The Journey Taken Together

Chapter Eight

**Dedicated to ginger_jkb**

(Officially edited)

~Thea~

Dennis and I walk outside of the hospital hand in hand. We walk to my car, and he steps in front of me. With a soft gasp, I look into his milk chocolate eyes. His hand slides to my cheek, causing me to smile.

His touch causes a storm of butterflies to flutter inside of my stomach. I can feel an immense amount of electricity as he touches me. At the same time, sparks shoot through my body, causing me to smile without reason.

Flashing back to reality, I stare at him once more. He smiles and kisses my forehead, making the blood rush to my cheeks. He opens the driver's door for me, and I get into the car. Leaning my head back, I take in the smell of it. Fresh mint fills the air from the air freshener hanging from the mirror of the car. Dennis slides in and buckles his seat belt.

"Where is your house?" I ask, shooting him a concerning look. God only knows if he can remember his own address, let alone anything else besides me, due to his slight concussion. He looks back at me with a sigh, and my heart drops.

"Good question," he says, turning his head. Flushed, I lightly touch his arm. He snaps his head to look at me, and I give him a reassuring smile.

"That's okay, we can find out later. How about we do something else until we figure that out? Do you have any family members that you can call?" I say, starting the car up. A soft hum fills the silence, and he pulls out his cracked phone. A light pops on and he scrolls through numerous screens before stopping. He begins typing something, and I start pulling out of the parking lot.

"I just sent a text to my best friend, Amber, asking her where I live. For now, we could go see a movie?" he asks, watching me for my reaction. Negative thoughts run through my mind as I feel a hand on my arm.

"You okay, Thea?" he asks, looking at me with concern. I look away and sigh.

If another woman is in his life, why am I here? And why wasn't she here for Dennis? 

I let the negative thoughts pass and clear my throat.

"Yeah I'm fine. Where is the movie theater?" I ask. He sets up his GPS.

"So . . . how's school?" I ask hesitantly.

He raises his eyebrows and turns his head away from my view. "I'm not going anymore," he states, and I stop at the red light ahead of us.

I turn my head towards him. "What? Why not?"

"It's . . . complicated."

The light turns green just as I am about to flip out. My breathing becomes stable and the rest of the car ride is silent.

Would he really quit his career to see me?

*****

After about fifteen minutes of listening and driving, we reach a bridge surrounded by a lake. Confused, I turn the car off and look at Dennis.

"Are you sure we have the right address?" I ask and he takes off his seat belt. Stepping out of the car, he leans over the top of it with a smirk.

"Yep, we are here," Dennis says, smiling at me. I start getting out of the car, and he helps me. Hand in hand, we walk over the bridge. I gaze over it to see a crystal blue lake. The sun is just setting and there is a pink and yellow reflection in it. It is surrounded by only dark green trees and the view is just impeccable.