As soon as I opened the window, a warm midmorning breeze rushed in. I drew up the blinds as far up as they could go to let the sunlight back into the stuffy room. Turning away from it, I surveyed the bedroom more carefully than I had in a long time. Jake was right about one thing.

The room actually was a mess. His blanket was on the opposite side of the room from his bed. A small pile of dirty clothing sat on top of it with a trail of socks and shorts leading across the floor to his closet. That same closet was wide open, and the stack of old notebooks inside had toppled out somehow. A layer of dust covered the small hanging mirror so thinly that it darkened its reflections without drawing attention it.

Jake was sulking over the outfit that he had worn the night before. He must have been too tired to throw it into the pile when he returned home and didn't even bother to throw it into the pile. Overall, the room probably looked the way most teenage guys kept their rooms, but this wasn't his style.

So, I started with the bed. Throwing the blanket onto it and laying it out as carefully as I could. My mind tuned out as I cleaned, glazing over what I would do next. I would have to be careful with the siren downstairs. Even if he was harmless, I would have to keep him secret from the Lycan. I also had to inform them on my battle with the mad demon. If there were any more demons that could use such powerful magic, we would need to deal with them first.

What is he doing? Didn't he leave?

I overheard my mate's thoughts as he noticed me using one of his socks to wipe off the mirror. It seemed like it would be a clever and easy way to clean it, but it was slow progress.

"You can't use a dirty sock to clean a mirror. Step aside," he collected a bottle of some cleaning spray and gray rag from his closet. I dutifully raised both of my hands and backed away from the professional. The rest of the room was reorganized in minutes with both of us on the job.

When we were done, I took off my shirt and sprawled onto his bed. It always seemed silly to me just how neat and tidy things were in the Kent house, but I understood a little better now. The room didn't feel so tight and gloomy now that the wind was flowing, and the sunlight was streaming in.

It would be nice to open up my mind and share my thoughts with Jake, but I wouldn't say a word until it seemed like the right time. It was much easier for me to mess things up between us than I thought, and that scared me. I had no intentions of leaving my mate alone. But I could at least stay quiet for a while and help him with some occasional cleaning. There were plenty of my clothes mixed in with his at this point anyway. 

When he climbed onto the bed with me and rested his head on my chest, it made me feel like I was doing something right at least.

I know it's not the most action-packed or romantic chapter I've written, but it felt like a necessary one :)