rogue

four

Chloe

"So, no second thoughts on letting me stay with you?" I break the silence after we've been driving for 10 minutes without saying a word.

He goes stiff next to me, and he stops drumming his fingers along the beat of the music. He takes a deep breath.

He starts to say something, but the sound of his phone ringing interrupts him. "I'm sorry, Chloe. Just one second." He reaches for his phone and answers the call.

I don't even bother telling him how freaking wrong it is to talk while driving because... Well, he wouldn't listen to me anyway.

"Listen, I can't talk right now." He glances over at me, and I shift uncomfortably in my seat. "I'm going to call you back later..." Another awkward glance in my direction. "No, I will be there." He sighs and ends the call.

What was that about?

I look at him questioningly, and he just shrugs it off...

"Sorry about that." He looks exhausted and rubs his face with his free hand. "About you staying with me... I wouldn't say you can if I didn't mean it. So yes, you can stay as long as you want. Please, stop asking me, or I..." he grins at me. "I'll really kick you out."

Funny.

"Okay, sorry." I let out the breath I've been holding for a minute. "The past couple of days have been hard for me, and well... I'm not used to asking for help, and that you're there for me now, it means a lot. So, thanks."

"I know that you don't have it easy right now. Wanna tell me what happened? I mean, my mom always tells me how well you're doing..."

I groan and stare out the window.

I wish I knew what happened. One day everything was fine, I was doing well in school, I had my job, a home, and my best friend. The next, everything just seemed to go downhill.

"I don't know. I was doing well. I think I just wanted too much, like I think the internship kinda broke me. You know? Before I started it, everything seemed to work out for me, but then I just didn't have time to study, and then I started to fail some classes... Well, one thing led to another, and now I'm here." I shrug, pretending all of it isn't a big deal, but my voice betrays me.

He can hear the unshed tears in my shaky voice.

"I'm sorry. Can I ask why you're not asking your parents for help? I'm sure your dad would pay for your rent?"

I know that it would have been the right thing to do. I know that as soon as I began to struggle, I should have called him... But the ugly truth is...

"I had a fight with him a few months ago. He told me that he doesn't really like the thought of me living with Lins. He heard some stories about her, alcohol, sex, and yeah... I wanted to protect her and got really angry. I told him if he doesn't like my choices, I would do perfectly fine without him. I know that he would still help me, but I'm just too ashamed," I admit.

He reaches over to squeeze my knee, and to my surprise, he doesn't remove his hand. No, he keeps it rested on my thigh, squeezing it every now and then.

I stare at his hand. Long fingers and perfectly tanned skin.

Such a sweet and atypical gesture. I didn't know that he could be like that...

"Chloe?" Finn interrupts my train of thoughts, and I look up at him.

"Yeah? Did you hear what I said?" Confused, I shake my head, and a grin appears on his face.