Playing With Fire

Chapter 14: BABOOM! (FIREWORKS)

The fifth hour

Trixie was wiped out from the day's excitement, so she fell asleep as soon as we continued our journey to Boston. If Pax was tired, he didn't say anything, and he was driving so he didn't have the choice to fall asleep. As for me, my thoughts entertained me enough.

We sat in silence for a while until Pax broke it.

"What are you thinking about?" he asked me.

"I don't know," I sighed. "My thoughts are a jumbled mess at the moment."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah."

We sat in silence for a little longer, watching the sunset in front of us.

"We've officially known each other for twenty-four hours," Pax said, breaking the silence again.

This made me smile. "It seems like so much longer, with everything we've been through."

"Yeah, it does."

We sat in silence again.

"Hey, Pax?" I asked, this time it was me who broke the silence.

"Yeah?"

"Do you think we will get to Cameron in time?"

"Is this what you've been worried about?" he asked, taking his eyes off the road for a split second to look at me.

"Partially, yeah," I replied.

"Well, we've made good time," he answered honestly. "We're an hour ahead of schedule, so at this rate, we will get there on time, but we will need time to come up plan, so I don't know."

"Okay," I said.

Cue the silence again.

"Is Cameron your ex?" Pax asked.

"Oh, no, no, no," I said with a little laugh. "Don't even bring up my ex. He was an awful guy."

"Okay," he said and gave a little laugh. "So who is Cameron?"

"Oh, Cameron. He's my best friend. I've known him even longer than Miranda, and he's honestly a better best friend than her. He was there for me for my first wipeout on the surf, when I got my first heartbroken, and even when my mom died." I felt my eyes begin to fill up with tears. "I- I was so focused on missing Miranda that I didn't realize my real best friend was right in front of me. And now, now he's going to die knowing that I don't even appreciate him." By now I was sobbing, but it wasn't just over Cameron, it was over everything. My mom's death that's finally just hit me, Miranda betraying me after all these years, and how I dragged two random strangers into my problem. Everything was my fault, all my fault.

I was barely aware that Pax had stopped the car until he was opening my door and was pulling me out into a huge bear hug. I sobbed into his chest as he pet my hair and whispered, "it's going to be okay," over and over again into my ear. I had no clue why I was sobbing, but I couldn't stop either. I think the lack of sleep and days events had finally caught up to me, and this was my way of letting it all out.

Once I had let all of it out, Pax held me out at arm's length and looked me in the eyes while wiping away some stray tears. "You okay now?"

"Yeah," I sniffed and gazed down at the ground. "Sorry for dragging you into my drama."

"No, don't apologize," he told, tilting my chin up to look him in the eyes. "I will always be here for you, no matter how big the problem, no matter the time." He glanced down at the ground, looking like he was trying to decide on something. When he looked back up at me, he inched closer and gently pressed his lips against mine.