Thoughts That Count

Episode 4 Part 3

Ezra

I had music playing softly as I prepared dinner on the stove. I stuck my finger in the sauce and tasted it just as I heard a knock on the door. I threw a little hand towel I had over my shoulder and rushed to open in.

"Hey," I said sweetly when I saw her standing on the other side.

"Hey," She replied with a smile.

"Oh, come in," I said hopping out f the way and gesturing to my humble abode, "Go ahead and look around. Make yourself at home. Dinner will be done in about twenty minutes if I don't screw it up horrifically."

She laughed and stuck her hands in her back pockets. I returned to the stove as she glanced around. I heard the click of a type writer and then the tinkle of her laugh, "Do you use this?" she asked.

I came out from behind the island chuckling lowly as well. I'd almost forgotten it was even there, "As a paper weight. Mostly its to remind myself that there was literature before lap tops." I coughed embarrassedly and watched as her gaze wondered around the rest of the apartment, taking it in. I loved the way the low light shimmered on her curls and the modest lip gloss she wore. She looked beautiful, so much more than some high school girl…

"What do you think?"

"Its nice!" She smiled, "Yeah, I like it. Thanks for asking me."

I returned her smile, "You're welcome," I scrunched my lips, debating the next topic of conversation that popped into mind, "How are things at home?"

She sighed, "Fine. My mom and dad are having a… date night."

"Hmm!" I piped up, food in my mouth again. This was good, "Maybe they're working things out."

"They can have all the alone time in the world, but she's… huh-she's gonna be miserable when she finds out.

"Aria, has it ever occurred to you that maybe your mom… knows more about this than you think?" I questioned, noticing that she could be a little blind to anything other than how this had all effected her. I wondered if it made her unable to see that maybe things weren't as bad as they looked.

"No. She doesn't know. That's… the worst part," she retorted, "well, almost the worst part."

I tried to find some path of reasoning that would make her see what I saw, "Well, its possible that your parents have come to some sort of understanding that you don't know about." I was well aware that I was beginning to sound like a school counselor more than a boyfriend… potential boyfriend… friend…

"No, Its not possible," she snapped, "What do you mean and understanding?" I tried to come up with a scenario that didn't revolve around her, half trying to backtrack, "Okay, um… When I was 12, my parents broke up, and it threw my brother and me for a loop. I found out later they'd both been cheating…" How did I phrase this? I pulled the towel from my shoulder, "They worked through the infidelity. It was just something else that killed the marriage."

"But that's your family, not mine," she threw back defensively.

I looked away, trying not to become argumentative. This wasn't about me.

"What are you trying to tell me?"

"I'm just saying, that even though your dad put you in this position, its not your problem to fix," I told her, more coldly than I'd intended.

"I'm not trying to fix it, I'm trying to deal with it," she snapped again, raising her voice at me.

"But they're the ones that should be dealing with this!" I urged her. I tried to find some way to explain this to her that is was not her problem. Its didn't need to be. "What you can't see now, is that your parents need to figure it out for themselves. Like adults."

"Like adults?"

"Right," I said. See, simple.

"Like I'm not mature enough to deal with this?" she snapped.

My jaw dropped. God! I did not mean it like that! "Ah- I didn't say that!"

"Yeah. I think that's exactly what you said," she shot back, "You said I am a child and I should mind my own business."

"Now I guarantee you that's not what I said," I reiterated in vain. This was becoming a pointless runaround.

"Well, if I'm such a child, why did you ask me here?"

I took a deep breath, trying to change the course of the conversation. I sat down next to her, trying to soften the tone of my voice. "I asked you because… I don't see you as a child," I met her eyes, trying to instill what I was saying in her, "And that's exactly why we need to figure out what's going on between us."

"Okay. Just leave my parents out of it."

That was the it. I wasn't going to let her beat me up over something she'd come to me about, "You came to me about your father. Do you remember that?" I snapped angrily.

Aria didn't speak this time, just stared art me wordless. I shook my head, waiting for some signal that she got my point. I wasn't at fault here.

After a few seconds she threw herself up from the couch and rushed sround me to pick up her purse. My jaw fell open and I stood up too, "You know, I um… I think I made a mistake coming here."

"I don't think you did."

"I do. Its not something and adult would have done," she retorted before turning to storm out.

Again with the damn…

I threw down the towel. I could not believe her.