Conspicuous Secrets

Chapter Twenty-Eight

"We could go ice-skating," Aria recommended, tossing her paper plate in the trash. My friends and brother nodded, liking the idea.

We were all currently standing around the kitchen table planning what we were going to do the next day. The table was scattered with paper plates and an empty box of pizza. It was late in the night; we returned from messing around in the snow outside and spent hours just chatting and warming up until we decided to order a pizza for a late dinner.

While the girls and boys discussed a detailed agenda for tomorrow, I started picking up all the paper plates and threw them in the trash, then folded the pizza box and tossed it in after them. "I want to go out and get breakfast somewhere tomorrow morning," I heard Marla say as I started placing everyone's empty glasses in the sink.

"Yeah, that's fine with me," Holden said before everyone mumbled an agreement.

Just as I began washing everyone's glasses, they started speaking their goodbyes and separating into our two rooms. "Lydia, are you coming?" I turned around and saw that the boys were gone and Marla and Aria were standing by our bedroom door looking at me.

"I'm going to finish these dishes first," I told them. "I'll be right there." They hesitated like they were going to say something, but ended up just nodding and disappearing into the room. I turned back around and began finishing washing the dishes before drying them.

Just a minute later, a rattling sounded behind me, startling me and making me turn around. Kason was pulling open a first aid kit on the kitchen table. He looked up as I quickly faced me. "Oh, sorry, I didn't mean to scare you." He grabbed a wad of elastic bandages and started trying to wrap it around his right wrist.

I watched him struggle to wrap his dominant wrist with his left hand. Taking a breath, I dried my hands on a dish towel then walked to him and gently took the wrapping from his hands. "Here, let me," I spoke softly. As I began to carefully wrap his right wrist, I felt his eyes on me. I kept my gaze on what I was doing, fearing the intensity of his stare. Neither of us had spoken about what had happened earlier in the snow. The memory of him glancing at my lips was replaying in my mind repeatedly and I wondered if he had wanted to kiss me at the moment. "You didn't tell us that you hurt your wrist when you fell," I said, recalling the past evening without him saying a word about it.

He shrugged, but I still didn't raise my gaze to meet his. I knew he was still staring at me. "I just landed on it weird," he replied. "It's just sprained."

I nodded and continued wrapping his hand and wrist. There was a long pause of silence. "You really scared me back there," I found myself whispering. I didn't mean to say the words—they just stumbled out.

He cleared his throat. "Yeah, I'm sorry about that. I didn't realize you would take it that seriously."

I breathed. "You looked seriously hurt. Of course, I took that seriously."

We both remained quiet as I finished up with his wrist. I wanted him to reply, but he seemed too lost in his thoughts so I figured it was best to not say anything else. "Thanks," he said, packing everything back into the first aid kit.

As he left to return it to the bathroom, I turned back to the dishes and washed the last glass. Kason showed up at my side just a moment later and began placing all the dried glasses into the cabinet. Once I dried the last glass, he took it from me and put it away. "Thank you," I told him as I dried the counter.

"You're welcome," he replied as I yawned. He grinned that grin that I think was reserved just for me. "We better get to bed. It's getting late."

I nodded agreeing, but I found my feet carrying me to the living room couch instead of my temporary bedroom. Grabbing the TV remote off the coffee table, I turned on the TV in front of me and didn't change the channel once I saw that a movie was playing. Leaning back against the couch cushions, I grabbed a throw blanket from behind me and covered up the bottom half of my body. My eyes diverted to Kason, who was standing beside the TV, staring at me with a blank stare. "I'm not tired," I explained.

"A lot on your mind?" he questioned immediately. I just nodded. "Me, too." With that, he settled down on the couch beside me.

I raised an eyebrow at him as he grabs the blanket and pulls it until it is concealing his legs, too. "You literally just recommended going to bed."

"And you literally just yawned," he replied with a shrug.

Sighing, I turned my eyes back to the TV as he made himself comfortable beside me. He was so close that I could feel his body heat. I never said it, but I was really happy that he decided to stay up with me.

"Aria told me what happened at the mall," he spoke up after a while. There was an emotion in his tone that I couldn't quite decipher.

To say the least, I was confused. Aria had no business telling him. "What did she say?" I asked.

"That you kept scanning through news articles and then you chased after some person that you saw."

I shrugged, trying to quickly come up with a lie. "I'm just interested in the news around here," I said. "I like catching up on what's been going on; I just thought I saw an old friend back from California."

He looked at me, his eyes not quite showing belief. "Are you sure?"

I nodded. "Of course," I told him, trying to relax my voice as much as possible."

Sighing deeply, he ran his fingers through his ruffled hair. "Lydia...I know that you and Jaxon are keeping secrets from us."

His words made me freeze immediately. "What?"

"What I mean is, you guys aren't very open about yourselves and your past," he spoke, staring at me intently. "And recently, you've been so on edge—both of you...I'm just worried."

I took a few deep breaths, taking in his words. He was worried. A part of me had electric shooting through me excitedly, while the other part became worried, too. "We are okay," I assured him. I wasn't lying. We were for the time being, anyway.

I contemplated telling him everything. I was really starting to trust him—I wanted to anyway, whether I was quite there or not. Opening my mouth, I thought of the words to say, but a quick thought kept them from being spoken. He could get hurt. The more he knew, the more danger he would be in. I couldn't let him in on our secrets, not if it could potentially get him killed. I would never be able to live with myself if I was the reason this beautiful boy beside me got hurt.

***

Should she tell Kason everything? Or would it only lead him straight to danger?

Predictions?

Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed this chapter!
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~Emily