Cold Hearted Bastard

Chapter 16

"I want to take you somewhere."

I rubbed my eyes, the sleep still pressing against them. He was perched on my bed, his back slightly towards me.

After he kissed me last night we kissed some more, and more. Until we found ourselves in my room on my bed. Nothing happened further which was funny because at that moment I loved it. I felt like a teenager again, kissing and cuddling and laughing until we fell asleep in each other's arms.

"Where?" I yawned, brushing back my bed hair. I glanced at the window. It was still really early, the sun only now breaking off the horizon. A few brown strands fell in front of my face as I sat up.

"Just get ready, we'll leave in ten minutes," He turned towards me, pure gentleness greeting me. An Aspen I never met before. An Aspen that I was slightly afraid of losing too quickly. Because the inevitable always prevails. How could someone have so many different personas was shocking. But he played each one to the character's full potential.

I nodded, and he left me in privacy with my drowning thoughts.

We decided to take my car after having to convince my dad to let me go in the first place. We still weren't on good terms but I think Aspen being with me made him feel less worried which was ironic. If only he woke up early enough to see him sneaking out of my room at six in the morning. That I was glad I didn't have to see.

For the entire car ride, I drilled him on where we were going. He didn't let a hint escape his lips as much as I nagged. So instead I tried to find out anything about his life. Who was Aspen Lake and why was he such a damn closed book? He of course gave me the bare minimum. He finished up to high school and barely the first year of university before he dropped out.

He was planning to finish a degree in Filmmaking and I couldn't help but tease if he was going to be the next best thing for porn. With that, I got a flip of the middle finger in response and an 'I would offer you a lead role with that tight body of yours' which had me flush with embarrassment.

"So tell me about Nevada," I probed, watching the sunlight stream through the trees as we disappeared further from the city.

"Nothing special really. Much more to do there though. If you ever make it there though you have to go to Las Vegas, the nightlife is exceptional. But I know that's not your vibe."

"What about your parents Do you live alone?" I pressed even further, hoping I wasn't crossing boundaries. I knew from the little association with Meredith that she had a strained relationship with her parents and moved out as soon as she was a legal adult. I couldn't help but wonder if it was the same for him.

"Wouldn't you like to know, maybe one day when you visit if you ever do you could come to find out yourself." He took his eyes off the road for one second to wink at me, "tell me about med school."

It was obvious that he was steering the conversation to a different route but I let it slide. "It's hard, if anyone you ever meet says it's easy they're lying. I've had so many breakdowns I'm not sure I'm even whole. Definitely not the person I used to be before I started. Each passing year, I feel like a piece of me hardens and I'm kinda scared I lose myself completely if I'm telling you the truth."

"So why are you doing it then?"

I pondered it for a moment, really thinking about it, "I'm not even sure anymore. I think it's partly because of my dad and partly because I've reached so far. Might as well just stick it out, y'know?"

"If you could choose to do something else, what would it be?"

"Definitely writing," I said in a heartbeat, "it's what makes me happy. I just wish I had more time to do it."