It's been 5 minutes of complete silence. It wasn't unbearable - yet.

What was I thinking when I agreed to this?

Case, you're officially an idiot.

I looked at Adam, feeling bolder for some reason. I stared at how his eyebrows were slightly furrowed as he drove past cars and how his eyes flew from the road in front of him to the sideview mirrors just before he switched lanes. 

'I've always envied his eyelashes' I thought as I eyed them from where I was sitting beside him. They were thick and long and they made his green eyes stand out. It's unfair really; I don't think boys pay attention to details such as eyelashes and yet it's like they're gifted with thick and long eyelashes anyways. It's such a waste if you ask me; why don't you just give them to someone who'd appreciate it more.

I watched how his lips were slightly pursed, his cheekbones slightly more prominent from getting hit by the sunlight, making his face look more angular and his jawline was simply enough to make any girl swoon. Or maybe it was just girls like me.

I was snapped out of my reverie when I heard him clear his throat, his eyes sent a fleeting glance my way before refocusing on the road.

"You do know this can get less awkward if you don't stare at me like that, don't you?" Adam pointed out and like I said, I was feeling bolder this particular morning so I simply shrugged and continued to stare.

"Why did you sign up for this awkward drive?" I asked curiously.

"No one likes a disgruntled Preston," he trailed off, as if there was more and I raised an eyebrow at him whilst tilting my head as a silent encouragement for him to go on.

Adam shifted in his seat uncomfortably before finally finishing what he had to say, "And I felt bad for last night. It was rude of me to walk out on you like that after demanding help."

I stiffened in my seat at the mention of last night, reminded of my decision to let all hope go over how Adam might one day remember everything and come back to me.

I silently nodded, accepting his explanation, before asking him softly, "So why did you?"

My voice was so soft, I think he almost didn't hear it but I knew that he heard me when shrugged.

"I guess I didn't want my relationship to be questioned and infiltrated by doubts," Adam said.

I felt arguments bubble up and I bit my tongue. I would be justifying his actions by putting up an argument.

The argument swirled inside me, clouding my thoughts and I imagined stuffing it into a glass bottle and trapping it in the bottle with a cork.

Instead, I reached out and turned on the radio to fill the silence between us and settled into my seat, staring out the window as the world whiz by in a blur. The car slowed to a stop at a red light and I could feel Adam's eyes on me and I resisted the urge to squirm under his gaze as I turned to look at him. 

"Well since it's already awkward anyways and since we have about another hour to kill, I want to know about myself before the incident happened," Adam stated aloud and I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion and he seemed to sense the hesitance when I didn't speak for a few moments.

"If you don't mind talking about it, of course." He added quietly. I shook my head, trying to stop guessing what he's trying to accomplish here and decided to ask him outright instead.

"Why do you want to know all this?" I asked him and it was his turn to furrow his eyebrows.

"Well, like I said to you last night; I didn't want to forget about anything. I felt like there's this piece of me missing and I'm convinced that if I somehow got myself to remember who I was before the incident, what kind of person I was, how I acted, then maybe I'll feel better," he ranted before sighing.

"I know I'm asking a lot from you Case. I know it's probably like reopening a scar but please," Adam begged and I felt my heart softening a bit.

"Well, you were stubborn, persistent, annoying," I listed off before being cut off by Adam.

"Tell me more about how I was with you. How did we meet?" Adam asked and I could see how intrigued he was. I caved in.

"To this day I have no idea why you were so hell bent on befriending me. You were the new kid and I was the quiet kid that avoided human contact. Cliche, really." I chuckled softly, realizing how typical this story sounded.

"I had a rough past. I got bullied at school because of it," I continued. "You stood up for me one day and you were so adamant about being my friend, it was annoying."

Adam was quiet the whole time, absorbing every word I gave him.

"You - " I hesitated, not knowing how far I should open up to this Adam. "You patched me up. You started becoming this pillar I leaned on and somehow you helped me move on from my past."

"You weren't just annoyingly stubborn and persistent, you were kind and patient and you were this beacon of light for me. Most of all, you were loyal." I felt a grimace morph on my lips as I thought back to the time Adam got beat up because of me.

"There was this nasty girl back in high school, she hated my guts, and somehow you got in the middle of it and got beaten up by a bunch of guys. But somehow, you still stuck around." I stated softly. I had fond memories of that Adam although I had close to none of the Adam sitting next to me.

Suddenly, the car skidded to a stop abruptly and I was thrown against my seatbelt before getting slammed back to my seat. I looked at Adam in alarm as his eyes widened and he turned to me.

"I remember," he whispered as honks came from left and right. I quickly pointed to the side of the road and told Adam to pull over. I will not get into another car crash. Once is enough to last me a lifetime.

"Are you okay?" I demanded as the car rolled to a stop on the side of the road.

"Yeah, I just -" Adam let out a sigh, running his hand down his face and looked straight ahead.

"Maybe it's best if I drive," I suggested to him and I was surprised when he didn't argue. Adam unbuckled his seatbelt and got out of the car and I quietly followed.

After we've swapped seats, I steered the car down the road again and glanced at him.

"What are you thinking about?" I asked him quietly.

Adam shook his head like he was shaking off some bad memory and I turned to look at the road again.

"Why did you do it? Even after I told you not to?" Adam asked me, a tinge of disbelief evident in his voice and I scrunched up my face in confusion. What the hell is he going on about?

"What are you-" I began but he cut me off quickly.

"The competition. I remembered bickering with you about it before Pio stepped in and led you away. I remembered feeling fear," he whispered at the end and my heart clenched remembering that day. I knew he was worried but hearing this Adam say it made hope bloom in me.

I tightened my grip on the steering wheel as I kicked aside the hope and focused on what we were talking about.

"I cared about your mother. She had a kind soul and she deserved the opportunity to fight for her life." I said softly.

"She was my mother. It should have been my life at stake, not yours. You're in this mess because of me," Adam argued and I shook my head.

"It was my choice, Adam. It's no one's fault." I stated firmly. My heart fluttered at the thought that maybe he was starting to care.

Stop it, Case.

We were quiet for the remaining of the trip and I didn't want to break the silence in fear of prodding questions. We simply listened to the radio and I felt myself relaxing slowly, my fingers beginning to drum against the steering wheel as a song came on.

It was quite a while before Adam spoke up again.

"What's going to happen?" I glanced at him with a raised eyebrow.

"I mean with the competition," he clarified.

"Well, there's only one outcome. I win it." I said in determination.

"You barely survived yesterday," he pointed out and I scowled at the mention of it.

"I wasn't thinking straight." I said bitterly.

Adam was quiet for a moment before speaking up again and I felt my heart drop.

"It was because of Kiara, isn't it?"

I thought about what I should say. Should I lie?

In the end, I decided that it was better to not acknowledge the question. According to the GPS that Adam set up earlier, we were only a few minutes away from the tent where the competition takes place which means I'll be free from this interrogation soon enough.

I stepped on the accelerator a bit harder to get us there quicker and I breathed out a quiet sigh of relief when I saw the dark green tent where the fights usually takes place. The tent was connected to a one story building where the changing rooms were at. Fighters usually enter from the building's back door while spectators go through the tent's entrance.

I drove around to where I parked my bike and got off the car, turning off its engine. I heard Adam get out of the car as I got on my bike, putting on my helmet on. I slipped the keys into the ignition.

"Thanks for dropping me off," I thanked Adam, offering him a small smile.

I was about to get out of there but stopped short when I saw familiar figures standing on the side of the tent. My bike was a few feet away from where they were at, shaded beneath the dense trees nearby. They weren't in our line of sight when we were in the car earlier but from where I was sitting on my bike, I got a clear view of the three people gathered near the tent.

The three were huddled next to two cars and I narrowed my eyes at them.

"Look," I whispered Adam as I recognized Dom and Levy.

Out of all days, they just had to make an appearance today. I was still beat up from yesterday's fight and I have no doubt that Adam can hold up on his own but I'd be dead weight to him. I certainly didn't like how the odds were looking.

There was a woman standing in front of Dom and Levy, her back to us but I didn't miss the sense of familiarity that flitted through me and my heart started hammering against my ribcage as I prayed it was who I wanted it to be. 

They seemed to be in a deep conversation but Dom seemed to catch sight of the car that had just rolled up and narrowed his eyes. He said something and his other companions whipped their heads to look at our car.

I held my breath as I saw Adam stiffened as he saw Kiara's eyes widened and her jaw drop. She probably recognized the car and I saw her mouth something to the men, probably to warn them. My hands gripped the steering wheel of my bike and I was itching to just run them over.

But the probability of hitting even one of them was doubtful and I didn't want to take my chances when the odds weren't seeming to be in my favor.

I saw Dom's eyes darken a moment after Kiara said something and his eyes shifted to the trees where we were but luckily, we were hidden well enough. My heart was beating so loudly that I was scared they might hear it.

After a moment, the three got in their cars and I let go of the breath I was holding as the sound of their cars driving away in the distance slowly faded away. I turned to look at Adam who looked somewhere between gobsmacked and furious.

"Are you okay?" I asked him softly. I knew he was an asshole and a jerk to me lately and I knew I did hope that it was Kiara but he did believe that his girlfriend was innocent and getting to see that she wasn't with his own eyes was probably a straight stab to the heart.

"I don't know," he choke out as he slowly sat down on the ground. He raised his head to look at me.

"I don't know who to trust anymore, Case. I don't know what to believe anymore." He told me in a distant voice and my heart broke for him. He looked completely and utterly lost that I couldn't help but feel guilty.

I know that I had no proof to blame the incident on Dom but I know for sure that Dom was responsible for leading him on lies and took Adam's memory loss as an advantage to mess with Adam.

This all started with me and that fact alone was enough for me to climb off the bike and sit on the ground with him.

"I'm sorry," I whispered into the air, looking at the tree bark across from us.

"How could I not have known?" Adam muttered.

I stayed quiet, not knowing what to tell him.

"You were right," Adam chuckled bitterly. "You can tell me that you told me so now." Adam turned to look at me and I looked him in the eye.

I shook my head at him, taking his hand in mine and giving it a small squeeze.

"None of it is your fault," I told him with as much sincerity as I could muster.

Adam searched my face and I looked away, my guilt growing too big for me to look at his face.

It's my fault. 

"I'm sorry. I should have listened to you. I'm sorry for everything I've said to you." Adam apologized and I felt a weight being lifted off my shoulders as I felt lighter. The guilt was gnawing at me but for the time being, I felt happy that maybe Adam was starting to trust me.

"I shouldn't have doubted you, Case." Adam said softly, his gaze averted to the ground and I felt his thumb drawing small circles on my knuckles. It was only then that I realized our hands were still linked but Adam looked to be too deep in though.

I let him have his moment as we stayed sitting next to each other on the dirt, hands linked and lost in our own thoughts.

~∙~∙~

Three assignments to be submitted by the end of this week and I managed to squeeze in an update. *pats myself on the head*

I can't believe we passed 40 chapters already.

Thank you for all the support guys :)

God bless always.

Love, J ♥