Chapter Ten

Samantha turned her head, her eyes resting on Bill as he sat a few feet from her. She wondered how long he had been sitting there, how she hadn't woken up when he had come to join her on the couch. Bill didn't seem to be paying any attention to Samantha, his eyes focused on the television screen. Turning her head again, Samantha looked at the television. A cop show was on, and it was then that she noticed she didn't have the remote anymore. As she sat up, pulling her feet under her, she spotted the remote in Bill's hand. He was holding it loosely, and she was pretty sure that she could have easily leaned over and taken it from him, that he wouldn't have noticed.

"Bill?"

He didn't blink, didn't turn his head, didn't shift his gaze from the television. Samantha turned, sliding her feet off the couch as she leaned forward slightly. She turned her head, looking up at him, giving him a quick look-over. He was leaning forward slightly, his elbows resting on his lap as his hands hung limp in front of him. She was surprised he hadn't dropped the remote. His face was pale, and he looked thinner than she had thought he would. The dark chocolate eyes she loved weren't bright and full of life; they were empty, hollow, as if he wasn't feeling anything. As she scanned his body, she noticed that his normally tight clothing wasn't as tight as usual. Samantha frowned slightly as she tilted her head.

"Bill, are you okay?" she asked, trying to get his attention. "You look a little...sick."

She wanted to ask him what was wrong, to get inside his head, but she knew it was none of her business. As much as she wanted to know, Bill wasn't going to trust a random stranger with secrets of his life. Bill turned his head slightly to look at her before looking away again.

"I'm fine," he muttered finally. "Don't worry."

Samantha blinked. Don't worry? How could she not worry? Even though he said he was fine, she could tell that he wasn't. He was hiding something, and she wanted to know what it was. Her stomach growled and she felt her cheeks heat up, but Bill didn't seem to have noticed. Samantha looked for her phone, spotting it a moment later; it was sticking out of the cushions between her and Bill. When she checked the time, she saw that it was almost six, and she wondered if Bill was hungry too. She doubted that he had bothered to eat anything, not when he was in some random girls hotel room.

"Are you hungry?" she asked, looking back at Bill. When he didn't make any signs that he had heard her, she reached over and lightly tapped his shoulder. He flinched slightly, quickly turning his head to look at her. His brows were creased slightly in clear confusion; he wasn't aware of her previous question. "Um, do you want something to eat? I can make us ramen, macaroni and cheese, vegetarian burgers, tomato soup..."

Bill stared at her for a moment as he processed what she said before looking away.

"No, I'm not hungry," Bill said.

"Really? But you haven't eaten all day..." Samantha pointed out, frowning a bit. "I can make you a small bowl of soup or something. It's no problem, honest."

Bill didn't say anything and Samantha rolled her eyes.

"Bill, do you want ramen or tomato soup?" she asked, letting out a sigh. "I'm making you something to eat, so tell me what you want."

Bill frowned as he looked over at Samantha, but she didn't say anything as she waited for him to answer her. There was a moment of silence as they stared each other before Bill looked away.

"I'll have the soup..." Bill sighed, changing the channel on the television.

Samantha smiled and nodded as she stood up, stretching. She rubbed the back of her neck as she walked into the kitchen opening the nearest cupboard and pulled out a can of tomato soup. As she opened the can, she debated on making a bowl for herself or making ramen, settling for the soup. She pulled out a second can before grabbing a pot out of the strainer, setting it on the stove. Once both cans were emptied into the pot, she added some water before turning the stove on, moving on to rinse out the cans.

She poked her head around the corner and looked at Bill. He was flipping through the channels, looking for something else to watch, seemingly oblivious to the world around him- again. Samantha shook her head as she walked over to the counter and opened a drawer, grabbing two spoons and a larger spoon to mix the soup. She grabbed two bowls from another cupboard and set them on the counter, setting the smaller spoons next to them. It didn't take long for the soup to heat up, and she smiled slightly as she got their bowls ready, turning off the stove. There was enough for them to each have another bowl, maybe a little more. She grabbed a package of Saltine crackers from the cupboard as she made her way back to the living room with the bowls in hand.

"Here you go," Samantha said as she set Bill's bowl on the coffee table in front of him, placing some of the crackers next to it. He glanced down at it, but didn't make any attempts to start eating. "There's more if you want."

Samantha sat down on the couch next to him, looking at the television. It was on the music channels again, so Samantha guessed he couldn't find anything worth watching at the moment.

"Nothing interesting on?" she asked, looking over at Bill; he shook his head. Samantha nodded slightly and started eating, noticing that Bill's bowl was still on the table. "You can eat, you know. It's not going to bite you."

Bill looked at her as she smiled a little before looking away again. He didn't grab his bowl until a few minutes later and Samantha went back to watching the television. By time Samantha had finished her bowl, Bill had only eaten half of his. She set her bowl on the coffee table, leaning back on the couch.

"I take it you didn't have anywhere to be today?" she asked, looking at Bill again. He simply shook his head as he continued to eat. "Are you going to be leaving soon, then? You're welcome to stay here." Bill shrugged. "Well, when you figure out what you want to do, just let me know. If you're staying here, you've got the bed. I'm not making you take the couch."

"Thanks," Bill said as he set his bowl down. It was still half full, but he was done with it, not touching any of the crackers Samantha had given him.

"Not really hungry?" Samantha asked, looking at his bowl. Bill shook his head. "Well, if you do get hungry, you're welcome to help yourself to anything in the fridge. Oh, and if you want to take a shower, you can."

Bill nodded as he leaned forward again, resting his elbows on his lap like he had earlier. They sat there in silence for almost an hour, watching the different music videos that came on before Samantha got up and brought the bowls into the kitchen. She rinsed out the bowls, washing them before she went to put the remainder of the soup into a container, putting it in the refrigerator before washing the pot. Samantha sat on the couch again and glanced over at Bill.

"If you are staying here tonight, I have some pajama pants and a shirt you can wear," she suddenly said, looking at what he was wearing. "I can have what you're wearing washed for you."

Bill simply nodded and they went back to watching what was on the television, both not bothering to change the channel to see if anything worth watching had come on.