|Missing Love|

Chapter 7

*Shelby's P.O.V*

It's been at least two days since the run that Alden and I went on. Nothing much has happened since. We haven't talked. I just see him working with Earl. Were we only going to talk that one time and not have it happen again?

Did I upset him to the point where he won't talk to me?

He doesn't seem mad at me because I would occasionally see him looking at me but it goes nowhere from there.

I wanna try and talk to him again but what if he doesn't want to? I really should stop jumping to conclusions about these things. I shouldn't have to but I always overthink about everything.

"If you think he's mad at you then you're crazy." I heard someone say from behind me and I turned around to see Magna there.

"What makes you think that?" I asked.

"Because he told me." She said and then she sat down next to me.

I was sitting on the bench outside where I could see him working with Earl.

"What did he say?" I asked.

"He talked to me yesterday about you. He was saying how he enjoyed the run that you two had and he would want to know more about you. He knows that he misses Enid whenever she is being brought up but he loves knowing that he can open up to you. He told me that you both opened up to each other about your brothers. I think he's adjusting to this change, something that he hasn't been able to do yet since Enid died."

"And what am I supposed to do?" I asked, curious.

Magna looked to where Alden was working. "Just do what you've been doing. Just talk to him. Open up to him and sure enough, he'll open up to you as well. He wants to open up more. He wants to talk to you. If you're the one that's bringing him back into this land of hope then you're doing something right. You're making him feel something other than guilt. You know what you have to do."

"I just don't want to upset him." I said, honestly. "He's been through so much the past few months and I don't know how he truly feels."

"I think you know how he feels in some way. I mean, you know he's been through so much. That's a start."

I then asked, "So how would I find out what else he's feeling?"

"Maybe then he'll want to open up. He'll want to let you know what he's feeling. But if he doesn't then it's okay. But either way, he's going to be opening up to you. I keep thinking that Earl has been helping him with finding a way to open up." She explained.

I shrugged. "Maybe."

When I looked back at Alden when he was working, I saw him step back from his work and then he turned his head to the side. He sees me and once again, he doesn't look away.

He smiled slightly at me before returning to his work. He smiled at me and that brought a smile to my face.

"See." Magna grinned. "He smiled at you."

A deep blush crept onto my face. So it was nice to know that he wasn't mad at me or anything. Like Magna said, he's probably just trying to adjust to this change ever since Enid died.

"So I should just continue talking to him and it'll all be okay?" I asked.

Magna nodded. "You'll learn more about him by talking to him."

I wish Alden could walk by but maybe after he's done working, we could talk some more and just get to know each other.

"Are you girls gossiping again?" We heard a voice from behind us and saw Luke there with a smile on his face.