The Pact

30. i'm not above breaking bro code

I stared at the boy in front of me, unmoving as the snow began to coat his hair.

"Are you going to let me in?" He asked, a lazy grin set on his face as he shook the snow, sending cold snowflakes flying into my face.

"What are you doing here?" I took a step back, allowing him into the house.

He entered, slowly, carefully. He eyed the flour covering my clothes before meeting my gaze. "I wanted to talk to you."

I gawked at him, not knowing what to do with myself. I watched him cautiously, not moving from my spot in the middle of the entryway as he shut the front door and stepped into the kitchen.

"Talk?" I echoed, slowly regaining control over my body and following him into the kitchen. "I don't want to talk."

He picked up a cookie from the counter, taking a bite. "Well," he said, his eyes flicking over to me. "I guess that's too bad." He groaned in delight as he finished his cookie, quickly picking up another one. "You're quite the baker, you know that?"

"What do you want, Jared?"

"I told you, I came to talk." He shrugged, taking a seat on one of the barstools in front of the counter.

I rolled my eyes. "Talk about what?"

He watched me for a long moment. "Now, dear Emily, what do you think I'm here to talk about?"

I didn't respond.

He sighed. "Of course you're going to make this difficult." He set the cookie down on the counter, crossing his arms over his chest. "You're a hard person to read, Em. You're quite like Beck in that sense, but you have more restraint. I can't decide if it's a good thing or not."

I glared at him. "Why are you here?"

He shrugged. "You're running from your problems. And it's starting to piss me off."

"I'm sorry that my emotional health is upsetting you."

He rolled his eyes. "Oh my god, Em. Lighten up." He sighed. "Look, I get that you're mad at him. I get that you hate him for what he did. But you can't just hide out here forever."

"I'm not hiding," I said defensively.

He stared at me for a moment before responding. "No? What are you going to do when he gets back?"

"What are you going to do when I kick you out of my house?" I shot back.

He stared at me, an amused smirk forming on his face. "You know, you're pretty sexy when you're pissed. Beck had a point." He mused.

My anger flared inside of me and I tried to keep my composure, I really did. But the look on his face was too much. "Is that all?" I spat. "Because I really think it's time for you to go."

"I don't think so." He said simply, eyeing me carefully. "I think it's time you grew up and stopped running from your emotions."

I stared at him, stunned into silence by the bluntness of his comment.

"You can't change what's happened to you, Emily. You can't change the past."

"I know that," I shot back. "Why are you here? To remind me of how miserable I've been my entire life? To tell me that I have to be okay with it? To tell me it's over? Because I already know."

He studied me for a long moment. "You really are the most difficult person I've ever met."

I laughed bitterly. "I've been told."

"No one can make you happy." He said, leaning against the counter.

"Beck did," the words left my mouth before I could stop them.