RIDING AWAY

CHAPTER 22 - Who said relationships were easy?

His words had royally pissed me off. How dared he make what had happened with Noah be about him?! If seeing me was so unbearable, it maybe meant that it was high time we went our separate ways?!

I huffed loudly even though I was totally aware of how extreme my reaction was being, and I felt his stare on me, preventing me to concentrate on what our History teacher was telling us about the Great Depression.

I almost ran out of the room when the bell rang but he grabbed my wrist right before I got to the door.

"B. wait, please..." The sadness I heard in his voice, tugged at my heart. "I can tell you're mad at me..." I shrugged. "I can't f*cking lose you, Blake! So you'd better tell me what it is I did to get you so mad at me because I can't take one more minute of your silence! " He exclaimed loudly enough to attract a great deal of attention around us.

Great, I thought bitterly. Just what I needed. I was tempted to make a run for it, to disappear through the crowd and go to my final class of the day. I'm pretty sure I'd have done just that had it been anyone else but my bestest friend ever.

No matter how much his words had stung, I couldn't inflict that kind of pain upon him. I loved him too much.

"You made it sound like I was an inconvenience to you..." I muttered. "Do you think I enjoy feeling like crap the way I have in the past months?" I went on, making sure to keep my voice down. I was getting used to people no longer calling me loser, no way would I give them any new ammunition now.

"I hurt when you hurt, B." He muttered. "And I've never felt as powerless as this past year..." He added. "But what happened with Noah has nothing to do with what the dick did to you..." He argued.

"You can give my number all you want it won't change the fact that if his mother decides I'm not good enough, it will be over..." I reminded him.

"He didn't mean that..." He grunted.

"Oh! But he did..." I shot back. "From the beginning Shawn and you have been plotting with Jeremiah and Merlin without thinking that Noah was maybe not on board with all your plans!"

"He's been as miserable as you have, B." He argued back with a sigh.

"Then why hasn't he contacted me to tell me so, then?!" I questioned, fed up with this conversation.

"Because he doesn't know how to handle his feelings for you." He replied. "That and he probably believes he's not good enough for someone like you..."

I frowned at that last part.

"Yeah, right... If he's as famous as you all make it sound, I doubt that type of thought would ever cross his mind..." I interjected.

"The only reason I haven't run away from Sally now is because we've been pretending that it's only physical between us..." He admitted sheepishly his voice so low, I wondered if I had heard him right.

"Why?"

"I'm scared, B..." His voice was barely a whisper. He raked his hand through his thick brown hair. "I'm scared of the way my heart goes crazy whenever I see her, I'm scared of losing myself in her and not finding my way back to you..."

My eyebrows shot up at that and my heart sort of tumbled upon itself, if that was even possible.

"What do you mean?"

"I'm scared letting her in completely will make me lose you..." It still didn't make sense.

"But I'm your best friend, you'll never lose me because of a girl..." I pointed out.