I Never Should Have Gotten Involved

Troy's words continued to bother Jonah long after he took the tub of ice cream back into the kitchen and claimed he was going to bed. He knew his cousin was a pushover and hadn't wanted to take advantage of him for once. How strange.

That wasn't the only thing bothering him though. He had no idea what to say to Eden tomorrow. It would be the last time he would ever see her but she didn't know that.

What if she did manage to get Troy to talk to her next week? Would she notice the difference? Would they get in trouble? Would that end up preventing her from wanting to text him ever again?

Troy was prone to exaggeration. There was a good chance she didn't like him as much as he claimed she did. Although, she had said so herself that talking to him was the highlight of her day…

Jonah didn't know what he was supposed to do. He had never imagined himself in a situation anything like this. He had fallen for a girl that thought he was someone else and had never even seen his face.

Minnesota or Michigan was looking like a better option all the time. He was afraid. He didn't want to screw things up with her more than he already had simply by doing his cousin a favor.

He shouldn't have talked to her in the first place but he felt so bad about falling on top of her. And then she covered for him despite having absolutely no reason to. He wanted to do something to make up for that…but it was all downhill from there.

Eden was a lovely person. How was he supposed to avoid falling for her when he had never met anyone so kind or funny that shared similar interests?

She was beautiful too, though Jonah was the last person on earth that had the right to assess anyone's looks. Her smile was his favorite part of her appearance because it radiated happiness and it was contagious. Seeing it automatically made him smile in response.

"I'm sorry, Eden," he said miserably to his empty bedroom. "I never should have gotten involved at all."

She would have been better off if she never met him. If she did like him…she liked someone that didn't exist. A weird mixture of him and Troy that didn't have a face.

But he was selfish. He didn't want to cut things off with her yet. He wanted to be brave and take Troy's suggestion to feel her out over the phone and see if her feelings were genuine enough to survive the shock of his face.

If they weren't, he would never speak to her again in order to protect himself. Because he really couldn't afford to be hurt by another person. He had already lost all but a speck of trust in them.

This was his last shot. If he gambled and lost, he was never going to try and get close to someone for the rest of his life.

===

Jonah tossed and turned all night, hardly getting a wink of sleep. He wasn't exactly bringing his A-game when he went into Freddie's for the final time even though he had to be if he was going to know what to say.

He didn't get the chance to speak to Eden before opening when the place flooded with families the way it always did on weekends. As their final break together approached, he felt his heart going haywire.

What was he supposed to do? Should he act like this wasn't the last time they would ever see each other and pretend everything was normal? That might be his best bet at this point since technically she would be seeing 'Troy' again.

Just not him. Jonah. The one she actually enjoyed talking to.

When 2 PM finally rolled around, he beat her to the break room. He quickly chugged down an entire package of M&Ms in one go to fortify himself. Maybe the chocolate would give him strength like spinach did for Popeye in those old cartoons.

"Hey, Troy," Eden greeted tiredly as she plopped down in the chair next to him a minute later once his mascot head was safely back on. "How's it going? I saw that kid tackle you earlier."

That had been about an hour ago and he hadn't managed to protect himself properly because he was zoning out worrying about what to say. It hurt enough to bring tears to his eyes but he didn't break character because Troy would get in trouble if he did.

"Yeah, that wasn't so great," Jonah admitted. "I'm fine though. How are you holding up?"

"Barely. I'm sooo glad this is my last Saturday here. Next week, I get to traipse after my best friend appraising wedding dresses all day. It'll be exhausting but way better than this. You know, aside from talking to you," she added quickly to her original statement.

He couldn't help but smile at that. Eden had always told him that he was the best part of this job. He knew she would miss him if he didn't stay in contact with her but that was part of the problem.

It was simultaneously flattering and troubling. If the situation was different, he would gladly stay in contact with her. But there were two issues in his path: his identity and his face.

She likely wouldn't be happy about being lied to, even if the lies were small. Most of what he had said during their conversations was absolutely true. Especially the parts about how much he liked talking to her.

What if things had been different? What if he didn't have a face that repulsed virtually everyone he met and he had met her as himself? Troy was a good-looking guy according to all of the female attention he got and Jonah supposedly looked like him…

"I'm going to miss you too," he said honestly. "This place won't be the same without you."

The second part was a lie though. He wasn't even going to be here after today. It wasn't Freddie's that wouldn't be the same without her. It was him. He wouldn't be nearly as happy without being able to see her smile three times a week, even if they did stay in contact by phone.