I Don't Believe In Fate

Chapter 31

Erica refused to go out with me after Shannon left and I was forced to stay home and deal with my feelings. I ended up, allowing a whole week to go by without so much as a single text to him and I had never been so miserable. I didn't want to admit to myself that I was developing feelings for him even though I was.

He pissed me off with all of the back and forth bullshit with Kaylee. Was she really his girlfriend? Did he conveniently break it off with her just to be with me in Vegas or was he being honest and she was the one who was trying to hold onto him? I needed to know what this was between us and I wanted to hear him say it. This didn't mean that I wanted him to commit to me in any way, no, I just wanted to know where I stood in his life. Was that too much to ask?

After work on Friday, I drove to LA. I had to see him and one more time. This would be the deciding factor for me if I would see him again or not and I swear to God, if Kaylee was there, I was leaving without saying one word.

I parked and walked up to the gate. Punching in the code, I pushed the door open and walked through, closing it behind me. The front door opened before I even had a chance to get near it."Hi," he said in a low, deep voice.

"You said to let you know when I was ready to talk." I had been spoiled in the past by Tyler and was used to be treated like a princess. Whenever he and I fought he was the one doing anything and everything to make me forgive him. Shannon was not like Tyler at all. He walked away and never even tried to talk to me.

"I did." He looked at me as he leaned against the frame blocking me from walking inside. "Look, I don't want to fight with you anymore, Claire."

I stood in front of him, hoping this would go the way I hoped. "I didn't come here to fight with you." I couldn't help but think what if he was blocking me because she was inside. I bit my lip, hoping that I didn't just make a mistake by driving over unannounced.

"Come inside." He said in more of a direct order than a suggestion and moved over enough for me to glide past him. He turned around and closed the door behind him. "I just made some coffee, have a seat."

I sat down on the couch and watched him disappear into the kitchen. He returned a few minutes later with two mugs and placed them on the table in front of us. "What did you want to talk about?"

Boy, he wasn't going to make this easy on me, was he? Clearing my throat, I nervously picked up the mug and took a sip of the steaming coffee. With a slight smile I realized that he remembered exactly how I liked mine. Small gestures may not mean much to some people, but to me they were everything. It said that he had been paying attention.

"I think that maybe I overreacted about the whole Kaylee situation, but you did ignore me at the show. It just kind of pissed me off."

He laughed. "If I recall, you never once tried to speak to me at that show and were rude as hell to me when I drove all the way over to your apartment afterward."

This wasn't going the way I planned and I could tell that he was getting upset again. "You're right, I didn't try to talk to you and I was rude, but I was angry with you."

He stood up and began pacing. "And I wasn't? Claire did it ever occur to you that I was angry with you? All I did was comfort Kaylee when she came to me completely devastated. Why she chose me, I don't know, but she did and I refuse to turn someone away when they're hurting."

"Maybe this was a bad idea." I put my coffee cup down and stood up.

Before I could even take a step he was standing with his back to the door, glaring at me, "So now you're gonna run away?"

"I'm not running anywhere, but I also don't want to fight with you."

I took a few steps and he moved forward to place both hands on my shoulders. His strong hold caused my shoulders to tense up. "I'm sorry." As soon as the words left my mouth, both of his hands relaxed.

"I am too, and we both handled that like shit." Leaning forward his lips touched mine and I wrapped my arms around his neck. "But why didn't you just talk to me when I came over after the show? I missed you."

I knew that I would sound cheesy like a teenager, but I had to know. "You could clear things up very easily you know. Tell me what we are so that I know where I stand."

I wasn't expecting what he said next at all. "That's what you want, a title?" He laughed, "Sorry, but I'm not giving us a title. Let's just see where it leads, Claire."