Flaming Hearts

Chapter 14

I stayed in bed sick for three days before finally recovering.

Then I spent two more days avoiding both Colton and Troy. Colton for obvious reasons. Troy- I'm not so sure.

Not that they both haven't tried communicating with me. Troy has called and texted me multiple times, but I've ignored it. Colton tries to talk to me every chance he gets, but I make up an excuse each time and get away from him as fast as my legs will take me.

But I have to confront them both at some point.

And as I turn into the barn to go see Flame, and run into Colton- literally run into him- I find it will be sooner rather than later.

He grabs my shoulders when I start to fall backwards, steadying me.

"Sorry," I mumble, before trying to push past him.

He doesn't release his hold on my arms though, instead gripping me tighter so that I can't get away.

"Colton, leg me go," I say through clenched teeth.

"No," he bluntly replies. "I've been trying to talk to you for five days now and you keep blowing me off. You're going to listen to me whether you want to or not."

I groan in exasperation, and meet his eyes.

"I'm sorry Ariel. I know I was being a jerk and I had no reason except to be a jerk. I'm sorry. But you can't shut me out- that month when we weren't talking was the longest month of my life. I can't do that again Ari. We've been friends since we were eleven- you can't just throw that away after one fight," he says quietly, his voice raw with emotion.

His mention of that month of silence between us strikes a chord in me.

"If I remember correctly, you were the one who caused us to stop talking then, not me," I snap. "You never told me why Colton. Do you know what that did to me? One day we were fine, the next you abandoned me. I thought- I thought that maybe you just decided I wasn't worth it. I wasn't worth your time. After all we'd been through, and you threw it away like we were nothing. At least I have a reason for shutting you out. You didn't."

By this point, the tears are flowing freely down my face. I can't bear to look him in the eyes, so I stare at the ground.

"Now let me go," I growl, shaking myself free from his hold.

At first, he doesn't try to stop me. He let's me walk away, standing there stunned.

"Is that what you think? That I think you're not worth it? That we're nothing?" he questions, his fiery voice cutting through the silence like a crisp blade. "If that's what you think, then maybe you aren't who I thought you were."

I stop in my tracks, but I don't turn around.

"What was I supposed to think? You didn't give me a reason Colton. What else could I have thought?" I whisper, my voice pained.

I don't know he's standing behind me till I feel his hot breath on my neck. We stand there like that for a few moments, before I slowly turn around to face him, my eyes filled with tears.

"Why," I choke out.

I feel pressure around my waist that I suddenly realize is his arms. We are so close that I hear his heartbeat, pounding in time with mine.

"Ariel, I-"

"Get the hell away from my girlfriend," a voice I recognize as Troy's snarls.

I quickly pull away from Colton, my eyes widening with fear and shock.