Chase

The absolute last thing that I wanted to do was answer my phone.

And why was that the absolute last thing I wanted to do? Because, I'm pretty fucking sure that Indie Adams was about to kiss me.

No really. Indie Adams was about to kiss me.

A thought I was sure I would never have. In fact, I would have bet money on never having that the actual thought that Indie Adams was about to kiss me.

I pulled the useless device from my pocket, resisting the urge I had to throw it as far away as I could muster. I wasn't actually going to answer it, there was no way I was going to ruin this moment, unless it was an emergency. I only needed to see it wasn't my mom calling, or any of my siblings.

And I was relieved to see it wasn't. It was only Poppy calling, and I had no idea what she wanted, nor did I care what she wanted. I didn't care about anything other than what was happening in this exact second, with Indie.

Polly was nice enough, sure. She was pretty, she was funny. She was fine.

She wasn't Indie.

I shook my head in annoyance, angry at Poppy for ruining this moment for me. I was about to silence the call, and return the phone back to the confinement of my jeans, when Indie's voice rang through the air.

"You can answer it," she said softly.

I looked towards her, wanting to tell her that I wanted nothing more than to ignore the call and go right back to what we were about to do. Though, those words didn't leave my mouth, because instantly Indie's face had changed.

She wasn't looking at me like she had been, when we were talking. She wasn't looking at me like she had been when she was telling me she thought I was thoughtful, and that I made her pain go away.

Her eyes were sad again. They had been sad for so long, ever since Isla died. They were sad at school today, they were even sad when she was in my car. They were sad as she posed for the pictures I took, they were sad when she was telling me how she was feeling.

But when she was looking in my eyes, and telling me all the things I've only dreamt to hear from her, they weren't sad.

And, because of that, I believed what she was saying. I believed she was telling the truth, maybe I did take her pain away.

"Seriously Chase," she tried to smile, but it didn't reach her sad eyes. She turned her face away, looking out towards the almost set sun. "Take it."

"No," I shook my head, pressing the button the turn my phone screen black again. "I don't need to."

Indie looked back towards me, confusion in her eyes this time and I wasn't sure why. Why would she think I would want to talk to anyone else, when I could be talking to her instead?

And though there was nothing else to distract us from the moment we were having, it was clear that moment was now over.

"It's getting late," Indie sighed, and I had a feeling she was trying to politely tell me that she wanted to leave.

"Yeah, it is," I sighed out, feeling crushed inside.

See, this is what I was trying to tell Asher, before everything changed. I couldn't just have a taste of Indie Adams.

And what just happened wasn't even a taste.

Was it even anything? Had I just imagined it all?

"Indie... I," I started, failing to find the words I wanted to say.

"What, Chase?" She asked when I didn't continue. The confusion in her eyes was still there, but it was accompanied by something else, something other than the sadness.

Why did it look like she was hurt?

"I really like talking to you," I said, even though that's not what I really wanted to say. I wanted to say you're all I think about. I wanted to say you're perfect in every way. I wanted to say if you just gave me a chance, maybe I could be perfect for you too.

But of course I didn't say those things. Just because she almost kissed me, it didn't mean she felt that way too.

"You do?" Indie asked, and I don't know why she seemed surprised.

"I really do," I assured her, my eyes roaming around her face.

"Even when I'm rambling and not making sense?" She asked, and I swear her eyes became lighter again. Like I was taking away her pain, like she said.

"You made perfect sense," I looked towards my feet as I said the words, hoping she didn't see the feelings I had for her on my face. "Do you want to get going?"

Indie took once last glance at the sunset, it looked like she was searching for something, but I wasn't sure what.

"Yeah," she finally sighed, but she didn't seem happy about it.

I nodded, rising to my feet. We walked to the car in silence, and I think we were both just appreciating the silence of the field. It felt like we were years away from our town, instead of just a couple of miles.

I opened Indie's door for her, and I caught a whiff of her perfume as she slid past me to enter the car. Lavender, fitting.

I tried not to overthink as I picked a song to play through the speakers. Even though I was getting used to being around Indie, I was never any less nervous. I was always nervous around her. I was nervous I was going to do the wrong thing or say something awkward.

I glanced over at her, she was looking down at her fingers which were clasped on her lap. She had a frown on her lips, one that was more prominent than usual.

"What's wrong?" I asked her, feeling my own frown come to my mouth.

Indie snapped her head up, a fake smile formed in an attempt to erase the frown. "No, it's nothing."

"Indie," I sighed, and I did something I didn't expect for me to do.

I reached out, my hand gently falling on her leg. She looked down at it, seemingly surprised as I was. As if on instinct, I made to move it away, but Indie didn't let me. She laid grabbed my hand before it could move too far, and placed it back on her leg.

I tried to ignore the way my chest was swelling, but it was almost impossible.

"It's... nothing really, Chase," she said, before she paused like she was thinking of her next words. "I'm just having trouble sleeping now that Bella can't come over."

"Fuck, I'm sorry. It must be hard, especially without your parents there," I told her, and my thumb started moving against her leg, I hoped it would comfort her.

"Yeah," she frowned again. "I just get lonely, I guess. It's why I went to Brock's last night. I was trying to sleep for hours and hours, and I just couldn't," she told me.

I felt my stomach lurch at Brock's name. I knew she was over there this morning, and I had tried to keep my mind from guessing why. I didn't want to assume anything. Though, I was jealous, of course, even at the possibility that she had spent the night there.

And the worst part, I had no reason to be jealous. Indie could do whatever she wanted, with anyone she wanted.

"Did it help?" I asked her, trying not to let my jealousy show.

"Yeah," she nodded. "Maybe it was just something about someone laying beside me, I got a couple hours of rest."

I felt the muscles in my jaw tense.

"I just don't want to go home to another empty bed," she continued, looking back down at her fingers.

"So don't," the words were out of my mouth before I realized how bold I was being. "Come home with me."

Indie looked up at me, she was surprised clearly. She titled her head as she looked at me, and just like when she looked at the sunset, I wasn't quite sure what she was looking for.

"Okay," she said, and her smile came back. "I will."