Love Hurts

Chapter 6

- Christina's POV -

"What was that all about?" Mom asked as Jordan and I sat back down in our seats.

"Nothing." I said.

She looked at me with a weird expression before turning to Jordan, "So, what did you want to tell me, Jordan?"

"I was going to tell you that Matt," Jordan said before turning to me, I mouthed "please" to him before he continued, ". . .Matt is awesome."

I closed my eyes and let out a sigh of relief as Matt and my mom exchanged confused looks between each other.

"Ok, well, thanks for telling me that. . . I guess." Mom said.

"It's fine. Well, I have to go. Thanks for having me." Jordan said before he stood up and walked out.

----

I approached Jordan's house with Max's hand in mine. I tried to think of what to say to him. I didn't know whether to thank him for not saying anything to my mom the other day, or be angry that he almost did.

"Hey." I said as Jordan opened the door after a good 5 minutes of waiting. The waiting time was courtesy of Max, he insisted on knocking on the door.

"Hey," He replied, a smile now forming on his lips. "I didn't know you were going to come."

"I needed to drop Max off, so you know, I'm here."

"No, no, I knew that. I just thought that your mom would be doing it."

"Oh, she left this morning, sorry to disappoint." I said, letting out an awkward laugh.

"That's ok, I like you better."

"Cool." I said, though it sounded a lot like a question.

There was then awkward silence between us before Max spoke, "You guys are weird."

"Don't worry, bud. I'm sure it skips a generation." Jordan said, as Max had a confused look on his face, not quite understanding the joke.

"Right. I better get going. Bye, Max," I said, as I bent down to Max's level and kissed his forehead, "See you around, Jordan." I added, before turning to walk to my car.

"Christina, wait," Jordan said, before I stopped and turned back to him, "You don't have to go right now." He said.

"I really should go. I have stuff that I've got to take care of and--"

"One hour," He said, cutting me off, "Just stay for an hour then I promise you can go and take care of your, uh. . . stuff."

"One hour?" I asked.

"Just one." He replied.

"I guess I could compensate." I shrugged, as I began to walk back towards his house.

----

"Mom, I'm bored." Max whined, as he came running up to me.

"Yeah, me too." I replied.

"That's not very nice." Jordan said.

"Well, sitting here and talking isn't much fun." I said.

"It used to be. We used to be able to just sit down and talk for hours. What happened?"

"We ran out of things to talk about. That's what happened. Now, you've had your hour and I need to go." I said, standing up from my seat and walking towards the door.

"Let's go to the beach." Jordan said out of no where.

"What?" I asked, turning around. His statement clearly caught me off guard.

"Max is bored. You're bored. Let's just go to the beach." He said.

"Yes! Can we?" Max asked, bursting with excitement.

Jordan looked at me smugly. He knew there's no way I could ever say no to Max.

"Alright. Fine. We'll go to the beach." I said, throwing my hands up in defeat.

----

"Don't go too close to the water, Max!" I called out as Max ran ahead of me and Jordan as we were walking along the beach.

"Relax, Christina. He'll be fine." Jordan said.

"Yeah, I know. I just worry about him."

"You wouldn't be normal if you didn't. It's natural to worry about him."

"I guess." I shrugged.

"So, how's my buddy Adam?" He asked.

"I wouldn't know. We're not really talking at the moment."

Jordan sighed and said, "Of course you aren't. What happened?"

"I told him about Matt and he just completely stopped talking to me."

"Fair enough." He laughed.

"Jordan!" I exclaimed, as I hit his arm, "It's not funny. Adam is my friend, I hate not talking to him."

"Exactly. He's your friend. Which means he'll get over it eventually. If he's anything like me, he's just really pissed at Matt, not you. So just give him some space for now, he'll come around."

"I hope so."

"Now, while we're talking about Matt. I have a few things to say."

"I think you've said enough, Jordan."

"Christina," He said, as he stopped walking and grabbed my hands, "You don't need to stay with him because you're scared. You're an amazing girl, don't let yourself be forced into staying with someone who doesn't appreciate how special you truly are."

"I stay with him because I love him, Jordan."

"I understand you love him, but are you in love with him?"

"There's no difference."

"Of course there is. I saw the difference when I looked into your eyes on our wedding day, and when I looked into them again five years later."

"Jordan," I said softly, "I am sorry for ending things between us. I need you to know that."

"I know." He nodded. "Spending time with you is the only apology I need."