Hearts' Desire

Chapter Six

Tobin's POV

I was right. Today was already a tough day with Servando and Alex.

I let out a sigh as I leave class to go to the bathroom and when I walk in there I see Christen washing her hands.

"Hey." She says with a smile.

"Hey." I say without making eye contact.

"What's wrong?" She asks as she walks over to me.

"Nothing just... Stressed." I respond.

"About?"

"Life." I say not wanting to explain anymore.

"Do you want to talk about it?" She asks with concern in her eyes but I shake my head no. "Well, I don't want to make it seem like I'm ditching class... I'll come over after school, is that okay?"

I shrug my shoulders. "Sure."

"Good." Christen says with a small smile. She pulls me into a hug before leaving the bathroom. Then, I was finally able to breathe. I leaned over the sink and stared at my reflection in the mirror.

Why do I always feel this way? I felt like I couldn't breathe, I couldn't think. I felt stuck and it was a strange feeling.

I splashed my face with cold water before returning from class. It was hard to concentrate, it was hard to focus on anything really. I felt like nothing was in my favor, that everything was just so wrong.

Finally, before you know it, the final bell rung signaling the end of the day. I breathed a sigh of relief as I sat in my car and waited for Thalia. I was too zoned out to realize that Alex was knocking on the window.

I jumped in my seat before rolling down the window.

"You okay?" She asks with a small laugh.

"Yeah, just thinking." I say, which wasn't a lie.

"About what?" Alex asks.

"Nothing important." I say as I look into her blue eyes.

"When are you going to open up to me, Tobin? You can trust me right?"

"She has a hard time trusting people. It takes her a while to open up to someone." I hear Thalia say. She appears in the passenger seat next to me with a small smile. "Once you get to know her, maybe then she'll open up. Until then, she's a closed book."

Alex smiles at Thalia and then at me.

"It takes time, Alex. You just have to wait." Thalia finishes before she goes back to her phone. I shake my head as I look up at Alex who had a smile on her face.

"I'll wait. As long as it takes." She says with a smile before walking away.

I start the car and pull out of the school.

"She totally likes you and you totally like her." Thalia says with her eyes still glued to her phone.

"What makes you say that?" I ask, trying to avoid the obvious.

"Have you seen the way she looks at you with those ocean blue eyes of hers? It's like she's drawn to you. Besides, she's stopped by our house multiple times." Thalia says as if it's no big deal.

"She stopped by our house and you didn't tell me?" I ask.

"Yeah. I didn't think you would care." Thalia says.

"Well, I do care just... Tell me next time." 

"So you can flirt with her?" Thalia asks as she looks up from her phone with a grin on her face.

"Shut it." I say with a small laugh as I playfully shove her.

"Look, I know what love looks like. I'm not oblivious like you. So I mean it when I say she might be worth getting to know." I just look at Thalia and nod my head without saying a word.

Finally we got back to our house and right away Thalia plops down onto the couch.

"Um, Christen is coming over so when she gets here let me know. I'll be up in my room."

"You got it." Thalia says while turning on the TV.

Finally, I was able to have sometime for myself. I took a shower which was much needed. I caught up on homework and I was finally able to lay on my bed and do absolutely nothing. Then I hear a knock on my door.

I look up and see Christen standing in the doorway with a small smile. "Hey, Tobs." She says as she walks into my room and sits on my bed across from me.

"How are you?" She asks.

"I don't know, Chris... I haven't been able to answer that lately." I say with a sigh as I close my laptop.

"What's bothering you?" She asks.

"I don't know... Everything is just so confusing. I don't even understand myself." 

"Is it me? Servando? Thalia? Alex?" Christen asks.

"Maybe, I don't know." I say.

"Tobin, do you need help? Because I want to help you. I need to make sure that you're okay." Christen says with concern in her eyes.

"I don't need help." I say. Christen grabs my hand and squeezes it.

"Then what do you need? Let me help you." Christen says.

It was like everything froze. I thought about what I needed most. I thought about the people in my life. I thought about mom  and dad. I thought about Thalia. Everything was going through my mind until I finally looked Christen in the eyes.

"You."

"What?" Christen asks.

"I need you."

Christen looks at me with no expression on her face. Then she moves closer to me and tilts my head. She looked me in the eyes for what felt like hours before she crashed her lips against mine.