Crashing into You (Wattpad Edition)

Chapter Fifty-Two: Benches are Boring

"Um, yeah I'm worried," I gulped.

Although I'd been waiting for him to call me for so long, I hadn't thought of what I'd say when he finally did.

"Well I'm fine," his said shortly.

"Okay," I whispered, feeling the hot tears rolling down my cheeks.

Either he's actually fine or he's lying. Either way, that sucks.

"Are... are you crying?" he asked, his voice softened.

"No," I said quickly, wiping away my tears as if he could see them.

"You know you're a terrible liar, right?"

"I do know that," I forced a small laugh.

"You're making it very difficult for me to be mad at you," he sighed.

"Then don't?" I suggested.

There was a pause, and for a second I worried that he'd hung up.

"I can't pretend that you didn't hurt me," he finally said.

"I'm not asking you to pretend anything," I told him. "Please, let's talk about it."

Another pause made my heart start racing. Each heartbeat echoed in my ears and started to make my head ache.

"How grounded are you?" he eventually asked.

"What do you mean?"

"Would you be allowed to go for a walk?"

The sliver of hope that remained in my heart grew a little bit.

He wants to see me.

"Even if I wouldn't, there'd be no stopping me," I smiled.

"So, maybe you take a stroll around the block and just happen to run into me... In about ten minutes?"

"Make it five."

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

As soon as I reached the landing at the bottom of the stairs, Felicity rounded the corner and caught me.

"Did you need something?" she asked, and I felt like a deer caught in headlights.

"Uh, I... was wondering if I'm still grounded," I stammered. Not that it was going to make a difference. Nothing was stopping me from heading out that door.

"Do you have somewhere to be?" She smiled slyly. Of course she already knew the answer.

I glanced around to make sure Dan wasn't nearby, then told her, "Chance finally wants to meet so that we can talk. I was hoping I'm not grounded anymore, so I won't get in trouble for going?."

Her sly smile broke into a grin.

"Thank you for being honest, Tristan," she came in for a hug and I gladly accepted it. "I think you've been grounded long enough."

"Thank you," I said, and grabbed my jacket from the entry closet.

"Good luck, Dear. And be back in time for dinner," she reminded me as I opened the door.

"I will," I promised, and stepped out to find Chance.

It didn't take me long to find him. He was pacing in large circles just around the corner from his house. White shoes peeked out from under his faded jeans, and a gray hoodie did the same through his unbuttoned navy jacket.

Do I wave? Give him a hug? I really want to hold him, but I don't know if he wants that.

Stopping several feet away from him, I just stood there staring at him with my hands in my pockets. My stomach tied itself in knots as my mind fired off negative thought after negative thought.