Love By Our Side

John and Delaney had made plans to go out to dinner that night, and for the two hours before their date, John decided to relive part of his childhood and watch The Lion King. Or, he had planned to watch it. Five minutes into the movie, his brother came downstairs and sat next to John on the couch. He looked like he had something to say, but just stared intently at the screen. John had noticed his brother acting strangely the previous day, but didn't make anything of it. He should be sulking like he usually did when Sophie left, but he was acting as if his best friend had just died and everyone around him kept bringing it up. John tried to ignore him, but after a few minutes Stephen's somewhat pathetic facial expression got on his nerves.

“Is there something you feel like saying?” John asked his brother while pausing the movie.

“What? Why do you think that?” Stephen shot back sounding offended. John thought this reaction odd.

“You've been weird since dinner yesterday, did you uncover some secret none of the rest of us did?” Stephen quickly turned his head back towards the paused still of Simba on the screen and didn't respond. John continued to give his brother a weird look, wanting to know exactly what he had learned. “Are you going to say something? Or just sit there like a zombie?”

Stephen sighed. He wasn't completely sure that his information was correct, but he had a gut feeling that it was. Well, information wasn't the right word. He hadn't learned anything, just assumed. He would find out soon enough if he was right or not. “I think you should talk to Delaney. She would know more than I do.”

“What the fuck are you talking about? Talk to her about what exactly?” John nearly yelled. He did not like hearing things like this about his girlfriend, and he certainly didn't like that his brother apparently knew something that he didn't.

“Just ask her if anything's up. I just have a hunch that something is.” Stephen said nothing else, instead getting up and walking out the front door. John sat with a confused look on his face for a good five minutes. He couldn't imagine what his brother was talking about. Had he seen Delaney doing something? Oh God, what if she's cheating on him? John quickly shook that thought out of his head, she wouldn't move to be by him and then do something stupid like that. Would she? He'd know soon enough, their date was now only an hour away.

Stephen walked out of his house with no real destination. He headed down his street, the opposite direction of the Cleary's house, and just walked. A few blocks along, he realized he didn't have shoes on, so going in anywhere was out of the question. He continued on until he reached the playground a mile away from his house. He sat on a swing and moved himself in small circles. He and John used to come to this playground nearly everyday in the summer when they were younger. Some of his best childhood memories involved this small area; his first soccer game, his first fight, where he met his first best friend. He wondered if this place would hold the same meaning for anyone else in the future.

He sat for awhile longer, thinking about the conversation his brother and Delaney might have tonight. He knew that John would demand to know what's up, but Stephen didn't know if Delaney would tell him. Stephen also hoped that he was right in his accusations, or else he would have worked John up for nothing, though if he was wrong life would be a lot easier for a lot of people.