"Ouch!" That hurt. That really hurt. She wasn't pulling any punches. I quickly rubbed my arm, then quickly held on to the steering wheel. "When I'm hungry, I become The Hulk. Don't joke around or I'll Hulk smash you." I glanced at her and saw the little pout on her lips. Damn she was cute. I missed her. I missed her a damn lot. She was opening the sandwiches apart, checking what's in them. "You have an egg sandwich?" "I thought vegetarians don't eat eggs?" I asked. "You're talking about vegans. They don't eat animal product at all. I'm a vegetarian. There are different kinds. My kind eats dairy." I shrugged. "All right." But I made a note of it. "So, any egg sandwiches here?" She was still rummaging. "That means boiling eggs, so no." She sighed. "There are peaches," I said quietly. I wondered if she'd figure out I ate them because of her, then I realized there was no way she'd know. "At the bottom of the cooler. Keep looking." "No way. Cool." I heard her biting on one, then she moaned. My mouth watered. "Omigod, these are so ripe. Yummy," she said happily. "Give me one. I'm hungry now, too." I took a big bite when she offered it to me, my tongue grazing her finger. She pulled away, and I could feel her eyes widen on my face. I pretended not to notice. I chewed, swallowed. "Again," I said roughly. That was just a taste. I wanted to sink my teeth into it. Into her. "No." She pulled away. She hadn't forgiven me yet. I understood. But it made me... sad. And dampened the happy mood we had. It was all right. I would fix it better soon. "My hands are sticky. I need tissues," she said and opened my glove box compartment. I heard her sharp inhale. She reached for something inside it. "I saw you wearing this at work," she said. "Did you miss me that much?" She had the blue hair tie I stole from her in her hand. It had been a month ago, but it seemed longer than that. My eyes shifted to hers. Her hazel eyes were glittering. Grass green, I thought with a hitch in my heart, more than brown. My dreams didn't do her justice. "Yes," I said gruffly. "Then why..." she stopped. "I was an idiot," I whispered. "I'm sorry, Kara." I swallowed the tightness in my throat. I wanted to pull to the side of the road, park there so I could hold her in my arms. So I could right the wrongs that happened between us. "You made me worry," she said softly. I'm sorry. It seemed such an inconsequential word. I wanted to show her how I felt, not say it. Words were hard. "I don't want your sorry," she said. "I want an explanation." I stopped myself from rubbing a hand to my face. "I'll tell you what I can when we reach our destination." She quieted, content for now. She wouldn't be for long. The thought of opening up knotted my stomach. I had seen psychiatrists when I was a kid. My dad had insisted on Raven that she sent me to see professionals after the incident when I was eight. When Raven refused, he threatened her he'd take custody of me. That scared her to action. All of the doctors I'd seen tried their best to make me talk about what happened, but I had refused. In fact, I hadn't talked for a couple of years after the incident. I still didn't want to. But for Kara I would try. It hurt me to talk about it. Every time I tried to talk about it or even think about it, it felt like there was a pit of nothingness in my stomach and acid was filling it up. My throat would tighten and my hands would feel cold and numb. Best not to think about it yet. She perked up in her seat when I turned my signal on, slowed down, and pulled up to a service station. "What do you want to eat?" I unbuckled my seatbelt, grabbed my wallet in the box compartment in the middle console. "I'll get it. Stay here." "I'll go with you," she said and simply jumped out of the truck. I smiled. She didn't like to be told what to do and would do the opposite if I even try. Probably her personality, or probably from being the only female in her house. She was used to bossing her men around and wouldn't take crap from anyone. Least of all a male, I assumed. But she looked exhausted. I wondered if she'd been picking up shifts at the nursing home again. If she'd quit her job at the coffee shop. Hopefully now that she worked for Rick, that would lessen. "How long is the drive to this place?" she asked as she went straight to the small eatery beside the service station. "About another hour." Her eyes widened in alarm. "What? What time do you expect us to go home tonight?" "It'll be late but I'll take you home." "I thought it was only a half hour away or something. What about my car?" "It'll be there in the morning. I'm giving you a ride to school tomorrow and to work. Don't worry about it. Grab your snacks and let's go." "Don't tell me what to do." "Fine." I hid my smile from her. I'd keep telling her what to do. I wouldn't be able to help it just as she wouldn't be able to help throwing it back to my face. I had no idea why it felt perfect to me. To each his own, I guess. And she was my own. "Fine," she said. Just for the hell of it. She always wanted the last word. With me, anyway. She took her time because I could tell she was still upset. She could be exasperating, but even that I liked about her. I liked every damn thing about her. I bought a few things from the convenience store and stored them in the backseat. She munched on tofu hotdogs and sweet potato fries when we were back on the road. "I like that they had that small eatery beside the service station," she commented, opening a pack of ketchup, and spreading it on her fries. "The older woman who owns it is vegetarian, can you believe it? They didn't have these tofu dogs on the menu, but she grabbed some from her personal stash for me and cooked them," she went on happily. "She said her husband was a truck a driver, and she knew how hard it was to find a hot meal on the road, so she'd set up the eatery. Isn't that nice?" "You got all that from buying your hotdog and fries?" She sipped her drink. "You'll be surprised what people will tell you or what they're willing to give if you only ask." I kept quiet.