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It would be cool if you were closer and we could meet. Then maybe I wouldn’t have to go to things alone. If you’d want to go, that is. What would you do if we had the day to spend together, but nothing else?
I think I would take you to Lost River Cave, or maybe even the dinosaur park! Oh, that would be the best!
I hate hearing how much you miss your brother. Maybe try asking him to join you? Go do something you both used to like doing? I have no real advice. Noah basically enjoys farting and coloring and one of those I agree to do with him. I’ll let you decide which. It’s not the farts.
Dancing with the fireflies,
Nox
Taking a deep breath,I walked into the room and found Simon and Slade leaning against the table. They looked up at the sound, a smile breaking free on Si's face, and I wanted to melt into it. He was the first to react, instantly walking toward me to close the distance. Before he could reach me, though, I placed my arms out in front of me, stopping him. His face dropped, but he stopped, respecting my boundary.
“What's going on, Lenn? Where have you been? You simply vanished! We said we would work on fixing things, and then you left, disappearing and had your phone off.” His words tumbled out accusatory, but I heard the pain behind them. Simon had been worried, and I dare say,scared.
“I just… I needed some time to think, okay. Is that too much to ask?”
“It is when you run off on me again!” He stopped, holding a hand to his forehead. I watched as he tried to calm himself, taking deep inhales of air, his eyes closed.
The part of me that had always hated seeing Simon upset and lived to make him happier, bubbled up to the surface, causing me to take a step forward unconsciously. My broken heart screamed louder, reminding me it couldn’t always be about him. My emotions warred within and I stopped my forward movement, refocusing. I wasn’t going to keep sacrificing my own needs in order to make other people happy anymore, even Si.
“Do you know what it's been like the past few months without you?” he asked, dropping his hand as he looked at me. His eyes were open, full of torment as they filled with tears. “It's beenmiserable,Lenn. It felt like things had finally headed in a good direction with us, and then youleft. So, yeah, I got scared today when you disappeared again, thinking I wouldn’t see you for another two months or longer.”
“Okay. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you. I just, I needed to figure out some things on my own, and I needed to talk with... someone,” I finished, biting my lip. When I began to fidget too, I shoved my hands into my pockets, trying to hide them.
“And that's fair, Lenn. But you can't keep running away. Just communicate, you know, say, I don’t know, 'Hey, Si, I need to take some time.' And then I'll be like, 'Cool, Lenn. That's great. Catch you later,’ or something.”
“Yeah, okay, dork.” I laughed, some of the tension I'd been carrying around for months easing in his presence as my shoulders relaxed. This was what Simon did, who he was. He was your favorite sweater that made you both comfortable and confident. “You've never said, ‘Cool, Lenn’ in your entire life.”
“Ugh, you know what I mean!” He exclaimed, grinning at me in mock frustration. “I don't like not knowing what's going on with you. I worry. We've spent most of our lives doing everything together, and when you're not there, it feelswrong.”
Cheese on toast, he was hitting me in the feels with that stuff right there. Softening, I smiled up at my best friend who’d been moving closer the more we spoke. “You're right. I'm sorry. I didn't mean—”
Before I could finish, Slade cut me off, and for the first time in my life, I'd forgotten he was in the room. His usual overbearing aura was gone, and he'd sat patiently waiting while Si and I talked, but I guess it only extended for so long and he’d grown tired of waiting.
“Who were you meeting with?”
Turning to the sound, I blinked when I locked eyes with him, trying to remember my words. Not having seen him in so long, I'd forgotten how disarming he was full-on. When I'd been mad at him last night, it was easier to ignore his natural sex appeal. He oozed it in every fiber of his being, and it was a constant battle not to strip down right there and let him do unthinkable things to me. Especially now that I knew what he could do to my body with his touch. Slade lifted his eyebrow at me after a few moments when I didn't answer.
“Wanna try that again?” He smirked.
“Um, no one.”
“Hmm,” he hummed, swiping his thumb across his bottom lip, playing with the piercing I hadn't given him. Narrowing my eyes, I knew he was doing it intentionally. “Does that mean you've come to a conclusion, then? Have you come to stomp the rest of my black heart into the ground?”
The retort on my lips fell away, stunned by his words. There wasn't any malice in them, just pure curiosity. I didn't like feeling so vulnerable with Slade. It wasn't our dynamic, and changing it now made it difficult for me to remember what I'd come here to say.
“So you admit your heart's black? And all this time, I merely thought it was because you were a fartknocker.” I crossed my arms, blanking my face in disinterest. It did nothing but encourage Slade, my answer delighting him as his smile grew wider, changing his whole face.
“That's how you’re going to play it,Peach? Fine. Go on and pretend, but we both know you can't deny the animal magnetism between us.”
Rolling my eyes hard, I was surprised when they didn't get stuck. I continued to stare, waiting for him to get on with whatever had been so important to interrupt me mid-sentence. He dropped his eyes to the floor, his lean against the table had transformed into a seductive pose as he slowly looked up at me, his eyelashes fluttering. The veins in his arms and the tattoos on display seemed to dance as he flexed them against the table he gripped.
“So you’re not here to proclaim your everlasting love for me?”
What in tarnation was he on about now? Huffing, I placed my hand on my hip, searing him with nonchalance. I hadn’t forgotten the picture I’d seen, even if my memory was fuzzy about that night, I couldn’t brush it off. The obstinate, bratty side that had battled with Tatzilla for years surfaced, ready to protect my heart.
“You wish.”
“Yeah, I kind of do,Peach.”
