Chapter 7.

Silence has been our companion thus far, a few glances here and there and just too many thoughts racing in mind, questions mostly, from my side.

We've walked quite a distance and are now seated on the hood of his car.

I really dont understand why he had to park so far. Maybe he was trying to avoid my mom, that would make sense.

So are you going to tell me what this is about?" I ask, finally turning to look at him.

" I meant what I said earlier." He murmurs, head lowered.

" Are you talking about at school?" I ask.

He nods.

" Reece - "

"Look I never forgot about you or about her." He whispers the last part.

"Let's not go there please...." I plead quietly, not wanting to open a door I've worked too hard on closing.

" Do you ever think about -"

" Reece" I warn, getting off the hood, intending on walking off.

" Skylar, Skylar please stop." he calls, making me stop. " Colton's a good guy."

I whip around to face him." What does he have to do with anything?"

"Nothing...just saying" he avoids my eyes, looking everywhere but at me as he sighs.

What is up with him?

" Reece what is going on?......" I sigh out, tired of skipping around his reason for bringing me out here.

" I didn't mean to upset you. I just wanted us to talk to you." His tone sounds so sincere, convincing me to head back and join him again.

" What do you want to talk about?" I ask.

" Remember the times I used to read you to sleep, " he mentions.

I don't say anything. " When you were cranky....." He adds.

" Yeah."

" I used to watch you sleep you know"

" What?" My head whips to him, this information surprising me.

" Yeah creepy I know.. But I couldn't help it, you know why?"

" Why?" I whisper.

" Because I used to question myself on how I didn't notice you, someone so real, honest and with heart."

Speechless, that's what I am now, I can't believe he used to watch me sleep, let alone think such thoughts just by watching me sleep.

" I don't know about being honest, " I mutter, his head picks up at that." I haven't been the most honest when it came to my friends you know" I remind him.

" Realistically, it's still a new friendship, and it's your choice on whether to open up about certain things."

" Still, it doesn't make me feel any better. " I mutter.

" It still is your secret to keep." He reminds me, bumping his shoulder to mine gently.

" Our secret." I quickly correct him, causing his brows to shoot up. I blush and look away, feeling embarassment for my outburst.

Silence takes over between us, and the night makes itself known.

" You know, I thought about what you said that day when I came by."

" You mean crashed into my house. " A grin takes over his face.

" Okay ' crashed.' Anyway it got me thinking about how worth it my life felt when you were around and I'd like to keep it that way."

My heart starts to race due to his words.

" In your words....our paths crossed because of ' you know' , but I remember the after."

I watch him now as he tries find the right words to say." The after was what stuck with me....Look, if we maybe tried to become friends again-" He peeks at me when he says this.

" I don't understand why you want to revisit the past." I say, wrapping my arms around my legs.

" Because I can't pretend to not know you when I do, I know you too damn well!" His voice rises, I jump a bit.

He sighs out, calming himself down.

" I'm sorry" I murmur.

" huh?"

" I shouldn't have made you go along with this , I'll tell - " I quickly get off the hood.

"No, no....I didn't mean...." I don't wait for him to finish, already walking off.

" Skylar! Hey hey!" Reece rushes after me and spins me around to face him.

" look I didn't bring you out here to make you feel bad, I just - "

" just what?!"

" would it be bad if we became friends?" He holds out his hand.

I look down at his hand, biting my lips.

" I c-cant." I murmur.

" Skylar -"

" I cant do this Reece. Friendship was never in the cards in the first place, we just happened to be tied-"

" Is that how you view everything that happened?"  He frowns at me. " Is that how you view her?

" Dont put words into my mouth Reece!" I say strongly, staring intently in his eyes. I sigh after a moment." And that's not what I meant. Reece we had no choice back then, we were way too young and decisions were pretty much made for us but not now. The decisions we make now cant be influenced anymore, that's why I dont think us being friends is a good idea.

There is too much history, too many memories and most painful. " I trail off, a twinge of pain touching my chest."

" What do you mean by that?" I look away from him.

"I have to go." I say, taking a step back.

" How do you expect me to pretend to not know you when I do?"

" You dont have to. 2 years have passed and I am your past. Let me remain there." With that I turn around and walk away.

I wish I could have chosen better words but I had to get the message across. I had to let it sink in that we cant be friends and that it's best if we pretend, we dont know each other.

Being friends would be too risky. I cant find myself wrapped up in his world again. It's better if we rewrite the story and this time, everything will go accordingly, where our paths should not even be entwined.

" Wait, I'll walk you home!" I hear him call after me, him running behind me.

" You don't have to... It's not far." I try say but he's already shaking his head.

I dont understand why he would want to walk me hone after what just happened.

" no it's fine." He waves me off.

" Really , you don't - "

" Skylar I'm going," He says in an end off tone, silencing me.

I shrug my shoulders and continue my way , with him by my side. We don't talk, which I appreciate. With the silence between us and surrounding noises accompanying us ,we make it to my house.

I turn to him.

" You really didn't have to walk me home but thank you." I say.

" Yeah well I just had to make sure you got home safetly."

" Well thank God for you being here." A third voice suddenly says, coming from behind me.

I whip around and my eyes widen a bit when I see Colton coming down the porch stairs.

Oh my gosh, What is Colton doing here ?

" Colton...w- how are you here? ...." Colton quirks his brow at this, making me flush in embarrassment. " I mean, what are you doing here and how did you know where I lived?"

" I had little help from a fiery head." He tries suppress a grin as he says this.

Lucy.

" Oh..Is there something you needed?" I ask.

" Yeah um..." His eyes move over to my right and following his gaze,  I now realize that I almost forgot Reece has been standing here this whole time.

Oh gosh Reece.

" I should be on my way." Reece says finally getting the hint, taking hesitent steps back.

" Wait dude, what are you doing here and How do you know Skylar's house?" Colton asks with curious eyes.

My heart hammers hard against my chest.

" We bumped into each other on the way." I quickly blurt out, not being able to handle my nerves.

" And we kinda know each other." Reece says, making me want to disappear right here and now.

What is Reece doing?

" You do?"

" Yeah..." " No" Reece and I say at the same time.

"What we mean to say is, we actually know each other through a friend of a friend." Reece says.

" But not personally." I add.

This has both Colton and Reece frowning at me.

" I mean we are in two different lanes. He's on the popular side and well I'm on the ...."

" Cool side." Both say, surprising all of us and making both of them to glance at each other, while I blush, blinking at them.

" Yeah we really don't know each other that well.." Reece murmures , looking at the ground.

This brings back the awkwardness between all of us, making me want to really disappear.

" I think I should really get back now, it's  getting quite late. Thank you for walking me home." I say, hinting to Reece on wanting this to be over with.

"Yeah...I guess I'll see you guys tomorrow." Reece says, nodding to us before walking off. Leaving Colton and I alone.

" Bye dude." Colton calls after Reece, before turning to me.

" So..what did you want to talk about?" I ask.

He surprises me when he takes my hand in his. " it's a bit weird knowing you guys know each other..." He mentions.

" Why?" I frown at this, no longer paying attention to his thumb making circling movements on my palm.

" I don't know....maybe because knowing Reece, he never paid much attention to the ladies." he says, leading me up the path to my house.

" Really?" I ask.

" Yeah..besides he always preferred blondes with blue eyes. That was who he was mostly attracted to and would talk about." He adds, this for some reason creating a sinking feeling in my stomach." Not that I mean you two had anything going on, I just -"

" I get it." I say, cutting him off.

I don't know why I feel weird all of a sudden, maybe it's because he just reminded me that truly, Reece and mines paths weren't meant to cross. If things didn't happen the way they did, he wouldn't have glanced my way and he'd still be the guy I'd hear about through rumours.

Standing at the bottom of the porch steps, we lean our sides at the railing and we stare at each other.

" So is everything okay, since you had to go earlier?"

"Yeah everything is fine now. Thank you for understanding."

" Why wouldn't I?......Colton you had an emergency and that called for your attention, I dont see any reason for me to have a problem." I trail off at the end, noticing him watching me ramble this whole time.

I see him try to fight off a smirk.

" Sorry, I tend to ramble sometimes." I mumble, my eyes having dropped to my feet.

" Which means I'm getting to know more about you." My head picks up at that and I notice him step closer to me.

My eyes widen a bit when I see his hand reach out to touch my face, instead he tugs hair behind my ear.

" Skylar -"

" Yeah?" I say nervously, due to how close he is to.

" Just because we never talked until now, doesn't mean I never noticed you."

" Oh." I let out, dropping my eyes to the floor, not able to look at him any longer. " So is that the only reason you came to see me at this hour?"

" I forgot to ask for your number. "

" What?" I ask, bemused.

" Yeah and personally invite you to a party, one of my friends is throwing this weekend.."

" I don't know...it's not really my scene.. " I say, not to mention how wary I've been after the last time I went to a party.

" I kind of figured but I'd really like it if you came, you'd be my date and I wouldn't let you out of my sight." He quickly adds.

Don't know why this sounds sweet, but it does.

" Can I think about it?"

" Yeah sure..." He agrees with me, relieving me.

" I should give you my number then." I mention.

" Oh yeah - here you go" he digs his phone out, passing it over to me where I enter my number under my name.

" Thanks." He says, putting his phone back and taking ahold of my hand again.

" So is that it?" I ask for confirmation.

"Hmm." He nods." Honestly, I just wanted a reason to see and talk to you outside school..."He says, his thumb making contact with my now warm cheeks. Gosh Connor is so direct and flirtatious, it's quite unnerving in a not so bad way.

" Oh ....um I should go now, I'll see you.." I say, pulling my hand from his and quickly kissing his cheek, thus surprising him.

My eyes widen at my actions. Oh God what did I do?

I turn and quickly climb up the porch steps, wanting to be in the safety of my house before I embarrass myself further.

" Bye" He calls after me and I swear that I can feel him smiling.

I glance over my shoulder with the door open, and my cheeks heat up when I see a smirk playing at his features.

I don't say anything but enter into my house, slamming the door in the process. With my back against the door, my heart beating hard as one question rings in mind.

What did I just do?