lumy12

Page Two Hundred Twenty-Four

"Fine, you win," you grumble.

"I wasn't tryin' to 'win.' I truly think--"

"Yeah, I know what you think. That he's not worth our time."

"No, that--"

"Yes, that's exactly what you think."

"There's somethin' else..."

"What?"

"He knows. About us."

"What do you... what, you mean that little kiss? That was nothing!"

"It was a little more than nothin'."

"Whatever -- he prob'ly doesn't even know how people-- like, how fathers and daughters would normally kiss each--"

Joel cuts you off with a laugh. "That was far from a little father-daughter kiss."

"Well... what's he gonna do, run around telling everyone? Would they even believe him?"

"They might, yeah. Or they might at least wonder."

You think some people might already be wondering... but you don't ever share your suspicions with Joel, because what if he says you can't be together anymore? Like it's 'too risky'... too hard to keep the secret?

You disentangle yourself from Joel. Stand up and brush yourself off. "Time to get a move on, isn't it?"

"That's a first," Joel says as he too gets to his feet. "You sound like me."

Not really... "No -- if that was you, you would've said 'ain't it.' "

Joel chuckles. "You're right. Still, you usually ain't the one endin' these breaks. Are you all right?"

"Fine," you say with a forced cheerfulness.

"I don't think so. You're upset about the kid."

"I'm not. I mean, I think it's sad, but... like you said. Not our problem."

He pulls you into a hug. "I do love you for wantin' to save everyone, though. It's... good to be that way."

"Whatever, Joel." If it's so good, he would agree to help this kid!

"I'm serious. You just gotta learn to pick your battles."

"I don't pick battles." Unless there's no other choice; you can't always avoid confrontation.

"It's an expression."

If he means with people... yeah, okay, maybe I DON'T always choose to avoid conflict. But you don't see what that has to do with this kid. You pull away from him. "Let's just go."

He drops it.

Now you have to do the same. You have to get on with your life and forget that out in the woods, less than two days from town, there's a kid living all by himself... with only his skeleton parents for company.

THE END

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