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Balling his hand into a fist, he covers hisa smile "Like a sex video?"

"What… no!" I swat his ar my head "Why the hell would you ask that? I was in here by myself"

He lowers his hand fro his voice "Oh, you can make a sex video by yourself"

My cheeks flush and I grab the pillow besideit with one arm, as I bury my face into it to hide "

"What kind of video then?" he asks with interest, and I peek up at hi my wrist

"It’s just a video about razes a sensitive area on uess kind of like a documentary"

"Or like a Novamentary," he says The moment is so real, so raw and fresh, that I can’t help but want to find a way to capture it and keep it forever, because soon it will be replaced by alcohol and weed or nu the pillow aside, I pick upfor my Novamentary?"

"You want to record reat on video"

"Neither am I" I aim the phone caly beautiful on it; clear honey-brown eyes, long lashes, short, soft hair, and very kissable lips "Delilah did it, but you don’t have to if you don’t want to" I keep the caer and then start to lower it when he doesn’t say anything

"Wait" He co" He pauses "Do you want honesty?"

I’m taken back by his question, but nod "If you’re comfortable with it"

He releases ers and scoots away fro to leave, but then he crisscrosses his legs and supports his elbows on his knees "Once upon a ti to tell so honest," I interrupt "Not a fairy tale"

He holds up a finger "Give me a minute… I pro hih the screen as he cracks his knuckles and pops his neck, then stirs in his own silence His neck one pale

"Once upon a tiuy The kind that girls could take back to their parents and who held open doors and who fell in love with the girl he kneas going to azes over my shoulder "Or at least that’s what he believed… but shit happened and the guy ended up dying, only soood in hiuy who fucks up shit and who really, really wishes he’d stayed dead"

He stops and blinks, and for a otten where he is, who I am, and who the hell he is We stare at each other, and I’ure out what to say to hi to me--or the ca out through his words I want to ask hiuy thinks he’s such a bad person

I lower the cauy?"

"Because I am," he says it so simply as if it’s factual, but froht now--he’s not

"No, you’re not," I say "Not even close"

He shakes his head "You don’t even know me, Nova, so you can’t say that about s about you," I tell hi time"

He offers me a halfhearted smile "Just because I can make you smile doesn’t mean I deserve to ss? Or… or is it because of so" He al hi I do--have done--is bad"

"That’s not true," I tell him and set the cah I think soree withwhen our knees touch--when I s just get confusing and we get lost, and soht path… which is the right decision" Quit orthat out

His eyes crinkle around the corners as his expression softens "Are you confused and lost, Nova?"

I nod and I feel so break inside as my confession hovers between us "All the damn time"

He ss hard "I co from" He sucks in a breath, and then the ether "So how about soood," I tell him, which seems extremely ordinary after the conversation we just had But souess Orleft to say

He uncrosses his legs, kneels up, and unzips the tent door "Now, is there anything you don’t like to eat, besides ht

"Burnt hot dogs" I joke as I crawl out of the tent behind him "Or how about Hot Pockets?"

"Yeah, nome one hand as he brushes the dirt off his knees with the other