The Not So Innocent Boy ~[Completed]~

Chapter 11.

The first day of driving was nothing spectacular for Briar. Asa was completely out of energy and slept most of the ride that day. She didn't blame him, he had stayed up all night in the bus station while he let her sleep.

Looking out the bus window showed the many forests that went across the province. They were pretty, all green even if it was all repetitive. She would have loved to show it to Asa, but she knew he needed the rest.

Every few hours the bus would stop for a break. It allowed everyone to get some snacks and go to the washroom. Briar would stretch her legs. She felt like they would become stone if she didn't move them at that point in the trip. Asa was still having a nap and could be seen softly snoring from the window. Briar couldn't help but notice him.

"Such a sweet lad isn't he?" Briar heard someone say with a slight french accent.

The old lady was standing beside Briar now. She was much smaller than her and had white curly hair. Briar smiled at her.

"How long have you two been together?" The old lady asked her.

Briar sighed, "Two days if you can believe it."

"Oh really? How sweet." The old lady didn't seem to have a negative reaction towards Briar's response. "Reminds me of my late husband and I."

"Really?" Briar was surprised.

"Of course! I met him on a Saturday and we were married one week later. We just knew that we were perfect for each other."

"You only knew him a week before you got married." She was impressed.

"Well you hold on to a man like that, dear." The old lady nudged her.

Her reaction was quick, "Oh! We aren't married."

"Well I don't expect you to be unmarried for long."

Briar's eyes grew wide as she took in the old lady's words. She didn't expect her to be on her side. Of all things, Briar thought that she would be quite conservative.

"Well we better get going. They will want to be leaving any minute." The old lady walked back to the bus.

Briar wasn't far behind. She walked in to the bus and the old lady gave her a smile as she went back to her seat. Asa, who was sleeping, moved a little. He was waking up.

"Hello." He said as he yawned.

"Hello." Briar looked at him with a smile. "You can still sleep, if you want."

"No. I've had enough of sleeping." He was still drowsy.

The bus departed and they continued on their journey. Asa wished the bus would have taken them on a more scenic route, but if they wanted to get to their destination on the scheduled time, they would have to take the highway.

Asa looked over at Briar, he looked at her like he had never seen her before, taking in everything about her. "How did I never see how beautiful you are?"

She peered back at him, "I don't know, you would have to tell me."

"That's true, I would have to do that, but why don't I make it up to you now." He leaned towards her and kissed her delicately. Pulling away he watched her smirk. "I don't know how I could ever get tired of seeing your face."

"Same here." She bit her lip. "Please tell me more about you. Please."

"I guess since you said please, twice." He looked at her the same way as before. "So, what do you want to know?"

"I don't know. Um, tell me about your childhood." She was curious.

Asa had a grin on his face, "I used to have an imaginary friend."

"Wow, I didn't expect you to be the type."

"His name was Lenny. He's a talking snake. His scales are this bright electric green with stripes of purple. I adored him." Asa loved remembering his fictional friend from his younger years. "Now it's your turn." He looked in to her eyes.

"My childhood sucked." Briar wasn't one to talk about it much.

"It couldn't be that bad."

Briar took in a deep breath, "My mom... She left me and my dad when I was four."

Asa held her hands, "Briar, you don't kneed to talk about it if you don't want to."

"No." She responded quickly. "You should know..." She took a moment to think. "It was my first day of school, if you could believe it. I was so excited. My mom looked so excited. I promised her that I would tell her everything the moment I got home. She promised me that she would be there." A few tears seemed to creep up on to her face, "I spent that whole day making the most of it, while I ran around in my light-up pink sneakers. I even drew her a picture right after lunch. I thought she was my best friend. And then when I got home, no one was there to greet me. My mom wasn't there to pick me up. The bus driver had to leave me with one of my neighbors. Hours went by. No one could get a hold of my dad at work and I could tell they were getting worried about where my mom was." Briar sniffled and she could tell that Asa felt bad for her. "I guess my dad had finally come home, since I woke up in my bed the next morning. Once he figured out that my mom wasn't coming back, he tried to explain it to me as best as he could."

Asa felt deeply saddened by the story, "Briar, I'm so sorry."

Briar tried wiping away the tears, "Well it's all in the past, right?"

Asa stared at her not knowing what to respond. He just grabbed Briar and pulled her in to a hug. He held her tightly making sure she knew that he cared. "I won't leave you, ever."

"Thank you Asa." She said softly, still in his embrace.

He placed his hand on the back of her head, caressing her. "Anything for you."