Chapter 22

Chapter 22
The car went steadily down the crag and the engine hummed always keeping him from driving too fast. Besides the silence poured straight across the car and heavy enough to weight down on the tight interior of the car like a unspoken accusation.

Dominic firmly gripped the steering wheel with his fingers, pale and tension-tightened, his jaw clenched, the muscles of his face tightening, and as if at that moment words would be freed from inside the cracks of his self-discipline.

Behind him Amelia moved slightly, a little unsteady but still somewhat soft, she gave him a small sideways glance trying to make out an inkling of emotion in his face but he didn't look her in the face, putting so much weight on her chest that she couldn't breathe.

She didn't like this — she didn't like being "other" beside him.

Her fingers flicked erratically at the hem of the dress as she ached to speak. " Dominic... " Her voice was quiet and patchy with feeling.

No response.

But she swallowed, her heart beating hard inside her chest "You angry with me? "

Nothing still.

Her heart tightened. The silence wasn't just uncomfortable, it made her feel numb. It made her feel dead inside. It wasn't something Dominic was good with. So he seemed the type who would take everything directly to the face, to meet opposing forces head on, not tolerate anger in silence -- and here he was... blocking her out of his mind, refusing to let her in.

"Oh, let's talk about it, " she whispered, though she already knew how to answer.

His fingers coiled tightly around the wheel - just a little - but he said nothing.

Inside she was so angry that he was. He had every right to be angry, she wouldn't argue with him, but this - this really hard silence - got her to scream.

She reached up at him tracing the cord of his arm with her fingertips. “Dom. ”

His face didn't change much, but his jaw spat. A twitch at least.

'Please, ' she said again, barely audible. 'Don't shut me out. I know you're upset. But —

He quickly took a breath and cut her off in the middle of the sentence. More of a stopped breath than a sigh. Like he was trying to keep whatever storm raged inside of him from bursting.

Her hand. She let it slide again onto her lap.

She looked over the window, seeing the streetlights flash by in the distance. Home was soon at hand, she guessed. Maybe when they got there, when they weren't stuck in this tense silence, he would say something to her.

The seconds passed and the silence between them got heavier by the minute.

By the time Dominic had turned in front of her home he had rolled into park, but not out of the car. His hands tied tightly to the wheel and his shoulders locked. He was standing there, he was not moving.

She stood by on the other side, prepared to receive the terrible farewell she feared he might give her. But before she could open the door, his voice finally broke the silence.

"Why?"

It was low, controlled, but there was a bite to it -- anger which was no longer just simmering quietly on the surface but was clawing up.

She turned to him. "Why what?"

Dominic just sucked in a quick breath and looked at her again, his dark eyes flashing with frustration, but underneath that was something else—something raw and resentful.

“Why did you hide all that from me? ” he asked grimly. “Which had you been assuming you had to look after everything on your own?

Her chest tightened.

"I—" She couldn't get the words past her throat.

Dominic laughed stiffly, shaking his head in shame "What? You didn't think I could handle it? Or did you just not trust me at all? "

His words pierced.

"No," she replied in a rush. "It's not that."

"Then what? " the voice had been strained now, his anger reaching beyond his control.

She looked down. "I didn't want to bother you."

There was a silence.

The air between them felt agonizingly heavy.

When she finally rose her eyes again, Dominic's expression was slightly turned around and the fists had twisted in his lap and his jaw clenched as if it were painful.

“Burden me? ” His voice was quieter these days, though the strain under it still touched her soul. “Is that what you think? ”

"Dominic, I—

"You really don't care about me in that much, do you, to think of me as a burden? "I heard his voice rising again. Not with anger, in fact, but with something else. With hurt.

Her throat closed up. "That's not what I said."

"So what were you saying, then? " he demanded with his burning eyes into hers. "Because from where I'm sitting it seems like you don't trust me to tell you what makes sense -- like you think I wouldn't want to take some of that burden with you. "

Her breath was stuck, "It 's not about trust, " she said, her voice barely audible. "I just... I didn't want to put you in my mess.

Dom won’t let that happen. Amelia, blew a rapid throat sigh and ran his hand through his hair.

Guilt crept up her spine, curling around her ribs.

"You just talked to me, " he said gradually, in a low voice but unforced. "One time I would have been able to help you, but here you kept all this secret and were very secretive. "He turned back. "Do you have any idea how it feels? "

She blinking away the hot burn in her eyes. "I was not doing it for you.

"But you did."

She bared the weight of those three words now, so heavy and stubborn.

A lump crept up her throat. "I knew I should have, " she said fearfully.

Dominic's expression softened—slightly. "Afraid of what?"

She didn't want to answer. "That if I pressed too hard on you you'd get tired of me. That one day you'd realize I was a bother to you and go away.

The moment the words left her mouth, she regretted them.

Dominic was as silent as he ever was, then he reached at her hand, made his grip solid and firm.

"Amelia," he said softly, "I’m not going anywhere."

Her breath hitched.