Going Home

24. Tension on the road

Kat's POV:

Ian drags me over to his car. The angry look on his face is freaking me out a little, but at the same time I am pissed off. He told his moron of a cousin, Jason, about Isobel. He spoke the words that WE have a daughter, out loud. The one thing I have tried to keep to myself is now in the open. It would only take seconds for his cousin to tell his mom and it would only take another minute for Aunt Rosie to pick up the phone and call Ian's parents to ask about what she heard.

I open the door to the passenger's side and get in before I slam the door shut. I wait only a couple of seconds for Ian to get in the car before I burst out in anger. "What the hell has gotten into you. Why would you think it's okay for you to spill that out. What if word gets to Wade Valley, I finally got the guts to return there after four years, only for you to reveal the only secret I've ever kept."

It has been a while since I've felt so mad and vulnerable at the same time. It feel as if a piece of me has been ripped out and stomped on. Beside me, Ian started the engine and didn't say a word. His eyes are focused on the road ahead of us. All the while still not replying to what I've said before.

The silence in the car has been going on for a while now and Ian finally glances my way. "I'm sorry. It was never my intention to hurt you in the process. And I know it's not an excuse, but Jason really got to me. He was saying all kinds of stuff about you, and how I wasn't good enough for you. And then I saw you and aunt Rosie in the kitchen and I finally had a chance to take a good look at you. I was looking for any similarities between you and Isobel. Similarities between me and her."

He lets out a deep sigh before he continues. "By then Jason stood behind me, claiming I was being a pervert because he assumed it was you in that picture."

"Look, Jason and I always had the habit to make competition out of everything. So when he saw you with me, he just found a way to push my buttons all the wrong ways. I just wouldn't see you as a prize, so I told him to back off and leave you alone."

I'm hearing him out and thinking over all what he's telling me, but what he said, blabbering out my secret like that, it hurts. I just rest my head against the window, not saying a word. The silent treatment may be a little childish when it's performed on purpose, but right in this moment, I just don't know what to say at all. So I just stay silent.

-

Along the way I must have fallen asleep because I am now being shaken by my shoulder. "Kat, I know that you're mad at me, but can you please switch seats with me? It has been a few hours, and I'm tired. You've slept for over three hours now, I want a chance to shut my eyes myself."

He pulls over the car on the side of a deserted road, which would've given me the creeps if I would be here alone. It's weird that Ian still makes me feel comfortable even when I am supposed to be mad at him. We switch seats and I arrange the mirrors so I can see everything I need to see, and move the seat forward so I can reach the pedals.

I glance over at Ian before I pull us back onto the road, only to see he's already close to being asleep. It had been a long day before we even arrived at Kansas City, but now we left there at night instead of in the morning like we used to do. Everything surrounding us is dark and it leaves me edgy. In normal cases, being with Ian makes me feel safe. But I know a sleeping Ian is impossible to wake up.

I drive for another five hours until I feel my eyes growing heavy and slowly dropping from time to time. I glance over at Ian to see he's still fast asleep and I let out another yawn of my own. We need to find a place where we can crash the night before I hit another tree.

With the here hours driven by Ian, and the five hour driven by me, we made it to the state of Ohio. I enter a small village that goes by the name of Lexington. I am relieved to find an hotel in a small town like this and once I parked the car, I try to wake up a snoring Ian. "Ian, come on. I found us place to stay the night."

I hear some quiet mumbling from Ian, but that's all I get. I let out a deep sigh and get out of the car. Walking over to the passenger side, I get another glimpse of the guy that has been beside me for all of this trip. He's sleeping so peacefully. A wave of guilt washes over me. He doesn't deserve the way I acted towards him after he told his cousin about Isobel.

I open the door and poke him in the ribs. This earns me another grunt, signalling he's close to being awake. I poke him in the ribs again and his head shots up. "Good morning to you, too," I say with a smile on my face. "Come on, I found us place where we can stay, because I really need to crash for the rest of the night."

Ian gets out his phone to look at the time, Kat, it's three thirty in the morning. And based on what I see when I look around, this isn't New York City where everything has twenty-four hours service. I'm afraid we would have to stay the night in the car."

"Ian, I just drove for five hours straight. I can't spend the night in a freaking car seat," I exclaim while slightly starting to panic. Gosh, I must be tired if I can get upset over something stupid like this. I can feel myself being pulled into Ian's chest, which only makes me feel more upset. "I'm sorry, Ian. I really am."

Instead of saying anything, Ian just pressed a kiss on top of my head. "It's okay, don't worry about any of that. We're going to be okay. We'll just adjust the backseat and we can lay there. I know you're tired, but I promise all will be okay and we will be home soon, okay?"

I just nod my head, unable to say anything else. Right now I am just taking in Ian's nice and comforting smell, reminding myself that he really is it for me. Maybe he has been all my life, but I just couldn't see it. All I know right now is that I am one heck of a lucky girl, just because he's with me.