Four Elements Book 2 - Fight and Feel

Part 47

"No! Bane, don't! He's not worth it. Let's just go. Come on."

She took his arm and they walked away.

Bane and Andie wandered down the street in silence. Andie had suggested a walk to help Bane calm down. It was dark and quiet, except from the faint sounds coming from the bar a couple of streets away. After a moment of silence, Andie asked:

"Are you okay?"

Bane, his hands thrust into his pockets, nodded without looking at her.

"Yes, I'm all right. I'm sorry about earlier..."

"No, I'm the one who should be apologizing. I should... I don't know..."

"No, Andie, you did nothing wrong. He came at you. I saw him."

Andie was relieved he saw it that way. She was sure many boys would have assumed she had let Eric kiss her.

"I don't understand why he's so... insistent! I swear, he was nothing like this as a kid."

There was a short pause, then Bane said:

"That's just the thing."

"What?" Andie asked, not following.

"He's not the kid you used to know." Bane told her. "Both of you have come a long way since then. And clearly, you're not the little girl he used to know..."

Andie didn't miss the hint of bitterness in his voice as he spoke the last sentence.

"... I swear I don't lead him on, Bane... I keep asking him to stop behaving the way he is, but he just doesn't want to listen..."

Bane didn't answer at once.

"... Andie, d'you think he already had feelings for you when you were young?"

Andie's first thought was to say "no, of course not," but she couldn't. Now that she thought about it, she couldn't be absolutely certain he hadn't... He'd never told her if he had, of course, but that didn't mean the feelings hadn't been there... After all, Bane had kept his feelings for her secret for months.

"I don't think so... but then, he might have kept it to himself... he wasn't really the confiding type..."

Of course, they'd shared things as close friends did at that age, but thinking back, she realized she'd done most of the confiding. He'd been the listener. She wondered if she shouldn't have given him a chance to speak, too...

"Whatever he felt then or now, that gives him no excuse to behave the way he has," Bane said, as though reading her mind.

"I know..." Andie said. "I just wonder if I should have done something when we moved, said something..."

There was a silence. Bane's answer was probably not one Andie would like, so he was tactfully keeping it to himself. Eventually, they stopped and looked at each other.

"Listen... Andie..."

Bane took her hands, and kept his eyes on them.

"I... I'm not... I have been thinking..."

He sighed, struggling to put his thoughts into words.

"I just want you to know that... whatever you decide, I will go along with."

Andie blinked.

"... What do you mean?" she asked.

"... I mean that I know things are complicated for you right now... between us..."

"Bane-"

"Let me finish," he said, squeezing her hands to silence her. "I... You and Eric have a lot of history, and I know he's having more of an effect on you than you let on."

"It doesn't mean..."

"I know. But the fact remains. And I'm not blaming you. He's... handsome, he can be funny... he's good with Hannah... he's safe, normal... it's not surprising you would be drawn to him. What I'm saying is... if you decide you want to be with him... I'll accept it. If it's what you want, then I won't stand in your way."

Andie was so thunderstruck she was speechless for a few moments. Then she stepped closer to Bane, reducing the space between them until their noses almost touched.

"Bane... I've told you before, and I will again. You're the one I'm with, the one I want to be with. What can I say to make you believe me? I'm not going anywhere. Like I said, I won't let anything get in between us."

Even Eric, she added with a twinge of pain.

"I love you. Okay? Get it into your head," she teased.

Bane relaxed, then slid his arms around Andie''s waist and pulled her against him, pressing his lips to hers.