Confession

Though Scott's gaze had fallen back to the table, he caressed Hope's fingers with his own. He loved holding her hand. Her touch was always so soft and gentle. It never changed. No matter what he did or how he changed... she never did. 

"I guess I... I always feel like I'm bothering people. I know I'm not. I mean... that's what you and Justin always say but..." He shrugged lamely. "I guess I don't know how to call someone at two in the morning when all I can do is sit on the floor in the corner of my room and try to make the nightmares go away." His voice had grown so quiet. He didn't like talking about this. He didn't like admitting he couldn't sleep or eat or focus. "Besides... Dalton's mad at me, so he's probably out of the equation."


Seeing Ryan take Hunter's hand, Eli couldn't help quirking one of his eyebrows. What...was that about? He glanced at Ryan's face. Was that... more than just your average happiness he saw? It was hard to tell since it had been so long since he'd seen her happy but... all of a sudden, he wondered if there was more to all this than he knew.

Hunter opened his mouth to decline. It really was very late. Seeing Ryan's face though, he knew this was more important than sleep. His grip on her hand tightened. "Okay," he agreed. "I can stick around for a little bit."

"Good." Eli waved them to the living room. "I wanna hear all about it." He was fully awake now and really did want to find out about his sister's trip. 

Following Ryan, Hunter sat down with her on the couch, just a bit hesitantly. This... was even more awkward. 

Noticing them sitting close together, Eli cocked his head. All of a sudden there was a weird silence in the air as he looked at them. 

Hunter cleared his throat. He glanced at Ryan and felt badly. Maybe he shouldn't have stayed and should have just let her talk to Eli alone. He'd seen how protective her brother could be, and wasn't so sure he'd want to cross him. But looking back over at him, he opted to rip off the proverbial band-aid. Settling back in the couch, he slipped his arm around Ryan's shoulders and leaned over to give her forehead a kiss. Eyeing Eli again, he tilted his chin up just enough to show his confidence. "I never knew you had such an amazing sister. She'll have to speak for herself about how she liked the trip, but I, for one, was thrilled for the company."

Eli blinked. His face didn't give away anything about what was going through his mind as he looked to Ryan. He'd trusted Hunter... had his trust been misplaced? "Well, Sis?" He forced a crooked grin. "Do elaborate."


As Ashlee explained more about why she felt lonely, Dylan felt something stir deep down. It wasn't something he was used to feeling, and he didn't like it. She'd gotten lonelier because he'd gotten quieter. He still struggled to be happy. To be sociable. To let himself smile. But he kept replaying Sparky's words, and he tried to convince himself that he didn't need to be miserable, in spite of his past. 

He fell quiet for a good several minutes before reining Seven to a halt. Dismounting he motioned for Ashlee to do the same. Walking beside her along the wide path, he remained quiet for a few more moments while choosing his words. 

"I... don't know how much you really know about my past." He toyed with his reins as he walked slowly. "Other than my dad being on my case, and me running off to shoot myself up with drugs." He cringed at the memory. There were days he still struggled with his addiction. 

"I was... targeted. By the same group that abducted Travis. They didn't kidnap me though. They just got me hooked on drugs and... I did a lot of things to get my daily fix." He swallowed hard. There were perhaps a total of three people he'd talked to about this, at the very most. "Anything from breaking and entering to stealing to... drinking... to a whole bunch of things with girls I'm not proud of." 

Saying it out loud to Ashlee made him feel about as low as the grass under his feet. But he kept walking and talking. "That's why my dad freaked so bad that first time we went missing." He figured she'd probably had an idea of the reasoning but nobody would have guessed the whole truth. "After coming here and... finally getting off drugs I... realized how stupid I'd been and... I figured just working here was kinda my lot in life, whether I liked it or not. I figured I... didn't deserve anything but being alone and mucking out stalls." 

He shrugged as he kept up his slow pace and held his eyes straight ahead. "I liked hanging out with you but... I... have trouble getting close to anyone or spending much time with someone. I don't ever want to make the same mistakes I did before with someone I care about now so... maybe that's why I started avoiding you."

There. He'd said it. For whatever it was worth, he'd said it to someone other than Sparky. "I didn't mean to ignore you," he concluded. "I pretty much know your routine every day. I never have to look for you 'cause I already know where you're at. But I guess I was too focused on me to realize you were lonely." Not that it mattered now. She had Travis. Which left him outside that small circle to continue being alone. And part of him... still thought that's what he deserved.