Chasing the tesseract

Chapter 17

Tree's block out the sunlight, plunging the forest into darkness as I chase after Stephen and Pietro. A cool breeze blows against my face, my hair whipping against my face as I push through a bush and into an open space. On the far side of the opening stands Stephen, his arms crossed as he paces back and forth, muttering something inaudile under his breath. Behind him stands Pietro, his jaw locked and his hands in fists as he marches at Stephen.

"What was that?" shouts Pietro causing Stephen to jump slightly as he turns around, his back now to me. As quietly as I can, I shuffle closer to them, remaining in the dark so that I can listen to what they're saying.

"I don't know what you mean." mutters Stephen as he shrugs his shoulders and turns to walk away, thinking the conversation is over. Grabbing Stephen's arm, Pietro turns him around to face him as he glares daggers at him.

"You know exactly what I mean." he grunts, spitting slightly as he lets go of Stephen's arm, his hand immediately forming a fist. "Abi was being nice and you just walked away." Rolling his eyes and sighing audibly, Stephen steps away from Pietro, rubbing his temples as he looks at the ground.

"Look, what do you want from me?" asks Stephen, lifting his head up so that he's looking Pietro directly in the eye. His face masked with utter disbelief, Pietro shakes his head as he takes a deep breath.

"I want you to like her. Or at least tolerate her." he demands, his voice echoing through the silent forest. His facial muscles are clenched as he takes deep breathes, trying his hardest not to punch Stephen. "But if that's too damn difficult for you then the least you could do is pretend."

"Oh, I am pretending." mutters Stephen as he turns his back to Pietro, crossing his arms and looking at the floor.

"Well then do it better!" insists Pietro, his voice now several octaves higher than before as anger bubbles in his eyes. Stephen stops walking away, his head flying up as he turns around to Pietro, his eyes filled to the brim with fury.

"Okay then what do you say I er, go back there and tell her how much I like her." suggests Stephen, stepping closer to Pietro as he tilts his head to the side. Smiling sarcastically and raising his eyebrows, Pietro taps Stephen on the arm.

"Okay, good idea." he mutters as he turns around and begins walking away, thinking the conversation is finished.

"No it'll be good." adds Stephen, Pietro turning back aorund to face him as he crosses his arms aginst his chest. "I can tell her how much I've been thinking about her." suggests Stephen, stepping even closer to a confused looking Pietro. "That I haven't stopped thinking about her since the moment we met."

"What?" asks Pietro, his voice laced with confusion as he frowns, his brain working even harder than before to try and make sense of what Stephen's saying.

"That I'm so fantastically, over the top, wanna slit my own throat in love with her that for every minute of every hour of every day I can't believe my own damn bad luck that you met her first." screams Stephen as he jabs his finger into Pietro's chest. Stepping out into the light for the first time, I walk towards them, Stephen unaware of my presence behind him.

"You're in love with me?" I mumble, my voice shaking as my heart knocks against my chest. Swallowing hard, I push down the strange feeling in my stomach and the tears that threaten to spill on my face.

"Abi?" Stephen turns to face me, his eyes glistening in what little light there is as he looks me up and down. "How long have you been standing there?" he mumbles, stepping towards me as I stare at him, my eyes wide and my breath short.

"Long enough." I answer, my voice monotone as he stops a few inches from me. "Was everything you just said true?"

"I...I erm," Stephen looks down, avoiding eye contact as he rubs at the back of his neck. "well, erm."

"Spit it out Stephen!" I scream, his head shooting up at my little outburst.

"Yes." he whispers, looking down at the ground as he takes a deep breath, closing his eyes. "Yes it was all true." Closing my eyes, I turn my back to him, taking a deep shaky breath as I swallow hard. This was not supposed to happen.

"I need to go." I conclude, looking up at them before walking past them, heading for the others. My knee's are weak as I wobble on my feet, overwhelmed by a mix of emotions.

"Abi wait." protests Stephen, grabbing my wrist and turning me to face him, his eyes pleading as I look into them. The tears I pushed down earlier come roaring back, threatening to leak from the damn I've built.

"Don't." I demand, my voice barely a whisper as I remove my hand from his grip. "Just," my voice breaks so I take a deep breath, closing my eyes before I continue. "Just leave me alone for a while."

"Please don't do this." protests Stephen as I begin walking away and he follows me. Raising my hand, I gently push him backwards and he obeys, a tear falling from both of our eyes almost simultaniously.

"I can't Stephen," I whisper, my hand still on his chest as I drop my head, shaking it. "not now. Just let me go." Removing my hand from his chest, I walk off towards the others, covering my mouth with my hand so that they don't hear my quiet sobs.

"What have I done?" mutters Stephen to himself as he watches me walk away.

"Probably messed up everything." concludes Pietro, stepping to Stephens side and watching me walk away. Glaring at him, Stephen turns to face Pietro.

"That was a rhetorical question. You didn't need to answer."

"I know." admits Pietro, turning back to where I've walked off and following me. "Why is it that I'm the one fixing your two's relationship?" he mumbles over his shoulder.

"Because she doesn't care about it." shouts Stephen.

"Oh she does, she's just too scared to admit it."