Believe in Second Chances

8) Empty Plate

-Ben

"Hey..." I hear a whisper.

I tilt my head up, touching but for the first time not crashing into the bottom of Dan's bed. I shift slightly onto my right and pull away the curtain that separates my bed and the hall of this bus.

Kylie.

I don't even need a second time to see who it is. In the poor moonlight she stands with an awkward smile.

"Hey, Kylie. What's up?" I whisper.

"Can't sleep. Can I climb in?"

Well, that can make things more interesting...

"Sure." I respond and drag the curtain a little more.

I move away so she can get in. After some hassle of climbing into the limited space, she's in.

Kylie smiles, satisfied, as she wraps her thin arms around me. I nuzzle in the crook of her neck and sigh.

Can't believe how long it has been since I did this with someone and actually felt something.

Our own warmth against each other's. Kylie's deep green eyes locks into mine for a moment, before disappearing under her eyelids. A small giggle.

"So you're a vegetarian now?" I ask after a while.

"Yup."

"For how long have you been that?"

Kylie sighs, you know, in the thinking-back kind of way.

"Let's see," she sighs, "For about seven years now."

"Woah."

"I know."

"Don't you miss bacon?" I ask her, laughing a little.

"Not really," she giggles, "I miss your meat."

"Oh my god, Kylie." I chuckle, trying not to break out in laughter and wake everyone up.

"Still got it!"

A fist pump.

"Damn you. So you've been a Ben-vegetarian for eight years and actual vegetarian for seven?"

"Yeah, I decided that while I was giving up on everything either way, why not meat too?" she chuckles.

She said it like it was a joke.

I don't say anything for a while. I'm just thinking of everything that has happened. Her years after we broke up and mine. Comparing them both. I think about today. I think about when she first came into the meet and greet room, after eight years of absence.

"What really happened after we broke up?" I ask with a serious tone.

Kylie sighs, but now in the more tired kind of way.

"There were so many rumors about what had happened to you after you dropped out. Nobody saw you again..." I add.

"I broke up with my family, kinda. Then bought a ticket to California and lived in a motel. Then I met Becca and we both moved into that apartment together." Kylie explains.

"Really?"

"Yeah."

"Wow."

Another silence.

"Can't believe I'm... with you." she breathes through the darkness.

"Well, me neither." I admit with a hushed tone.

She opens her eyes again.

"I never thought that you would take me back..."

"Me neither."