One Night ✔️

Chapter Twenty-Five

On our way out of the restaurant, Joseph stopped in front of me. There was a serious, yet tender look on his face. "You alright?" he asked.

I sighed. "Alex told me she talked to her dad, and I'm pretty sure that if I didn't press for more details about it, she wouldn't have had a panic attack."

He braced my shoulders, looking down at me. "Don't put this all on yourself. You didn't do anything wrong. You were only being a concerned friend."

"I just want her to be okay," I told him, staring at my feet.

"And she will be, baby," he said, tipping my chin up to meet his eyes. My cheeks heated at the pet name.

"Let's get out of here. We'll drop by Alex's sometime soon. For now let's let her rest, and let me take you somewhere," he added.

"Okay."

We exited Giovanni's hand in hand.

In the car, I lay my head on the window and peered out at the open road ahead. The sun had melted into the horizon, orange hues streaking the navy blue skies. Occasionally, I glanced over at Joseph, who tapped his finger on the steering wheel as he hummed to an old R&B song that played faintly on the radio. Hm. And I thought the sky was a nice view.

About 15 minutes later we were pulling down a familiar rocky dirt path. I was then led down a familiar trail and that's when realization dawned on me. Joseph took me to the cliff.

I wasted no time heading over to the edge and taking a seat on the cool rocks to admire the beautiful scene before me.

"Were you expecting me to take you here?" Joseph asked.

"Honestly? No, but I recognized the route."

He chuckled. "Oh, right."

"I'm really glad we're here though. This is where I had the best night of my life."

"Ow. Was prom not the best night of your life?" he asked, clutching his heart in feigned hurt.

"Prom may have topped our first night at the cliff, but for me this place is really special. This is where I finally pushed myself to take a risk and be present in my life." I smiled to myself. "Thank you."

"Mm, for what exactly?" he asked.

"For helping me break free from my chrysalis."

We shared a laugh, remembering the day in his kitchen where he promised to help bust me out of my shell; that, and everything else leading up to this very moment. We'd been through quite a bit together in such a short amount of time.

"I also wanna thank you for making me happy and being there for me even when I tried to push you away. But more importantly for allowing me to be there for you." I placed my smaller hand on top of his and gave it a squeeze.

"You opened up to me about Charlotte and let me comfort you when your dad was in the hospital. That meant everything to me... I want you to know that I'll always listen to you, no matter how good or bad whatever it is you have to say. I'll hold your hand and fight any battle with you."

When he didn't respond I began to panic. I started to think what I said was way too much. Curse me and my big mouth.

"Sienna."

When he finally spoke, his voice was low pitched and uneven. I didn't miss that he called me by my name, either. It was something he did on more serious occasions, and it made me wonder what he would follow up with.

"... yes?"

But suddenly all words were out the window. Staring had become our only form of communication. Joseph, he never looked at me so much as through me; like my head was transparent and he was fascinated by an object two inches behind my skull.