A Step to Love
And Returned
I became frustrated then. I ran my hand across the front of hair repeatedly as I paced back and forth in my living room. He was so exaggerated! It wasn’t that big of a deal!
The minutes passed, the hours passed. Did I really think he was going to call me when he understood the context of his actions? I thought so. And just I thought about it, the doorbell rung.
“Can you get that?!” my aunt’s muffled voice asked from upstairs.
I shook my head, letting my hair fall out to its normal place. I walked up to the door. I opened it later, and stared at him, irritated. I folded my arms in front of my body and he walked towards me, wrapping me against him.
“You’re so dumb,” he said, burying his head in my neck.
Seconds later, he took my hands and unfolded them to wrap them around himself.
“Me? I’m not the one who ran off like a PMSing machine. I told you to listen to me,” I groaned.
“I was talking to myself,” he defended, laughing. “What are…?” He stopped.
“Yeah?”
“What are you going to do about…?”
He didn’t need to finish the sentence of mention his name for me to understand. I knew of whom he was talking about.
I hadn’t thought of that, I told him. I seriously didn’t. I told him about my plan to ignore Mr. Roberts, thinking it wasn’t enough, but I had decided to leave it at that. He nodded. He took my hand and led me to the living room where we sat and he repeatedly apologized. I kept telling him it was okay. It was a simple accident, like I had said.
We had a short movie after, just around when my aunt and uncle appeared in the kitchen to make dinner. Since this was the first time I had seen them today, seeming they were busy doing “stuff” in their bedroom, I walked up to them to hug them. I didn’t want to elaborate. I seriously didn’t want to know.
She asked me if I had eaten. I nodded.
I walked again to Alex where he waved at Uncle Laurey as he told Alex to enjoy the movie.
I sat next to him. My “parents” were busy discussing the economy in the kitchen. Gosh, they were beautifully amazing. They were the perfect match for each other and could talk about anything.
After the movie rolled into the middle, Alex held my hand and clicked “pause” on the remote control. I turned to him. “The reason I came other than to apologize for acting stupid was to tell you some stuff that has kept me worried, but, yeah. I couldn’t be going around judging you when I had something, too.”
“What?”
“I’m not going to Copper.”
I blinked hard. How come? “I thought you were already in Copper.” Wh—?
“Yeah, but I’m transferring,” he said with half a smile. He looked down at our hands, rubbed the beginning of my knuckles.
“To?”
He kept on rubbing, more roughly this time. “London. I got in,” he announced proudly and lifted his gaze. Then he looked worried. "It's going to be a freakin' lot of work, but it's going to be fucking worth it."
But he didn’t have to be.
“You’re going with the online-thingy?” I asked.
He shook his head. “No, Lilly.”
And was I the only one who blinked in surprise again? Was I the only one that was taken aback? My aunt seemed to had heard us and threw away a “congratulations” for Alex without considering that this meant he was leaving.
But not just leaving from my house.
Simply…leaving.
My breath got caught up in my lungs.
I stood up, walking away. “You must be out of fucking mind.”
The minutes passed, the hours passed. Did I really think he was going to call me when he understood the context of his actions? I thought so. And just I thought about it, the doorbell rung.
“Can you get that?!” my aunt’s muffled voice asked from upstairs.
I shook my head, letting my hair fall out to its normal place. I walked up to the door. I opened it later, and stared at him, irritated. I folded my arms in front of my body and he walked towards me, wrapping me against him.
“You’re so dumb,” he said, burying his head in my neck.
Seconds later, he took my hands and unfolded them to wrap them around himself.
“Me? I’m not the one who ran off like a PMSing machine. I told you to listen to me,” I groaned.
“I was talking to myself,” he defended, laughing. “What are…?” He stopped.
“Yeah?”
“What are you going to do about…?”
He didn’t need to finish the sentence of mention his name for me to understand. I knew of whom he was talking about.
I hadn’t thought of that, I told him. I seriously didn’t. I told him about my plan to ignore Mr. Roberts, thinking it wasn’t enough, but I had decided to leave it at that. He nodded. He took my hand and led me to the living room where we sat and he repeatedly apologized. I kept telling him it was okay. It was a simple accident, like I had said.
We had a short movie after, just around when my aunt and uncle appeared in the kitchen to make dinner. Since this was the first time I had seen them today, seeming they were busy doing “stuff” in their bedroom, I walked up to them to hug them. I didn’t want to elaborate. I seriously didn’t want to know.
She asked me if I had eaten. I nodded.
I walked again to Alex where he waved at Uncle Laurey as he told Alex to enjoy the movie.
I sat next to him. My “parents” were busy discussing the economy in the kitchen. Gosh, they were beautifully amazing. They were the perfect match for each other and could talk about anything.
After the movie rolled into the middle, Alex held my hand and clicked “pause” on the remote control. I turned to him. “The reason I came other than to apologize for acting stupid was to tell you some stuff that has kept me worried, but, yeah. I couldn’t be going around judging you when I had something, too.”
“What?”
“I’m not going to Copper.”
I blinked hard. How come? “I thought you were already in Copper.” Wh—?
“Yeah, but I’m transferring,” he said with half a smile. He looked down at our hands, rubbed the beginning of my knuckles.
“To?”
He kept on rubbing, more roughly this time. “London. I got in,” he announced proudly and lifted his gaze. Then he looked worried. "It's going to be a freakin' lot of work, but it's going to be fucking worth it."
But he didn’t have to be.
“You’re going with the online-thingy?” I asked.
He shook his head. “No, Lilly.”
And was I the only one who blinked in surprise again? Was I the only one that was taken aback? My aunt seemed to had heard us and threw away a “congratulations” for Alex without considering that this meant he was leaving.
But not just leaving from my house.
Simply…leaving.
My breath got caught up in my lungs.
I stood up, walking away. “You must be out of fucking mind.”