an arm around me. He pretty much started gently pushing me along again.
“I’m sorry…” It was a mix between a whimper and a whisper.
Grant shook his head. “Don’t worry about it. Any other time you want, I’ll let you walk as slow as you like. I just want to make sure you’re home before you get sick again. Getting sick on Broadway sucks.”
It does suck. I’d probably done it at least once before and I know I’ve seen a few of my friends get sick on the way home from Pearl. I nodded and let Grant push me along.
A little while later, he deemed my speed to be quick enough and started to head back toward Hannah. He was in the middle of our line at that point; we had started waking single file for whatever reason: Hannah, Grant, and then me.
I started to fall behind again.
He chuckled a little and made his way back behind me to push me along gently again. “I can’t leave you to your own walking for more than two minutes, can I?”
“I guess not…” I mumbled. “I’m sorry…”
“Don’t worry about it.” He brushed it off again, “Like I said, I just want to make sure that you make it home in one piece without any more issues.”
I nodded and accepted his concern. At that point, he and I had both figured out that the only way I was making it home on his and Hannah’s schedule was if I was being prodded along.
Our walk home had been pretty long, longer than normal, but that was mostly my fault, since they had to keep stopping and waiting for me. But, we eventually made it back to the house. It probably took twenty minutes as opposed to the usual ten or twelve. I forget who let us in. I don’t know if Hannah had gotten a code or if I had somehow remembered it through my haze. That wouldn’t be the first time that had happened, though; I had gotten in plenty of times where I shouldn’t have been able to remember the door code.
Hannah got me up to my room and sat with me as I washed off my face and crawled into bed. I think Grant was standing out in the hallway during this. “I’m really sorry,” I told her again. “Tell Grant I said sorry, too.”
She smiled as she turned off the lights, “Hey, a trip back isn’t the same without it happening to someone. I’m just glad it’s not me, so thanks. And I’ll tell him again, but don’t worry about it.”
I laughed weakly, “I’m still sorry. I’m glad you’re back.”
“Me too,” she smiled. She then walked over to the door and shut it softly behind her.
Help! I'm Post-Grad... 