head. "Pops does it all the time. Just last week, my allergies were acting up and I was rubbing my nose at dinner and Pops assumed I'd been snorting cocaine."
"Did he say that?"
"He didn't have to. The look he gave me said it all."
"Maybe you were just assuming that's what he thought."
"He's asked me before. He's searched my room. The garage. No matter how many times I tell him I'll never do it again, he doesn't believe me."
"He does that stuff because he cares about you."
"But to me it says he doesn't trust me. That's why I didn't want to tell you this. You can't have a relationship without trust and I knew you wouldn't trust a former drug addict."
"Are you going to let me test that theory or are you just deciding for both of us that this is over?"
"Why would you want this? Knowing this, why would you want to stay with me?"
I shrug. "I don't know. Maybe because I love you?"
"You loved the guy who didn't get arrested for drugs. I'm not that guy."
"And I'm not the girl who leaves the guy she loves because of mistakes he made in the past. What bothers me most about this is that you lied to me. That you didn't trust me enough to tell me."
I walk over to his workbench and sit down on the stool. I get out my phone and mindlessly check messages. I feel Tyler staring at me. He's confused, wondering why I'm not asking him more questions about his past, and the answer is because I'm done talking about it. What else is there to say? I know the truth now and I've listened to his explanation about why he hid it from me. I don't want to spend the rest of the night talking about why he should've told me and why he didn't.
I still love Tyler and he's still leaving soon. I don't want to waste precious time fighting about something that can't be changed.
"Where are you taking me tonight?" I ask, still looking at my phone.
"What do you mean?"
"On our date. It's Friday night. Where are you taking me? I need to know how to dress."
"Faith, we're not going out."
I look up from my phone. "I've had a long hard week at school and I don't want to sit around here in your garage. You promised me we'd go out so we're going out. Now hurry up and tell me where."
He stares at me, confused.
I get up and walk over to him. "If you think you're getting rid of me you're wrong. You should know that by now, given how hard you tried to get rid of me when we first met."
He cracks a smile. "I really didn't try that hard."
"Regardless, you know I don't give up, so set aside any delusions you had of me kicking you to the curb because it's not happening. Now where are we going?"
A full-on smile crosses his face. "You're always finding ways to surprise me."
"And you're always finding ways to annoy me, like right now, when I want you to kiss me and you're just standing there."
He cups his hands around my face and leans down to give me a kiss. Then he looks in my eyes. "I love you, Faith. I love you so damn much. More than I should."
"What does that mean? More than you should?"
"It means I don't know how to leave you. I wasn't supposed to fall this hard for you, but I have, and now I don't know how to say goodbye." He looks down. "I thought you finding this out about me would be the end. I feel like I haven't been able to breathe since the moment you told me you knew. I assumed it was over and I wasn't ready. I was panicking. I wasn't ready to tell you goodbye."
"There doesn't have to be a goodbye." I take his hands from my face and hold them in mine. "Tyler, I know you need to get a job but that doesn't mean this has to end. You could find a job that's close, like maybe in Indianapolis. Even Chicago wouldn't be that far. If we could see each other on weekends we could make this work."
"Can we talk about it later? I'm all talked out for tonight."
I smile. "Me too. Let's get out of here. You still haven't told me where you're taking me."
He grins. "I think it's time you learn to ride a horse."
"What?" I rear back,