Once Upon A Bus Ride

Chapter 58: I Like This Kind Of Cliché

58. I Like This Kind Of Cliché

I stayed home from school the next day. After tossing and turning throughout the night I was exhausted anyway. I'd only be like the walking dead in the hallways.

Dad came in to check on me, but clearly he had a lot else on his mind to force me to go to school. My mother, well, I guess when she left yesterday she didn't come back.

I just stayed in my bed, ignoring my calls and texts, hiding under my covers along with all of my problems. Overthinking was my area of expertise and right now I wasn't slacking.

I don't know how much time passed, but it did, and soon, I heard my bedroom door creak open. Footsteps resounded and then I felt a weight on my bed.

Aaron gently brushed my hair out of my face. "Jean let me in. Hey."

"Hi," I said softly.

"I've been worried about you since yesterday," he said.

I sighed. "Sorry. That wasn't my intention."

He chuckled softly. "Morgan, talk to me...please. What happened yesterday?"

"Nothing," I stated, remembering my conversation with both my mother and Lynn. "You can't fix everything in my life Aaron."

"Maybe not," he said. "But it doesn't mean I'd let you go through them alone. I'm here Morgan."

I hated that I had been crying a lot lately but I couldn't help it. And I especially hated crying in front of Aaron in this moment.

He put his arm around me and pulled me to his chest. "Hey, it's okay. I'm here."

He placed a kiss on my forehead and I leaned closer to him, crying silently.

"Feel better?" he asked when my crying stopped.

"It's just frustrating seeing him give up an opportunity like this for someone too selfish to let him follow his dreams."

I sighed heavily, and then finally sat up. "You should go to London."

He rose an eyebrow. "You've been hiding in here all day all because you want me to go to London?"

"No," I replied. "Well...it's partly that and some other things and well...I guess my question is...do you want to go to London?"

"Where's all of this suddenly coming from?" he asked. "Is this why you were crying when I got to the studio? Did Lynn say something to you?"

"That's not the point Aaron," I sighed. "Just please answer my question."

"Morgan, we've talked about this already."

"No we haven't," I disagreed. "You just decided not to go and I let you. But I know you want to."

"What I want is you," he said, taking my hand in his.

I shook my head. "You're giving up something you've wanted for a longer time. Can you look me in the eyes and tell me that you don't wonder how great it would be if you actually signed that contract?"

I stared at him for a few seconds, and then he caved.

He ran his fingers through his hair. "Okay, I admit, that three-year deal could be great. I'd just hate to have to leave you here."

"Well I mean there's loads of things I could do," I began to ramble. "I could visit, I could even take a couple of semesters off school and go back later. Oh, or how about just a university in England? I mean I could-"

"Morgan," he stopped me, a small smile on his face. "Do you hear yourself right now?"

I paused, and let out a breath.