Red Roses

In the morning, when I woke up, I dug out Cameron's number from my purse and called him. It didn't even occur to me that he might be sleeping. I kind of just reverted to my Jason Phillips phase which entailed running to Cameron whenever something happened, good or bad. On the third ring, Cameron picked up.

"Hello?" he answered, clearly not happy to have been woken up. I almost hung up but decided not to. I needed him right now.

"Cam..." I said softly, trailing off. My hands trembled as I held the house phone.

"Eve?" he asked, more awake now. I felt horrible for waking him.

"Yea, it's me. Can you come over?" I asked him, my eyes watering.

"Sure, of course. Just give me your address and give me time to get dressed and tell Matt."

I told him my address and right before we hung up, I asked one more thing of him.

"Can you bring some ice cream, please?"

He sighed and promised he would.
-

Half an hour later, there was a knock on my front door and Skip ran to it, wagging his tail excitedly and barking. I rushed to the door but paused at the mirror that hung on the wall by the door. I stared at my reflection. I had dark circles around my eyes and my eyes were red from crying. My hair had gone from straight to messy and curly. I sighed. There was nothing I could do about it now. I turned to the door and opened it, and there stood my knight in shining armor.

"Hey babe, I came as fast as possible but I kind of got lost and had to find my way," Cameron said apologetically as he walked in as though it was his home. It was normal though; that's how it's always been. I shut the door behind him.

He took off his shoes and walked to my couch, plopping himself down on it. Skip jumped onto his lap. I followed him and sat on the edge of the couch. I played with my hands nervously. Cameron grabbed my hand and held it.

"Eve, tell me what happened," he said softly.

My eyes watered and suddenly it was like I was back in high school. In high school, the only guy who ever made me cry was Jay and he never did it intentionally. I had so many missed chances with him from grade 9 and up that it frustrated me. I got emotional because my feelings for him ran so deep that I felt such deep, intense emotions because I couldn't express my feelings for him. He'd talk to me and say something that would brighten my entire day but when I got home, I'd break down because I realized it didn't mean anything special. It was hard being so madly in love with someone when you couldn't say anything because you were a coward. Especially when you thought there was no possible way he returned your feelings.

It was hard the past six years too. I couldn't be with anyone else without wondering what it'd be like to have him hold me, have him kiss me. To have him share a bed with me, make love to me. Whenever I was with someone else, all I could think about was him and it wasn't fair to the person I was with.

"Eve?" Cameron asked, interrupting my thoughts. I looked at him, tears streaming down my face and told him everything. Everything to do with Jay from top to bottom and bottom to top. I told him what happened last night.

"Eve, I'm sure that's a good reason why left," he told me as he brought me into his arms.

"Like what? He saw me and decided that he didn't want to go on a date with me? What? What could it have possibly been?" I said, frustrated. He sighed.

"I don't know, Eve. I hate that you always doubt yourself because of him."

"I don't doubt myself," I mumbled. "I just have no idea how he feels about me and I can't tell either. Not knowing is the hardest part."

"One of these days, Eve, you're going to have to grow some balls to ask him. All you guys ever did was run in circles. It seems you still do," Cameron said, exasperated. Understandable. He's had to deal with my Jason problems since the ninth grade. I imagine it gets annoying no matter how much you care for your friend.

"I'm sorry," I said to him, my voice hoarse from all the previous crying.

"For what?"

"For all the crying and stuff about Jay. I'm sorry that you had to deal with it for so long."

"Don't," he said, suddenly angry with me.

"Don't what?"

"Don't ever fucking apologize for falling for a guy so hard that it's hard for you to breathe. Don't ever apologize for needing your fucking best friend to get you through the day because you fell so hard for that guy." He paused and took a breath. "I love you, Eve, and I would do anything for you. And I know you would do the same for me. I think you and Jay just need to figure your shit out. You've been in love with each other and waiting for the other for eight years now. What difference will a few weeks ‒ or days ‒ make?"

I stared at Cameron, my eyes wide. I started tearing up again but this time for an entirely different reason. I was so grateful that he was always there for me no matter what, even when I was a complete and utter bitch. My throat clogged up with all the words and things I wanted to say to him. A lump formed in my throat and tears streamed down my face. I threw my arms around him, hugging him tightly and he hugged me just as tightly.

After a while, he asked, "So, how about that ice cream now?"

I pulled away and nodded.