Oh no. Here it came again. The confusing mood swings that seemed to be just the way Evie was. Why was she doing this to him? Couldn’t she just stick with one mood and either make him feel like dirt or make him feel like a person? Why couldn’t she just go ahead and pick one mood or another so it wouldn’t leave him absolutely baffled? Didn’t she care that she was making absolutely no sense at the moment? Well, that was not completely true. Ever thing she said, he could understand it perfectly. Almost too perfectly. He knew what it was like being alone. He knew. The thing that did not make sense was how quickly she had gone from strong to this. From standing there just as cold as she could ever be to falling to the floor and practically pouring out all those lonely feelings to him. What was he supposed to do? Pick her up and tell her to just suck it up? Or maybe he was supposed to sit down next to her and tell her she was going to be alright? What was he supposed to do? No, it was a bit too late for that question. The question that he should have been asking was what was he going to do for her? What was he going to do now?

She always seemed to pull herself together before he could completely decide on what to do. Like she had just done. She was up and standing and he was just staring at her looking rather confused. He still almost looked like he was angry but there was something else there too. Something beside the confusion and anger. Though, Jeremy could not place it. He could not think of the right word to describe the other emotion that was trying to become apparent on his features. Sadness? Worry? He had no idea. He just knew that he felt something he had not before. At least, not in a long while. Maybe that was why it seemed so alien to him. That was why he could not place it. It was an old friend coming for a visit and he had forgotten the face. They had changed, he had changed.

Her questioned baffled him to no end. Kiss her again? Wasn’t that the reason for all of this? Because he had been stupid enough to want to kiss her in the first place? Now she wanted just that. Why? Why would she want that? A difference between himself and her? Was this a good difference or a bad one? He didn’t want to kiss her just to compare something bad. But, then again, why not?

Her last words, he ignored them. They would only bring about doubt in himself and that was not what he needed. Jeremy did not want doubt or questions. So, all he did, was take one rather large step forward, placed his hands on each side of her face, and tilted his head to the side while bending forward slightly to place a kiss on her lips. This time he kept back those nervous feelings of rejection. She had asked, so why worry? He just kissed her. That was all. That was all she asked for and it was all that he wanted to give her at the moment. Just a kiss.

When he finally pulled back, he dropped his hands from her face and straightened out his neck once again to look at her in the eyes trying to figure out what she was thinking. He failed, but continued to try. Then he smiled and looked away from her. He looked to his left shoulder where the ugly scar was forever left. He pulled the neck of his shirt aside a bit so that she could see the large pale line.

“That’s one of my biggest secrets,” he stated simply. Almost like it didn’t bother him that he was saying it. He kept on the smile though it was more bitter sweet now. “I don’t have to imagine being lonely. I remember. I used to be the kid everyone whispered about because he never showed up at school and if he did he would have all of his sweat shirts duct taped because I didn’t fit in them anymore. I was the one who everyone thought was weird. I was the one who had the mom who had probably slept with everyone’s dad at one point or another. That was me. Nobody wanted to be around a kid who wouldn’t look away from his own feet and had a mom who dressed like she was seventeen still.”

After rubbing his thumb fondly over the scar he covered it with his hand again to hide it away. His eyes stayed down and the smile slipped away.

“I know. I guess I just got too lonely at one point.”

That was odd. Jeremy did not even have to ask about the her that Evie had been talking about a moment ago. Honestly, he was not going to ask her about it to begin with. But, now the she was telling, he was more than willing to listen to her. It was strange hearing her tell him something that he was sure that she would hate to tell anyone else. Including him. But, here she was, telling him about something that she had not wanted to bring up a few moments ago. Maybe she had decided to because he had said something? Maybe because he had let her in to hear about a part of him that he was trying so desperately to leave behind. They could almost relate to one another. Of course, Jeremy did not have any aunts or anyone who had ever done something like that to him. But they had both felt the same loneliness at one point in their lives, hadn't they? They both knew what it was like to alone. They had different experiences but the same feeling, Jeremy guessed. They were alike somehow. She had been right.

For once, Jeremy decided not to think it all the way through. Instead of standing there and just staring at her like he had no idea what he was supposed to do, he just did it. For once, he decided to do what they did in the movies.He felt sad for her, after all. So, he just hugged her. At first, it was very strange. Jeremy was not a very huggy person. He had never been since he just wasn't used to it unless it was some old lady giving him the side hug sort of thing. That old lady only being his grandmother. He wasn't used to hugging someone in a supportive manner was more like it.

"I'm sorry," he said simply. As soon as the words had escaped his lips he drew back again. He dropped his arms from her and backed up a little bit, suddenly feeling very awkward. The reason for that being was because of the hug. She probably hadn't needed that. "I'm sorry for your aunt, I mean... for you. I'd never tell. I won't."

Jeremy gave her a nod and turned his eyes to the floor once again. It was as though he was trying to make sure that she honestly did believe him. He did not want her to worry that he would go around telling people all about her secret. After all, she had one of his. So if he even did think about doing that, she could go around talking about his scar. Sure she didn't exactly know the story behind it, but he was sure that she got the idea. And, if she didn't, then she could probably make something up.