Relocating

Fearless

"Ashton?" I question.

The person doesn't turn around. They stay in place. The only movement the person makes is to wipe their face with both hands.

"Do you really believe that?" He chokes out.

"What do you think?"

"I-I'm sorry I made you feel-made you go through that." He responds.

"You think all it takes is an apology? Ashton! You tried to make me leave my job and the very few amount of people I know. Then when I brought up leaving for a day or two, you jumped on the idea. You actually didn't even care. You didn't care what happened to me. An apology won't erase that!" I yell and my eyes begin to fill.

"I know."

"Really. That's great. I'm happy you know, but why didn't you know that then?"

"I didn't know it would hurt you that much." He says. I feel like slapping him in the back of the head. He won't even look at me right now.

"I cared about you!" I yell and feel a hand on my shoulder. It's Aria.

"Hey, you wanna just go?" She asks.

"I'll be back in a minute." I say and direct my attention back to Ashton.

"I cared about you." I state firmly.

"I know you cared. Do you really love me?" He asks once Aria is gone.

"You're stupid. Really stupid." I say aggravated with him.

"Well?" He asks. He still doesn't turn to face me.

"Didn't I just confess that on stage in front of everyone?" I say. He doesn't say anything.

"Can you just talk to me!?" I shout at him. He doesn't move.

"You're the one who showed up tonight." I say and turn away from him. If he wasn't here to talk to me, he shouldn't have shown up.

I walk back into the coffee house. All of my friends are at a table waiting for me. As soon as I sit down, everyone looks out the window. I turn and see him sitting on the curb outside.

"Go see him." Cole says and all of us look at him shocked.

"Cole, I can't-"

"Yes you can. Go." He says.

I stand up and go out the coffee house door. He's sitting on the curb. After all of the yelling tonight, he finally turns and looks at me. And, I have to say, he looks like a mess. I stay where I am. He makes contact with my eyes.

"So you really did love me?" He asks.

"Like I said up there, I still do." I say.

"You do?" He says and turns back again, almost like he's afraid to ask.

"Yeah, but you never loved me. At least you never told me. I figured you letting me leave was evidence enough."

"Are you fucking kidding me?" He says and surprises me by the tone.

"What-"

"I love you!" He yells and stands up.

"You never told me! You never tried to show me! You let me leave!" I yell back.

"Because I was afraid." He says.

"Of what?"

"If you knew I love you-I just didn't know how you would react." He says and I stare at him in disbelief.

"So you just let me think you didn't love me?" I ask.

He doesn't say anything. Great. We're back to that.

"I wish it wasn't like this." I say and grab onto the door handle.

Ashton grabs my arm. I feel like I may melt from the close contact. I turn around to find I'm inches from his face. He looks into my eyes and I stare into his. I'm not angry any more. I just feel sad. I see it in his eyes too.

"I'm not scared anymore." He whispers.

He pushes his lips into mine. I hug around his neck and kiss back. He puts his hands around my back and lifts me up slightly. He sets me down on the ground and we break the kiss. He hugs my body tightly. I nuzzle my head into his neck.

"I love you." He whispers.

"I love you too." I say and he squeezes me tighter.

I turn my head and see all of our friends clapping in the coffee shop. I nudge Ashton to turn and he smiles. He also blushes, which makes me laugh. I look up at him and he smiles. He smiles brighter than I had seen him smile in awhile. And I'm smiling too.