A New Beginning

The next morning, a Saturday, I woke up to find Garrett gone from his bed. I heard the shower running, so I just grabbed the remote and turned on the TV. I looked under the covers and noticed I was barely clothed, one of his old shirts clung to my stomach and my pants were lying somewhere on the floor. I got dressed, and Garrett walked out of his bathroom. He smiled when he saw me, with his wet hair clinging to the sides of his face. “Hey,” he said. I smiled back. “Hows your eyebrow?” he said, and I could hear the concern in his voice. My hand instantly went to my face, rubbing the bandage that had been placed on it. “Um, it hurts a little, I guess..” I said, but it wasn’t anything I couldn’t handle. Garrett sat down on the bed next to me, running his hand through my hair. “Get ready,” he said. “We’re going to John’s.” I nodded, and soon we walked to my house. Garrett waited in my room while I showered, and after that we left to John’s.

Everyone was there (minus Nicole), but it felt different in a way. No one was drinking, no one was playing pool, and no one was telling jokes. As soon as me and Garrett got there, everyone immediately began asking me about my eyebrow, and talking in hushed voices, like I might collapse at any second. “I’m fine, really,” I kept saying. Then we all made our way to the living room, taking seats on couches and plastic chairs. No one spoke, and we just looked at each other. I knew there was something they wanted to talk about, so I stayed quiet. Soon, Kennedy sighed and spoke up. “Leah, we’re worried about what happened last night.” I could feel my face turning red as I remembered last night, Pat holding on to me and listening to Kennedy tell Brandon, “she’s a fucking girl.”

“I know. I’m sorry, thank you so much for being there for me… it won’t happen again, I’m sorry,” I said with a rushed tone.
“Leah,” Kennedy started slowly. “You know we would be there for you no matter what happened. We just wanna know who the fuck he was, and why he was there.” Kenny frowned, and everyone else nodded. I looked at Garrett, sitting next to me, and he nodded also.
“Well…” I started. “His name is Brandon. We were dating before I moved here..”
I explained the whole situation. Brandon coming back, me and Garrett, everything. I got the entire story out, and it took a while. But the boys were patient, and the only noise they made was an “ohh” sound every once in a while.

When I was done, Pat spoke up. “Leah, we were scared for you. How come you didn’t tell us he could hurt you?”
I frowned, maybe because I didn’t know he was actually gonna do it? “I don’t know,” I said. Then Jared spoke up. “Well he won’t bother you anymore,” he said, patting my knee with his hand. I didn’t know what he meant, but I pictured Brandon driving back home with more than a few bruises.

After our “talk,” Garrett drove me back home. He didn’t turn the car off, he kept his hands at the steering wheel and looked ahead. “Leah,” he said in a soft voice. The way he said my name made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up, and I looked at him. His hair was kind of tamed, and his shirt was tighter than usual. It clung to his outstretched arms and I could make out the curve of his biceps. “I just don’t want you getting hurt,” he said, and it was almost a whisper. I looked out the window at my house. It seemed like yesterday I saw Garrett from across the street, telling one of his jokes while everyone laughed. I thought about everything that happened since then, from that first night to standing at the top of Kennedy’s stairs. From when he grabbed my hand in Kenny’s car to me falling on top of him the first time I met him. I looked back at Garrett, and he turned to me this time. His eyes were glossed over, like he was holding back tears. I whispered, “I love you,” and kissed him on the cheek. He smiled, and grabbed my hand. His hand was warm in mine, and I squeezed his palm in mine. He squeezed back, and we drove away. We passed the coffee place, the ditch, and even the turn to John’s house. We passed downtown and soon all we could see out the windows was dirt. The sun began to go down, and I leaned my head back against the seat. I fell asleep listening to the Red Hot Chili Peppers play on the radio while Garrett tapped his fingers on the steering wheel along with the music. It didn’t matter where we were going, I knew it was going to be okay if I had him.