Down the Rabbit Hole (Stuck On You)

Chapter 7: Not a Boyfriend

I yanked my wrist out of his when we reached it. "Stop!" I yelled at him. He did. He looked both sad and mad at the same time.

"What's going on? You look like you're not even in this year anymore," I said. He sighed and ran his hand down his face. "She triggered something, didn't she? Something in your past that was painful." I said. "Stop talking," he snapped. I looked at his face. They were really watery. It looked like he was about to cry. I sighed and shut my mouth.

"Hayden," I said softly. I touched his face gently. He looked away from me for a second before he stared right into my eyes. He looked... pained. He fought with whether to tell me or not before he let out a deep breath.

the restaurant, there was this... guy. He knocked me out, and when I woke up... she was dead. The police told me that the guy mugged us and raped her before he killed her," he explained. I ran my thumb over his cheek. "All I had to do was protect her, and I couldn't even do that. I swore never to put myself in that position ever again," he said quietly. "It sounds like it was a freak accident, and I know that you probably heard this a lot, but it wasn't your fault," I said softly. I wiped a stray tear from his cheek. I

me.

I said: I don't do relationships," he said. We got in the truck and drove to the apartments. After about an hour of mindless

brother," I started. He muted the TV and turned to me. "His name was Thomas and he was a lot like you,"

was 14. We were playing outside with a ball when it rolled into the street. He went after it and before I knew what was happening, he was dead... A car whipped around the corner and the driver

he said softly. I shrugged and pushed my hair back off of my face. He leaned forward slowly before he kissed me gently. I tried to hold it back but I couldn't. I started sobbing. I missed Thomas; no matter how far back