To Go From There

There was nothing I would’ve changed about that kiss. No one else knew how much it meant to me. It was Rhys Abbott. For months, he was all I really wanted. Kellen was a diversion from the course. I was stupid for doing what I did. Over the next 24 hours after the kiss, I realized just how stupid I’d been. Rhys took my hand, and pulled me away from the party. I was taken to my room, laid down on my bed with Rhys following. We stayed there. We didn’t do much, or say much. There was kissing, and unexplained giggling. I’m a teenage girl, so obviously, I was giggly and excited about spending uninterrupted hours with the guy I liked, not to mention in my bed.

So of course, what do I do?

Oh, yeah, you guessed it. I messed things up. Big time.

“Hypothetically speaking, what would you say if I told you I may or may not, theoretically, be falling in love with you?” I asked, out of the blue. The thoughts had been churning around in my head for awhile. I tended to ignore them, putting them off and just not wanting to deal with them. But here we were, hands entangled and our faces less than 6 inches apart. The thoughts tumbled out, before I could catch them.

He was quiet.

“And what if, say, I were to tell you that because of these hypothetical feelings, I wasn’t able to be just friends with you anymore?” I continued. His brown eyes searched my face, his expression blank and unchanging.

“I guess I’d have to tell you, in this hypothetical situation, that you are not the only one with these feelings that could possibly exist. But I’d also have to tell you, because of your very real predicament with one Kellen Pollock, I’m not sure we could handle an imaginative relationship that you have suggested.”

I sighed.

Stupid Kellen. He was in my way, yet again.

“What if… because of this addition, I were to end this very real predicament?”

Rhys paused and looked at me.

“Well, that would be a horse of a different color.”

I smiled and tucked myself into him, closing that distance between us. I felt Rhys’ chest heave as he sighed contently.

“One more thing.”

“Oh, Jesus, what?” he joked.

“Do you believe that Kellen is dangerous?” I asked, my voice small and scared. There were so many more thoughts when it came to Kellen. And in my case, that was never good. More thoughts meant I was scared, and worked out every single possibility there was. There was always one I missed, and that tended to be what happened.

“I want to tell you no, Kiernan. I really do. I want to tell you that he’s as harmless as a Hindu but… there’s something wrong with him. I don’t know, it sounds weird. But I don’t think you should be around him. I don‘t want you around him, when he snaps again.”

I looked back up at him and he had a sad expression. I kissed his nose.

“I’m scared,” I told him. He left a quick kiss on my hairline.

“I know.”

We fell silent again. I didn’t feel giggly anymore. But at least when I lost that giggly high, I had Rhys to hold me up. Cliché, and cheesy, but I’m okay with it.

“When do you think the party ended last night?” Rhys asked.

I checked the clock.

It was about 10 in the morning, on July 30th. It was very unlikely that Gen or her party guests were awake yet. And if they were, they were nursing a hangover or puking in the nearest garbage can. Hopefully.

“5 hours ago, knowing Genesee.”

Rhys chuckled and kissed me.

“Wanna go for a run later?” he asked. I nodded into his chest.

“But for now, Mr. Abbott, I am going back to sleep.”

“Goodnight, Kiernan.”

“Goodnight, Rhys.”