The New Separation (Book 2)

Chapter 23

Colton

Once we got our food, I drove to the park. It was the same park that we went on our first date, almost two and a half years ago. I hoped it would be a good spot to have our second first date.

"Colton," Elliot said once I parked the car and he recognized where we were, "you do realize it's thirty degrees out and there's still kinda snow on the ground right?"

"Yup. Lucky for us I have these." I pulled a blanket out of my backseat and a couple extra sweatshirts. Tossing one of the sweatshirts to Elliot, I pulled the other one over my head. Then I grabbed the blanket and the bag of food. "Come on."

He followed right behind me with both our drinks in his hands until I reached the playground. Thankfully it hadn't snowed in a couple days, so there really wasn't much on anything. I laid the blanket out underneath the slide and motioned for him to sit down first.

"Alright, so," I said, once I was sitting and going through the bag of food. "I have a plain burger for you." I handed it to him. "And a cheese burger for me. Fries will stay in the bag."

"It's actually pretty nice out tonight," he said. I also noticed him shifting slightly closer to me. "Not as cold as I thought it'd be."

I smiled at him, also shifting a bit closer to him. "I knew you'd love it."

By the time we finished eating, we were sitting so close to each other that I was able to rest my head on his arm. The closeness also helped keep us warm, of course.

"Hey Colton?" Elliot asked, breaking the silence that had fallen between us.

I looked up at him, but kept my head on his arm. "Yeah?"

He sighed before answering. "How do I know I can trust you?"

This felt like the conversation we almost had in the car. I'm almost glad he waited until I wasn't driving to ask. Sitting up, I tried to look him in the eyes as best I could in the almost nonexistent light.

"To be honest, I don't know. What I did to you was totally awful. I honestly never expected you to give me a second chance, but I'm so glad you did. I want to promise you the world, Elliot, I do." I grabbed hold of his hands. "But I know my word means nothing to you right now. I'm going to try my hardest to make sure you know how serious I am about you, Elliot Reynolds."

He didn't say anything. Instead, he took his right hand out of my grip and brought it up to my cheek. He rubbed it gently, and I could see a small smile on his face.

"You're going to go back to school soon," he whispered, keeping his hand on my cheek. "How do you know you won't... you know, again?"

"That happened because I was stupid enough not to admit to anyone that I was dating the most amazing boy in the world. The people at school know now. There's no more hiding who I really am or that I'm in love with you. Ever again."

Elliot

I could hear how much he believed what he was saying in every word he spoke. I wanted to trust him, but I still had that doubt in the back of my mind. That little voice screaming at me that he'll find someone else to keep him company while he's out there at school and I'm stuck here, alone.

"Please, El," he whispered. "What can I do to make you believe me?"

I dropped my hand back into my lap as Mama's words echoed through my head. Make him chase you, she told me. But I didn't think I could do that to him, even if he did break my heart or I still doubted his ability to be loyal to me. I did believe he'd try his best, which for him would be easy now that people at school knew about his sexuality.

That had always been his downfall. I knew that. But after two years of us being together, I would have thought he'd be more confident to admit his relationship with me.

"How much do I mean to you, really?" I asked.

There was no hesitation when he answered. "Absolutely everything."

I didn't know how to reply to that. So I just leaned forward and pressed my lips against his.

It was a short kiss, mainly because I pulled back before it could go anywhere. Our foreheads rested against each other, our breaths gently blowing against each other's faces.

"I want to trust you," I whispered. "Really, I do."

"Give me a chance and I'll prove to you how serious I am. Please."

I smiled. "What do you think I'm doing out here, in the cold, with you right now?"

He kissed me again, this one only slightly more heated than the last one. "Thank you," he said, his lips still against mine. "I love you, Elliot. I love you so much. I'm never going to hurt you again."

"I love you too," I said honestly. Then I stood up. "But we should go. I'm freezing and it got really dark out." I could barely make out his face anymore in this darkness. It must be getting late.

"Yeah, you're right." He also stood up and started gathering the blanket and our garbage. On the walk back to his car, Colton grabbed my hand with his free one. "Did you have a good night?" he asked me.

I couldn't help but smile. "I did. Thank you. It was really nice." Besides discovering how much we both sucked at ice skating, I liked that we were able to do it together. I really liked being with him, and while I was going to work on trusting him again, I knew it was going to take some time before I felt completely comfortable again.