Smoke Screen

Chapter 25

    "That's not what I want." Her eyes were fixed on the ground as she spoke, not wanting to look at him.
    "And what do you want?" He asked.
"I'm not sure. I wasn't sure. But I don't want to push you away. It isn't fair for either of us."
    "So, can we be friends?" Tony asked.
    Layla finally looked up at him and their eyes met. "Yeah."
    He smiled. "Good. It's official now."
She looked at him silently for a few seconds. "You know, you're alright, Toretto." She said with a small smile. He smiled back.
    "What a compliment." He joked.
    "I can be nice when I want to." She said.
    "Then say something nice about me." He said.
    "I just did."
    "That barely counts. Say something else." He told her. She was silent for a while as she thought. "C'mon, it can't be that hard to think of something good about me."
    "How cocky." She rolled her eyes.
    "That's not a compliment! Now I'm hurt!" He said over-dramatically.
    "Alright, fine. It's cool how you always find a way to cheer everyone up."
    "Good. I'll accept that." He said. She rolled her eyes.
    "Now your turn." She said.
    "Oh, that's easy." He slowly took a few steps forward and leaned down a little to be on her eye level. "I love your eyes."
    A small flare of heat sparked in her chest at how earnest his voice sounded. She looked away, afraid that if she kept looking at him she would start blushing. "Whatever."
    "Hey, it's the truth!" He smiled at her as he stood up straight. "So, I, uh, didn't know you couldn't swim."
    "Ugh, so embarrassing." Layla cringed at the thought that the truth had gotten out.
    "It's okay. I'm not gonna make fun of you or anything."
    "Really?" She glanced up at him.
    "Of course." He said. "And hey, maybe I could teach you sometime."
    She nodded. "Maybe."
    "If only you'd worn a bathing suit." He gestured to her wet clothes.
    "I didn't really plan on getting wet." She said.
    "You'd probably get dry faster if you didn't have that jacket on you." Before she could stop him, he grabbed her leather jacket and picked it up. When he saw the bruises covering her arms, he froze.
    "Don't ask." Layla quickly said as she grabbed her jacket from him and covered herself. "Just forget you saw that and don't bring it up."
    Tony could tell there was a sudden switch in Layla. He wanted to ask about the bruises. They did not look good. Something had to have caused them. He wanted to know what it was, but knew it was better if he kept his mouth shut.
    He had finally gotten through to her. They were finally friends. He did not want to ruin it.
    "Alright." He said. They were quiet as a somber atmosphere awkwardly washed over them. Tony did not like the silence and wanted to fix it. "You know, there's a rock wall back at camp. Have you seen it yet?"
    "No." She said. "They really have one?"
    "Yeah. They have lots of cool stuff here. I can show you tomorrow."
    Layla smiled slightly, feeling comfortable around him again. "That'd be nice."
    "Good." He smiled back. A comfortable silence surrounded them and neither of them felt the need to break it for a while.
    Noticing that Tony was staring at her, Layla raised an eyebrow at him. "Whatcha thinking about, Toretto?"
    He continued to gaze at her with a soft smile on his face. "You."