The Path To You

39. A small bear

It had been hard. Connor had been like a zombie I only got him up to go to work. I'd tried to coax him with reality tv but even that wasn't getting him excited. I had run out of ideas, or at least I thought I did.

I woke up on a mission today. I wasn't going to let him spiral right back into the mess he used to be. I'd watched him work so hard these last months and I wasn't going to let some stupid cops reverse all that.

"Get up." I grabbed Connor's hand and yanked hard.

"Leave me alone." He grumbled trying to bury himself in the mattress.

"You can't just lay here miserable all day." I told him.

"Says who?" He peaked an eye open at me.

"I do so get your ass up before I make you."

"Make me?" He rolled over lifting his eyebrows up.

I felt a spark of relief at the banter. This was the connor I knew and loved. The one that loved to tease me and drive me up a wall.

"Yeah I'll make you." I nodded.

"Hmm now that's something I'd love to see." I watched as he fought a small smile.

"Fine." I huffed and marched out of the room.

I was going to win this. I grabbed a large glass from the kitchen and filled it with cold water. He was going to regret not getting his ass up when I was done with him.

Connor looked very unamused when I walked back in. He barely spared me a glance and I used that to my advantage as I dumped the cold water right over his crotch.

"Holy Fuck!" He yelled vaulting himself off of his bed.

"I told you to get up." I grinned.

"You're a fucking demon." He grumbled stomping right into the bathroom.

"We're leaving in an hour!" I yelled after him.

I wasn't going to give up on him. I was ready to fight with my heart to get him through this. Whatever he needed I was ready to do that for him. Right now the thing he needed was some tough love and to finally get out of the house. He'd been just laying around dwelling on all the bad. He needed to get out of his head and that's what I was here for.

—

"Where are we going?" Connors voice echoed through the car for the millionth time.

He'd been pestering me since I got him in the car. He wasn't going to stop anytime soon and I've decided it was best to just ignore him.

"Jeeeeeeeet," he drawed out. "Stop ignoring me before I throw myself out the car window."

"Stop being annoying and I won't ignore you." I answered.

Connor flipped himself back into his seat with a frown. He was being super dramatic but I'd take this over the sad moping any day. I found comfort in his wild dramatics.

"You hurt me." Connor clutched his chest.

"My bad." I deadpanned.

"Jet Plannneee!" Connor whined. "Tell me where we are going."

"Did your mom ever teach you patience?" I asked.

"Never." He shook his head.

I let out a soft laugh. That explained a lot about him. The car fell into only about of second of silence before connor went back to pestering me about where we were going and I went back to ignoring him.

I was about to cave to just to stop him from annoying me when I finally arrived at our destination.

"Oh god no, Jet please no." Connor groaned when he saw where we were.

"Come on it will be fun." I smiled at him.

"I'm beginning to question your definition of fun." He gave me a wild look.

I just shook my head. I knew he'd be dramatic about it. But I knew it would be good for him. I always felt better after a walk through nature. Getting outside and finally breathing some fresh air was exactly what Connor needed.

"Hiking is fun and I read that the view at the top is super beautiful."

"You're lucky that I love you." He grumbled as he pushed the door open and got out.

I grinned widely at his words and my success. I was getting him to do this and we'd have fun no matter what he thought.

I got out of the car and followed him where he walked to the trail head and stopped.

"Absolutely fucking not." He shook his head turning right back to the car.

"Come on Connor." I grabbed his arm stopping him.

"There's bears!" He screamed waving his arms at the sign.

"There aren't bears they put that on all trails." I told him.

"That's such a lie, I'm not going in there to let some bear tear me to shreds."

"I promise you won't see any bears."

"If I see a bear I'm sacrificing you." He frowned and turned back towards the trail.

I had assumed Connor would bring out the dramatics but I hadn't realized how bad he could be. I was starting to second guess my decision. But I couldn't turn back now. I'd come up with this to get him out of the house but this was only the beginning.

I had the second part of my plan tucked away in the bottom of my backpack. This was going to help, I knew it so instead of letting Connor get his way I just kept my mouth shut and followed him onto the trail.

The hike was about what I expected. Connor jumped at every little sound and made loud complaints the whole way. At one point a branch brushed against his arm and he spent the next five minutes whining about how he thought he got poison ivy.

"AHHHHH!" I snapped out of my thoughts at the sound of Connor letting out a loud scream.

I tried to move my focus to whatever had caught Connors eye but I didn't have time. Connor threw himself at me nearly knocking me over.

I managed to peak over his shoulder to see the animal before it disappeared out of sight.

"A bear!" He screeched.

"That was not a bear, it was a bunny." I told him trying my best to hold in my laugh.

"A small bear, whatever same thing." He grumbled detaching himself from me.

"A bunny is not a small bear."

"They both have fur and live in the forest, basically the same thing to me."

I rolled my eyes. How did I ever think hiking and Connor would go together?

A/n:

Alright here you guys go. I'm currently on the road going to my birthday trip. I'm super excited to spend my birthday in one of my favorite places this year. But it will mean no writing will get done. So here's one last chapter until probably next Friday.

It will depend on how things go next week but I might resume twice a week uploads after next week but I'll give more updates on Friday.

I hope you all enjoyed this chapter!
-Cora Leigh