"Adriel?" Jenna's voice; muffled through the wood, but worried.
He didn't answer. Pulled the blanket higher, as if that could hide him.
The door opened anyway. She crossed to his bed like she'd done a thousand times before, sat on the edge, her hand finding his shoulder through the blanket.
"Hey." Soft. "You're late for work."
"Not going."
She tugged at the blanket, gentle. "What's up? You okay?"
He shook his head, face still pressed to the pillow. "I'm fine. Just sick."
"You're a terrible liar. You always have been. Remember in sixth grade when you tried to tell Mrs. Patterson the dog ate your homework? You didn't even have a dog."
He said nothing.
Jenna waited. She was good at waiting.
"Something happened," he said finally. Small. Muffled. "Yesterday. At work."
And then, as if the dam breaking, the words spilled out of his mouth. He told her about the kiss. Not all of it, but enough.
When he finished, the room was quiet.
"So," Jenna said slowly, "the man you've been half in love with since you started that job finally kissed you. And you ran. And now he's calling."
Adriel made a sound into the pillow.
"Ads." Her voice was gentle in a way that made his chest ache.
"He called mepretty." He turned his head just enough to look at her. Eyes red, face blotchy, hair a mess.
Jenna's expression shifted. Something flickered there; understanding, maybe. She waited.
"Pretty is a lie." His voice cracked. "It was always a lie. Zach called me pretty too.” He laughed, ugly and broken. "And then he fucked me over."
He pressed his fist to his mouth. "So why would this be different?"
Jenna was quiet for a long moment.
"Because maybe some people actually mean it," she said carefully. "Because maybe Landen isn't Zach." She reached out, brushed the hair back from his forehead the way she used to when they were kids, when he was sick or sad or both. "Maybe he sees something you've never let yourself see."
Adriel shook his head.
"You should answer him," Jenna said. "At least once. Find out what he has to say."
"I can't."
"Ads…"
"I can't." His voice broke on it. "I can't hear him explain it away. I can't hear him say it was a mistake, or he was caught up in the moment, or…" He stopped. Breathed. "I can't do this again, Jen. I can't."
She looked at him for a long time, her gaze warm and worried.
"Okay," she said finally. "Okay." She squeezed his shoulder once, then stood. "You’ll have to face him at some point, you know? So might as well get it over with."
∞∞∞
