One Kiss

Chapter 12

Zayden looked sidelong at Alyssa. "Is there a reason we're here?"

"I wanted to talk to you."

"And that required that we come out to the wilderness?" He waved an arm around him to indicate the hiking trail that was fifteen minutes from Josh's place. They used to come out here to party until Josh figured out he could throw parties at the house when his parents weren't home.

She laughed. "Yes, I don't want you running away."

"Okay, now I'm nervous. What's going on? If you tell me that you're pregnant I might laugh at the image that creates."

"I'm not pregnant." She sighed and tossed a rock, watching as it hit several others and created a little landslide. "The youth pastor at my church has these sayings, he calls them universal philosophies." She smiled at him. "One of them is, there are billions of stars in the sky if you focus on only the brightest of them then you're missing most of the picture."

"Another way of saying stop and smell the roses," he told her with a smirk.

"No, a way of telling you that you need to look at the big picture. If you focus on only one thing then you miss the rest of what's happening around you. Zay, you've been spending a lot of time with Seth and we're worried about you."

He stood and began stalking back toward the car. "I'm not having this conversation," he called back to her.

She scrambled after him. "Dammit, Zay, we're concerned about you!" She grabbed his sleeve and yanked. "Stop!"

He spun to face her. "No! I'm tired of you telling me what I should and shouldn't do!" He laughed bitterly. "It's like being back with my parents."

"That isn't how it is and you know it!" she shouted. "We are worried about you!"

"No, you're worried about your precious Weston! If you'll remember, he walked away, not me!" he spat. "Give me the fucking car keys. I'm leaving."

"Zayden, why won't you listen?"

"Because there's nothing for me to listen to! All you care about is keeping me under control, just like my parents!"

She drew back from him. "You can't believe that?" she asked quietly.

"You don't give a shit if I'm happy, no one does. I'm through, Alyssa, I'm done listening to you and Josh. It's my goddamn life. Leave me the fuck alone."

"Zay, you can't exactly avoid us, you live in Josh's house."

"Then I'll move out."

"Zay!"

"Keys, Alyssa."

"And what, you're just going to leave me here?" she asked waving a hand at the wilderness around them. "That isn't you, you'd never do that."

"Keys, I'm not going to ask again."

"Fine." She tossed the keys at his feet. "Goodbye, Zayden, I'm sorry you feel this way." She turned away and pulled out her phone.

"I'm not leaving you here, I want to drive so you don't try and take me anywhere else to have another little talk."

She didn't turn as she lifted her phone to her ear. "Goodbye, Zay."

"Lyssie, please—"

She dropped the phone from her ear. "Oh, so you get to say please and beg for me to listen but I can't do the same? Fuck off, Zay, you told me how you feel, go before you make it worse." She lifted the phone again "Yeah, Josh can you come pick me up?"

"Lyssie ..."

She spun to face him. "Go! I'm done, you're the one who knows everything and we're the idiots, I got it! You win. Shove us away because you don't want to hear what we have to say, run and hide, you're good at that." She turned and walked away from him.