Binding 13

He frowned in horror and I shook my head, a

"I don’t know shite all about what's going on with your, uh, your body," he added, cheeks turning pink. "But I hope it fucks off soon."

His words, so crass and boyish, yet sincere and caring, caused a small laugh to crack through my nervousness.

"I don’t think it works that way," I replied, forcing myself to look him in the eye. "But thanks for helping me."

"Have to say, it's a first for me." He frowned at the thought before muttering, "Thank fucking god."

"Oh, god, I'm sorry." I jumped up to leave, but he caught a hold of my hand, pulling me back down on the bench.

"I don’t want you to be sorry," he said gruffly. "There's nothing to be sorry for. I just meant that I don’t have any sisters so this shite is foreign to me."

"I bet," I mumbled, embarrassed.

Did he think of me as a sister?

It certainly sounded like he did.

He certainly reacted to my kiss like he did.

Had I been sister-zoned?

"Stop overthinking," Joh

I turned to look at him. "What makes you think I'm overthinking?"

He shrugged, smiling this amazing boyish grin at me. "Am I wrong?"

No.

No, of course he wasn’t.

Overthinking was my specialty.

Dammit.

"I can't help it," I admitted, feeling my face heat up. "It's in my nature. I'm a born worrier."

"Well," he sighed. "One thing you don’t need to worry about is Bella."

The minute I heard her name, I automatically began to worry.

Worry and overthink.

What would she say next?

What would she do?

Was I going to get a hiding from her the next time she caught me in the bathrooms?

Should I run now?

"Stop," Joh

"She has your jacket," I blurted out. "I washed it and brought it to school to give it back to you, but she, uh, took it off me."

"I have plenty more jackets," he replied. "I'm just sorry she gave you shite over me. That shouldn’t have happened to you. I'd tell you that she's psychotic, but you've probably already figured that out on your own."

"She's mad about you, Joh

And so am I…

"She's mad about my lifestyle," he corrected with a heavy sigh. "She doesn’t even know me, Sha

"What do you mean?"

"I'm a prize to her. A shiny trophy," he muttered under his breath. "That's all I am to most people."

"Not to me," I told him.

Joh

I forced myself not to turn away.

"No?" I could see frustration and hope flashing around in his blue eyes.

"No," I confirmed quietly.

"Well, that's good to know," he replied, blue eyes locked on mine, tone gruff.

"I'm really sorry for what I did last night," I whispered, forcing myself to address the elephant in the room.

"Sha

"There is," I mumbled. "I shouldn’t have done that." Shaking my head, I resisted the urge to bolt, choosing instead to be a grown up about the situation. Tricky thing to do given my age and rampant emotions around this boy, but I did it. "It won't happen again."

"I don’t want you to be sorry, Sha

I exhaled shakily. "You don’t?"

He shook his head slowly. "No."

And just like that, the air changed around us.

"I should probably go," I whispered, quickly breaking the tension.

I stood up before I did something stupid, like kiss him.

Oh wait, I already did that.

Ugh...

"There's a bus going my route at 2 o clock with my name on it."

And if I get home before six, I won't have to deal with my Dad.

Joh

I shook my head. "No, I need to go home and uh, sort myself out."

"Yeah, uh, right," he muttered. "Of course." He checked his watch and said, "It's quarter to two now," before turning his gaze back on me. "I'll drive you."

I opened my mouth to say no, but Joh

"I want to take you home," he told me. "I need to make sure you're okay."

"Why?"

"I just do." Standing up, Joh

Don’t do it, Sha