Playground Love

“You should go- he's probably back. Then you could talk to him. Okay?”, Matt says hugging me.
I nod. “Okay.. Okay.”
We pull away from each other and he walks me downstairs to the front door.
“The sun is starting to come down- do you want me to drop you off?”
I shake my head. “No... That's okay. I'll walk. I need it. But thank you Matt, for listening to me.”
He smiles. “Of course, Paloma.”
I smile and open the door.
“Hey-”, he says. I turn back around.
“If you need to leave- if you feel like- just.. Leaving that house.. then I'll be here, okay? I'll be here for you.”
I give him another hug. “Thank you so much.”, I murmur. He wraps his arms around me and hugs me back.
“And... If you ever feel like getting the stress out of your head.. I have blunts waiting to be smoked.”
I pull away and laugh. “I'll keep that in mind.”
He smiles and I wave him goodbye.
It gets dark as I find my way back home.. and a little chilly. I cross my arms and try to keep myself warm. I should have let Matt take me home I have no idea where I am. But if Jaime would have seen him drop me off...
I shake away the horrible thought.
“Where the fuck... Am I.”, I whisper.
It's staring to get really dark. I've never walked through the neighborhood here in SD. Everything is new to me. House after house appears and not one of them is recognizable.
I'm starting to panic. I swear- I went the same way I came back..
Fuck.. Maybe I took a different turn..
Wait- that house looks familiar- ugh, no. It doesn't.
I don't have my phone to call Jaime! I wish I did.
Oh no- oh no. It's getting really dark. I'll just try finding my way back to Matt's-
“Paloma??”, a person shouts out.
I see a car drive towards me.
It parks next to me and I see Vic.
He gets out of the car and hugs me. He's so warm.
“You're freezing! What were you doing all the way out here?!”
“I- I got lost. I don't know! I'm sorry!”, I cry.
He rubs my back. “It's okay. It's okay. We were all looking for you... Let's go home.”
I nod and we get inside the car.
I'm surprised- I really strayed away from home.
As he parks his car I see Jaime and Mike come out of the house. Vic turns the ignition off and I turn to him.
“I don't want to go out there.”, I say nervously.
“Don't worry... Jaime just wants to apologize to you.”
I look down at my lap.” And... Did you guys tell him about...”
“No.. We didn't. We aren't going to either.”
I stare at Vic. “You're not?”
He sighs. “We're gonna let you and Tony figure that one out. You know what Jaime will do, Paloma.”
“I know...”
“Besides, Tony hasn't returned.”
“Where did he-”, I start to ask but then Jaime opens up the door.
“Paloma-”, he sighs and pulls me out, giving me a big hug. “I was so worried- I'm so sorry, Paloma. Please. Forgive me! I'm so sorry!”, he says.
I hug him back. “It's okay, Jaime. It's okay.”
He pulls away and stares at me. “I'll never hurt you, ever again. I swear. I fucking swear-”, he pulls me in for another hug.
“It's okay... It's okay..”, I repeat.

Jaime apologizes to me many more times once we get inside the house.
I say sorry too.. He doesn't understand why- but I do. I just know I have to though. Even though he doesn't know the reason why.
Everyone is getting ready for bed. I go up to the living room window and stare out of it- hoping to see Tony's car drive into the parkway.
“He's not coming back tonight.”, Mike murmurs behind me. I turn around to face him.
“How do you know?”
He looks down. “I called him. He didn't tell me where he was.. Just that he isn't going to come back tonight.”
He looks back up, I feel my eyes get watery.
“Why..?”, I croak.
He rubs my arm. “He's thinking about a lot of things.”
I shove his hand away. “This is your fault- you don't understand. I know I'm 17- okay? I know what Jaime would do-”, I whisper sharply to him. “But I love him. He makes me happy- and it's been a long time since I've been happy. Why couldn't you just understand that?!”
I start to cry, Mike has a pained look on his face.
“I'll talk to him- I just don't see how this would work out, Paloma.”
“Well maybe you don't- but I do. I fight for what I want and I don't fucking give up.”
I walk away and go into my room.
As long as Tony still feels this way for me- I'll fight for him. He's all I have.
So as long he loves me the way I love him- I'll fight for him.
Who cares how old I am?! I've never been in love before- never. I've never felt this way about anyone before- ever.
As long as were in this together... We'll be okay.
He'll be back.
He'll come back for me and talk to me and well settle this together. Jaime will have to deal with it. It's the only way I'll be happy.
He'll come back.
He'll come back..