Meadow Valley book series- Everything's changed

Chapter 25: Hot mess

"How could David just talk so openly to people about our family's business? Doesn't he even realize that I might not want him to talk about papi?" Ana thought to herself as she tried to rush away without being noticed.

     Tears were rolling down her cheeks. She walked away and stood near a tree. Far enough not to be noticed by the others. She stood with her back to the crowd of people. Folding her arms and occasionally wiping the tears from her face.

"Get it together. Just breathe." Ana thought to herself as she tried to calm herself down.

     She was hoping that nobody noticed her standing over there by the tree. Just then Ana felt a set of warm hands rest upon her shoulders. She placed her hands on top of them thinking it was her brother coming to apologize to her. Ana had turned around to give him a hug. She really needed David to hug her as she was crying. David was usually pretty good about sensing when she needed him. Ana closed her eyes and wrapped her arms around him tightly. He smelled delicious. She quickly noticed that it wasn't her brother hugging her back. It was Adam. Ana felt so embarrassed that she thought Adam was her brother. Worse yet that she even hugged him. She pushed him away from her. Quickly turning around and wiping her face. Adam gently touched her arm.

"Ana, it's okay. I understand more than you think." He tried to be sympathetic.

     She was thinking more about the accidental hug and her crying in front of him. Ana hasn't let anyone see her cry since the accident. She was very uncomfortable with public displays of affection.

"You need to get it out. Don't shut people out. I can see that you're hurting. I just want to help you."

Ana turned to look at him with tears still in her eyes.

"How do you know what I need? You don't even know me. Let alone know what I'm in need of. Just leave me alone."

     Her voice cracked as she spoke. She was about to come all undone any second. Luckily the two of them were far enough away from everyone else that nobody noticed their dramatic conversation.

"I once lost someone very close to me. Trust me. I know what you're going through right about now."

"You seriously think that you know what I am going through right now."

Ana rolled her eyes in doubt and folded her arms as she gulped back the tears.

"I-I do...because it was my mother. She got cancer and died when I was only thirteen years old. I thought my whole world was collapsing around me and the only way I can handle it was by shutting everyone out of my life." Adam's voice cracked a little as he spoke honestly with Ana.

     That's when she completely lost it for the first time in front of someone. A full blown crying hot mess. Adam wrapped his arms around her. She cried as he gently held her in his arms. It didn't matter anymore. She couldn't help but accept his friendly gesture of comfort. She really needed to let out some of the pain that she was feeling inside of her.

     She was a little bit humiliated when she realized that she got his shirt wet from her tears. He didn't seem to mind much. He took his fingers and wiped away the tears from her face. He was so caring. He gazed into her big beautiful green eyes. She batted the tears and stared back at him. His hand remained on her face as he gently caressed the side of her cheek with his fingers. Ana placed her hand on top of his and leaned into him.

     Adam wanted to tell her how he felt about her. How she made his heart skip two beats. He was shy and didn't want to take advantage of her fragile emotions. Ana couldn't understand what she was feeling inside. She loved feeling his smooth touch. Not knowing what to say or do next. Ana took a deep breath and gave him one final hug. She buried her face into his chest and held on tightly. Adam had one hand on the back of her head and the other wrapped around the middle of her back. Ana pulled away slightly. One of Adams hands was still on Ana's back. She rested her hands on his chest and looked up at him.

"Can we please just go home? I don't want anyone else to notice that I've been crying. Please don't tell anyone."

     Adam brushed a strain of her hair out of her face and placed it behind her ear. Then he slid his knuckle down her cheek.

"Stay here while I go fetch your brother."

     Turning away from Ana and walking over the where David was sitting. He whispered something into his ear and the both of them said goodbye to the others. David realized that his sister was not sitting near them.

"Is Ana okay." David had probed Adam.

"She's fine. I think that she just needs to be alone for a while."

"What happened? I didn't even notice that she left."

"I think she's missing your father that's all."

"Did she tell you that?"

"Not exactly. I could just tell."

"What happened?"

"Nothing. She just asked to go home. So I came over to get you."

     David rushed over to his sister and wrapped his arm around her. The two of them walked back to the car closely together. David used his cell phone flashlight to see where Adam was ahead of them. Adam reached the car first and opened up the front door for Ana to get in. She insisted on riding in the back seat so she could rest.

     It was a quiet ride home. Ana pretended that she was tired and rested her head on the car window. Adam kept his word and didn't mention anything about her crying meltdown earlier. Although he did look at her a few times in the rear view mirror just to check if she was okay. Ana didn't really pay attention to Adam's glances. She just closed her eyes and pretended to be asleep. When they got home she went straight up to her room and went to bed.