Changing You ✦ The Sequel

Chapter 4 {R}

Confusion spread on Lexa's face as she took in my reaction. "He didn't tell you?"

My mind refused to process the information I had just received, not wanting to believe it. "You're m-moving? Moving where?"

"Portland, Oregon," she said hesitantly.

My heart sank. That would mean another 1/3 of the pack wasn't only leaving Beacon Hills, but moving to another state as well.

"When?"

She shook her head, guilt flashing across her features. "I'm sorry, I already said too much. I'm so sorry, Ri, I thought you knew."

"No, but I-" I blinked hard against the tears that had started building up inside my eyes.

She pulled me in a hug, every trace of anger from before vanished. "Daniel will explain everything," she spoke into my shoulder. "Just give him some time."

Inhaling sharply through my nose, I forced myself to keep it together. Lexa gave me a tight squeeze before she stepped back. "I gotta go," she said apologetically before heading back to the car and hopping onto the backseat.

As I watched them drive off, I dropped my head in my hands, repeating Lexa's words over and over again. "He can't move on, not from what happened and not from you. This is exactly why we're moving."

Swallowing harshly, I wiped the tears from my eyes and scanned over the parking lot, searching for a certain jeep with fading black paint, expecting it to be gone.

I bit my lip as I found his car right where we had left it this morning, Zach himself sitting behind the steering wheel, waiting for me.

Deciding it was no use to keep standing here and postpone the moment I dreaded — having to face him, having to face what I did — I took small steps towards his car.

When I reached the passenger's side, I hesitated. The pin of the door was down, telling me it was locked. Maybe he doesn't want me here after all, I thought anxiously.

I jumped when the pin suddenly popped up, the clicking of the car unlocking ringing through my ears.

The scent of frustration hit me when I opened the door, and there was no doubt whether it came from Zach or not; the way his hands were clenched around the steering wheel, his face tense and gaze fixed straight ahead of him, betrayed how he was feeling.

He didn't look at me as I climbed into the car and he didn't say anything, nor did he start the car and drive away.

I gnawed at my inner cheek, failing to get comfortable in the seat I had experienced some of my best memories in. As I doubted what to say or do, minutes of silence passed, the tension rising with each second until it threatened to suffocate my throat, and eventually I couldn't bear it any longer.

"I kissed him," I admitted, fiddling with my clammy hands in my lap. The moment flashed through my brain and I recalled perfectly well how I had pressed my lips onto Daniel's. I wasn't the only one.

"I know, I saw," he commented shortly.

The feeling of my heart throbbing against the cage of my chest had me release a nervous breath. "I don't- I don't really know why," I continued, my pinched voice stumbling over the words. "He had to slow down his breathing and he couldn't. I didn't really think about it I just- figured it was the only way he'd hold his breath. Even for just a moment."

"Because he loves you," he stated, his head snapping my way for the first time. His eyes seemed to be a shade darker than normally, hurt troubling their hazel colour.