The Heartbroken - S01 E207

Story 2 years ago

The Heartbroken - S01 E207

Read Story: SEASON 1 EPISODE 207

He winked at me and a mischievous smile made its

way on his face, the sight too much for my heart to

bear in my half-awake daze. “Would have carried

you down so you wouldn’t wake up, but they said I

shouldn’t strain myself, so…”

In spite of myself, I let out a soft laugh but I was too

overwhelmed with the remnants of the dream to

come up with a reply.

“Let’s head home, yeah?” he suggested.

I nodded, asking him if it was okay for him to drive,

volunteering to drop him off at his house if he

wasn’t, but he said I shouldn’t bother. We agreed I’d

drive him back to Snowflake, where we left his car

almost two hours ago.

The silence was filled with the weight of all the things

we’d left unsaid.

I found myself pulling up on the parking lot

of Snowflake for the second time tonight. Seth and I

had been silent for most of the ride but when the car

came to an easy halt, he made no move to leave and

I realized I didn’t quite know what to tell Seth now

that we had the chance to talk.

We sat there, just a few inches apart, waiting for the

other to speak up. My gaze landed on the clock on

the dashboard and I waited until a minute passed

and the numbers 9:18 were blinking back at me.

Without looking at him, I said, “Why did you do it?”

There was a moment of silence as he considered

this, eyes fixed outside the window. “Why shouldn’t

I have?”

To this, I had no answer.

He shifted in his seat and finally turned to look at me.

There was a faint smile on his face, something I

could barely make out in the lack of light. “If it was

any other person, I would have done the same.”

It was only now that the relief finally crashed through

me. It came in a surge of wave that left me slumping

against my seat, shoulders sagging, like I’d lost all

my energy from all the worrying. “Thank you,” I

choked out, “thankyou so much.”

His lips tugged into a small smile. “Donating my

blood is better than, say, having it pouring out of my

menstruating foot, yeah?”

I let out a breathy laugh. I was about to say

something, but then his phone rang from his pocket.

He took it out and glanced at the screen.

His smile dissipated, and so did mine as I watched

his expression shift into a cold, icy look. I waited for

him to answer the call, but he merely switched it off

and placed it back into his pocket.

Something wasn’t right.

I swallowed, carefully watching his profile. “What is

it?”

His steely eyes were focused ahead, his jaw taut and

fists clenched.

I thought back to earlier this night.

We had both pushed past the main reason we were

together when Hail called, and after everything that

happened with Cedric, I’d almost forgotten about the

way he looked the first I saw him tonight—unkempt

and miserable and sad and unsteady—but now as I

looked at him, I couldn’t help the worry that

immediately seized my gut.

He took in a deep breath, taking his time to answer,

but he merely turned to me with a smile that wasn’t

quite real. He lifted a hand, and for a second I

wondered why, but then he placed it on top of my

head and started to ruffle my hair.

“I think we both need some rest.”