I was sitting in the car, in the passenger's seat, looking out the window. In the driver's seat was Pete, who was constantly glancing over at me. He removed his hand from the steering wheel and I flinched. "Chill, I'm just turning on the radio," He reassured me, grabbing the knob and turning it to the right, the volume increasing and filling the car with a song I've never heard of before. I assumed it was a new pop song.
Pete and I drove a little more in silence before he cleared his throat and said, "We missed you while you were gone."
I looked over at him and gave him a half-smile, saying nothing.
"Where do you want to go first?" He asked me.
I shrugged my shoulders, "I don't know. I haven't seen Declan in a while, so I guess I just want to see him, go home."
Pete slowed down to a stop at a red light, looking over at me, "Are you sure you don't want to go anywhere else, Patrick? You know, before that?"
"No. I want to see Declan. I want to go home."
"I know, but-"
"Take me home, Pete," I demanded curtly. "You asked me where I wanted to go and I want to go home."
He swallowed hard, "Patrick..."
"Take me home!" I pressed, anger boiling up inside of me. He leaned forward and looked up at the stoplight above us, remaining silent. "Pete!" Still no response. His grip on the steering wheel tightened, turning his knuckles white. "Pete! Take me-"
"I can't!" He shouted in response. "I can't take you home, Patrick!" The car went silent.
"Why not?" I muttered.
Pete took in a deep breath before replying calmly, "Because...because things changed while you were gone." The light turned green.
"What things?"
He bit his lip and turned a corner, "I really don't want to talk about it here, in this car." I stared at him blankly. He took one more quick glance over at me before sighing and saying, "Why don't you and I go and get your some real food? You probably haven't have that in a while. We can talk about everything then."
"But I want to go home," I harped, still wanting to see my child. It's been four years. I'm sure he wanted to see me too.
"You can't go home, Patrick, things have changed," He repeated. I rolled my eyes and rested my head in the palm of my hand. "Just...let's get some food and I'll tell you everything there. I promise."
"Fine, whatever," I murmured, returning my gaze to the world outside of the car.
What things changed? More specifically, what things changed so that he couldn't take me home to see Declan?