FALLING AROUND YOU ➵ DANIEL SEAVEY ➵ SEQUEL

32 ➵ Reality Check

He shook his head quickly, a short apology before saying, "No, Sienna, I'm being serious. Did you get any sleep last night?"

I shook my head. Jonah squinted his eyes a little, inspecting me once again. "You're worried about him, aren't you." He said it more as a statement than a sentence.

"I'm worried about all of you," I countered.

"But you're mostly worried about him."

Slowly, I nodded.

Jonah gave out a dry chuckle. "You're worried about him so much to the point you're losing sleep."

Again, I nodded.

"You're thinking about leaving again, aren't you."

"What?" I spat, a bit offended with his tone.

He didn't flinch or change his demeanor, instead hunching forward, closer to me. "I know you, Sienna. I've seen this game being played too many times to know what you're thinking."

I sat back in my chair, crossing my arms. "Jonah, what are you saying?"

"You care so much about him that you're willing to take yourself out of the picture for his own sake, though it'll hurt you just as much," he took another long sip out of his mug.

"Did you see those articles? They're acting as if I'm a monster! I'm not a monster!" I whined like a toddler. I cringed at my sentence, already hating the way I sounded.

Though, Jonah just chuckled, unfazed by my little temper tantrum. "It's celebrity drama. I expect nothing less from them."

"Still, their disgusting." I snarled.

He raised an eyebrow, "You're going to let them ruin your relationship, again?"

"I–I, well, Jonah," I sighed, unsure of the right words to say, facing defeat as he was right. "It's different this time, okay? This doesn't just affect Daniel's career anymore, it affects the whole band. I can't be the dead weight on your back."

The boy leaned forward, the coffee cup still between his palms, and that comforting smile he always had. He was closer to me from across the table, almost as if he was about to tell me a secret. He smelled of coffee and cinnamon, a warm combination for sweet boy.

"I'm going to tell you this, Sienna. Hear this from a friend, okay?" he paused. "You're being selfish."

I was baffled. Jonah has never been the type to call me out, never commenting too much about the chaotic relationship between Daniel and I to my face, until today. My eyes swelled with uprooting tears, scared that they would actually burst. My skin was Pompeii and my eyes were volcanos.

"Excuse me?" I sassed, heavily annoyed.

"Sometimes, when we yearn to be selfish, it means we have been selfless for far too long."

I shook my head. "I don't understand."

His voice lowered. "You want to leave because it'll be easier than staying. You want to say goodbye, even if it hurts, because you're scared of what comes next. You aren't just thinking about leaving for Daniel's life, but your own too. We are selfish beings, Sienna. Humans have always been that way. We may do things for others, but I know there's the smallest reasoning you want to go is also for yourself."

I just stared at him, and he took my silence as an usher to continue.

"You want to save Daniel, and save yourself, before things get too messy."

Shaking my head, I looked at him.

"So, what am I suppose to do?"

"Stay," he said simply. "If you leave when things get tough, you're a coward. Don't be foolish and leave something simply because it's hard right now."

"Be selfless — think about what Daniel wants," he continued.

"What does Daniel even want?" I pitied how I said my words. There was a crack in my voice in every word.

"You."

"His career," I argued.

"He wants you," he repeated.

In those small words, it gave me all the comfort. It was time to be selfless, think about Daniel, keep on staying. I felt a shiver down my spine, one that made me smile into my drink. Surely, I took it as a sign that I was being guided on the right path.

"When did you become all wise?" I chuckled dryly.

"I'm just here to give you a reality check, that's all."