And We Were Us.....

Six

Dustin's POV

My mom runs to the couch when I come in and pretends to be interested in the show on the tv, and not the show that just went on in our front yard. I throw my jacket into the dirty clothes hamper, take off my boots, and enter the living room. 

There's silence for about 30 seconds...

"You gonna take Demon out tomorrow?" my mom quips.

"I have a job interview," I reply, opening the fridge, and taking out the milk jug.

"Mmmmf..." my mom grunts in reply. "Maybe I'll call, Tessa-"

"She's gonna say no," I sigh, pouring the milk into a glass and taking a long sip.

" And why is that?" Mom asks trying to be coy.

"Mom, we've been over this, okay?" I groan. "She hates me. That's the end of it." I chug the last of the milk in my glass. "I'm going to bed."

I trudge down the hall and into my room, closing the door behind me.

My phone vibrates and I hope that it's Tessa calling to say she's sorry, but it's not. I know I don't deserve it, but it would also give me a chance to apologize for being a dick. For not being there when she needed me to be. The truth is, I really do love her, and I miss her so much, it physically hurts me to think we are no longer anything to each other. That we never will be again.

My phone is silent, but the silence screams, making it hard to sleep. It crushes me and makes it hard to breathe, and I toss an turn trying to shake the weight of wondering what she might be doing and who she might be seeing.

As I lay awake, I realize she was right. I did put rodeo over her, I did make Carter's death all about me, I did leave her all alone at the funeral, and most importantly, I did push her further and further away from me.

But that's who I was, not who I am now. I'm not the boy who ran off the first chance they got. I'm not the same selfish boy who only cared about what they wanted. No, now I am a man who is willing to go a million miles on my knees to make Tessa see just how sorry I am.

Sighing, I sit up in my bed, giving up the fight for sleep and throw on the t-shirt and jeans from dinner. I need to make this better somehow, I need her to know. I glance at my alarm clock to check the time: 12:15 A.M. It's a new day to make everything okay between us.

I tiptoe out of my room, past my mom's room, to the key rack. After scribbling a note that tells my mom where I am going to be, I grab the keys to the truck, throw on my freshly washed jacket and I head out the door to see Tessa. I don't really know what I am expecting, but I am hoping and praying to God that I can make her understand, that I can convince her that I changed.

I pull into Tessa's driveway at almost one in the morning, armed with roses and a speech I've been mentally preparing the whole forty-five minute drive here. When I pull in I notice that Carter's truck is not here, which means Tessa is not here.

Good, I think to myself. More time to prepare.

I wait for what seems like hours, jumping at every noise of a car engine driving down the road, hoping that the next pair of headlights are hers, thinking constantly that this is a stupid idea, until finally, I see her pull in. She sees my truck, and glares at me.

I check the time.

2:30 A.M.

Her face is red, like she's been crying, and her make up is smeared. She looks tired, with bags under her eyes and slumping slightly over the wheel of the truck, and her appearance makes me wonder if this was a good time to be showing up. Had she been crying about our fight? Or was she just crying to relieve stress like I knew she did sometimes?