Kissing In Cars

16

Tony's mom ended up getting a fairly clean bill of health. She broke her arm in the accident and her doctor said she would have some bruising but other than that she's just lucky to be as healthy as she is. Her car was fine too, Tony and I brought it to a garage the day after the accident and we were told that it needed minor fixing which would only take two or three days at most.

Tony kept telling his mom that she was coming home with us, but she was adamant about getting back those two days she was in the hospital. Plus, she said, she needed to wait for her car to be ready. This lead to Tony and I driving back together two days later.

Tony's driving again since it's his car. He's always loved driving too, whereas I'm impartial to it. I'd rather just look out the window and daydream while being in charge of the radio and directions. Occasionally I'll tell him that there's an ice cream place on the side of the road or there's a store that I like that we're passing by. Every single time Tony offers to pull in so we can go, but I know he's had a long couple of days and the last thing he needs is to be pulled into a shopping spree with me, so I decline each time. 

"I never thanked you." Tony says to me, breaking the short-lived silence that filled the car. He glances sideways at me as he speaks as if to gauge my reaction.

"You don't have to thank me for coming with you." I tell him. I smile at him and it's an easy smile. No weirdness is between us right now. In this moment Tony and I are friends.

"I meant more for last night." he explains to me. "I was on the verge of losing it."

"Oh. Yeah, I saw that. You don't need to thank me, though, you would've done the exact same thing for me."

"I know, but still." he says. He looks over at me with such a warm smile. "You're the only one who can pull me out of moments like that."

"How did you even manage without me?" I ask jokingly.

"I didn't."

He says it with such seriousness that it stuns me. It also makes me a big angry. If it were true, if he truly was unable to manage without me, he would've reached out at least once. One call, one text, even one glance at my social medias. But he didn't do any of that. It's been complete silence for six straight years. I don't say any of this, though. Instead I try and swallow my anger because I do know he has regrets, it's just hard for me to sympathize with. 

"Are you busy next weekend?" Tony asks me. The question strikes me as odd at first but then I realize he most likely is going to ask me to do something. I know there's a benefit downtown next weekend, I'm assuming that he's going.

"I'm having a little thing at the bakery to celebrate its anniversary." I tell him. I didn't invite him because I figured he has better things to do, and also because Jordan is going to be there and I don't want it to be awkward.

"Oh cool, what day?" he asks with genuine curiosity.

"Friday night." I say. Against my better judgment, I decide to ask now. "Do you want to come?"

"Yeah." he says instantly. "I had plans but I'll cancel."

"You don't need to do that."

He looks over at me and smiles. "I want to. Your success is more important."

I look at him, still skeptical. "Are you sure?"

He looks back at me with the same look, but there's also some amusement behind his expression. "Are you sure you want me to come?"

My cheeks start to warm. "No, I do, otherwise I wouldn't have asked. But if you have something, like, don't cancel it just for this, you know?"

One side of his lip curls up into a small smirk. "What's the real reason?"