Page 121 of Fireworks

I told my mother that Katie had broken up with me because I still hadn’t told Asher about us dating. She had every right to be mad at me. Katie did the one thing she knew would hurt me most, telling Asher herself. I didn’t know exactly what she had told him, but it resulted in the two of us getting into it. I stormed off and got in over my head quickly. My mother watched the road intently as I told her everything. I knew I would retell this story a few more times since everyone was going to have questions. There were certain details I left out, knowing my mother didn’t need to know every intimate detail of my life.

“That explains a lot.”

Her words came out like she was doing a client interview.

“What does?”

Confused by her statement, I wasn’t sure what part of my story would help her understand anything other than why I had stayed away. It seemed redundant to comment on it.

“Katie kept blaming herself for everything. No matter what I said to her or told her how much you loved her, she never seemed to accept it. She pacified me, but I could tell she felt the weight of it all. She didn’t tell me you two had broken up.”

Her words pierced my heart and my eyes drifted to the window, not wanting her to see how much I was hurting. Driving to Asher and apologizing seemed like the hardest task. Really, the hardest thing was going to be seeing Katie’s face and knowing she may not forgive me for everything I had put her through. I didn’t deserve to be forgiven for the pain I caused her.

Giving my mother a break, I took over driving for a while. As I passed the exit for the hotels Katie and I had stayed at during our trip to Asher’s, memories flooded into my mind. If I could go back to those moments, I wouldn’t change a single thing that had happened between us. Being with her was the single best thing I had ever done in my life. I regretted it now, not telling Asher immediately and dealing with the consequences.

Instead, I hid and made things worse for myself in the end and made things exponentially worse for Katie. We were three quarters of the way there when we pulled over to stretch and grab something to eat. Having packed a ton of snacks, we didn’t want to waste time sitting down anywhere, but the loud rumbling of my stomach proved that would not be possible.

“What can I get for ya’ll?”

The waitress looked like a cliché diner worker with her hair up in a messy bun and a turquoise skirt with a white top. We both ordered burgers and fries and waited in silence for them to get placed in front of us. Taking a huge bite of my burger, I could feel her eyes on me. With a big gulp of my soda in my mouth to wash down the bite, I peered over at her. I knew she wanted to ask me something.

“Do I have something on my face?”

Grabbing my napkin and wiping my face, the edge of her lips turned upward as she beamed at me.

“No. I’m just happy to be sitting here with you right now. You don’t have to shove your food down your throat. Asher will be there even if we take a little longer than we planned to get there.”

Huffing, I knew she was right. It was my nerves rushing me through the meal.

“I know. I just want to get this over with. You are giving him too much credit, I think. You didn’t see how pissed he was at me before I left. I don’t think he’s ever going to forgive me.”

Shaking her head, she rolled her eyes at me.

“You boys have been through everything together. If he knows you love her and will not hurt her…”

I cut her off before she could even finish.

“I hurt her though, mom. More than once. He has no reason to forgive me and neither does she.”

“Nathan Theodore King, that is enough. I sat by and listened to you for months, telling me, with a smile plastered on your face, about how amazing she is. Not to mention watching the two of you grow up. You and Asher have had your share of fights, and this is no different. Just have faith. Everything is going to work out.”

I knew better than to fight with her. Being a lawyer and my mother, she was going to have the last word whether or not I liked it.