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45

I barely got any sleep the night before my first final, which only made me stress out more. However, the exam didn't go as bad as I thought it would. Nor did the following ones. Of course, I still spent almost three hours afterwards mentally debating whether I wrote the correct answer for two questions or not, but that was the basic.

"I'm going grocery shopping," Joshua says, driving off. "Do you want to come?"

It was a pretty Friday after-noon and the only worries that I was left to have until my next final on Monday was avoiding my sister as much as possible. However, I didn't necessarily feel like being in crowded places right now, even though I would have honestly liked to spend some more time with Joshua.

I shake my head gently, before turning my head to look at him.

"Can you drop me home?" I ask and he hums in agreement.

Silence floods the car, but the melted-gold sun rays make it feel lighter.

"Are you alright?" I hear him asking and I turn towards him.

"Just tired," I reply and he lets out a soft breath. "Why?"

He glances at me before focusing on the road again.

"I was just thinking," he hums. "Why is Olivia asking me to pick you up almost every day lately?"

I roll my eyes and sigh as I lean my head against the window.

"You should probably ask her," I say.

I could feel his gaze on me, but I had no intention of looking at him right now.

"She told me the same thing," he says eventually and I sigh once again.

Of course Yuri wasn't going to talk about this unless I wanted to. Even if she is mad on me, she is still my sister.

"Look," he speaks softly, making me turn towards him hesitantly. "I understand if you don't want to tell me, but if it's something that managed to rip you two apart like this..."

He glances at me and I see the flash of worry in his eyes. He wasn't trying to hide it anyway.

"I think it's important," he continues.

I look at him for a few moments before managing to turn my body towards him as much as my seatbelt allows me to.

"I like THE 8," I speak and he glances at me. "And she figured that out... but she said I should stop hanging out with him because he'd hurt me."

The reason why I am telling Joshua these things right now is not because I am seeking any sort of comfort from him, but because I hope I can figure out how he feels about the biker boy. Joshua knows things, I am more than sure about that– which is kind of weird for a medic in the team, to be honest. But unlike the others, it feels like he has a really good reason why he doesn't talk much about it.

"Do you think he'll hurt you?" He asks and I frown for a moment.

Honestly, I was expecting him to agree with Yuri for some reason.

"I..." I break off as soon as I realize that I can't really say that I don't.

There was a small part of me that was still careful, hesitant. He hasn't done anything wrong, but I can't trust myself, I can't trust my pace. What if I'm going too fast? What if I make too many impulsive choices?

"I don't think he can hurt me... more than... anyone else," I say after a few moments of thinking.

Joshua was looking at the road ahead of us, his face not showing any particular emotion. It was hard to read him, he could control his emotions very well when he wanted to.