"Thank you." She slides into her seat.
I slide into mine. Then the doors are closed and she's leaning over the center console to wrap her arms around me.
"I'm sorry." She squeezes me.
"It's okay." I squeeze back.
"I know you're mad or disappointed... something."
"I'm not anything."
"Really?"
"Yeah. I'll tell you if I'm something."
She pulls back enough to wipe her eyes. "After that fight with Rory... I don't think we're friends anymore. Me and Rory, I mean."
"I'm sorry."
"She's been my best friend since forever." Her blue eyes find mine. "No, that's not right. We were close back in middle school. High school even. But things have been different for the last six months... we haven't been talking as much, haven't had as much in common."
"People grow apart."
She nods. "Yeah." She blinks back another tear. "Sorry. I... I was just thinking of the time in middle school where we snuck out to toilet paper this mean popular girl's house. And we got caught and poor Mal had to come get us and explain what had happened to the popular girl's parents. They didn't understand the idea of TPing someone's house. Mal was mad, but I think it was mostly that we didn't invite him to supervise. Me and Rory laughed all the way home. Eventually, he was laughing too. He was really surly right after Mom and Dad left. It killed his sense of humor for a while, all that responsibility, the pain of them leaving. Not that he's totally over being strict about things, but... I'm rambling, huh?"
"A little." Fuck, it's cute when she's nervous.
She sighs into my chest. "I'm sure you've lost friends, more than I have."
"It's not a competition." I run my fingers through her hair. It's sweet that she's mourning the loss of her friendship. She goes into everything head first. I'm sure she was the same with this friendship.
And with ending it.
Every inch of me wants to comfort her. I hold her body against mine. I press my palm into the space between her shoulder blades. My hand is on her bare skin. From the way she's rubbing my arms with her fingers, I can tell the touch is doing things to her.
I want more. I want my hands all over her body. I want to hear that soft sigh of pleasure fall off her lips as I touch her and taste her. I want her screaming my name.
"Why does it take such a long time to realize everything is different?" she asks.
"It's hard to notice when they change a little bit every day."
She pulls back enough to look into my eyes. "You... you're a good guy."
Not sure about that.
Her blue eyes bore into mine. "If you ever are upset with me, please tell me. Or if I'm changing, becoming too obsessed with my loser stoner boyfriend—"
"You're into stoner guys?"
She shakes her head. "Anything like that. Tell me if I've got my head up my ass. Or if I've ever hurt you. Most of the time, when people hurt me, I stop trying. I don't want that to happen to us."
"Promise you won't drink that much again."
"Ever?"
"If you have to drive."
She nods. "Okay, I promise."